NL Central thread

[tomcat1]

I sure hope so. I'm still the Debbie Downer who thinks the Cards will finish 5-6 games over .500 while the Brewers will finish 8-10 over and the Cubs will finish 10-12 over.
But i am willing to reevaluate those numbers if the Cardinals show some improvement.

I know you're all about hope and I am too my friend along with some added confidence and I am determined to try to get you to add a little confidence to your hope before this season is over.

I just have to believe that we are better than what we have shown for the first half of the season. In the loss column we only trail the Cubs by 1 and the Brewers by 2 so keep the faith.

 

[kburjr]

I know you're all about hope and I am too my friend along with some added confidence and I am determined to try to get you to add a little confidence to your hope before this season is over.

I just have to believe that we are better than what we have shown for the first half of the season. In the loss column we only trail the Cubs by 1 and the Brewers by 2 so keep the faith.

Good luck, but not too much.

I still think the Cubs have been hampered by injuries to their pitching staff. People get healed up and they can pull off a 30-10 streak at any time.

The Brewers starters are a mess after 1 and 2. Looking for lightning to strike and somebody steps up. However, a rental #3 starter is alright with me, too.

 

[jwolt92]

Good luck, but not too much.

I still think the Cubs have been hampered by injuries to their pitching staff. People get healed up and they can pull off a 30-10 streak at any time.

The Brewers starters are a mess after 1 and 2. Looking for lightning to strike and somebody steps up. However, a rental #3 starter is alright with me, too.

Just saw the Crew signed Drew Smyly to a contract yesterday.

Got rocked in 13 appearances for Texas this year and hadn't pitched in the bigs since 2016. Low risk low reward signing imo

 

[kburjr]

Just saw the Crew signed Drew Smyly to a contract yesterday.

Got rocked in 13 appearances for Texas this year and hadn't pitched in the bigs since 2016. Low risk low reward signing imo

Haven't looked at the team news today. But, as bad a our 3,4,5 starters have been, he still may be an improvement

 

[jwolt92]

Haven't looked at the team news today. But, as bad a our 3,4,5 starters have been, he still may be an improvement

Brewers Sign Drew Smyly

I think it actually can get worse. 19 home runs surrendered in just 51 1/3 innings so far this year

 

[kburjr]

Brewers Sign Drew Smyly

I think it actually can get worse. 19 home runs surrendered in just 51 1/3 innings so far this year

Yeah. His hit hard rate is over 50%. And his control sucks. I think it is a look see. Minor league contract says we'll give you work in AAA. If it clicks, we all win. If it doesn't, well shit.

 

[jwolt92]

Yeah. His hit hard rate is over 50%. And his control sucks. I think it is a look see. Minor league contract says we'll give you work in AAA. If it clicks, we all win. If it doesn't, well shit.

Absolutely. No risk in giving him a shot and seeing if he figures something out. But man was that guy pretty damn solid from 2012-2015. Then TJ completely wrecked his career

 

[tomcat1]

Good luck, but not too much.

I still think the Cubs have been hampered by injuries to their pitching staff. People get healed up and they can pull off a 30-10 streak at any time.

The Brewers starters are a mess after 1 and 2. Looking for lightning to strike and somebody steps up. However, a rental #3 starter is alright with me, too.

With all due respect, I'll be shocked if any team in the NL Central goes on a 30-10 streak the rest of the way. For any fans against the Cubs the key is having the Cubs trailing going into the 9th which will make Kimbrel a non-factor. I wish you good luck too, but not too much.

 

[tomcat1]

Absolutely. No risk in giving him a shot and seeing if he figures something out. But man was that guy pretty damn solid from 2012-2015. Then TJ completely wrecked his career

TJ wrecks a lot of careers which means we must be concerned about Jordan Hick's career.

 

[jwolt92]

TJ wrecks a lot of careers which means we must be concerned about Jordan Hick's career.

