Predictions & Key Moves For The NL Central

Predictions, Key Moves, and Exclusive Insights as Teams Report for Duty

We are inching closer and closer to Opening Day as over 50% of MLB teams will have pitchers and catchers report today, with the rest reporting tomorrow. The Dodgers are the first team to have their full squad report which starts today. Does that count as Spring Training has started? It does for my mental wellbeing at least. Either way, all of MLB will have reported to Spring Training by February 20th, as long as they’ve signed with an MLB team that is, looking at you Blake Snell, and Cody Bellinger.

Today, we'll talk about the National League Central, which is expected to be the weakest division in the National League, and I’m predicting only the top two teams of the division will finish over the .500 mark. With that said, I expect it to be a race until the very end. Let’s slide right in with the key additions, subtractions, and my standings predictions…

1. St. Louis Cardinals 🥇 

Additions: Matt Carpenter, Sonny Gray, Kyle Gibson, Lance Lynn, Andrew Kittredge, Keynan Middleton
Subtractions: Andrew Knizner, Tyler O’Neill, Adam Wainwright, Dakota Hudson
Why? Patching up the large hole of pitching last season, the Cardinals have put themselves in a good spot to win this division. They possess good depth to generate runs and minimize any potential impact of age on players such as Arenado or Goldschmidt.

2. Chicago Cubs 🥈 

Additions: Michael Busch, Yency Almonte, Shota Imanaga, Hector Neris
Subtractions: Cody Bellinger, Jeimer Candelario, Brad Boxberger, Michael Rucker, Marcus Stroman, Michael Fulmer
Why: There was a lot of hope early this offseason the Cubs were going to make a strong push in free agency after snagging Craig Counsell from the Brewers, and that hope hasn’t necessarily panned out. There’s still some time to add to this rotation with some top talent still available and I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Cubs be active there. If so, they can make a run for this division title. I’m a Spring Training ticket holder for the Cubs so I hope they make another move.

3. Milwaukee Brewers 🥉 

Additions: Jake Bauers, Taylor Clarke, Eric Haase, Rhys Hoskins, Joe Ross, DL Hall, Joey Ortiz, Gary Sanchez
Subtractions: Corbin Burnes, Mark Canha, Josh Donaldson, Adrian Houser, Carlos Santana, Tyrone Taylor, Rowdy Tellez, Jesse Winker, Brandon Woodruff
Why: One step forward and two steps back this offseason for the Brew Crew. They were filling some roster spots by adding Rhys Hoskins, then they traded away Corbin Burnes as was rumored for all of the offseason. This front office continues to try to ball on a budget, and I’m not too sure it’s going to work out for them.

4. Cincinnati Reds

Additions: Jeimer Candelario, Nick Martinez, Josh Harrison, Brent Suter, Frankie Montas, Austin Wynns, Emilio Pagán,
Subtractions: Joey Votto, Harrison Bader, Daniel Duarte, Nick Senzel, Derek Law
Why: This team has a major log jam in the infield with more talent than the positions available. If they can exchange one of those extra infielders for a front-end rotation guy, they could be in a good spot.

5. Pittsburgh Pirates

Additions: Aroldis Chapman, Marco Gonzales, Edward Olivares, Martín Pérez, Rowdy Tellez
Subtractions: Thomas Hatch, Vince Velasquez, Yerry De Los Santos
Why: The Pirates got a bit better this offseason and have some decent talent on the roster like Bryan Reynolds and Ke’Bryan Hayes. With that said I think we can comfortably put this team here with minimal second-guessing when comparing their roster to the rest of the division.

• Jorge Soler signs 3yrs, $42M with San Francisco Giants. Let’s see if he can be the first Giant since Barry Bonds to hit 30+ homers.

• Topps Series 1 drops at 12PM EST today. Order your box direct from them or Fanatics for the best prices, at least from what I’ve found. Let me know if you have other secrets! Chase big rookies like Elly De La Cruz and Jasson Dominguez.

We’re as close as we’ve ever been to leaving the leftover taters in the trash and moving on to the fresh stuff. Today we’ll start with freshly served taters from baseball’s King, Shohei Ohtani. I could listen to this noise all day long. Almost there folks, we are almost there.

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