Breaking Down the NL Central - Baseball Tonight version

[homer]

ESPN wants its guys to say outrageous or stupid predictions to give them something to talk about. Kruk admitted a few years back when he picked the Pirates to win the NL Central that the producers wanted him to pick something else and he said no so they said okay then you're picking the Pirates to win the Central. So basically there is no reason to listen to who they think will win but they why is every once in awhile still informative.

Agreed. You'll almost never have agreement on the "panel". It's always one viewpoint and a counter-viewpoint - unless the counterviewpoint is completely ridiculous (like the Nationals will come back and win the NL East). I can almost guarantee someone told EY to pick the Astros.

[jeffy]

ESPN is nothing more than a regional, east coast network that gives the occasional shout out to the rest of the country.

I think they'd be happy if they could show a Yankees-Red Sox game every single Sunday and Wednesday night.

[lcbj68c]

You can't blame non-Brewers fans outside of Milwaukee for thinking we are so horrible. Anytime we are a national televised game, we get our arses handed to us. Can somebody research our record on Nationally televised games in the past 5 years or so? I bet the winning percentage is around .200

[Ennder]

I didn't have an easy way to look it up but I found a list of 5 games that were nationally televised last year, I know we had more than these original 5 as they added a few during the season.

 

Apr 12: 5-3 win over the Mets

May 24: 5-2 win over the Nats

June 13: 2-10 loss vs Twins

June 20: 5-8 loss vs Orioles

Sept 5: 3-2 win vs Padres

 

So last year I don't imagine we were too terrible in them.

[wisconsinfan47]

Just based on memory, I know that in '07 we played on FOX Saturday Baseball at least twice, once dominating the Cubs at Wrigley and then getting shutout by some guy named Lincecum at Miller Park. We also played on ESPN a couple times that year, the only one I specifically remember was beating the Cardinals at Miller Park in the first game after Josh Hancock's death.

 

We were on FOX Saturday something like five times last year, and I remember we lost at Boston, won at Atlanta (CC dominated), lost to the Cubs on the second to last day of the season, and lost one earlier in the year to STL (loss and blown save credited to Mr. Eric Gagne), and lost to the Reds in Cinci during our September swoon. We were also on ESPN for Opening Day last year (a win, though distressing), and the 1st game of the legendary July sweep in St. Louis (blacked out in Wisconsin). I'm sure we were on ESPN midweek at least a few more times, but don't remember how we performed.

 

This year's nationally televised games have sucked, losing once on FOX (today), twice on ESPN Sunday Night, and once on MLB network. It doesn't help that the losses have been kind of embarassing...the Cubs loading up on RBI BB's, the Mourneau GS, Parra's performance today, etc.

 

We were on national TV a lot less before '07, so some of those games stick out more vividly to me. I'm pretty sure Prince's demolition of the Giants' backup catcher in '06 was an ESPN day game, and I think we beat up on the Rockies pretty good during an '05 ESPN game. I think we also played the last '06 Saturday at St. Louis on FOX and lost.

 

I'm sure there have been more Nationally televised games than I mentioned, like the one's Ennder posted, but there just doesn't seem to be any kind of trend, and why would there be? It's not like a different logo hanging from under the press box is going to change how our guys play.

[The Heartbreak Yid]

The Reds, yeah possibly. But the Astros? Uh, no.

The Astros have a very solid lineup, especially when Kaz gets back

 

Bourne

Kaz

Pense

Lee

Berkman

Tejada

Pudge

whoever

P

 

Is very solid. If they can get another solid starter, they will be a serious threat.

[TooLiveBrew]

Don't forget about Peter Gammons picking Bobby Crosby to win the AL MVP two years ago...that one's my personal favorite.

 

I remember that. But honestly, how hard is it to remember a pick that bad? http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

 

 

And H-Yid, I really have to disagree on the Astros.

[crewcrazy]

Houston does have a decent batting order lined up when Tejada's not in a huge slump, but the holes at the bottom of the rotation and in the bullpen are almost too big for them to really sustain much success. If Wandy Rodriguez wasn't so hot to start the season, they'd be in bigger trouble than they are now.

[Invader3K]

Just looking at the standings today, it's crazy how tight this division is. Even though Houston and Pittsburgh are both down at the bottom, each team is only 3 games below .500, and only 4 games back from the Brewers. So, you can't say anyone has an unrealistic chance at this point, based on the standings.

[CheezWizHed]

Eric Young was on espn defending Milton Bradley and his three reasons to not blame Milton for his bad start.

1 - No protection in the lineup - I am sorry even when Ramirez was there he was terrible

2 - Just got a big contract and is pressing - Milton does not look like he is trying too hard. His effort is actually in question by Cubs fans

3 - All the day games at Wrigley mess him up - Considering he has on OPS .893 at home and one of .586 (in almost 100 PA) on the road I do not think that holds water. His line for day games is actually better than night Mr Young.

