NL Central: Worst Division in Majors

by Niteowl049

Baseball Notebook

NL Central: Worst Division in Majors

After the St. Louis Cardinals won only 83 games to win the NL Central last season it looks like the NL Central leader could win it with 83 games again this season. The Chicago Cubs and the Milwaukee Brewers have won 73 games this season giving them 9 less wins than the New York Mets and the Arizona Diamondbacks who have won 82 games each to lead their divisions.

The Brewers have the best winning percentage at home of any NL team with a 45-26 record with Diamondbacks second best home team with a 46-29 record. Brewers though on the other hand have the second worst road record in the NL with a 28-44 road mark, with theAstros being the worst team with a 26-48 record.

Just when it appeared the Cardinals were ready to make another late season charge they have lost their four last games and need three wins to get back to playing .500 baseball.

Around the Bases

Stephen Drew has passed up his overpaid brother J.D. Drew in home runs and RBI's leading him 11-7 in home runs and 50-49 in RBI's. J.D. is yet to cross the half century mark in RBI's and is only about 91 RBI's behind the league leader Alex Rodriguez. If Drew had a season close to what he had last season with the Dodgers the Red Sox would be close to clinching the AL East but instead he has been an albatross dragging down the Red Sox with him in a season which David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez have a combined 48 home runs while A-Rod has 52 by himself.

Drew is 6th on Red Sox in home runs and 8th in RBI's. He is 9th on team in total bases with 158 and is slugging .383 which is 14th on the team but to his credit he is outslugging Josh Beckett by 110 points. Good thing for Drew that he signed a five year contract because if he was on a one year contract he may never see the light of the major leagues again but Red Sox are stuck with him for four more seasons. At least Scott Boras is happy since he got his percentage for negotiating such an outlandish contract for such a mediocre player.

Albert Pujols who hit 49 home runs has hit only 30 this season and with 89 RBI's he needs 11 more to keep his streak alive of 30 home run and 100 RBI seasons which is presently at six seasons. He has 48 less RBI's than last season and his previous low in RBI's for a season is 117 so is very unlikely reach that mark this season. His average and OBP has been close to that of last season but his slugging percentage is 108 points lower than last season.

The Atlanta Braves' hopes of winning the NL East title ended last night with them falling to 9 1/2 games behind the Mets. Their starting rotation just wasn't deep enough to make a run this season. Once you got past John Smoltz and Tim Hudson the lack of depth in the rotation really showed. Chuck James is 10-10 as of today and Buddy Carlyle is 8-6 but is allowing two more runs per game than Smoltz. Kyle Davies started 17 games but only had four wins to show for it and was dispatched to Kansas City and Lance Cormier, Jo-Jo Reyes and Anthony Lerew had the other 18 starts this season and only have posted a combined two wins in those starts. So the 4-5 starters this season had a combined 35 starts but posted only 6 wins.

Oh No RomoDraft Pick

841 days ago

Score 3

It's not that the division is terrible, they are just really really competitive.

Permalink | Reply

Falcon02520Legend

841 days ago

Score 3

No, they are just bad. You can have a competitive division with teams above .500, just look around the league.

Permalink

Silencer76AAA-er

841 days ago

Score 2

I don't think you can call the AL West, the AL Central or the NL East "competitive" at this stage of the game.

Permalink

ASwaffAll-American

841 days ago

Score 2

lol...I agree with Falcon. I loved how people said that in the past about the NL West. Instead of looking at four teams with records right around .500 and seeing an abundance of mediocrity, they said, "It's the only division with four teams above .500! They're really competitive." No, they were bad. Same with the NL Central. They totally suck. And one team might emerge as a great postseason team, the way the Astros and Cardinals did the last couple of years. All that means is that they were built for the postseason. In the regular season, you can't dispute that the NL Central stinks. I base that on being an Astros fan and watching a lot of games with all of these teams. Records aside, these teams are playing sloppy, fundamentally unsound baseball. They're just not good.

Permalink

Silencer76AAA-er

841 days ago

Score 2

As a long time Chicago fan, I can say that it has been an up and down season for everyone in the NL Central. The Brewers and Cards have weak pitching, the Cubs have struggled with power numbers.

As the stretch run started yesterday, Ted Lilly continued to be a stopper, going 9-1 now after a Cubs loss, and winning his fifteenth game, while Aramis Ramirez homered twice and doubled twice as the Cubs bombed the Cards 12-3 in a makeup of the August 19 rainout.

