Cincinnati Reds: How does the hitting rank against the NL Central?

The Cincinnati Reds have certainly upgraded their bats this offseason, but how does the team compare to the rest of the National League Central Division?

We are less than two weeks away from Opening Day and the excitement throughout Reds Country is palpable. The Cincinnati Reds ranked second in the National League Central in batting average last season, but still finished in last place. How will the team’s additions affect their standing this season?

We can debate this until the cows come home, but from where I’m sitting, the NL Central is the toughest division in all of baseball. Yes, the National League East will be a difficult division to navigate as well, but the Miami Marlins take that division down a notch and the NL Central should stand above every other when it comes to competition this season.

The Cincinnati Reds definitely upgraded their lineup with the additions of Yasiel Puig and Matt Kemp. Nick Senzel is sure to get a lot of time with the big league club this season regardless of if he’s sat for the first two weeks or not.

The Reds also return injured starters Jesse Winker and Scott Schebler. Winker and Schebler both played less than 110 games last season, and All-Stars Joey Votto and Eugenio Suarez spent more than two weeks on the disabled list. Winker and Schebler will be in the outfield rotation with Matt Kemp and Nick Senzel, while Votto and Suarez will get the majority of playing time at their corner infield spots.

The Chicago Cubs, who finished first in the division in hitting in 2018, finished second in the standings and lost during the Wild Card matchup against the Colorado Rockies. Every team in the NL Central, including the Pittsburgh Pirates, finished above the league average in hitting last season. Let’s see where each team stands entering the 2019 season.

5. Pittsburgh Pirates

The Pittsburgh Pirates, believe it or not, finished above both the Milwaukee Brewers and the St. Louis Cardinals in terms of batting average last season. The Pirates were actually in the Top 5 of the entire league. I don’t expect a terrible drop off from the Buccos, but they didn’t do much to improve their hitting over the offseason.

The Pirates have some quality arms in the rotation, but when it comes to the batting order, there’s not a lot of feared hitters up and down the Pittsburgh lineup. Every outfielder on the team brings a fair share of pop to the order, but the Pirates’ infield doesn’t have much in the way of a productive bat.

Gregory Polanco, Starling Marte, and Corey Dickerson are all very talented hitters in the Pittsburgh lineup, but that’s about where it stops. Polanco had a bit of down year in terms of batting average (.254), but still led the Bucs in homers with 23.

Francisco Cervelli provides a nice bat as the team’s backstop and Adam Frazier is expected to excel with Josh Harrison no longer in the lineup, but the Pirates roster still seems to have a lot of holes offensively.

While Trevor Williams, Jameson Tallion, and Chris Archer provide the Pittsburgh Pirates with one of the best starting rotations in the NL Central, their offense just seems to be lacking a big time slugger. Though the Pirates lack a lot of power in the lineup, the one thing they possess is plate discipline. Pittsburgh had the fewest strikeouts in the NL last season.

4. Cincinnati Reds

Trust me Reds fans, I wanted to put Cincinnati in a different spot, but looking at the numbers, this seems fair for now. The Cincinnati Reds, on paper, are a much improved team both offensively and in regards to their pitching staff. This is not so much underestimating the Reds, but rather respecting the competition in the NL Central.

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The Reds lineup is definitely improved. The additions of Yasiel Puig and Matt Kemp could easily add up to 50-plus homers and 150-plus RBIs. However, if that were to happen, how many at-bats would Jesse Winker get? How about Scott Schebler or Nick Senzel? That seems to be the biggest problem for the Reds, and it’s a good one to have, but there is an excessive amount of offensive talent on this team.

So why not rank them, right? Well, a few things have to go right. Joey Votto has to return to the player that he was in 2017, or at least close to that. Eugenio Suarez has to prove that 2018 was no fluke and that the team can pencil him in for 30-plus homers and 100-plus RBIs this season. There’s also the potential of the young guys (Nick Senzel, Jose Peraza, and Jesse Winker) that has to change from potential to results.

Also, don’t forget all the additions the other teams in the division made as well. We’ll get into specifics later, but the St. Louis Cardinals brought in a player that could legitimately win MVP. The Chicago Cubs already have an MVP worthy player on their roster, and the Milwaukee Brewers have last year’s NL MVP on their squad.