 

ESPN continues its great coverage.

Maybe EY should have added that MB has difficulty counting to three.

[Ennder]

The Astros have a very average offense so far this year and it is old so could easily slip some in the second half, the pitching is where it will really fall apart though.

[bklynbrewcrew]

This division looks awful at this point. When teams like the pirates and astros are within striking distance you know that there isnt one team in the division that is playing well on a consistent basis. If we could only play up to our potential we could definitely still win this division.

 

On another note has anyone noticed how bad the offenses have been in our division. Besides us slumping the cardinals and cubs have been awful for some time now. I really do fear the scrubs if they get the offense going because they have far better starting pitching than the Brewers.

[Invader3K]

I agree, Bklyn. I think one of the most frustrating things is that if the Brewers had just played a bit better the last couple weeks, or had some hits fall their way, they could have created some real separation in the standings.

[joepepsi]

It's the Brewers division to lose. They're trying like heck to do just that.

[topper09er]

Looking at the schedule, it is brutal until the break, if we are at .500 by the break I will be happy. We have road series at CLE, DET and CHC. Home against, MIN, SF, NYM, STL, LAD. Ouch..

 

We need to stay positive because we are not going to be in first place at the break, but after that we have play almost all bad teams except for 3 in LA, home and away CIN until September in STL.

 

If we are at .500 by the break we can get 10 or even 15 games above .500 by september and then hopefully not choke like last year...

 

Its a long season

[Oldcity]

I don't see how it's the Brewers' division to lose. Cubs have to be the favorite at this point. They're only a few back. They have the best pitching by far, and will be getting Ramirez back. That could be offset by a team making a big trade, but as of now I definitely think the Cubs are the favorite.

 

The NL appears to be bad in general this year, with the Dodgers looking like the only great team.

[The Heartbreak Yid]

The thing about the Cubs is yes, the other teams have allowed them to stay close in the division. While they could conceivably pull it together and be in first by the ASB or sooner, the Brewers and/or Cards are also a hot streak away from pushing them to 10 games back in that same time frame. IMHO, the only team in baseball that I can legitamately see running away with their division early on is the Dodgers.

[crewcrazy]

The best thing about the NL Central is that fans of every team are all expecting the worst to happen right now, but not much has changed over the past few weeks. We've all been tortured with a variety of playoff droughts and choke jobs recently that at every sign of trouble we're worried it's happening again. Pittsburgh hasn't had a winning record since 1992, Cincinnati hasn't made the playoffs since 1995 or a winning season since 2000, Chicago has the 1908 thing going on and hasn't won a playoff game since the Bartman incident (despite having the best team in the NL some years...that's indicative of how much of a crapshoot the playoffs are), the Cardinals had a horrible stretch of bad luck in the playoffs until they finally won the World Series, Houston's front office has left little hope for the future with a barren farm system and an aging big league roster, and us Brewers fans are still trying to forget a quarter century of consistently sucking. Overall, we're in a fairly battered and dejected division, no? http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif

 

It's a long season, and I have no doubt that the Brewers will be in it until the end. If they can't jump ahead the rest of the division now, they'll have plenty of chances in a Central-laden September schedule. They're likely not as good as they were in that 21 of 26 stretch, but they're not as bad as they've been playing now. The true level of talent is somewhere in between, and I think that it'll be enough to be near the top of the wildcard standings again, if not the division.

[joepepsi]

The Cubs offense is terrible so far. I don't think one guy coming off the DL changes that significantly. Theriot is the only one giving one giving good production for his position. Well, Fukudome is pretty solid, I suppose. They are 14th in runs scored, 11th in obp, 10th in slugging.

 

It's possible Lee, Soto, Soriano, etc kick it into high gear in the heat of summer and they really take off. It's just as possible Hardy, Hart, Gamel, and Cameron start hitting too. It's a very tight division but I still think the Brewers have the best all around team.

[Invader3K]

The Cubs just fired their hitting coach, Gerald Perry, so that shows what kind of problems they're having at the plate.

[diesmitty]

Don't forget about Peter Gammons picking Bobby Crosby to win the AL MVP two years ago...that one's my personal favorite.

 

I remember that. But honestly, how hard is it to remember a pick that bad? http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

 

 

And H-Yid, I really have to disagree on the Astros.

 

He also picked Nomar to win the 2005 NL MVP his one full season with the Cubs. We all know how that ended.

[BrewCrewRising]

The Cubs just fired their hitting coach, Gerald Perry, so that shows what kind of problems they're having at the plate.

And he's being replaced by former Brewer Von Joshua!