NL Central Discussion 2026

[Jopal78]

2 hours ago, Brian said:

Yes they did but I guess the word "avg", was a very poor choice of words in what I meant, I will say it this way. 

When the Brewers have lost this season we usually scored 4 or less runs would be the crux of what I meant.  Which is why I said score 5 runs or more and we would be completely unstoppable. 

I bet every MLB team would be completely unstoppable if they averaged 5 runs scored or more per game. 

[Frisbee Slider]

7 minutes ago, Jopal78 said:

I bet every MLB team would be completely unstoppable if they averaged 5 runs scored or more per game. 

Not every team. Pirates also very stoppable and average five runs per game. Fair point though.

[BruisedCrew]

3 minutes ago, Jopal78 said:

I bet every MLB team would be completely unstoppable if they averaged 5 runs scored or more per game. 

That is absolutely not true. 

The Nationals, Cubs, and Pirates are averaging over 5 runs a game this season. They are not unstoppable and two of them are almost certainly missing the playoffs. 

What is true is that a team that scored 5 runs or more EVERY game would likely be unstoppable. 

Pitching and general run prevention obviously plays a big role.
 

 

[sveumrules]

Pirates went 123 W - 201 L for a .380 W% (2nd worst in MLB) from 2021 to 2022. From 2023 to 2025 they improved to 223 W - 263 L for a .459 W% that was 25th in MLB.

After finishing last year with a 3.83 FIP (3rd) | 3.76 ERA (7th) | 3.98 RA/G (5th) but an 82 wRC+ (29th) and 3.60 RS/G (30th) they went about as ALL IN as it gets in Pittsburgh to fix the offense, hopefully have their first winning season since 2018, and maybe even get back to the playoffs for the first time since 2015.

And the first part worked, this year they have a 105 wRC+ (6th) and 5.02 RS/G (3rd). But just like all those bones in our bodies are connected together, the offense is inextricably linked to the defense.

So far this year Pirates pitchers have been a little worse with a 3.92 FIP (7th), but their 4.31 ERA is 20th and their 4.79 RA/G is 24th.

The only teams with a bigger wrong way gap between their FIP and ERA are the Rockies (+0.65) who play half their games on a mountain and the A's (+0.51) who play half their games in a rinky dink AAA park.

[cragi]

i have to say the aggressive moves by the Pirates at the deadline were a head scratcher to me. Like, what are they playing for even? Why are they not continuing to build when they arent in line for anything meaningful

[Brian]

Brewers expecting Brice Turang back tomorrow and Sal Frelick to follow with Cooper Pratt starting his rehab soon.  The Brewers weathered many injuries verse the Dodgers and actually gained one more game of space on the Cubs. That is todays good news. 

[BruisedCrew]

Turang being back tomorrow is great news. A steady diet of Vaughn at 3B and Sanchez at 1B with the minor leaguer of the week at 2B is a recipe for disaster. We saw some potential outs thrown away on the road trip. Fortunately they didn’t cost as much as they might have. They got away with it, but putting extra runners on base for Ohtani is not a good idea  

Pratt starting rehab soon is good news if it means that he is progressing to the point where he can play  in a game within a week and might be back with the Brewers by August 31 or earlier,

Frelick coming back is good news if it means his shoulder has improved to the point that he can throw like a major league right fielder. Otherwise he represents little, if any, improvement over Lockridge  

With the 7 games in 10 days against the Cubs coming up in 2 weeks we all want to see the team as close to full strength as possible. Uribe’s return would be a big help, but that might not be happening that soon.
 

When the Brewers say that they don’t think a pitcher’s injury is anything serious that doesn’t necessarily mean a minimum stay on the IL  

 

[wiguy94]

4 hours ago, cragi said:

i have to say the aggressive moves by the Pirates at the deadline were a head scratcher to me. Like, what are they playing for even? Why are they not continuing to build when they arent in line for anything meaningful

Yeah it was dumb. If they wanted to buy they should have aggressively tried to buy before the deadline. By the time the deadline came around it was already looking too late for them.

[titanrick]

1 hour ago, BruisedCrew said:

When the Brewers say that they don’t think a pitcher’s injury is anything serious that doesn’t necessarily mean a minimum stay on the IL  

Agreed.  And with Uribe, the goal has to be that he's fully healthy for October, not for two series against the Cubs.  

