The NL Central continues to be one of MLB baseball's weaker divisions even though they sport the highest number of teams with six. The Milwaukee Brewers currently lead the division with a 41-31 record, and stand 7.5 games ahead of the second place Chicago Cubs. Barring catastrophic injury concerns, the Brewers should be able to run away with the division and set themselves up for their first trip to the postseason in a long time. I'll go through the team and emphasize their strengths and weaknesses.

Strengths: Starting pitching, bullpen, power hitting, speed

The Brewers' greatest asset is their starting pitching, headlined by control master Ben Sheets. Sheets anchors the staff with a 3.19 ERA, an 8-3 record and 65 strikeouts in 96 innings. While his K-rate is considerably lower than his career average, Sheets still keeps down his walk numbers and is a true ace of a staff. Behind Sheets, the Brewers have Chris Capuano (currently injured but due back within 2 weeks), innings eater Jeff Suppan, David Bush (not exceptional this year, but certain stats point to an uptick in his performance), Claudio Vargas and young stud Yovani Gallardo, who recently made his major league debut. With six quality starting pitchers, the Brewers have put themselves in a good spot to avoid minor injury concerns and continue to enjoy quality starts for the rest of the season.

The Brewers' bullpen has enjoyed similar success to their rotation due to the contributions of Francisco Cordero (ML saves leader), top setup man Derrick Turnbow and quality 7th inning men Matt Wise and Brian Shouse.

Milwaukee's lineup also is a strength, powered by several young studs: 1B Prince Fielder (NL home run leader), SS JJ Hardy (injured today with back tightness, currently has 17 home runs), 2B Rickie Weeks, OF's Bill Hall and Corey Hart and 3B Ryan Braun. Milwaukee has veteran depth that can fill in for platoon situations and injuries in Tony Graffanino, Craig Counsell, Geoff Jenkins and Kevin Mench. Counsell is particularly important because of his playoff experience with the Arizona Diamondbacks, winning a World Series with that team in 2001. Weeks, Hart, Braun and (to a lesser extent) Hall also sport good speed on the basepaths.

Weaknesses: Fielding, Inexperience

Hall made a transition from a utility infielder with experience at 3B, SS and 2B last year to the starting CF this year. It has been an up and down rollercoaster ride at times because of Hall's lack of

• 1
• 2
• 3
• next page >>

---

Add your voice

Know something about Predictions: 2007 National League Central?
We want to hear your view. Write now!