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  • March 28, 2008 10:21 PM ET

NL Central predictions

(Cincy) (37-45-10) vs erwin: Back Again. (65-56-14)
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Picks first,arguments second and third.

1.Cubs
2.Brewers
3.Reds
4.Astros
5.Cardinals
6.Pirates


1. Brewers (I'll explain this)
2. Cubs
3. Reds
4. Cardinals
5. Astros
6. Pirates


Astros,they have more going for them right now.Look at the lineup,they managed to contend in years past without a solid lineup but now it features:Carlos Lee,Hunter Pence,Lance Berkman,Miguel Tejada.The cardinals really don't compare with the Astros who also have a solid staff.The Cards staff is led by the injury prone Chris Carpenter,and the young,not so good Adam Wainwright.Besides Ducan and Pujols they don't have much pop.The cards are on the down.

And the Cubs and brewers.There are so many people who are split on this.They both have so much young talent right now,but gallardo shouldn't be expected to produce greatly at least for a season or two.The Cubs showed what kind of a club they really were about halfway through June,posting baseballs best record for a while.With the always entertaining Lou Piniella,who has enjoyed much success as a skipper(who has the edge over yost)has gooten a lot of his youngsters in Chi-town.

Chicago also went out and signed Fukudome,who provides improvement.While the brewers still hide their wallets in a safe place come free agent time,and won't find someone to aide the ever injured Ben Sheets


The Cubs...they are one injury away from having a mediocre pitching staff. That injury is Zambrano. When he goes down, the Cubs go down. The pitching staff is inconsistent, with Hill, Marquis, Lilly and Dempster. That's the biggest knock against them.

The Brew Crew, on the other hand, have a young, promising pitching staff. Ben Sheets is injured a lot, but they've got solid guys behind him. Theres Suppan, Villanueva who's shown he's got talent, Claudio Vargas, a solid starter. It's solid from top to bottom, but the Cubs have questions.

The Astros pitching staff is GOOD? They've got Oswalt and Backe, that's about it. Oswalt and Backe are good, but WANDY RODRIGUEZ? He's inconsistent. Woody Williams lost 15 games last season. And can you really trust Shawn Chacon? That is the reason I have them in fifth place, and the Cards ahead of them: pitching. Pitching wins games.


I'd take The Cubs pitching staff over Milwaukee's any day,even without Zambrano.Hill is a solid young guy,Lilly was a solid pick up for Chicago last year and you can expect him to pitch just as well,and Marquis is an ok pitcher,while The Brewers have Ben Sheets and a bunch of young,unproven pitchers?What else?We'll see how good they are in a couple years.Yes Young and promised,but not quite there yet.Suppan has always given up a high ERA,and is becoming quite old,can't expect anything better from him now than his first time through Milwaukee.And Vargas?Not so solid.

Oswalt is a great,consistent ace of the staff,Backe,is ok,Woody is a good vet,but you say pitching wins games?The broken down Carpenter?The inconsistent Wainwright?The cards staff is definetely worse than Houston.And the fact St.Louis has no bullpen.


Pitching wins games. And the Cards have better pitching than the AStros.

The 'Stros bullpen isn't so dandy itself. They've got a decent closer that's it.

The Cards have Carpenter, who still won a Cy Young. He's definitely not done. Wainwright is still young, so yuo can't give up on him yet. And Kyle Lohse has looked fantastic this spring.

Hill is average at best. He gave up 27 homeruns last year! Lilly had his best season last year and that's it for him. He just can't get it done. Marquis is, eh. It's not a very solid rotation.

Ben Sheets is an ace when he's healthy. The Brewers have a lot of solid young pitchers who could have breakout years. The bullpen is alright and Eric Gagne should bounce back.

The Brewers have all the pieces in place to win the division, and the Cards will finish ahead of the Astros.

Comments (19) Add A Comment

March 28, 2008  10:37 PM ET
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Is it alright if I can make only 1 change?

March 28, 2008  10:42 PM ET
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That's fine.

March 28, 2008  10:42 PM ET
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Forget it I'm dropping it

March 28, 2008  10:42 PM ET
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Sorry. lol

March 28, 2008  10:56 PM ET
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My change is BIG.

March 28, 2008  10:56 PM ET
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Excuse me, changes.

March 28, 2008  10:57 PM ET
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Geez,two people have taken this then dropped it already.

March 28, 2008  10:58 PM ET
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You better explain the Brew Crew first, erwin...lol

March 28, 2008  11:08 PM ET
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I have a good explanation I am currently typing on Notepad...

March 28, 2008  11:27 PM ET
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cubs suck. go brewers!

March 28, 2008  11:29 PM ET
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Hunter, if you like the Brewers, why did you just vote for Cincy?

Puzzling...why is it always me that is puzzled...

March 28, 2008  11:42 PM ET
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Maybe he thought my argument was better idk?Or maybe he's stupid,lol.

March 28, 2008  11:53 PM ET
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I'll argue tommorow

March 29, 2008  12:18 AM ET
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I would take our pitching staff over the cheeseheads any day. Lilly was 11th in the NL last year, Zambrano was 5th, Hill was 25th, and even Marquis was 28th. There was only 1(that's right, ONE) Brewers pitcher in the top top 15 (Hell, there was only one Brewers pitcher in the top 30 last year)- Suppan. Let's take a look at Zambrano, Lilly, and Suppan:
Big Z- 3.95 ERA, 100 runs yielded, 177 Ks, .372 SLG, .329 OBA, 256 GO, 204 AO, .581 WPCT, 1.33 WHIP.
Lilly- 3.83 ERA. 91 runs yielded, 174 Ks, .406 SLG, .286 OBA, 178 GO, 263 AO, .652 WPCT, 1.14 WHIP.
Suppan- 4.62 ERA, 113 runs yielded, 114 Ks, .445 SLG, .356 OBA, 266 GO, 233 AO, .500 WPCT, 1.50 WHIP.

We also had two other pitchers in the top 30- Hill and Marquis, while the Brewers had nobody outside of Suppan in the top 30. As you can plainly see, the stats clearly show that Zambrano and Lilly were better than Suppan. Cincy, if your next argument touches pitching, then I've just given you a lot of material.

March 29, 2008  12:38 AM ET
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To much I say

March 29, 2008  05:14 PM ET
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Dude,did you hear?Woody Wiliams got released a few minutes ago!

March 29, 2008  08:02 PM ET
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Seriously? Then I should win! He's THAT bad!

j/k. Good TD though. Some people just didn't see it as I did.

March 30, 2008  01:08 PM ET
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Good td to you too Erwin

 
March 30, 2008  01:08 PM ET
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Sucks being back in the north doesn't it?

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