2010 Record: 77-85
Lineup:
1 Rickie Weeks 2B
2 Corey Hart OF
3 Ryan Braun OF
4 Prince Fielder 1B
5 Casey McGehee 3B
6 Yuniesky Betancourt SS
7 Jonathan Lucroy C
8 Carlos Gomez OF
If Weeks can stay healthy this isn't a bad lineup. Prince Fielder needs kind of a bounce back year. Yes, I know he hit 32 HRs with 83 RBIs, but he is a guy that can hit 40+ HRs with 110+ RBIs when he is on his game. Ryan Braun/Corey Hart are good hitters, and if Casey McGee can put put the stats he did last year (.285 BA, 23 HRs, 104 RBIs) this lineup should be in fine shape. Even though this team struggled last year it really wasn't this lineups fault, and this could be a very dangerous lineup if they stay healthy.
Pitching:
1 Zack Greinke
2 Yovani Gallardo
3 Shaun Marcum SP
4 Randy Wolf SP
5 Chris Narveson
Shaun Marcum is one of the most underrated pitchers in baseball, and could be a beast in the NL. I love that this team went out and fixed their rotation. Greinke could be back to his Cy Young self with his new team, and they already had Yovani Gallardo and could be in line for a breakout season now the pressure of being the #1 guy is off him. The key to this rotation will be Randy Wolf. He wasn't very good last year, but had a 2.67 ERa over his last 13 starts, so hopefully that means he figured it out. The big question with this team is their bullpen. Last year they went with a bunch of veterans (Trevor Hoffman, LaTroy Hawkins) and that blew up in their face. This year they are going with young guys (John Axford and Zach Braddock), so it will be interesting to see if they have better results.
Overall:
They have had the lineup to be a dangerous team, and now they have the rotation. I am worried about their bullpen, but this team is vastly improved and with the Cardinals falling apart this could be thier year.
2011 Record: 92-70
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