Keeping Tabs: NL Central

[GAC]

Absolutely everything the Reds could ask to break their way has at this juncture of the season. Through no fault of their own, they've got a chance at the division title. Some team is going to get hot and win this thing. The Reds, like four other teams, should be thinking, "Why not us?"

Exactly. They just shown they can by sweeping the division's top two teams. That's making a statement IMO.

[RedsBrick]

Absolutely true. But the play-offs don't start today, and half the season remains to be played. Don't know what's going to happen, but I like the way this team is trending here in '19. The offense, IMO, is starting to perform to expectations; but in the long run it's still going to come down to the pitching in the second half. Will it hold up? They just lost the only lefty they had in the BP in Garrett to the 10-day. Garrett says it's just regular soreness and he'll be OK. But the Reds are taking the cautious approach. Plus the good thing is, he'll spend most of that stint over the AS break. But we have no lefties available within the system .. They booted Duke (good riddance), Peralta and Reed both started throwing sessions coming back from injury. Maybe a TD need?

This team is providing it's fans - yes, even when it loses - with some exciting, edge of your seat, competitive baseball till the last out. When the game is over it's like having a rush from a Starbucks double cafe latte (LOL). Takes me a bit to wind down and get to sleep.

Everything you say is true. I'm simply expressing my point of view. There's a lot of playoff talk/discussion. For me, personally, I won't get my hopes up about that until the team can make it to .500. Frankly, that should be the team's first goal. 50/50 baseball. Playoff talk should be moot until they can prove to themselves that they can do that. This team is capable. At least they appear to be. Can they do it? We'll see. I won't take playoff talk seriously until they can cross that magical line because teams with losing records don't make the playoffs in a regular MLB season.

[SunDeck]

Absolutely everything the Reds could ask to break their way has at this juncture of the season. Through no fault of their own, they've got a chance at the division title. Some team is going to get hot and win this thing. The Reds, like four other teams, should be thinking, "Why not us?"

I disagree that it is entirely "through no fault of their own".This team may not be the best in the division, but no other team's pitching staff has performed as well and the club deserves credit for being where they are right now, despite the fact that the offense has struggled to plate runners when they need to. Can they win the division? Yes, but to me it seems all the guys not standing on the mound need to step up.

I'm going climb out on a limb and say winning the division depends on Puig. It's not a limb I want to be on and I'm contemplating the delete button as I type this, but I believe he's picked this team up and is carrying them lately with solid play and emotion. They have a lot of hitters, but outside of Iglesias they have been practically unreliable. They need a core to build around, that field leader and for lack of a better alternative, I'm going to say Puig needs to be that weird, child like combination of Joey Votto, Sean Casey and Greg Vaughn for this club.

Oh God, there I said it.

[RedsBrick]

I disagree that it is entirely "through no fault of their own".This team may not be the best in the division, but no other team's pitching staff has performed as well and the club deserves credit for being where they are right now, despite the fact that the offense has struggled to plate runners when they need to. Can they win the division? Yes, but to me it seems all the guys not standing on the mound need to step up.

I'm going climb out on a limb and say winning the division depends on Puig. It's not a limb I want to be on and I'm contemplating the delete button as I type this, but I believe he's picked this team up and is carrying them lately with solid play and emotion. They have a lot of hitters, but outside of Iglesias they have been practically unreliable. They need a core to build around, that field leader and for lack of a better alternative, I'm going to say Puig needs to be that weird, child like combination of Joey Votto, Sean Casey and Greg Vaughn for this club.

Oh God, there I said it.

Hey, good decision to keep the Puig stuff. He deserves some credit for not only working through his woes at the plate but also bringing much needed energy to the team. Who knows where he'll end up, from a numbers standpoint, but he's definitely brought a spark.

[M2]

I disagree that it is entirely "through no fault of their own".This team may not be the best in the division, but no other team's pitching staff has performed as well and the club deserves credit for being where they are right now, despite the fact that the offense has struggled to plate runners when they need to. Can they win the division? Yes, but to me it seems all the guys not standing on the mound need to step up.

I agree the pitching has done well, but any other division and they'd have zero shot of winning.

[SunDeck]

I agree the pitching has done well, but any other division and they'd have zero shot of winning any other division.