The Cincinnati Reds offense will be better next season, no question. But, will it be enough? Tucker Barnhart has to improve a little bit at the plate. Jose Peraza has to use last season as a springboard in to 2019. Nick Senzel has to show that he’s everything we think he’s going to be. If the team plays up to its potential, they could be the best hitting team in the division. But, they have to go out and prove it.

2. St. Louis Cardinals

The St. Louis Cardinals, arguably the Cincinnati Reds’ most-hated rival, come in at No. 2 and I really wanted to put them at No. 1. The Cardinals offense seems sneaky good, doesn’t it? After last year’s struggles, the Redbirds fired manager Mike Matheny and bench coach Mike Shildt took over. The Cards went 41-28 after the change and almost found their way into the postseason.

Matt Carpenter led the charge last season for the Cardinals and surely will be a big time factor in the team’s success this season. Carpenter blasted 36 home runs last season, but being in the leadoff spot put his RBI total at only 81. Having your best power hitter hit at the top of the order is odd, but that definitely did not stop Carpenter last season.

Yadier Molina was his same steady self in 2018 and shows no signs of letting up. Molina hit .261 with a .314 on-base percentage and recorded 20 home runs and 74 RBIs. Look for more of the same from the Cardinals’ backstop this season.

The case of Dexter Fowler was a curious one and one that most fans should follow throughout the season. Fowler was the only member of the Cards without an on-base percentage above .300 in 2018. Playing in only 90 games, Fowler hit only 8 home runs, his lowest total since 2014.

Oh yeah, the St. Louis Cardinals also traded for Paul Goldschmidt. Yes, that same Paul Goldschmidt who slashed .290/.389/.533 with 33 home runs and 83 RBIs in 2018. The same Paul Goldschmidt who’s been to six consecutive All-Star Games and owned a 5.4 WAR last season. Yes, he will make a big difference in the St. Louis Cardinals lineup.

There are some holes on the Cardinals roster, but overall it’s hard to find too many weaknesses. The team won 88 games last season without Goldschmidt, who I think has a very legitimate shot to win the NL MVP, and Mike Schildt only at the helm for less than half the season. St. Louis will be very good.

1. Milwaukee Brewers

To be the man, you gotta beat the man. Wooo! All joking and Ric Flair references aside, the Milwaukee Brewers won the NL Central last season behind an MVP performance from Christian Yelich and an equally impressive season from Lorenzo Cain. The Brew Crew were at or near the top of the National League in almost every key offensive category last season and there’s no reason to think they won’t be there again.

For some reason, the Brewers are not receiving much love heading into the 2019 season. Sure, the Cincinnati Reds have stole the majority of the headlines in the division for their impressive trade deals, but the Brewers did nothing to hinder their ability to repeat as division champs in 2019, in fact, they may have improved them.

I know that Yasmani Grandal did not have an impressive run in the postseason, but his regular season was superb and was a big reason that he landed the one-year/ $18.25M deal with the Brewers this offseason. Grandal’s 24 home runs last season for the Dodgers will likely increase in Milwaukee’s hitter-friendly ball park. The Brewers trailed only the league-leading Dodgers in home runs last season.

The Brewers had three position players performing at All-Star levels last season, even though Travis Shaw didn’t get the invite to the Midsummer Classic. Though his batting average barely scraped above .240, the Ohio-native smacked 32 home runs and 86 RBIs.

Mike Moustakas, whom Milwaukee acquired mid-season, returns to the Crew this season and will play second base rather than his customary spot at the hot corner. In 54 games with the Brewers last season, Moose slashed .256/.326/.441 with 8 homers.

There’s also a young man by the name of Christian Yelich that plays for the Brewers, perhaps you’ve heard of him? Yelich led the National League in hitting last season, outpacing Scooter Gennett down the stretch and finishing with a .326 average. He also lit up the Cincinnati Reds throughout the season and hit for the cycle on two different occasions against the Redlegs.

The Brewers are no fluke folks, and until a team in the NL Central proves otherwise, they have to be considered the best offensive team in the division. Again, this division is so close and the Cincinnati Reds are right in thick of it. The NL Central will be the most competitive division in baseball and may contain the most pop in all of Major League Baseball.