Who can stop the Chicago Cubs? That seems to be question everyone is making heading into the 2017 season. The answer is quite simple: no one in the NL Central.
The Cubs are the reigning MLB champions, and they are clearly the top team in the NL and possibly all of baseball. They had one of the best offenses in 2016, a historically good defense, an elite closer and the reigning NL MVP in Kris Bryant. They opened 2017 as the odds-on favorite to win the World Series, and while their roster remains intact for the most part, there will be a few changes.
Those changes will come in the rotation and the bullpen. Jason Hammel and Aroldis Chapman are gone, so the Cubs will have Brett Anderson and Hector Rondon as their replacements. Wade Davis will be there for a late-inning role, and Carl Edwards Jr. has all the makings of a future lockdown closer, too. Chicago has options, and one could say they might be in even better shape than last year.
Offensively they have Bryant, but he’s not their only threat. There’s Anthony Rizzo, Addison Russell, Javier Baez, Ben Zobrist, and Willson Contreras. Dexter Fowler is gone, but Albert Almora Jr. and Jon Jay could take his place in center field. And Jason Heyward should have a bounce-back season following his disastrous 2016.
Chicago’s biggest threat to win a second straight NL Central crown are the St. Louis Cardinals. Their biggest addition was Fowler and they have a competent team on both sides of the ball. However, the rotation isn’t what it used to be. And the bullpen doesn’t have the powerful arms they had only a few years ago. They will need big years from their key arms (Carlos Martinez, Adam Wainwright and Trevor Rosenthal) solely to have a chance to compete for the divisional crown. And even that might not be enough.
A few steps below we can find the Pittsburgh Pirates. Andrew McCutchen is no longer an MVP candidate, but he’s still a talented five-tool player. And they have easily the best outfield in the Majors, with Gregory Polanco and Starling Marte alongside Cutch. But the rotation has a lot of question marks – mostly a lack of depth and experience after Gerrit Cole – and the infield lacks an impact player. Of course, it doesn’t help that Jung-ho Kang has missed most of Spring Training battling legal issues, either. Pittsburgh has enough talent to fight for a Wild Card berth, but for that to happen they will need lots of things to go their way.
The remaining two teams in the Division are the Cincinnati Reds and the Milwaukee Brewers, but they don’t have big hopes for this year. Both are amid their rebuilding process, but it’s fair to say Milwaukee is quite far ahead on their schedule. Neither ballclub will contend for a Wild Card spot, but the Brewers will make things tough for everyone and it wouldn’t be strange to see them playing a spoiler role late in the season.
As for Cincinnati, their main goal is to play their prospects. But they will also try to flip as many veterans as they can in the Trade Deadline. We can guess their fans aren’t very excited for what’s going to happen this year, because they are at least a few years away from contending.
It seems the Cubs are the clear favorites to win a second straight NL Central crown. The main battle will be to see whether the Pirates or the Cardinals can reach the Wild Card Round.
And who knows? Maybe they pull the upset and find a way to stop the Cubs from dominating for a second straight year. But that doesn’t seem likely.