..:Official 2008 NL Central Thread:..Congratulations Chicago Cubs...:

I was at Wrigley on both saturday and sunday, It was awesome being there for those whoopings. I actually felt bad for the Pirates. Seriously i did. Derrek Leelooks SOOOOO good this year. Theriot is coming into his own and had a huge day today.
I must say, its an early season, but i am starting to drink some Kool Aid.
 
Ill stop getting on yall soo hard.........I apologize............
Accepted.........

and tylerdub......you're lucky as hell. You were at Wrigley on back to back beautiful Spring weekend games, and the Cubbies blew out the Piratestwice.....luckyyyy
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Fellow Cub fans, I must say who has impressed me so far this year.. And this is Ronnie Cedeno, it just seems like he finally is getting it.. The approach he istaking at the plate this year is great... I hope he keeps it up...
 
Originally Posted by THE SAUNA

Fellow Cub fans, I must say who has impressed me so far this year.. And this is Ronnie Cedeno, it just seems like he finally is getting it.. The approach he is taking at the plate this year is great... I hope he keeps it up...
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Agreed. Dude had a 12 pitch AB, and then settled for the BB.
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Wait aminute, Cedeno?
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Nice to have str8 ownage on the Bucs so far. 2 sweeps.
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I agree with Lou's mentality on 1st place. imo, let the fans worry about the standings. Me personally too, I'd rather be worried about the standings,and be in 1st still in September rather than just in April.

Now the Amazins' come into town. Or as what Ron Santo sees them as, the Sith.
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Got to take care of business against this well-crafted lineup. Big Z, against Maine. Should be a good one.
 
Originally Posted by THE SAUNA

Fellow Cub fans, I must say who has impressed me so far this year.. And this is Ronnie Cedeno, it just seems like he finally is getting it.. The approach he is taking at the plate this year is great... I hope he keeps it up...
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I have to say i 100% agree! ive actually been wanting to see more of cedeno in the lineup now that Soriano has been out. He is doing a great job!
 
Cedeno looks better, but I am still really surprised by Theriot. I thought he would just be a handy fill in guy at best, but the guy is just a winner. Hebrings a lot to our team.

We playin better early on this season then we did last year, I hope that keeps up. We used so much of last year trying to catch up to the Brewers, it would benice to just always be within a couple games either way so that we can make that final run towards the end without spotting an 8 game lead. Instead ofcatching up we could be extending a lead.

Big game tonight. Sad we won't get to see Johan. (not really)
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On every Good to great team someone has to step up and have a career year. Looks like Theriot is gonna be that guy. Cedeno's improvement with the bat isgreat. I have always been a fan of him, and now it looks like he might give me a reason.
It was so cold in the shade on Sunday. I am still not warmed up. We actually were about 20 rows behind homplate and sat somewhat near the governor. I was alsoon TV for any of you guys that watched sunday. They showed me and my wife in the 6th inning, she had on a green hoody and i was wearing a powder blue warmupjacket and Cubs hat. I had like 20 text messages in 3 minutes right after it ha penned. LOL
 
Well, it's only April 21, but this baseball season is already over 10% done. I know it's crazy, but every 16-20 games I will try to break each teamdown and give a look ahead for the next segment of the season.

As much as it hurts to say, let's start at the top, with the Cubs:

1. Chicago 12-6

What's happened: Three of Chicago's 6 losses have been by 2/1 runs, so it isn't astretch to think that the Cubs could actually be more along the lines of 14/15 wins. Then again, the Cubs have been helped by having to face the Pirates 6times in the early going, of course taking all 6. Wood has been solid out of the bullpen, the starting rotation has been top-heavy, getting solid outings fromZambrano (but giving up a lot of hits) and Dempster. Lilly, Marquis, and Hill have been decent, it will be interesting to see how things turn out. On theoffensive side of the ball, Derek Lee is a beast. Johnson and Theriot have been pleasant surprises, I wouldn't doubt Lee maintaining his current pace butthe latter 2, I am not too sure about. It will be nice to see what this offense does against other teams in the NL besides the Pirates (my Lord, 52 runs in 6games = almost 9 a game!)

The next 10%: The Cubs do start off nicely, with a 2 game set against the Mets at home sans Johan.After that, they will play 11 of their next 14 on the road including series with the Rockies, Reds, and BIRDNALS
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. The Cubs, however should be able to keepup this nice pace IF they can keep smacking the living hell out of the ball. If the hitting drops off (I suspect it will) then the pitching will have to pickup some of the slack.


