Houston Astros | Danny Vinik

Time to preview the NL Central for the upcoming season:

Predicted Standings
1. Chicago Cubs
2. Milwaukee Brewers
3. St. Louis Cardinals
4. Cincinnati Reds
5. Houston Astros
6. Pittsburgh Pirates

Best Player: Ryan Braun
Best Pitcher: Chris Carpenter

Cubs

The Cubs are the clear favorite in the NL Central as they return a powerful lineup and an experienced, dominant pitching staff. Led by Alfonso Soriano and Derek Lee, the Cubs lineup has the potential to put up a crooked number any inning. In the rotation, Carlos Zambrano and Rich Harden lead a staff that is front-loaded, with the 4 and 5 pitc cubs-09-preview hers (Ryan Dempster and Sean Marshall) a cause for concern. However, a strong bullpen with Kevin Gregg and Carlos Marmol should keep the Cubs in any ballgame. Overall, the team has a tremendous amount of talent and will likely be a contender for the NL pennant.

Brewers

The Brewers lost C.C. Sabathia and Ben Sheets from their starting staff and that will seriously hurt their playoff chances, but their lineup is still stacked, giving them the ability to overcome mediocre pitching. With Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder, runs will not be hard to come by, especially considering J.J. Hardy and Richie Weeks bat in front of those two sluggers. Jeff Suppan is the number one starter for Milwaukee and that is a sign for concern in itself as Suppan is not quite an ace. Follow him up with Yovani Gallardo, Manny Parra, Braden Looper, and Dave Busch, and the rotation is shaky at best. Recently-acquired Trevor Hoffman leads the bullpen, but even if he is terrific, Milwaukee is still going to need a lot of run-production to stay in the NL Central race. Continue reading “2009 National League Central Preview” →

With Bonds getting most focus from baseball fans these days, two stories from the past few days deserve more attention. First, Jon Lester’s return to the mound after beating cancer and second, Craig Biggio’s retirement announcement. Lester’s story is inspirational and should motivate other people, child or adult, to fight against cancer as hard as they can. As Biggio ends his career, he can only be seen as the ultimate professional, the perfect teammate, and a community leader. If only these stories could overshadow Bonds and the circus of media that follows.

Lester was diagnosed with a form of cancer known as anaplastic large cell lymphoma on August 23rd of last year. Since then, he has successfully conquered the long road back to the major leagues, from chemotherapy to half a year at Triple A. Last night’s start, his first start in the majors since the diagnosis, was a moment he will never forget and his family will never forget. That first pitch was a moment that should have gained more publicity from ESPN. They have live cut-ins to every Bonds at bat, but can’t show one pitch from Lester. Even though it wasn’t covered by ESPN, Lester still made his start and shined in it. The Sox batters even provided support for Lester before he took the mound, putting a four spot up in the top of the first. Lester completed the hardest comeback possible, defeating cancer, and now he is finally back in the major leagues, striking out batters and racking up wins.
Continue reading “MLB’s Shining Stars” →