The National League Central enters the second half with the first-place Cubs and last-place Cincinnati separated by just 4 1/2 games, an outlier during an otherwise yawn-inducing first half in which five divisions reached the All-Star break with at least a 5 1/2-game gap between first and second.
There are no front-runners in the NL Central. No room to breathe either, something Maddon saw coming long ago.
“I’ve been talking about this for the last two years how teams are getting better in our division,” Maddon said. “It’s not going to go away. It’s going to be really difficult to really separate, especially by the fact that everybody is catching up right now. The second half is going to be very similar to what you’ve seen in the first half.”
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There are no front-runners in the NL Central. No room to breathe either, something Maddon saw coming long ago.
“I’ve been talking about this for the last two years how teams are getting better in our division,” Maddon said. “It’s not going to go away. It’s going to be really difficult to really separate, especially by the fact that everybody is catching up right now. The second half is going to be very similar to what you’ve seen in the first half.”
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Take a look at the Cardinals:
Might want to wait until we know about Ozuna and or how Goldschmidt & Carp perform
ERA is #4 in NL, starters so so, but a strong bullpen; good defense up the middle Wong A, Bader A, DeJong B
- Goldschmidt is 150 pts below his usual OPS (last 5 yrs) it is probable he will have a good 2nd half
- Carpenter is 200 pts below (last 4 years), he might have a good 2nd half, he might be dinged, breaking down
- Ozuna hurt on IL, fractured finger... if he comes back 100%, a top run producer
Might want to wait until we know about Ozuna and or how Goldschmidt & Carp perform
ERA is #4 in NL, starters so so, but a strong bullpen; good defense up the middle Wong A, Bader A, DeJong B
Brewers still have hope
[FONT="]The Cardinals employed 24 players, including 11 pitchers, as their lead over Milwaukee in the National League Central was trimmed to 2 1/2 games with four to play. Dexter Fowler led off the game with a homer, and Paul Goldschmidt also went deep for St. Louis.[/FONT]
[FONT="]The Cardinals employed 24 players, including 11 pitchers, as their lead over Milwaukee in the National League Central was trimmed to 2 1/2 games with four to play. Dexter Fowler led off the game with a homer, and Paul Goldschmidt also went deep for St. Louis.[/FONT]