[markedman5]

 

[wiguy94]

6 minutes ago, markedman5 said:

 

Interesting because it was also reported as a grade 2 oblique strain which has typically come with a 6-8 week recovery

[HarryDoyle]

 

[Jopal78]

17 hours ago, wiguy94 said:

Yeah it was dumb. If they wanted to buy they should have aggressively tried to buy before the deadline. By the time the deadline came around it was already looking too late for them.

I would take another look. Luke Weaver, Camilo Doval and Lake Bachar are all controllable in 2027. Kirby Yates is the only one who is a rental.
 

According to the pundits’ lists the Pirates parted with their #9 prospect to get Weaver and cash, but most the other players traded would be considered organizational depth. 

Those deals may not have been a difference maker for the Pirates in ‘26, but maybe that wasn’t the goal. Maybe it was an opportunity to build a stronger bullpen for 2027 at minimal cost and certainly cheaper than shopping for FAs. 
 

 

[owbc]

If PCA wins MVP and Miz wins the Cy, it will be the first time since 2005 that both the MVP and Cy Young came out of the NL Central.

[Brewcrew82]

In the last day the Brewers are averaging 22 runs per game. Therefore, the Brewers offense, is in fact, multiple times better than even the 27 Yankees. Simply selecting the most recent, relevant data as teams have changed quite a bit over the first 126 games!

[torts]

[LouisEly]

Gausman: 4.1 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 5 K

 

[wiguy94]

1 minute ago, LouisEly said:

Gausman: 4.1 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 5 K

Can't say I've ever seen a pitcher removed from a game due to injury with the injury being a thumb cramp in his glove hand.

[Fear The Chorizo]

PCA is on some kind of power hitting heater for himself the last month...but with the HR binge has come a notable increase in Ks and no discernable, even a decrease, in his walk rate.

 

I don't know why teams throw him strikes until he proves he can be ok with taking 2-3 walks a game while waiting for pitches he can do damage with.  Been a bit since the Brewers faced him, but they have 6 games against him this season and PCA has a 0.248 OPS against them, by far the lowest in MLB opponents this season.  12 ks in 25 plate appearances with 4 walks and 1 hit.  7 more games left for PCA to improve on that obviously....but maybe the White Sox should go to school on how Milwaukee has pitched him (PCA's OPS against the pale hose is 1.573!!)

[adambr2]

12 minutes ago, Fear The Chorizo said:

PCA is on some kind of power hitting heater for himself the last month...but with the HR binge has come a notable increase in Ks and no discernable, even a decrease, in his walk rate.

 

I don't know why teams throw him strikes until he proves he can be ok with taking 2-3 walks a game while waiting for pitches he can do damage with.  Been a bit since the Brewers faced him, but they have 6 games against him this season and PCA has a 0.248 OPS against them, by far the lowest in MLB opponents this season.  12 ks in 25 plate appearances with 4 walks and 1 hit.  7 more games left for PCA to improve on that obviously....but maybe the White Sox should go to school on how Milwaukee has pitched him (PCA's OPS against the pale hose is 1.573!!)

The White Sox pitching to him with 1st base open in the 10th inning in the opener of their series was beyond dumb. 

If the Brewers swapped places with the White Sox, they’d be 16.5 games up on the division and 15 games up on the 3 seed. 

Basically in mid August their focus would already be lining up their rotation for the ALDS and balancing rest with momentum in September, 

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

I haven't liked the White Sox since the Terry Bevington days. They have done absolutely nothing to change that stance the last couple nights.

[owbc]

11 minutes ago, Ron Robinsons Beard said:

I haven't liked the White Sox since the Terry Bevington days. They have done absolutely nothing to change that stance the last couple nights.

The AL is so, so bad this year. 

[LouisEly]

The White Sox use Hudson as an opener last night to get through the lefties and he gives up HRs to PCA and Busch.

[markedman5]

Cubs shut out 3-0

[baseball101]

Well, it doesn’t appear that the Crew will lose the central lead this week despite some of the electric proclamations made last week. It’s almost as if the baseball season is a long grind and losing and winning streaks happen. The Cubs offense looked awful today, I know it’s a small sample size however I believe scoring zero runs will continue going forward.