Next up in our updated Starting Nine series is the National League Central.
Outside of the St. Louis Cardinals re-signing Matt Holliday, there haven’t been any big-time offensive additions to this division. As a whole, this might be the weakest offensive division in baseball (yes, even passing the NL West).
Let’s take a look at the updated starting lineups for all six teams in this division.
St. Louis Cardinals
1. Skip Schumaker, 2B
2. Colby Rasmus, CF
3. Albert Pujols, 1B
4. Matt Holliday, LF
5. Ryan Ludwick, RF
6. Yadier Molina, C
7. David Freese, 3B
8. Brendan Ryan, SS
9. Chris Carpenter, P
Quick Take – Re-signing Holliday was crucial to this lineup. Despite having Holliday and Pujols in the three-four spot, this lineup will only be as dynamic as Rasmus and Freese takes them.
Milwaukee Brewers
1. Rickie Weeks, 2B
2. Alcides Escobar, SS
3. Ryan Braun, LF
4. Prince Fielder, 1B
5. Casey McGehee, 3B
6. Corey Hart, RF
7. Gregg Zaun, C
8. Carlos Gomez, CF
9. Yovani Gallardo, P
Quick Take – The Brewers sacrificed some offense for defense in 2010. This isn’t the powerful Brewers’ lineup of the last couple of years. There are a lot of automatic outs from seven through nine.
Chicago Cubs
1. Ryan Theriot, SS
2. Kosuke Fukudome, RF
3. Derek Lee, 1B
4. Aramis Ramirez, 3B
5. Marlon Byrd, CF
6. Alfonso Soriano, LF
7. Geovany Soto, C
8. Mike Fontenot, 2B
9. Carlos Zambrano, P
Quick Take – This lineup is getting old in a hurry. If Soriano, Ramirez, and Soto can come back from disappointing 2009 seasons, the Cubs could be in business in 2010. However, I still think they are going to be hard pressed to score runs in 2010.
Cincinnati Reds
1. Drew Stubbs, CF
2. Orlando Cabrera, SS
3. Brandon Phillips, 2B
4. Joey Votto, 1B
5. Jay Bruce, RF
6. Scott Rolen, 3B
7. Ramon Hernandez, C
8. Chris Dickerson, LF
9. Bronson Arroyo, P
Quick Take – This lineup looks good for now and even better for the future. If Bruce can stay healthy, he could have a breakout year in 2010. Orlando Cabrera could hold the fort down at short until top prospect Todd Frazier is ready to take over.
Houston Astros
1. Michael Bourn, CF
2. Kaz Matsui, 2B
3. Lance Berkman, 1B
4. Carlos Lee, LF
5. Hunter Pence, RF
6. Pedro Feliz, 3B
7. J.R. Towles, C
8. Tommy Manzella, SS
9. Roy Oswalt, P
Quick Take – This six through nine is brutal. It’s hard to have a top offense when the bottom part of your lineup is this bad. Top catching prospect Jason Castro is not too far away, so this is Towles’ last stand with the Astros.
Pittsburgh Pirates
1. Akinori Iwamura, 2B
2. Andrew McCutchen, CF
3. Garrett Jones, RF
4. Ryan Doumit, C
5. Andy LaRoche, 3B
6. Lastings Milledge, LF
7. Jeff Clement, 1B
8. Zach Duke, P
9. Ronny Cedeno, SS
Quick Take – The Pirates’ offense will be better in 2010 but will still have a hard time scoring runs on a consistent basis. The Pirates are going with the Tony LaRussa approach to baseball and will have the pitcher bat eighth.
Tomorrow we will take a look at the updated starting lineups for National League West.
You can follow The Ghost of Moonlight Graham on Twitter @ theghostofmlg
Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com
- Login to post comments