While other divisions might come with more intrigue and
suspense, there is not a division that has as much talent as the National
League Central. Last season, the division was decided on Game 163, and you can
expect the race to be just as tight in 2019. It’s the only division in baseball
where every team seeks to be competitive and put their names in contention for
at least a Wild Card spot.
The Brewers are defending champs and are the frontrunners to
win yet again. The Cubs have been quiet in the offseason, although their
improvements will come internally as long as Kris Bryant, Yu Darvish, and Brandon Morrow can stay healthy. The
Cardinals have made big upgrades as well by acquiring Paul Goldschmidt and signing Andrew Miller to serve in his dynamic
fireman role. Even the Reds who were in dire need of starting pitching made
moves to acquire Sonny Gray, Tanner Roark, and Alex Wood. All of these pitchers have
pitched at high levels before, and can carry the load for a staff that is young
and inexperienced.
With that said, the club that is fascinating to predict are
the Pittsburgh Pirates. In less than a year, they traded their two faces of the
franchise in Andrew McCutchen and Gerrit Cole, then won 11 games in a row to
become buyers to make another aggressive move this time acquiring Chris Archer from the Tampa Bay Rays.
Archer struggled in 2018 posting only a 94 ERA+ while being limited to only 148
innings due to a leg injury. The Pirates were a surprise to many across the
industry when they made the move for Archer, but since Archer comes with
control through 2021 at a team-friendly number, it made sense especially
because they gave up a lot of young talent. They were quiet this offseason with
their top moves being Lonnie Chisenhall and Erik Gonzalez, nevertheless the Pirates are
not usually a team to be in the headlines in the winter.
What was most interesting about the Archer trade was that
Pirates GM Neal Huntington faced criticism for not being as aggressive as he
should have when the team won 98 games in 2015 with legitimate World Series
aspirations. Ken Rosenthal of the The Athletic reported at
the time that the Pirates wanted Archer, but it would have been
at the cost of prospects Austin Meadows and Tyler Glasnow. Sure enough, that was the
package along with first round pick Shane Baz with everyone’s value
slightly declining.
The Pirates are a team that’s currently sliding under the
radar; meanwhile they have talent in all the key areas to win in this league.
Their rotation is young with the fifth spot up in the air, however a first four
of Jameson Taillon, Trevor Williams, Chris Archer, and Joe Musgrove could be one of the best
in the National League. Mitch Keller, who ranks 16 on MLB
Pipeline‘s Top 100 is a candidate to earn that spot, along with Nick Kingham and Jordan Lyles, and the Pirates’ have a
strong track record of developing young pitchers.
Another spot they vastly improved at is the bullpen led
by Felipe Vazquez and Keone Kela who are two hard throwers
with a K/9 of 11.4 and 12.9 respectively. The rest of the bullpen is a work in
progress, and losing Glasnow was a tough blow since he shined out of the
bullpen, although Steven Brault and Kyle Crick are two other names to keep
an eye on.
Regarding their lineup, they will have to embrace the same
theme of internal player development. After their hot summer, they cooled off
which gave us an extended look at young players when the rosters expanded in
September. There’s a lot to be excited about, yet there’s three players in particular
to see if they make a jump in 2019. Josh Bell broke out on the scene as a
rookie, but regressed last season especially in the power department. Bell hit
26 home runs with .466 slugging percentage in 2017, and was limited to only 12
home runs with a .411 slugging percentage.
Colin Moran was one of the headliners
in the Gerrit Cole trade, and also has a
starting job like Bell. Moran also fits the Pirates’ mold of wanting to find
players who can put the ball in play. The Pirates did get a breakout player in
2018 in Elias Diaz, and it appears he’ll have a
strong chance to be the Opening Day catcher. Francisco Cervelli is still on the
roster who could be more appealing though, since he’s been able to get the most
out of the pitching staff.
The Pirates organization made it clear that when they were
buyers at the non-waiver trade deadline that it wasn’t only about 2018. Well,
here’s the first year of those new guys on the roster. Add that up with the
young talent already here looking to make another jump, along with a top
manager, Clint Hurdle,
who has led teams to the postseason before, and you have a club who should be
in legitimate contention for a Wild Card berth.
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