NL Central Focus: 4/26/16

After three weeks, the Chicago Cubs have pulled out to a sizable lead over the Pittsburgh Pirates and the rest of the NL Central.

Before we dive into the recap from this week’s action around the NL Central, here are the updated division standings:

Chicago Cubs

At 14-5, the Cubs would be expected to have baseball’s best record, but it is the Washington Nationals who take home that honor at 14-4, although it’s only a matter of time until they are dethroned.  In 2015, the Cubs offense carried a sub-par pitching staff.  In 2016, it’s the pitching staff returning the favor, as several stars including Kris Bryant, Jason Heyward, and Addison Russell all got off to a rough start.  The fact the Cubs have been able to get off to such a great start should be indicative of the uphill climb the rest of the division has ahead of them trying to chase them down for the rest of the season, once those starts get back on track.

One of the things which has allowed them to get this good start is the team unity and sense of calm emanating from the Cubs clubhouse.  Through the course of a MLB season, teams have to be united for one common goal, and if they cannot come together, they will fall by the wayside.  The Pirates have a great club atmosphere, despite not getting off to the same hot start, so fans shouldn’t be worried looking at the Cubs and their unity.  Still, it deserves to be noticed how close this Cubs team is on and off of the field.

Finally, Jake Arrieta threw a no-hitter this past Thursday, so it’s hard to argue with him getting out Cubs player of the week award, although there is quite a case for a Cubs player who hadn’t worn a Cubs uniform for just shy of a decade before Arrieta was even born.  That player is Rick Monday, and yesterday marked the 40th anniversary of him making one of the greatest plays in American sports history.  At the height of the Vietnam War protests, two fans rushed out onto the field at Dodger Stadium on April 25, 1976 with lighter fluid, a lighter, and an American flag.  They were stopped from burning the flag, not by a burly security guard fleet of foot, but the Cubs outfielder and six year Marine reservist veteran, Monday.  No greater play had ever been or ever will be made by a member of the Chicago Cubs.

St. Louis Cardinals

Matt Holliday left Monday night’s game with a leg cramp.  He’s listed as day-to-day.  Holliday first experienced tightness somewhere in his right leg running the bases on a first inning triple.  The leg supposedly cramped up at some point later in the game.  It’s highly unlikely the issue is something more serious than a dehydration or nutrition deficiency, but manager Mike Matheny didn’t take any chances with a key component of the Cardinals lineup.  If the issue is bigger than just a cramp or become a chronic problem, Tommy Pham would be the likely candidate to replace him once he’s brought back to the major league roster.

The other possible candidate would be Jeremy Hazelbaker, who is desperately trying to present a case for staying on the roster, once Pham returns, regardless of how the Holliday situation develops.  In a year of firsts for the rookie, Hazelbaker became the first Cardinals player to ever hit a home run and triple in a game in which he didn’t start.  Hazelbaker has been a rally starter off the bench, going 3-8 (.375) with two home runs and four RBI as a pinch hitter so far this season.  He’s also made some solid defensive plays and is the perfect example of the Cardinals developmental program paying off in spades on small investments.

One other thing the Cardinals might want to invest in is some patience.  Typically expected to be at or near the head of the pack by now, the Cardinals have found themselves muddled in a struggle for second place in the division with the Pirates, after both teams have begun to emerge from the fray.  The only area the Cardinals have not struggled in early was the bullpen, until they melted down against the Arizona Diamondbacks in the team’s 7-12 loss on Monday night.  The bullpen has likely outperformed their averages, while the rest of the team has underperformed.  Look for both trends to average out in the coming weeks.

Cincinnati Reds

Brandon Phillips left the game Monday night against the New York Mets after being hit by three pitches in one at bat.  The first two were the result of his own doing after he fouled two consecutive 97-mph fastballs off of his left foot.  On another 0-2 pitch, Noah Syndergaard clipped Phillips on the hand with another 98-mph fastball.  The X-rays on the left ring finger came back negative, but Phillips could still miss some time if he suffered a bone contusion.  Phillips has a history of being forced to leave games after being hit by a pitch, but this might be one he remembers for quite some time.

One other player who will have something to remember from this past week will be Jay Bruce, after he was placed on the league’s three-day paternity list yesterday.  He is expected to be out all three days before returning just in time to give the Pirates more troubles this weekend.  Carter Bruce was born last night.  The team recalled Layne Somsen and transferred Michael Lorenzen to the 60-day disabled list to open the necessary spot on the 40-man roster.  Somsen had a 1.04 ERA in five appearances so far with Louisville this season.

J.J. Hoover threw a bullpen session this week to correct an undisclosed issue that may have been causing him to tip the hitter off as to what pitch was coming.  So far this season, eight of the 20 balls put in play against the Elizabeth native had been hit at 100 mph or greater.  That’s good (or bad) enough for 40%, which is up from the 17.8% he allowed in 2015.  Hoover has a 15.26 ERA in nine appearances for the Reds this season.

Milwaukee Brewers

After having back surgery, a blatant disregard for work ethic, and a position move from right field to left field, all in this past offseason, Ryan Braun was being criticized and critiqued by fans and media alike and for good reason.  No one quite knew what to expect from the Brewers’ star player, but I think the team will say they have been pleasantly surprised.  Braun is hitting .364 with five home runs and 15 RBI in his 18 games so far this season.  He will be forced to almost singlehandedly carry a poor team this season.

Braun certainly doesn’t seem to be getting any help from the pitching staff early, as Taylor Jungmann’s struggles continued this week in an 8-1 loss to the Minnesota Twins on Thursday.  Jungmann allowed six walks and three runs over four innings.  He picked up the loss to drop to 0-3 on the season.  With Zach Davies trying to break through and find a spot in the big league rotation, even after Matt Garza returns in a couple weeks from a lat strain, Jungmann may have to start putting together some solid results sooner rather than later.

Brew Crew Ball, a Fansided affiliated site, does not expect the pitching to improve as the season goes along based on some advanced statistics, including cFip.  Contextualized FIP is more indicative of what can be expected from a pitcher moving forward than other statistical measures, and when it comes to cFIP, the Brewers’ pitching staff ranks 22nd in the league.  Even after a surprisingly average start of 8-11, the Brewers can be expected to lag behind and rank near the bottom of the league in wins by the end of the season, and it will likely be the young pitching staff that drags them to the depths of the NL Central.

That’s a wrap for this week’s NL Central Focus.  Check back next week for the breakdown of everything going on in the NL Central.

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