The Best NL Central Fans in Baseball 2020

https://i.imgur.com/n58kaL3.png

there's a schedule?

yeah, good question, i'm not sure how Dan Zips did it. They know 40 out of the 60 games will involve division rivals, so 10 each against those teams. the other 20 will be against the corresponding league's division - so 4 each against those teams?

Stratomat's standings playing out this season are not too different in the NL Central.

LEAGUE STANDINGS FOR 2020 Strat-O-Matic Season

AL East WON LOST PCT GB MAGIC#
2020 Tampa Bay TBA 50 33 .602 ---- 73
2020 New York (AL) NYA 42 40 .512 7.5
2020 Toronto TOA 38 44 .463 11.5
2020 Boston BOA 38 44 .463 11.5
2020 Baltimore BAA 33 49 .402 16.5

AL Central WON LOST PCT GB MAGIC#
2020 Cleveland CLA 51 31 .622 ---- 73
2020 Kansas City KCA 44 39 .530 7.5
2020 Minnesota MNA 42 41 .506 9.5
2020 Chicago (AL) CHA 38 45 .458 13.5
2020 Detroit DEA 32 50 .390 19.0

AL West WON LOST PCT GB MAGIC#
2020 Houston HOA 54 26 .675 ---- 74
2020 Oakland OAA 47 35 .573 8.0
2020 Los Angeles(AL) LAA 41 40 .506 13.5
2020 Texas TEA 32 51 .386 23.5
2020 Seattle SEA 29 54 .349 26.5

NL East WON LOST PCT GB MAGIC#
2020 Washington WAN 50 32 .610 ---- 75
2020 Atlanta ATN 44 38 .537 6.0
2020 Philadelphia PHN 39 42 .481 10.5
2020 New York (NL) NYN 39 43 .476 11.0
2020 Miami MMN 33 49 .402 17.0

NL Central WON LOST PCT GB MAGIC#
2020 St. Louis SLN 44 38 .537 ---- 81
2020 Milwaukee MLN 42 38 .525 1.0
2020 Chicago (NL) CHN 43 39 .524 1.0
2020 Cincinnati CIN 40 42 .488 4.0
2020 Pittsburgh PIN 34 47 .420 9.5

NL West WON LOST PCT GB MAGIC#
2020 Los Angeles(NL) LAN 53 29 .646 ---- 73
2020 San Diego SDN 45 37 .549 8.0
2020 Arizona ARN 41 41 .500 12.0
2020 Colorado CON 39 42 .481 13.5
2020 San Francisco SFN 32 50 .390 21.0


AL Wild Card Standings WON LOST PCT GB MAGIC#
2020 Oakland OAA 47 35 .573 ---- 76
2020 Kansas City KCA 44 39 .530 ---- 79
2020 New York (AL) NYA 42 40 .512 1.5
2020 Los Angeles(AL) LAA 41 40 .506 2.0
2020 Minnesota MNA 42 41 .506 2.0
2020 Toronto TOA 38 44 .463 5.5
2020 Boston BOA 38 44 .463 5.5

NL Wild Card Standings WON LOST PCT GB MAGIC#
2020 San Diego SDN 45 37 .549 ---- 80
2020 Atlanta ATN 44 38 .537 ---- 81
2020 Milwaukee MLN 42 38 .525 1.0
2020 Chicago (NL) CHN 43 39 .524 1.0
2020 Arizona ARN 41 41 .500 3.0
2020 Cincinnati CIN 40 42 .488 4.0

If I am wrong, I'm wrong but the last two times MLB had some work stoppage, the Reds were just good enough to get screwed out of playoff spot.

Last ride of the Big Red Machine in 81 in the strike year somehow got the best record in baseball and did not make the playoffs because of the weird split season playoff setup.

In the shortened 94 season, the Reds were freakin' crusin' at 66-49 when the season stopped and then got swept by the Braves in NL Championship '95 when they won it all. First two games of the sweep went into extra innings...oh well.

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/2020-positional-power-rankings-starting-rotation-no-1-15/

I can say without hyperbole that this may be the best rotation the Reds have had since the late 50s or early 60s when they had various combinations of Jim Maloney, Bob Purkey, Joe Nuxhall, and Jim O'Toole.

Reds project to have the best starting pitching in the NL Central (at #8 in MLB), with the brewers/cubs/cardinals clumped together in the middle of all of MLB (#15-17) and the pirates a little bit behind (#23)

the yankees playing literally half their games against the BAL/TOR/BOS pitching staffs could get v. ugly

I honestly just don’t see it with the Reds.

pirates finished their 2020 exhibition slate 3-18

Baseball Prospectus staff #2 choice for NL Cy Young (behind deGrom) is John Flaherty

i don't necessarily think it'll be flaherty or degrom (just because of baseball weirdness), but there's a good chance the Cy winner this year will be some sub-1.50 ERA (or lower) fluke thing

Oddly enough, I almost think the Reds are the hip pick to win the central. A whole lot of people are picking them to win a close division.

I have no idea how this will play out. One thing with such a short season, you get off to a bad start, there is no coming back.