2. St. Louis 12-7 (0.5 GB)

What's happened: Obviously, the Cards good start has been a pleasant surprise to many here inSt. Louis. For whatever reason 4 of the 7 losses have come to the Giants, and thanks to MLB's scheduling, we will not see them for the rest of the season.So far, the 5-man OF rotation has gone well, with the exception of Duncan. Schumaker (pronounced Shoe-MACH-er for crying out loud) has become a viable leadoffoption, as Barton, Ankiel, and Ludwick all have filled in nicely. Izzy has been very consistent, and the bullpen has been fairly good in limited outings. TheCardinals starters so far have gone 10-5, with the only real flaw being Pineiro, who was one of the better pitches for the late run of last season. And Iwouldn't go without mentioning Pujols, who has been Pujols.

The next 10%: It is not unreasonable to say Mulder could come back by the 2nd week in May, but evenif he does, who drops from the rotation? Major decisions for La Russa could be ahead. The Cardinals will play every team in the Central over the next 13 games,which they will hopefully win at least 4 out of those 5 series. A 9-game home stand should help the fact that the Cards have had just one off-day so far thisseason.


3. Milwaukee 11-7 (1.0 GB)

What's happened: It has been a strong start for the Brew Crew, especially since they have beenon the road for 12 games and home for only 6 thus far. They are also 6-6 in the Central, and it must be noted that they have yet to play the Astros or thePirates. They have played the majority of their young season without Tony Gwynn Jr., which will certainly add some more pop to the lineup once he returns.Obviously, we have heard that Fielder is struggling, especially power wise, but I don't think that will become a trend either. Especially when you look atBraun and Hall, the Brewers have greatly underachieved and are only 1 game out. As for pitching, Gagne remains under question, and outside of Sheets thestarters don't have much of an identity. If Milwaukee is in the hunt come August, look for management to seek out a solid number 2 starter.

The next 10%: Milwaukee will be home for 7 and once again on the road for 9. Florida will be 6 ofthose games, look for the Brewers/Marlins series' to be entertaining. St. Louis will visit tonight and tomorrow, with their No. 1 and 2 going, so look forthis home stand to be a building block heading into May. A lot of questions hopefully will be answered by mid-May, such as: Will Braun be as productive as hewas last year? Will Prince start hitting long balls? Will Gagne stop worrying about the Mitchell report and get after it? Also, look for Bill Hall to cut downon his K's, he currently is 2nd in all of baseball with 22 whiffs.


4. Cincinnati 8-11 (4.5 GB)

What's happened: Somebody explain this: a split with the Phillies, 2 of 3 from the D'Backs,and they proceed to be swept by the Pirates? Just like the previous statement, so far the Reds have been, well, confusing. As far as pitching goes,Harang's 1-2 record doesn't look pretty, but he is averaging 7 IP a start. Volquez has been dynamite, while Fogg and Arroyo have been less thanimpressive. On offense, this kid Keppinger (info on him please!) has 4 strikeouts -- in 76 AB's, with a .329 AVG as well. Besides him, nobody from the Redslineup really sticks out as a major contributor. Griffey is giving all he can at his age, Dunn really needs to start hitting to ball for the Reds to succeed.

The next 10%: The Reds will will have a tough 9 game road trip with trips to St. Louis, SanFrancisco, and Atlanta on tap. It is quite simple for the Reds - they need to start hitting the ball. With the top 3 teams in the Central playing good ball,the Reds need to start winning now to avoid falling out of the NL Central race early.


5. Pittsburgh 7-11 (5.0 GB)

What's happened: Nothing too new here. Once again, pitching woes plague the Pirates, as everystarter in the rotation has an ERA over 4.00 already. Nate McLouth has been arguably the story of the year so far, hitting .382 along with 3 HRs and 16 RBIs.Nady, Doumit, and Bay have been also swinging a decent bat, but usually the game is already so out of hand it doesn't really matter. If Pittsburgh can mendsome of their pitching woes, look for them to string some Ws together, but that will also include the lineup producing at a good pace. If the Pirates can getinto the later innings of a game with a lead, Capps and the rest of the bullpen have the ability to shut it down.

