Well if you have been paying attention to MLB over the winter, you know who has been getting a lot of attention. A lot of expectations have been put on the Chicago Cubs as they look to bring home a World Series title for the first time since 1908. The Cardinals have been the team dominating this division for a while, but things are tense with the Cubs and Pirates worthy of the playoffs. The Cardinals lost a couple weapons to their rival, as the Cubs look to get past the NLCS and on to the World Series this season.
The Cubs offense is insane. I expect Bryant and Rizzo to lower their strikeout totals and have say 30-40 homers each. Schwarber will add to the power, while Fowler and Zobrist provide a consistent average. Heyward got quite the paycheck, I mean $200 million is a lot for him. But he will hit for power and average, as the Cardinals will be missing him. Of course they got Arrieta on the mound, with the horse Lackey, another weapon stolen from their division rival. But my question about this team is about the rest of their rotation. My faith in Lester has taken a dive, while Hammel could be a big question mark when it comes to consistency as well. Pitching could be a flaw for the Cubs, but their offense will be unbelievable. Look for them to possibly add and arm by the end of July if it seems starting pitching is slowing them down in the battle for the title. But I realistically don't think it should be to hard, a good fight into September, but it will be the Cubs division and possibly conference title in the fall.
The Cardinals may be missing a couple big names from their roster last season, but I think they got one of the most underrated rotations in baseball. Wainwright is teaching the youngster arms, Wacha and Garcia, as they look to put up solid innings. St. Louis acquired Mike Leake who can put together 5-6 innings each start even if he is getting roughed up. Holliday is taking over at first, as Grichuk will be in the outfield hopefully ready to put up good numbers and stay off the DL. Jhonny Peralta got dinged up in spring training and will miss time, but with an offense lead by Matt Carpenter, the Cardinals will always be dangerous. Though the hype has been all about Chicago, the Cardinals will still have a good season taking the lead seat in the wildcard.
The Pirates just can't get past that wildcard game, as they were shut out yet again last season. The Pirates have a good offense lead by McCutchen and Polanco. They added David Freese, but he isn't the player he was when he beat them up in a St. Louis jersey. Jung Ho Kang has got some good pop, but his health already seems to be an issue. The deal the Pirates made sending Neil Walker to the Mets for Jon Niese will come back to hurt them. Missing his bat in the lineup will turn into lack of run production, and Niese wasn't the kind of arm they were looking to acquire in the winter. They got Cole and Liriano at the top of the rotation, but Locke and Vogelsong wont be putting up impressive ERAs. The Pirates will be among contenders for the playoffs, but they will need to pick up another pitcher if they want to go anywhere this time.
Don't count on much from the Brewers this season. They got their three main bats with Braun, Lucroy, and Hill, but unless the three of them have great seasons and carry the team you can expect around 90 loses. I would think with their poor pitching staff lead by Willy Peralta, you can expect them to deal away a couple of their big names. I wouldn't be surprised if Lucroy joins a contender come July. The way Segura is playing, you can bet they are regretting making that deal with Arizona. Chris Carter was a good pickup for pop, but you can't expect him to have a good average. I like Jeffress in the bullpen, but he will need to come up big after Smith joined the DL last week. The Brewers may hit a good amount of homers, but will have a bad ERA and a poor record.
Now the Reds may have been hot in 2010-13, making the playoffs each year, but now that era has come to a close and they are just looking to rebuild. Their rotation is either dinged up or inexperienced. Bailey is coming back from Tommy John, but they will be breaking him back into the league slowly and other than Brandon Finnegan, I don't have much faith in their young arms. Now the Reds still have their big name bats, with Votto, Bruce, Phillips, and Hamilton. But those guys need to take more walks and will probably be wearing different jerseys at some point in the season. Another question mark is Mesoraco and how he can preform after his hip surgery. Can he catch? Or will the Reds have to place him somewhere else? I bet it will be a long season for the Reds, as they need a turn around year from their bats or they will be selling their names just like Fraizer.
NL Central Records:
1. Cubs 100-62
2. Cardinals 89-73
3. Pirates 87-75
4. Brewers 69-93
5. Reds 68-94
The Cardinals may be missing a couple big names from their roster last season, but I think they got one of the most underrated rotations in baseball. Wainwright is teaching the youngster arms, Wacha and Garcia, as they look to put up solid innings. St. Louis acquired Mike Leake who can put together 5-6 innings each start even if he is getting roughed up. Holliday is taking over at first, as Grichuk will be in the outfield hopefully ready to put up good numbers and stay off the DL. Jhonny Peralta got dinged up in spring training and will miss time, but with an offense lead by Matt Carpenter, the Cardinals will always be dangerous. Though the hype has been all about Chicago, the Cardinals will still have a good season taking the lead seat in the wildcard. 
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