MLB Central Division Preview: Cardinals Favored in NL

Brewers and Cubs Given Best Chance to Beat St. Louis

The MLB Central Division preview is a three-team race as far as the National League goes. St. Louis, Milwaukee and the Chicago Cubs are the three contenders. Pittsburgh and Cincinnati figure to be fighting to avoid the basement. The Cardinals breezed to the division title last season but it shouldn’t be quite so easy this season. The Cubs improved a bit, while it’s hard to say the same for St. Louis and Milwaukee.

Cardinals logoSt. Louis Cardinals (-125)

The Cardinals have a solid starting rotation, which is a good thing because the offense is pretty average. Even without Adam Wainwright, who will start the year on the injured list, St. Louis can roll out some decent arms. Miles Mikolas, Jack Flaherty, Jordan Montgomery and Steven Matz look to be in the rotation. Jake Woodford should start in Wainwright’s spot until he returns. At that point, either Matz or Woodford will likely move to the bullpen.

The relief crew is solid, with Ryan Helsley having a huge season as closer last season. Giovanny Gallegos is a strong set-up man, Chris Stratton should eat up some innings and Andre Pallante is coming off a pretty strong season.

Offensively, the Cardinals have a few question marks, although Paul Goldschmidt isn’t one of them. He’ll be hard-pressed to match last year’s MVP season, but he should still post some decent numbers. Nolan Arenado is another big bat in the St. Louis line-up and the team will get a boost from free agent signee Willson Contreras at catcher. The Cardinals have a few question marks, but have fewer than the other teams in the division.

Brewers logoMilwaukee Brewers (+165)

The Milwaukee Brewers have some solid arms. Once again, how Milwaukee fares this season will be determined by the bats. The MLB stats show Milwaukee tied for No. 22 in team batting with a .235 average. But Milwaukee was fourth in drawing walks, which helped them score 725 runs on the season, which was No. 10 in the MLB. So the Brewers made the most of their hits, of which plenty were home runs. Milwaukee’s 190 round-trippers were sixth in the league.

Milwaukee has six players capable of hitting 20 home runs, with Willy Adames and Rowdy Tellez having the ability to break 30 again. Brian Anderson has been impressive in spring training and could be a nice candidate to bounce back from an ugly season in Miami last year. The Brewers would benefit from hitting for a higher average and will need some clutch hitting this season.

The Brewers were No. 12 in team ERA, getting some dismal starts from Aaron Ashby and Adrian Houser. Milwaukee was 14-26 when those two pitchers started. The MLB stats show Milwaukee has three solid starters in Corbin Burnes, Brandon Woodruff and Freddy Peralta. Eric Lauer had a decent season for the Brewers, as well. Wade Miley was brought in to try and earn the No. 5 spot in the rotation. Milwaukee’s bullpen was pretty solid but several players have moved on, making it a bit of a question mark.

Cubs logoChicago Cubs (+600)

The Cubs had a pretty good offseason, adding hitters Dansby Swanson, Trey Mancini, Cody Bellinger and Eric Hosmer. Chicago added pitchers Jameson Taillon, Drew Smyly and Brad Boxberger, among others. But the Cubs also had a lot of ground to make up to compete with the Cardinals. But Chicago did show that it was willing to cough up some money, spending $305.5 million on free agents.

Bellinger is a bit of a wild card, as he could pay big dividends after a couple of down seasons with the Dodgers. Hosmer, Mancini and Swanson can swing the bats and contribute offensively. Getting some solid contributions from the likes of Ian Happ or Patrick Wisdom will go a long way in boosting the Cubs up in the MLB standings.

Taillon and Smyly should be in the starting rotation, along with Marcus Stroman and Justin Steele. The fifth starter could be Hayden Wesneski, who has looked good in limited time between last season and spring training. The Cubs’ relief pitchers are pretty average. It looks as though Michael Fulmer and Boxberger will share the closer’s role until one of them steps up and shows he up to the challenge.

The MLB Central Division preview for the National League has the Chicago Cubs as a much-improved baseball team. But quite a few things will have to go right for Chicago to threaten for the division title.

Pirates logoPittsburgh Pirates (+5000)

To their credit, the Pittsburgh Pirates are still trying to improve their team. That’s more than can probably be said for the Cincinnati Reds, but it figures to be a long season for the Pirates. Pittsburgh’s line-up isn’t terrible. It’s not good by any means, but there are worse. The Pirates’ biggest problem this season is likely to be pitching. A starting five of Mitch Keller, Rosany Contreras, Rich Hill, Vincent Velasquez and J.T. Brubaker doesn’t instill a lot of confidence.

Hill is still an adequate starter, while Brubaker has better stuff than he’s shown. But he appears to headed to the injured list. Johan Oviedo is a possible replacement. David Bednar isn’t a bad closer, but he’s not likely to get too many opportunities with Pittsburgh. Colin Holderman has looked good in spring training and could be a nice surprise. But overall, the Pittsburgh pitching staff leaves a bit to be desired.

The Pirates’ hitting was second-worst in MLB a season ago but should be a bit better this season. Oneil Cruz is a fair leadoff man who has some power. You’d like to see him get on base a little more, as a .294 on base percentage isn’t ideal at the top of the order. Brian Reynolds is coming off a decent year, while Andrew McCutchen isn’t the player he was, but can still be productive for the Pirates. Carlos Santana still has some power left but flirted with a .200 batting average a season ago. Ji-Man Choi is another who can help a bit offensively and has a good eye at the plate.

The Pirates may be better than the Reds, although that’s not really saying a whole lot. The National League MLB Central Division preview is calling for another subpar season for the Pirates.

Reds logoCincinnati Reds (+5000)

The Cincinnati Reds added some new bodies to this year’s squad. The problem is that they’re unlikely to make much of an impact. Luke Weaver is expected to begin the season on the injured list and Wil Myers isn’t an improvement on Kyle Farmer, who the Reds lost. Cincinnati has a few decent players in the line-up, although Joey Votto will start the year on the injured list. Jake Fraley is having a strong spring. The question is if he’ll be able to carry it over to the regular season.

Hunter Greene isn’t the worst starter around and Nick Lodolo and Graham Ashcraft have looked good in the spring. The same can be said for Luis Cessa, although Connor Overton, slated as the team’s No. 4 starter, has been roughed up all spring. It was just a few years ago the Reds’ starting pitchers were considered the team’s strength. That’s not the case now.

The bullpen is nothing to get excited about. Alexis Diaz should be the closer, with Buck Farmer again serving as the set-up pitcher. Reiver Sanmartin had a rough season a year ago but has come on in spring training a little bit. Several other relief pitchers expected to see some time this season are going to be opening the year on the injured list. The Reds are a team you definitely don’t want in your MLB picks and parlays, as Cincinnati and the Pirates try to avoid the cellar of the NL Central.

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