Milwaukee needed to win to keep pace, but they were stifled by Tony Armas in a 9-0 shellacking. Tony Armas??? No one will confuse the guy for Glavine, Maddux, Nolan Ryan or the like. He had an ERA over 6 going into to yesterday's game.

Permalink | Reply

RomiezzoLegend

841 days ago

Score 1

All teams have their good and bad days/streaks. From the Red Sox and Yankees, to the Reds, Giants, and Nationals. EVERY SINGLE TEAM. Any baseball team can win/lose to an opposing team. Baseball needs the most 'luck', in my opinion, that any other sport. Basketball and football need more talent. Baseball needs talent, but they also need luck because all pitchers and batters have their good and bad days. It's just like that. As for the NL Central, I can't wait to see who makes the playoffs. I would like to see any one of those teams make it, honestly, even though I kinda root for the Cubs, since they're my second favorite team.

Permalink

RomiezzoLegend

841 days ago

Score 3

Niteowl, everytime I hear about Drew, I start thinking about the top 10 things that we could use for the money that we bought to acquire him...

Permalink | Reply

Falcon02520Legend

841 days ago

Score 1

My first reaction when I heard we got Drew was a little excitement because of what he did with the Braves. But when I learned we paid him $14 million!!! I asked why? I supported this signing for 1 minute until I learned how much we paid for someone who isn't that good. I also didn't want Lugo, he has never been any good in my eyes.

This may sound crazy, but I almost wish we never trade Hanley because of what he will become (and at our weakest position, he coulda been great). If we didn't get Lowell in the deal, I would have said it was a bad deal. Lowell has been the second best thirdbasemen since he got here and Beckett learned to pitch. So it all worked out in a way.

Personally I question many of the moves Epstien has been making over the last two or three years.

Permalink

Manny StilesMajor Leaguer

841 days ago

Score 2

"we"

Permalink

RomiezzoLegend

841 days ago

Score 0

Sorry, Manny. The Red Sox. I keep saying. I don't know why.

Permalink

RomiezzoLegend

841 days ago

Score 0

Moral of the story before season started: Don't acquire injury prone players for THAT much money. Moral of the story after season started: JD Drew sucks when he's not injured during the season.

Permalink

Niteowl049AAA-er

841 days ago

Score 0

Have never been a J.D. Drew fan since he dissed the Phillies and played independent baseball rather than playing for the Phillies. He is all about the money and the fame and with Scott Boras as his agent he has made the big money while putting up Julio Lugo type numbers.

Permalink | Reply

InterMatAll-American

841 days ago

Score 1

Mediocrity at its best.

Permalink | Reply

NejoshiDiv-I Stud

841 days ago

Score 1

Despite J.D. Drew's struggles and the lack of power that the Ortiz/Ramirez duo has come up with, Boston has clearly been the best or 2nd best team in the majors throughout the season.

Permalink | Reply

Bobbydigital04Varsity

841 days ago

Score 1

I agree that this division is terrible, but I have to agree with ASwaff that one team might be miraculous enough to come out of this bunch of junk and win the Pennant. I mean, I saw it happen to my Mets last year by a crappy, but scrappy 83 win bunch from STL, who got timing pitching from guys who are no longer even on the team (Weaver and Suppan)...with post season baseball ya just never know.

Permalink | Reply

ChristofMVP

841 days ago

Score 2

The NL Central is terrible. With that said, watch them produce the World Series winner for the second consecutive year.

Permalink | Reply

RomiezzoLegend

841 days ago

Score 0

Brewers or Cubs? I just can't see them winning a World Series. What about the Astros?

Permalink

ASwaffAll-American

841 days ago

Score 0

The Astros are in a really bad way right now. They've traded away the farm to get old men, so now they're loaded up with old men like Loretta, Palmeiro, Lamb and Woody Williams who are washed up AT BEST, AND their minor league system is loaded with old men who weren't even good enough to be washed up. They went to the World Series because they had three solid starters. That was a team built for postseason play. They don't have that anymore, and they don't have the resources OR the money to retool. This team will be bad for a few years.

Permalink

RomiezzoLegend

841 days ago

Score 1

But they're only 11 games back! (Where's the sarcasm button?)

