By: Dustin
With a stunning 12-10 record, the St. Louis Cardinals emerged from their weekend series with Cincinnati as proud owners of the best mark in the National League Central. Milwaukee (11-10), Cincinnati (11-11) and Chicago (10-11) are all within a game and a half. Hell, Pittsburgh (9-12) is as close — or closer — to first place than the second-place team in the AL East, AL West and NL West.
Now it's super early yet, but I never miss a chance to take shots at the NL Central. Some optimistic folks may chalk these records up to parity; I don't disagree, I think the division is pretty competitive. What they may not agree with, however, is that this parity is derived from the division's overall blandness. If this division was a bag of potato chips, it would be a generic brand of the plain-flavored variety. It's not as good as sour cream and onion or even barbeque. It's not even better than the plain-flavored Lays or Ruffles that just have a way of tasting better than some bullshit store brand. It is, however, better than a plate of celery and radishes without any ranch dressing. Or corn dogs. I hate those things.
Think about it. There just isn't a team that you can honestly say is better than average. I thought it was going to be the Reds, I really did. Despite a manager who has tripped and fallen into more victories than any skipper could ever deserve, I thought this team was more talented. Looking around the rest of the league, most divisions have that good team . . . maybe even a couple. In all but the AL Central, it's hardly a surprise who that team has been so far. What's the deal with the White Sox, by the way? Oh well, that's another blog entry for another day.
I still feel Cincinnati is the best team in the bunch, though. If Zack Greinke is still Zack Greinke when he returns to action, the Brewers are also going to finish ahead of the Redbirds. I'm sure many Cardinals fans will crow about taking two of three from the hated Reds (a new development that really makes me like the Reds a bit more than I normally would), but I honestly like the Reds' lineup, rotation and defense more. Ditto that for the Brewers. In both cases, there's a lot more potential there. For St. Louis, I think 12 wins every 22 games is pretty much what you're going to get. I know Ryan Franklin blew a few saves, but if there was somebody vastly better than Franklin to close in St. Louis, he would've already had the job. The back end of the bullpen looks like something that will cost the Cardinals wins all year, regardless of which no-name(s) they end up turning to for the rest of the season.
When the dust clears, though, whoever wins this division will once again have the honor of being dropped like a bad habit in the divisional series. As confident as I am in the above thoughts, I say this with much more certainty.
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4 comments:
Yes every team in the division has flaws so it's going to be a tight 3 possibly 4 team race.
I think you're making a major mistake by overlooking the fragility of Rolen's shoulder. His Offensive resurgence and glove was possibly the biggest reason why the Reds won the division. And now he's already spending time on the DL. The Reds will not win the division if Miguel Cairo ends up as the everyday 3B or Rolen returns and is unable to drive the ball.
Yes the Cardinals have had issues with the bulpen. But the highly touted Eduardo Sanchez should solidify the 8th inning and Boggs isn't great but he is better than Franklin right now. The bullpen will be ok. Despite Franklin's struggles, the bullpen has a 2.93ERA which is better than 21 other teams. The Cards defensive struggles(already cost them a sweep of Cincy) will end up being much more of a problem than the bullpen.
Here's the thing about Rolen and his role on last year's team: I think the Reds had to be a better team last year to win the division. They needed that effort from him. This year, however, it isn't going to take as good an effort because the main competition — the Cardinals — took a step backwards during the offseason. Maybe two or three.
Having a low bullpen ERA is nice, but my comment spoke specifically to the back end of the bullpen. I don't see anybody in the bunch who is going to be a lock-down stopper. It makes no difference who ends up filling the role, he is going to blow than your average closer. That's a problem, no matter how well Trever Miller and Fernando Salas are pitching in relatively low-pressure roles to pad that bullpen ERA.
As far as defense, I agree. St. Louis is a poorly constructed defensive team. Great catcher, better-than-average at the corner infield spots. I don't think Rasmus is as good as he probably should be, but he's not a liability. Schumaker/Theriot is one of the worst middle infield combos in the game. Berkman in right field hasn't been a horrible disaster, but he seems to be feeling frisky right now. We'll see how he's getting around in July. Then of course you have Mr. Take-A-Liner-In-The-Dick out there in left field . . . I don't think he's horrible, but he's not good either.
Every team has its flaws, true. But once august rolls around, there should be a decent amount of games separating the reds and brewers from the rest oof the division. The reds have a deep and talented farm system so whatever happens to rolen, it won't matter in the long run. Besides, we all know the pirates are about due to trade tabata, walker and alvarez to the cubs for a handful of players to be named later.
I know it's only one game, but I'll still take this opportunity to ask: What happened to the Cardinals' "better option" last night?
Actually, I don't dispute the fact that the Cardinals have better options than Franklin, but that doesn't mean they have any good options. From a "stuff" perspective, Sanchez may be the best option . . . but I don't know if Drunken Master will be willing to use him in that role.
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