Baseball Update: NL Central

The Baseball Update is a look at the happenings around Major League Baseball

This division will certainly be the most entertaining one in the National League this year. Four teams will battle it out to take home the NL Central crown. And my prediction now is one of these teams will win the NL Wild Card. Milwaukee, St. Louis, Chicago, and Cincinnati will all have a chance for a playoff spot. Hell even Pittsburgh and Houston are improving and could sneak into the top of the division. Yes, this should be fun.

Team of the Week: I said last week if Milwaukee won their series with St. Louis they would take the division lead. And that is exactly what happened. The Brewers swept the Cardinals in St. Louis mind you, and now lead the division by two games. Milwaukee lost last night, but they have won eight of their last ten games.

The pitching staff has to get a lot of credit for Milwaukee. While they are not spectacular, they are definitely consistent. And Trevor Hoffman has been a stud since coming off the Disabled List. Hoffman has pitched in 11 games with 10 saves and no runs given up. Combined with the consistency of the pitching staff and the powerful lineup, the Brewers will not be going anywhere. I wonder if Billy Beane is regretting firing Ken Macha now?

MVP (Albert Pujols-St. Louis Cardinals)- While the rest of the Cardinals lineup has been struggling, Pujols has been caring this team. He leads the Cardinals in pretty much every offensive category(.326, 13 home runs, 37 RBI, 35 Runs). Can a person win the MVP by June?

Can you win at home?: The Cincinnati Reds are still struggling at home. They have gone 8-10 at home and 13-8 on the road. But good sign for them, the Cleveland Indians come to town over the weekend so the Reds can pad their home record. Typical Dusty Baker team though, they win in un-conventional ways. And I would say, winning the majority of your road games would be un-conventional.

A Look Ahead:

HAVE A GREAT MEMORIAL WEEKEND!