Ok, I see now what you meant and I agree with that notion. Also, I imagine the same could almost be said for all the teams in the NL Central, given the way the Braves and Dodgers have played thus far.

[NebraskaRed]

Jon Heyman
‏
@JonHeyman

NL Central could be fantastic finish. 3 1/2 games separate top from bottom. Pirates and Reds are contenders, as of today. Don’t doubt it.

Seeing a lot of this sentiment by sportswriters today.

[Senzling Hot]

Absolutely everything the Reds could ask to break their way has at this juncture of the season. Through no fault of their own, they've got a chance at the division title. Some team is going to get hot and win this thing. The Reds, like four other teams, should be thinking, "Why not us?"

I disagree with this notion. Their best starting pitcher has been hurt all year, one of their best bats has just recently come back, their big bullpen addition has been garbage, their offense is not what anyone expected, and so much more. I don' see how this constitutes everything going their way.

[OhioRiverBarge]

AS Break hypothetical:

IF the Cubs lose both games to the White Sox
IF the Brewers get swept by the Pirates
IF the Cardinals lose 2/3 to the Giants
IF the Reds win both games against the Indians

This would be the NL Central standings going into the All-Star Break:

Team — Record — GB

Cubs — 46-44 — XX
Brewers — 46-45 — .5
Pirates — 45-44 — .5
Cards — 44-44 — 1
Reds — 43-44 — 1.5

[OhioRiverBarge]

AS Break hypothetical:

IF the Cubs lose both games to the White Sox
IF the Brewers get swept by the Pirates
IF the Cardinals lose 2/3 to the Giants
IF the Reds win both games against the Indians

This would be the NL Central standings going into the All-Star Break:

Team — Record — GB

Cubs — 46-44 — XX
Brewers — 46-45 — .5
Pirates — 45-44 — .5
Cards — 44-44 — 1
Reds — 43-44 — 1.5

So really, for the Reds to be only 1.5 back by the All-Star Break, all that needs to happen is the Cubs lose 2 games, and the Brewers to lose 2/3 games. But it’s interesting to see how tight this could get.

[M2]

I disagree with this notion. Their best starting pitcher has been hurt all year, one of their best bats has just recently come back, their big bullpen addition has been garbage, their offense is not what anyone expected, and so much more. I don' see how this constitutes everything going their way.

I was speaking in terms of the division. They should be done and buried, but they're not because the Cubs and Brewers have stumbled. NL East, NL West, AL East, AL Central or AL West and they'd have no shot. Someone might win this division with less than 90 wins. That's happened 3 times in the past decade. It's roughly a 1-in-20 chance at being in a division this bad. Despite anything you may want to claim as bad luck, they have been thrown a lifeline. It's nearly impossible to spend most of your season in the basement and still have a shot at your division as we get into the 2nd half of the season.

[kaldaniels]

I was speaking in terms of the division. They should be done and buried, but they're not because the Cubs and Brewers have stumbled. NL East, NL West, AL East, AL Central or AL West and they'd have no shot. Someone might win this division with less than 90 wins. That's happened 3 times in the past decade. It's roughly a 1-in-20 chance at being in a division this bad. Despite anything you may want to claim as bad luck, they have been thrown a lifeline. It's nearly impossible to spend most of your season in the basement and still have a shot at your division as we get into the 2nd half of the season.

A .500 playing division isn’t “bad” per se. There’s parity. There’s no big front-runner. But it’s a division playing right at .500.

I’d call it an average division with a lot of parity, not a bad division.

[Kingspoint]

I agree the pitching has done well, but any other division and they'd have zero shot of winning.

Fortunately, this isn't 1969 where only two teams make the playoffs. They need only make the playoffs and they are in the middle of a playoff hunt no matter what Division they would be in, no matter which league.

[Falls City Beer]

A .500 playing division isn’t “bad” per se. There’s parity. There’s no big front-runner. But it’s a division playing right at .500.

I’d call it an average division with a lot of parity, not a bad division.

This is my take as well. It’s definitely not the AL East or West in terms of talent, but this division is better than than the AL Central and overall better than the NL East.

[podgejeff_]

I'd currently only rank the NL Central under the AL West and then NL West.

AL East doesn't look strong this year at all. It's easy to pile up wins when you have Baltimore and Toronto in your division. I'd have the AL East only ahead of the godawful AL central in terms of strength.