Permalink

Silencer76AAA-er

841 days ago

Score 1

lol only 11 out, with an elimination number of 9. The Cubs have the best chance of the teams in the Central to be competitive in the postseason.

Permalink

RomiezzoLegend

841 days ago

Score 0

Agreed. They have a pretty dang good rotation, and at least they have hitting they can be good. Derrek Lee, Aramis Ramirez, CARLOS ZAMBRANO...

Permalink

ASwaffAll-American

841 days ago

Score 0

Sorry, tough to catch that when you've been reading crazy stuff like that all season from reporters and Astros front office personnel who were dead serious. Like this column from the 9th of August, in which Jim Moloney moronically praises the Astros for only being 8.5 games out of first place:

"Their triumph left the Astros 8 1/2 games behind first place Milwaukee in the National League Central Division, the closest Houston has been since June 17. Fourteen games out on July 18, the Astros have shaved 5 1/2 games off that lead in three weeks....The Astros stood pat at the trade deadline for two reasons: attractive upgrades weren't available, and they believe this team will have a shot if it can get within five or six games of the lead by Sept. 1."

And that kind of thinking is exactly why the Astros will be really bad for a long time. The front office is absurdly optimistic, and their crazy second-half rallies the previous three seasons left the brass with a totally distorted view of this team's abilities. If the decision-makers don't realize that a team isn't that bad, it takes a REALLY long time to fix it.

Permalink

ASwaffAll-American

841 days ago

Score 0

Sorry, I also meant to post the link to that article:

http://houst...mp;fext=.jsp

Permalink

Silencer76AAA-er

841 days ago

Score 1

Ramirez is showing signs of life...a pair of homers and a pair of doubles yesterday. Soriano is back and starting to swing the stick, D Lee homered again yesterday, and as maligned as the acquisition of Jason Kendall was, since he was hitting .226 with a .261 OBP in Oakland, has hit .286 and has a .379 OBP with the Cubs in 45 games. He also has driven in 18 runs in 140 AB after driving in just 22 in 292 for the A's.

Jacque Jones has been driving in runs, Theriot gives the club a lot of speed at the top of the order, and Derosa has been quietly stellar playing all over the place (.288/.409/.365 with 8 homers and 65 RBI.)

For the record, Zambrano currently hitting .271...lol

Permalink

RomiezzoLegend

841 days ago

Score 0

It's sad that Craig Biggio had to end up with one of the worst winning percentage seasons of his career.

Permalink

RomiezzoLegend

841 days ago

Score 0

Career low for Zambrano, I presume...

Permalink

Silencer76AAA-er

841 days ago

Score 0

lol no. Zambrano is a career .223 hitter in 400 AB. He hit .240 in 2003, .229 in 04, .300 in 05, then slumped to .151 last year, though 6 of his 11 hits last year were long balls. This year as I said, .271. He has 14 career doubles, a triple, 12 homers and 33 RBI, with a career slugging % of .358.

Permalink

Niteowl049AAA-er

841 days ago

Score 0

Christof...now that my Braves are out of the NL East race will be rooting for Phillies.

Permalink | Reply

RomiezzoLegend

841 days ago

Score 0

A friend of mine roots for the Phillies. My old academic games coach is a Pirates fan, and since he HATES the Phillies. He comes up with the nickname of the "Philthies" for them. Seriously, can he get any worse with that nickname?

Permalink

Niteowl049AAA-er

841 days ago

Score 1

Mike Lowell the last time I checked had more RBI's than Manny or Ortiz. This could be first time in about 10 years that Manny doesn't get 100 RBI's but I wouldn't bet against him.

Permalink | Reply

RomiezzoLegend

841 days ago

Score 0

103 for Lowell, 98 for Ortiz, and Manny isn't even close with 86. I'm with you on Manny too. I wouldn't say that Manny isn't going to get 100 RBIs, yet, but I wouldn't say that he is either.

Permalink

Niteowl049AAA-er

841 days ago

Score 2

Dustin Pedroia deserves a lot of credit for where the Red Sox are today.

Permalink | Reply

RomiezzoLegend

841 days ago

Score 0

In my opinion, he was the most consistent position player on the Red Sox. Him and Lowell are the two players who I give the most credit for. Pedroia gets on base when you need him to, and you'll see a dive from him more than once in a while.

Permalink