It’s the start of the new week and another batch of weekend series is behind us. In this article, we will be ranking the NL Central teams based on how their weekend went and also spotlight a player from the team that had the best weekend and the worst weekend. With that in mind, here is the 8-11 NL Central Review.
1) Chicago Cubs:
Out of the series from this weekend, the Cubs came out as major winners. They came into their four game series with the Giants trailing them by ½ game for the final Wild Card spot. They needed to win a minimum of three games to end the weekend on the right side of the playoff picture. Instead, they went above and beyond and swept the Giants.
Player Spotlight:
Kyle Schwarber, C, Chicago Cubs
Schwarber had a very good weekend against the Giants going 5 for 15 with one HR, six RBI , six R and even throwing in a stolen base. This should not be a surprise at all as all Schwarber has done since making it to the majors is hit very well.
Over the course of 105 AB, he has hit .341 and hit six HR. One question I find myself asking is how much of his early success is sustainable. One thing that impresses me is that even at the age of 22, he has been disciplined at the plate as he has an 11.4% BB rate (however there is some room for improvement with his K% which stands at 25.7%).
While his future is extremely bright, expecting him to continue hitting .341 is likely too much to ask as his BABIP is an absurd .431. While the batting average is likely to regress at some point (the three project systems listed on his FanGraphs page ZiPS, Steamer & Depth Charts) project averages in the .246-.260 range, he should still be a very useful player.
A strength that Schwarber has displayed is an ability to hit for power or at the very least his ability to make very good contact. His Hard% which measures the percentage of balls hit with hard speed is at 43.8%. Among players with enough PA to qualify, here is a comprehensive list of players with a higher percentage of hard hit balls:
J.D. Martinez
Yes, Schwarber has a higher Hard% than players such as Mike Trout, Bryce Harper and Paul Goldschmidt through 105 PA. Even if his AVG takes a hit at some point this year, a combination of hitting the ball hard and being patient at the plate will help Schwarber continue to be an impact player.
2) Pittsburgh Pirates:
The Pirates also had a very impressive weekend, sweeping the Dodgers. While winning three straight games against another playoff contender was highly impressive, the Cubs get the number one spot because they did so in a spot where they needed to win to be on the right side of the playoff picture where the Pirates came into this weekend with some margin for error.
3) St. Louis Cardinals:
The Cardinals did okay for themselves, winning two out of three games against the Brewers. While pitching consecutive shutouts was impressive, the Cardinals were merely taking care of business against a bad team while the teams above them dominated teams that are still very much in the playoff picture.
4) Milwaukee Brewers:
As a Brewers fan, the expectations have been very low for much of the season and the first two games of last weekend’s series didn’t even make it to these levels. Sunday came very close to being another disappointment as they were less than two innings away from dropping down to last place in these rankings.
They had let a 3-0 lead slip away and things looked bleak until Khris Davis hit a 2-Run Home Run to put the Brewers ahead for good. To make things even better, this Home Run came off of Jonathan Broxton who the Brewers had recently traded to the Cardinals. It wasn’t exactly a shock that Broxton failed to come through in relief as he had a 5.55 ERA in 51 games for the Brewers in 2014-15.
5) Cincinnati Reds:
The Brewers & Reds could have easily been switched in these rankings (as both teams lost two out of three) but the Reds had the worst weekend in the NL Central for a couple of reasons. First, while the Brewers were playing a very good Cardinals team, the Reds played a slightly below .500 Diamondbacks team. Also, while the Brewers series ended on a strong note, the Reds were on the losing end of a series ending walk off hit.
Player Spotlight:
Brandon Phillips, 2B, Cincinnati Reds
While Phillips went a modest 3 for 12 last over the weekend, he did manage to hit a HR and throw in a stolen base. One thing to keep an eye on is whether Phillips has a chance of being an impact player for this season and in the future.
While he has AVG and SB totals have reached ranges resembling his peak years and despite him providing some power last weekend, his days as an elite hitter have been placed even further in the back door mirror. A combination of 8 HR and a lack of patience at the plate (4.3%) have him on pace to post a below average wRC+ for the third consecutive year. Even more concerning is that his hard contact rate of 24.2% puts him on pace to post his lowest total he has posted in this metric since 2003 (technically 2005 but he only had nine PA that season).
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