FanNation | The Republic of Sport

Community

Dawgee Fresh won the Throwdown.

Dawgee Fresh

Throwndowns: 98
Record: 60 - 35 - 3
St. Louis,
All Throwdowns

Votes

Throwndowns: 206
Record: 74 - 116 - 16
Detroit, MI
All Throwdowns

Votes

N.L. Central Predictions

RHATER is Gone. said 02/21, 09:59 AM
1. Chicago Cubs
2. Milwaukee Brewers
3. Cincinatti Reds
4. St. Louis Cardinals
5. Houston Astros
6. Pittsburgh Pirates
The Cubs should take the Central. Derrek Lee and Aramis Ramirez can anchor a strong infield. Newcomer Kosuke Fukudome has R.O.Y. potential, and Alfonso Soriano may have a 40-40 season. The Brewers are not too good of a team, but in the horrible National League Central, they should get 2nd. Prince Fielder, J.J. Hardy, Rickie Weeks, and Ryan Braun make a good offense. The pitching rotation is decent, with Ben Sheets. The Reds will be better than the Cards this year. They have a great leadoff hitter with 40-40 man Brandon Phillips. Adam Dunn and Ken Griffey Jr. are great offensive and defensive outfielders. The pitching is improving, with very underrated Aaron Harang, Homer Bailey, and Bronson Arroyo. The Cardinals have Albert Pujols, but no one to support him. The pitching rotation last year was the worst(ERA wise)in Cardinal history, and did nothing to get better. The Astros are rebuilding,but traded away a bunch of prospects for aging Miguel Tejada. The Pirates did nothing to improve from last year, and will remain at the bottom of the Central.

Dawgee Fresh said 02/21, 10:22 AM
1. Milwaukee Brewers-They did fairly good last year and lost the division to a late season slump. But now, young stars Prince Fielder, Rickie Weeks, and Ryan Braun are maturing and that slump will probably not happen again. They also have a solid pitching staff, better than the Chicago Cubs.

2. Chicago Cubs-They also did pretty good last year but their main offensive weapons aren't getting younger and all of them had their strugggles last year, they failed to reach expectations. I don't think that Fukudome will have much effect as he will get adjusted to the league. Zambrono has been too inconsistent for me to put the Cubbies at first.

3. St. Louis Cardinals-They aren't the most talented team in the league and they have lost some key players that helped them win the World Series two years ago. But as long as they have Albert Pujols, they'll hang in there.

4. Cincinatti Cubs-You are going "what if" with Brandon Phillips here. Was that year a fluke? Griffey isn't getting any younger.

5. Pittsburgh Pirates-they have good young talent, enough to surprise people and go to 5th.

6. Houston Astros-they have little depth, a bad farm system, and a somewhat bad offense.

RHATER is Gone. said 02/21, 10:47 AM
The Cubs' have a much better pitching staff than the Brewers. Zambrano definitely beats out the Brewers' #1, Sheets. Ted Lilly(15-8, 3.83 ERA) is better than Jeff Suppan(12-12, 4.62 ERA). The Cubs have about equal talent with the Brewers on offense, but the Cubs have a bit more depth.

30-30 man (my bad on the first argument) Brandon Phillips will easily match last year's stats. Even if he doesn't get the home run power, he still will have the speed. He's a lot like Jimmy Rollins. Adam Dunn provides consistent HR power, and Griffey showed he can still hit home runs last year. The Reds have a great young pitching staff that is improving.

What good does it do if Albert Pujols is going to be consistently walked, and theres no one to support him? Rick Ankiel is streaky and inconsistent, as is Troy Glaus. The pitching staff did nothing to improve, and newcomer Matt Clement may not even pitch until May or June. Adam Wainwright is the ace, but it quickly goes downhill from there. They don't have a leadoff man or clean up man.

The Pirates and Astros will be battling at the bottom of a bad division, but the Astros still have better pitching.

Dawgee Fresh said 02/21, 11:30 AM
Both Carlos Zambrano and Ben Sheets stunk up pretty badly last year, and you said that Zambrano definitly beats out Sheets. Wrong. Ben Sheets had a 3.82 ERA which is better than a 3.95 ERA. Yovani Gallardo will be the team's #2 starter and he has better stats than Lilly (9-5, 3.67 ERA). Milwaukee has better pitching and better hitting. They have almost 80 more homeruns than the Cubs.

Phillips may have a hard time matching his old stats. he has, after all, only hit 23 homeruns in his first five years in the league and has only stolen 31 bases in the same amount of time. Adam Dunn strikes out too much, hits like .250, and Ken Griffey is injury prone and now that he is older, the chances of injuries go up.

Rick Ankeil did great last year and he should do great again. Albert Pujols is the best MLB player in the league as of right now. Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright are still pretty good. They have talent, a lot of it.

The Pirates are young but they are developing and are starting to come together. Ian Snell is eyeing the "pretty good pitcher" status and Freddy Sanchez, Andy LaRoche, and Jason Bay can all pound the ball. The Pirates are coming out of the cellar.

RHATER is Gone. said 02/21, 11:43 AM
Ben Sheets was injured for part of the season though, but if Sheets had played more, his ERA would have likely also gone up. Gallardo got off to a really hot start, but dropped off later and was just average. The hitting is about equal, but the Cubs also have much better defense. Ryan Braun is a liability at 3rd or left field, although he is good offensively.

Of Phillips' 23 HRs in his first five year, 17 came in 2006, and 25 of his SBs came in 2006. That means he is still improving and should keep up the previous year's stats. Dunn strikes out a lot, but so does Rick Ankiel. Griffey is only a year older, and isn't much different from last year. The Reds annually have one of the best offenses because they play in a great hitter's park. The pitching staff is decent and would be even better had they played in, for example, Busch Stadium.

Rick Ankiel got off to a great start, but when the HGH story came out, his stats just plummetted. He went hitless for 13 or 14 straight games. And like Dunn, he strikes out A LOT! Chris Carpenter won't be back until July, at earliest, and might not go back to his original dominance.

Dawgee Fresh said 02/22, 10:47 AM
Sheets' ERA may ave gone up but he hasn't had an ERA f over 4 since 2002 so the answer would be not likely.

I think that Gallardo may have done his best stuff in the later half of the season. He had a fantastic ERA and he hardly ever let up a run.

Ryan Braun is an average left fielder but the Cub's defense isn't much better. Derek Lee is a Gold Glove, but other than that, its not that good.

Dunn strikes out waaaay more than Ankeil and striking out is the worst possible thing you can do. We don't even have to go into this stuff though because Albert Pujols can carry the Cards.

Report Offensive Throwdown

Comments (24)

Most Recent Comment Add Comment RSS

1 and 2 are a toss up. Believe 3 - 6 will be reds, cards, stros and pirates. So vote to redskin.

BTW dawgee, I assume your #4 should be the reds?

An SI.com and CNN Digital Network Site

Search

Already a member?

N.L. Central Predictions

RHATER is Gone. beat Dawgee Fresh 23 to 13

Add a comment