Flaherty looking pretty Cy-like til his 88th pitch, gave up a 2-run single

<3 kyle hendricks despite his cubness

miles mikolas out for the season

damn, that sucks, but if the season manages to go on, they have good starting depth (KK might be as effective as mikolas was in 2018)

https://s.yimg.com/it/api/res/1.2/V_bafTbwvm.rcsqM8ef5tw--~A/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7dz0zMDA7aD0yMDA7cT0xMDA-/https://s.yimg.com/xe/i/us/sp/v/mlb_cutout/players_l/04302020/10050.png

"Business in the front, party in the back."

According to Thom Brennaman, Travis Jankowski has already been mistaken a few times in Cincy for Bronson Arroyo.

Christian Yelich worst player in baseball

pirates 2 hitter is batting .045
5 hitter: .080
6 hitter: .077
8 hitter: .105

Tyler Chatwood is good now

Joey Votto self-reported symptoms this morning, according to a source. He was placed on the IL. There is no positive test, source said. Based on what MLB has done, he'd miss at minimum, two days -- 3 games if they play today's DH.

— C. トレント・ローズクランズ (@ctrent) August 2, 2020

so i see the pirates and cardinals are both still at 2 wins. 10 losses for the bucs, though

haven't the Cardinals only played like 2 games

a total of 5 so far

tyler chatwood is bad again

though now he's giving up home runs instead of walking 2/3rds of the other team

pirates and twins played in mpls monday and tuesday, then flew to pittsburgh to play in a different empty stadium wednesday-thursday. brilliant stuff

eh, I think home field advantage in baseball has more to do with the actual field than it does fans in the stands though. Makes me wonder if anyone has thought about recording devestating player-specific heckles for their artificial fans though.

I think the crowds do subconsciously affect the strike zone

yeah there's an advantage, mostly for outfielders, in knowing the field. i don't think it's enough to warrant sending all those people to an extra location for two days during a pandemic, though -- it's a corner that should have been cut

also lol the marlins and phillies are gonna play a seven-game series over five days in miami in september!

fuckin lmao @ Yelich's homer tonight

was it over the sound of canned boos?

real talk if there were fans they probably would've pushed him back into the field and it only would've been a triple

"yeah there's an advantage,"

Getting laid at home?

I joke, but you know with these fools it's true.

So what is the temp in the room about the 7 innning game?

I'm kinda thinking this...have the 7 inning game during the week like Sunday night games to Thursday. Then on the weekend play 9. Playoffs always play in 9. I'm not a purist though, I think they ought to realign completely by region to make the weekend regional series a travel thing (once past the plague).

maniacs

If the #Reds get their way, it won't just be cardboard cutouts in the stands at games this season. @ctrent reports that the team has formally pitched a plan to the state for fans at GABP in 2020. https://t.co/1xY3vFmdd7

— The Athletic Cincinnati (@TheAthleticCIN) August 10, 2020

#STLCards mamager Mikr Shildt, driving a Yucon to Chicago, says it reminded him of Legion Ball.

— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) August 15, 2020

willie mcgee will attempt to remote bench coach, when possible

Cardinals coach Willie McGee will not return to the bench when the team resumes play, Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. He has opted out of the remainder of the campaign.

McGee, an MLB veteran who spent 13 of his 18 playing seasons in St. Louis, has tutored the club’s outfielders since 2018. The 61-year-old will attempt to fulfill some of his duties remotely.

The decision comes as the Cardinals try to make it through a COVID-19 outbreak that has spread to many of the team’s players and coaches. McGee has not tested positive, per the report. He says he’s particularly concerned with contracting the disease since he has high blood pressure.

and unfortunate news for the reds :(

SATURDAY: Games scheduled for today and tomorrow between the Cincinnati Reds and Pittsburgh Pirates has been postponed after a Reds’ player tested positive for COVID-19. There have been no more positive tests beyond the one for the Reds, per MLB Insider Jon Heyman (Twitter links). Given potential exposure during yesterday’s game, there’s more than enough reason to push tonight’s game at the very least.

MLB issued a press release announcing the cancellations, which read: “Following a positive test for COVID-19 by a Cincinnati Reds player, tonight’s scheduled game, as well as tomorrow afternoon’s contest, between the Reds and Pittsburgh Pirates at Great American Ball Park have been postponed to allow for additional testing and to complete the contact tracing process. Major League Baseball will continue to provide updates as they become available.”

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2020/08/reds-player-tests-positive-for-coronavirus.html

What's the next date all 30 teams will play?

I am looking forward to this Cards game so we can see the effects of "rust."

yeah, the next few weeks are going to be a beatdown. the return of the 1997 cardinals

The Redbirds is back!

CIN-PIT postponed today and tomorrow

welp, whatever this 2020 season is for the cardinals, the most important stretch is right now. 5 games against the cubs over 3 days, none of their starting pitchers are at regular season strength, almost all the starting position players were all minor leaguers 2 years ago, and half of the bullpen appearances are MLB debuts

pirates team fWAR:

hitters: 0.0
starters: -0.3
relievers: 0.8

better than the red sox for just a third of the cost = successful season!

pirates more than tripled their playoff chances with a sweep of the brewers this weekend

(from 0.2% to 0.7%)

supposedly josh hader (!) said the brewers are considering not playing tonight (!)

all of the NBA playoff games just got canceled

it is pretty weird to get that news via josh hader though

what would *really* move the needle is if the packers struck as well, but they don't play for two and a half weeks

i'm pretty stunned!

The Brewers have decided not to play tonight’s game.

— Jared Diamond (@jareddiamond) August 26, 2020