The Cincinnati Reds and St. Louis Cardinals, pitching, were solid throughout the entire year. Each of these two teams, starting rotation's, were backed by a bullpen, equally as good. The Reds and Cardinals, respectively, finished in 1st and 2nd places, as this should be the primary example, on why pitching wins games.
While the Houston Astros pitching struggled, throughout the year, they traded away their staff ace, Roy Oswalt, to Philadelphia. Our Pittsburgh Pirates, as we all know, finished last, and was plagued, throughout the year, with terrible starting pitching.
The Pirates, who saw four starting pitchers (Maholm, Duke, Ohlendorf, and Morton) with 10+ losses, had a strong bullpen. At the trade deadline, they traded several relief pitchers, in return for propects, and one, major league ready, starting pitcher, James McDonald. McDonald, who had struggled early in the year in Los Angeles, came to Pittsburgh and posted some very bright numbers; 4-5, 3.52 ERA, 1.297 WHIP. The 2011 starting rotation, as listed by PIRATES.COM, appears to be; McDonald, Maholm, Correia, Ohlendorf and Morton, and is subject to change, due to performance in Spring Training and/or injuries. Correia, an off season, free agent signing, is just one of a few, the Pirates are hoping to still pull off this year.
The free agent market is slowly dwindling, and the Pirates are trying to be suitors for several different pitchers. The most recent rumors involve, starters, Jeff Francis and Carl Pavano, and reliever, Brian Fuentes. Francis or Pavano, would be a welcomed addition to the rotation, though Pavano is said to be in negotiations to re-join, the Twins. Fuentes, a closer by trade, would take that same role in Pittsburgh, still leaving Joel Hanrahan and Evan Meek as set up men, and once again giving them a strong bullpen. **As I have said in prior posts, these were just rumors, and can not be relied on.
As it stands, I see the rotation, for next season, to be a slight upgrade with McDonald and Correia. An addition of Franciso or Pavano, would, most likely, be the inevitable trade of Paul Maholm.
Below, I have put together the NL Central teams, by placement, and their newest starting rotation. The depth's were taken off of each teams website and stats are from BASEBALL-REFERENCE.COM. Teams with more than 5 players listed, will be totaled, with the top 5 players, according to the team's website. ITALIC = Division Leader
Cincinnati Reds:
J. Cueto: 9-14, 21 G, 4.81 ERA, 178 H, 29 HR, 1.414 WHIP
E. Volquez: 4-3, 12 G, 4.31 ERA, 59 H, 6 HR, 1.5 WHIP
B. Arroyo: 17-10, 33, 3.88 ERA, 188 H, 29 HR, 1.145 WHIP
H. Bailey: 4-3, 19 G, 4.46 ERA, 109 H, 11 HR, 1.36 WHIP
T. Wood: 5-4, 17 G, 3.51 ERA, 85 H, 9 HR, 1.081 WHIP
M. Leake: 8-4, 24 Games 4.23 ERA, 158 H, 19 HR, 1.496 WHIP
-Totals: 39-34, 4.19 ERA, 1.3 WHIP
St. Louis Cardinals:
C. Carpenter: 16-9, 35 G, 3.22 ERA, 214 H, 21 HR, 1.179 WHIP
A. Wainwright: 20-11, 33 G, 2.42 ERA, 186 H, 15 HR, 1.051 WHIP
J. Garcia: 13-8, 28 G, 2.70 ERA, 151 H, 9 HR, 1.316 WHIP
J. Westbrook: 10-11, 33 G, 4.22 ERA, 203 H, 20 HR, 1.337 WHIP
K. Lohse: 4-8, 18 G, 6.55 ERA, 129 H, 9 HR, 1.783 WHIP
-Totals: 63-47, 3.82 ERA, 1.333 WHIP
Milwaukee Brewers:
Z. Greinke: 10-14, 33 G, 4.17 ERA, 219 H, 18 HR, 1.245 WHIP
Y. Gallardo: 14-7, 31 Gl 3.84 ERA, 178 H, 12 HR, 1.368 WHIP
S. Marcum: 9-7, 25 G, 3.39 ERA, 126 H, 21 HR, 1.163 WHIP
R. Wolf: 13-12, 34 G, 4.17 ERA, 213 H, 29 HR, 1.391 WHIP
C. Narveson: 12-9, 37 G, 4.99 ERA, 172 H, 21 HR, 1.378 WHIP
-Totals: 58-49, 4.11 ERA, 1.309 WHIP
W. Rodriguez: 11-12, 32 G, 4.78 ERA, 183 H, 16 HR, 1.287 WHIP
B. Myers: 14-8, 33 G, 3.14 ERA, 212 H, 20 HR, 1.243 WHIP
J. Happ: 6-4; 16 G, 3.40 ERA, 73 H, 8 HR, 1.374 WHIP
B. Norris: 9-10, 27 G, 4.92 ERA, 151 H, 18 HR, 1.484 WHIP
N. Figueroa: 7-4, 31 G, 3.29 ERA, 84 H, 10 HR, 1.269 WHIP
R. Rowland-Smith: 1-10, 27 G, 6.75 ERA, 141 H, 25 HR, 1.692 WHIP
-Totals: 47-38, 3.91 ERA, 1.331 WHIP
Chicago Cubs:
M. Garza: 15-10, 33 G, 3.91 ERA, 193 H, 28 HR, 1.315 WHIP
R. Dempster: 15-12, 34 G, 3.85 ERA, 193 H, 25 HR, 1.319 WHIP
T. Gorzelanny: 7-9, 29 G, 4.09 ERA, 136 H, 11 HR, 1.496 WHIP
C. Zambrano: 11-6, 36 G, 3.33 ERA, 119 H, 7 HR, 1.45 WHIP
C. Silva: 10-6, 21 Games, 4.22 ERA, 120 H, 11 HR, 1.274 WHIP
C. Coleman: 4-2, 12 G, 4.11 ERA, 56 H, 3 HR, 1.421 WHIP
-Totals: 56-53, 3.89 ERA, 1.396 WHIP
Pittsburgh Pirates:
J. McDonald: 4-6, 15 G, 4.02 ERA, 70 H, 4 HR, 1.381 WHIP
P. Maholm: 9-15, 32 G, 5.10 ERA, 228 H, 15 HR, 1.565 WHIP
K. Correia: 10-10, 28 G, 5.40 ERA, 152 H, 20 HR, 1.490 WHIP
R. Ohlendorf: 1-11, 21 G, 4.07 ERA, 106 H, 12 HR, 1.385 WHIP
C. Morton: 2-12, 17 G, 7.57 ERA, 112 H, 15 HR, 1.732 WHIP
S. Olsen: 4-8, 17 G, 5.56 ERA, 93 H, 10 HR, 1.481 WHIP
-Totals: 26-54, 5.232 ERA, 1.511 WHIP
1. St. Louis Cardinals
2. Cincinnati Reds
3. Milwaukee Brewers
4. Chicago Cubs
5. Pittsburgh Pirates
6. Houston Astros
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