As soon as I watched him throw I knew it was going to happen. I was never in the range of Hick's fastball (duh I never got drafted) but I was a smaller pitcher like himself who had a delivery with quite a bit of effort and it hit me too.

I doubt he's ever the same. But he can still be vastly effective if he just tones down the sinker a bit and locates it better and uses the changeup/slider as well

 

[tomcat1]

As soon as I watched him throw I knew it was going to happen. I was never in the range of Hick's fastball (duh I never got drafted) but I was a smaller pitcher like himself who had a delivery with quite a bit of effort and it hit me too.

I doubt he's ever the same. But he can still be vastly effective if he just tones down the sinker a bit and locates it better and uses the changeup/slider as well

You make several good points. Very few pitchers can throw with the velocity Hicks throws without experiencing arm problems of one kind or another. His 100+ MPH fastball didn't have a lot of movement on it either and several major league hitters caught up with it after seeing him a few times. Once he developed his slider his location became a problem and it also seemed to affect his location with his fastball. I was never comfortable with him trying to close a game with his control problems. With that said, I will be cheering for him to make it all the way back but I agree with you in doubting that he will ever be the same.

 

[steelparrot]

Spanked that Chub ass again, if we can stay hot vs the Chubs and Brew Crew at home, this race might be ridiculously close at the break.

 

[tomcat1]

Spanked that Chub ass again, if we can stay hot vs the Chubs and Brew Crew at home, this race might be ridiculously close at the break.

I agree, this race will be close at the break and possibly close on the last day of the regular season.

 

[tomcat1]

I am waiting for the front office to pull a trade off like Will Clark, Larry Walker but on the pitching side.

How about if we trade Broglio for Brock?

 

[tomcat1]

Fans of any NL Central team, let's discuss this:

Many have said the NL Central is a very tough division so my question is:

Is the NL Central really a very tough division or are all the teams in this division just average?

 

[JohnU]

Absolutely. No risk in giving him a shot and seeing if he figures something out. But man was that guy pretty damn solid from 2012-2015. Then TJ completely wrecked his career

The risk is low but it's keeping the game from improving. Teams keep recycling these dead-armed has-beens because the agents have the front offices by the nuts. Just. Stop. Signing. Them. Spend the money on young pitchers.

Maybe Gallardo needs another chance.
Zach Duke, anyone?
I am all for experience but these guys are done.

 

[JohnU]

Fans of any NL Central team, let's discuss this:

Many have said the NL Central is a very tough division so my question is:

Is the NL Central really a very tough division or are all the teams in this division just average?

Average? Meaning, competitive. It's no worse or better than any other division that doesn't have a tanking team in it. You win 58 percent of the time and you are a contender.

 

[tomcat1]

Average? Meaning, competitive. It's no worse or better than any other division that doesn't have a tanking team in it. You win 58 percent of the time and you are a contender.

John, I guess what I'm asking is do you think the winner of the NL Central would stand a chance against the Dodgers or Braves in a playoff series with the way things stand now?

With that said, I realize that baseball is the streakiest of all in any sport and an NL Central team could get on a run with a nice winning streak before the season ends but I just don't see that happening right now.

 

[steelparrot]

A nice comeback in the 9th tonight vs the cubs to make it 3-0 this series.
We gave Kimbrel quite the era adjustment this series. its 16.88 now

We go for the big broom tomorrow.

I would have taken 4-3 in this 7 game home stand vs the Cubs and Brewers going into the break, hopefully we at least split these last 4 for a 5-2 vs the co leaders of the division this year.

 

[tomcat1]

A nice comeback in the 9th tonight vs the cubs to make it 3-0 this series.
We gave Kimbrel quite the era adjustment this series. its 16.88 now

We go for the big broom tomorrow.

I would have taken 4-3 in this 7 game home stand vs the Cubs and Brewers going into the break, hopefully we at least split these last 4 for a 5-2 vs the co leaders of the division this year.

Your Pirates are definitely on a roll right now so congratulations.