Opening Night for the 2016 MLB season is just five nights away and one of the best divisions to look forward to is the National League Central.
The NL Central sent three teams to the postseason last year as the Cardinals won the division for the third straight season, and the Cubs and Pirates battled it out in the NL Wild Card Game. Chicago ended up going the farthest, making it all the way to the NLCS before being eliminated by the Mets.
We've already made predictions for the NL East and the AL East, here are our projections for the NL Central. To view this article in slideshow form, CLICK START at the top right of this page.
St. Louis Cardinals (100-62 in 2015)
The Cardinals are always a threat to not only win the NL Central, but the World Series, as the club is a perennial contender that hasn't missed the playoffs since 2010.
Though they took a blow when shortstop Jhonny Peralta (thumb ligament surgery) was lost to the disabled list, St. Louis still has plenty of depth, even if Jason Heyward defected to the rival Cubs. Ruben Tejada, however, may not prove to be much of a replacement for Peralta, who hit 17 homers last season.
With Matt Holliday, Randal Grichuk, Matt Adams and Yadier Molina in the middle of the lineup, St. Louis still has potential in the division. The top of the lineup is also solid as Matt Carpenter is coming in off of a season where he led the NL with 44 doubles and placed fifth with 104 runs.
The rotation is still bolstered by Adam Wainwright, without whom the Cardinals still were able to win 100 games last season after his freak Achilles injury. The right-hander returned for the postseason and pitched to a 1.61 ERA in three games of relief.
Michael Wacha is also coming in off of a season where he finished fourth in the NL with 17 wins. Mike Leake, Jaime Garcia and Carlos Martinez round out the rotation. The bullpen is anchored by closer Trevor Rosenthal, who finished second in the Senior Circuit with 48 saves last season.
The Cardinals should still be a tremendous team if they stay healthy, but their stranglehold on the division may come to an end in 2016.
Pittsburgh Pirates (98-64)
With the Cardinals owning the division the last three years, the Pirates have had amazing campaigns, but have run into a Wild Card Game problem. In the three years of the new format, Pittsburgh has played in the NL play-in contest all three times, winning in 2013, but falling the last two seasons.
It's a crime that the Pirates won 98 games and ran into the buzz saw that was Jake Arrieta last season in a win-or-go-home game and that was it for the season, but such is life. Now, Pittsburgh needs to hope its window isn't closing. The lineup is flanked by Andrew McCutchen, who is still one of the elite players in the game. The centerfielder finished with the fourth-best on-base percentage (.401) in the NL last season.
Pittsburgh lost Pedro Alvarez (Orioles) and Neil Walker (Mets) and replaced them with John Jaso and David Freese, which may not be enough. Gregory Polanco and Starling Marte compliment McCutchen in the lineup, but the Pirates may lack depth this season, especially with Jung-Ho Kang starting on the disabled list.
The rotation also still has its heart with ace Gerrit Cole forming a 1-2 punch with Francisco Liriano. Cole is coming in off of a 2015 that saw him finish tied for second in the NL in wins (19) and in sole possession of fourth in ERA (2.60). Liriano's 9.88 strikeouts per nine innings placed him third in the league. Behind those two, however, Pittsburgh has a lot of question marks.
In the bullpen, the Pirates added a few pieces to place behind Mark Melancon, who led the majors with 51 saves last season.
The Pirates likely won't have the same magic as last year, and it could be hard to live up to the Cardinals and Cubs.
Chicago Cubs (97-65)
The Cubs jumped up to the next level a year earlier than expected last season, winning a lot more games than most predicted and making it all the way to the NLCS. The playoff experience should have only done wonders for the young core of this team.
Chicago looks poised for big things this season, led by its great young bats in the likes of Anthony Rizzo and Kris Bryant.
Last season, Rizzo finished third in the NL in RBI (101) and fourth in OPS (.899), while Bryant paced all rookies with 26 homers (tied) and 99 RBIs en route to the Rookie of the Year Award. Kyle Schwarber (16 homers in 69 games) also swung a hot bat despite his defensive liabilities, while Addison Russell will have even more experience entering this season.
Dexter Fowler also had a strong year at the top of the Cubs lineup and the club will be bolstered by veteran acquisitions in Jason Heyward and Ben Zobrist, who is fresh off of winning the World Series with the Royals.
The rotation's 1-2 punch of reigning NL Cy Young Award winner Jake Arrieta, who led the majors with 22 wins and placed second with a 1.77 ERA in 2015, and Jon Lester, has only been bolstered by the addition of veteran and two-time World Series champion John Lackey.
Jason Hammel and Kyle Kendricks will round out the rotation, while Adam Warren, who came over from the Yankees in the Starling Castro trade, is slated for a bullpen role, but can also start when needed.
This looks like it will be a really great year for the Cubs and they may finally unseat the Cardinals as division champions.
Milwaukee Brewers (68-94)
The Brewers are in the midst of a full-on rebuild, though they have some intriguing young players on their roster and have a vast amount of prospects that will make it up to the big leagues eventually. That doesn't mean it will be easy to watch Milwaukee this year.
Jonathan Lucroy and Ryan Braun will still flank the middle of the Milwaukee lineup, but it will be interesting to see if either is on the move by the time the trade deadline hits. Among the notable offseason additions for the Brewers is Chris Carter, who slugged 24 homers last season for the Astros, but also struck out 151 times. Jonathan Villar, Aaron Hill and Keon Broxton are also new faces to the lineup.
The rotation is projected to consist of Wily Peralta, Jimmy Nelson, Matt Garza, Taylor Jungmann and Chase Anderson, who was acquired from the Diamondbacks in January.
The Brewers have a bright future, but 2016 should be a long baseball season for Milwaukee fans.
Cincinnati Reds (64-98)
The Reds are another team doing a lot of rebuilding, and they traded away Todd Frazier and Aroldis Chapman this offseason, while Brandon Phillips and Jay Bruce are always linked to trade rumors.
Joey Votto finished second in the NL in on-base percentage (.459), third in OPS (.1000) and fourth in slugging percentage (.541) last season and he'll anchor the heart of the lineup along with Phillips and Bruce. Billy Hamilton, who was second in the NL with 57 steals last season, will serve as the table-setter.
Cincinnati has a mostly young rotation which will continue to try to improve in 2016, though with pieces like Chapman missing from the bullpen, it won't be very easy.
With the Reds in full-on rebuilding mode and likely to lose some more pieces before the end of the season, they'll likely be battling with the Brewers to see who will avoid last place.
The Prediction
Here are our projected standings for the NL Central in 2016:
1) Cubs (95-67)
2) Cardinals (91-71)
3) Pirates (87-75)
4) Reds (69-93)
5) Brewers (68-94)
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