NL Central
The NL Central is ripe for the taking, and the Chicago Cubs have gone about this winter with the intent to surprise the division champs, the Cardinals.
Granted, the Cubs needed a lot of work coming out of 2022. The offense was in the lower half in every meaningful category. They’re taking a gamble on Cody Bellinger returning to something close to his 2019 MVP form after three sub-standard seasons with the Dodgers.
Bellinger may flop again. But if he does return to form, imagine what that means for an offense also upgraded by the presence of free agent signee Dansby Swanson. Then imagine what the Cubs look like if two other reclamation projects, Trey Mancini and Eric Hosmer, return to something approaching their historic norms.
It’s a big parley, but plausible.
For Chicago, the bigger question may be the reliability of the pitching staff. The Cubs added Jameson Taillon to a rotation that already included Marcus Stroman, Drew Smyly, and Justin Steele.
Health is always an issue with MLB pitchers, and that’s certainly true of the Cubs. Begin with Steele, who was more than occasionally brilliant in his first full season. Steele posted a 3.18 ERA in 24 starts. But he managed only 119 innings and did not pitch at all the final five weeks.
Stroman, Smyly, and Hendricks combined for only 63 starts, all three were injured for stretches, and Hendricks will start 2023 on the Injured List. The Cubs need their rotation pieces to show up for work or all is lost.
The thing is that when they did pitch, most were darned good. Stroman had a 3.50 ERA, Smyly was 3.47, and Adrian Sampson – who’s also available — 3.11 in 19 starts. Give some combination of those arms plus Taillon 150 starts and 900 innings – not an unreasonable ask – mix it with a resurgent Bellinger and the product is a serious NL Central contender.