The next 10%: The Pirates first must rebound from the pounding they took from the Cubbies over theweekend. Without trying to be too technical, this team really needs some kind of consistency from it's rotation. They open up a 7-game home stand againstthe Marlins tonight, and their next 4 opponents (Fla, STL, Phi, NYM) have a combined record of 42-31. Look for McLouth to cool off eventually, but look for theoffense to still put up runs on the board.


6. Houston 7-12 (5.5 GB)

What's happened: Let me first say this - if you watch the Astros play, putting the recordaside, it is difficult to see them where they currently are. Look at their lineup: Lee, Tejada, Berkman, Pence. Not out of this world, but they are certainlybetter than 7-12. After looking at their schedule though, it is easy to see their early season slump. So far, the worst team they have played is either thePhillies or the Padres. Not so easy. While their hitting has been alright, their starting pitching has been just awful. Their "Ace" Oswalt is 1-3with an ERA of 6.65. The back end of the rotation hasn't been pitching well either. In fact, no Astros' starter has 2 wins! On the better side ofthings, the 'Stros bullpen has been decent, winning 4 of the 7 so far. Tejada has been his usual self, but unfortunately for the Astros has been the onlymajor offensive producer.

The next 10%: Things don't get any easier for the Astros, as they will go on the road against 2of the better NL teams in St. Louis and Arizona. For Houston to improve on it's dismal start, they will need to get more quality starts, and a morebalanced offense. Good thing it is still early, and a lot of the problems the Astros have faced are not uncommon in the MLB season's early going.



Well that's all I've got for now. All constructive criticism and insight is welcomed and appreciated.


A post like this isn't complete unless I have something to look back on.

PROJECTED STANDINGS ON FRIDAY MAY 9:

1. Cubs
2. Cardinals
3. Brewers
4. Reds
5. Astros
6. Pirates
 
I dont like duncan in the outfield......all his catches look like they could be drops.............put him in right field
 
Originally Posted by tylerdub

On every Good to great team someone has to step up and have a career year. Looks like Theriot is gonna be that guy. Cedeno's improvement with the bat is great. I have always been a fan of him, and now it looks like he might give me a reason.
It was so cold in the shade on Sunday. I am still not warmed up. We actually were about 20 rows behind homplate and sat somewhat near the governor. I was also on TV for any of you guys that watched sunday. They showed me and my wife in the 6th inning, she had on a green hoody and i was wearing a powder blue warmup jacket and Cubs hat. I had like 20 text messages in 3 minutes right after it ha penned. LOL
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Did your wife have her hood up?
 
yes she did. Did you see us?

Why does espn talk about the stupid curse everytime the cubs are on.
 
Everyone doing it big for the Cubbies!!!!!

The Northsiders are scary this year, very scary!!!!

I kicked a coffee table halfway across the room when Pie hit that ball, such a great and timely hit.

You can always tell a good team because they can score with 2 outs. or something.
 
Originally Posted by tylerdub

Everyone doing it big for the Cubbies!!!!!

The Northsiders are scary this year, very scary!!!!

I kicked a coffee table halfway across the room when Pie hit that ball, such a great and timely hit.

You can always tell a good team because they can score with 2 outs. or something.
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I clapped the hell out my hands......they're red and they hurt, but it's well worth it.
Man, if Felix can get it goin, even just alittle.......wow.

and I know ya'll heard those "New York Sucks" chants.....
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Originally Posted by Mez 0ne

Fans in CHICAGO actually chanted "NY sucks? Thats a bit weird.
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I heard it a couple times near the end of the 8th......
It's not "Detroit Sucks", but hey, the NY-Chi rivalry is undying.
 
JCH3, great post man. I hope you keep it going the length of the season.
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Baseball tonight is saying that Sheets expected to miss his next start, is this legit?
 
Originally Posted by CP1708

JCH3, great post man. I hope you keep it going the length of the season.
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Baseball tonight is saying that Sheets expected to miss his next start, is this legit?
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Thank you sir. I try to take on the role of objective Cards fan judging all of the other teams in the Central. It's funny because we all have such pridein our teams it is almost impossible to get a straight answer.
 
good game........I thought the brewers were gonna win after that STUPID play in left field.

If the Cardinals dont keep barton they are some damn fools........his D might be shaky, but dude has some SERIOUS speed
 
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