The bullpens are among the more difficult position groups in baseball to forecast heading in to every year with so many unknown elements. While we generally know what to expect from the studs, it’s impossible to account for all relievers so we can only base our projections from what we know. We took the time to break down the best bullpens from around the majors heading in to spring training including the home of the defending World Series champion Chicago Cubs. Here is a look at the NL Central bullpens from best to worst.
Chicago Cubs
The Clubs have a new closer but the bullpen is still absolutely solid with Wade Davis more than capable of shutting down opposing hitters in that role. Remember that they used Aroldis Chapman as their fireballer to close out games down the stretch of the season (and playoffs), but he signed with the New York Yankees as a free agent. Now it will be up to Davis to take over. Davis has consistently been one of the best closers in the majors since the start of 2014 and while his command and velocity has declined a little bit he is still a solid option. Koji Uehara and Hector Rondon are a couple of more quality options in front of Davis with Pedro Strop, Brian Duensing, Carl Edwards and Justin Grimm rounding out the relief crew. Chicago’s bullpen is both deep and talented and it definitely deserves top billing in the NL Central.
St. Louis Cardinals
St. Louis doesn’t have the same depth that Chicago brings to the table but they do have one of the top closers from a year ago in Seung Hwan Oh and a strong staff in front of him led by former closer Trevor Rosenthal. Oh registered an 11.64 K/9 and 2.03 BB/9 in his 79.2 innings of work while using his 93 mph fastball and a sharp slider that made hitters look silly at times. Kevin Siegrist, Brett Cecil and Jonathan Broxton round out an impressive relief cast for the Cardinals and while they don’t have an overwhelming level of depth they are talented enough to deserve this spot.
Pittsburgh Pirates
Mark Melancon is gone so the Pirates need to be considered a tier below the top bullpens in the NL Central. Felipe Rivero has the potential to be a future closer in Pittsburgh while Daniel Hudson was signed to pitch the eighth inning and back up Tom Watson as the actual closer. Juan Nicasio, Antonio Bastardo and Jared Hughes round out a talented bullpen and if Watson and Hudson can really step up then the pirates will earn this spot on the list of NL Central bullpens.
Milwaukee Brewers
Milwaukee owns some considerable pitching depth in its bullpen but the overall talent isn’t at the same level as the Cubs, Cardinals and Pirates. Neftali Feliz is expected to earn the closer role out of spring training with Corey Knebel likely the top option to eventually replace him down the line. Meanwhile, Carlos Torres, Joba Chamberlain and Juan Marinez are solid if unspectacular options. Jacob Barnes and Rob Scahill round out a talented cast and they will need to emerge and perform at a high level in order to help make up for a weak Brewers rotation.
Cincinnati Reds
There is absolutely no doubt the worst bullpen in the NL Central belongs to the Reds. Cincinnati’s bullpen blew up in 2016 and it doesn’t project to be much better at all in 2017. Raisel Iglesias is the likely closer after he posted a 1.98 ERA in 50 innings as a reliever but he needs to prove he can handle a bigger workload. Michael Lorenzen has also struggled with durability issues but he is expected to be in the mix as a late reliever. Drew Storen was added to help provide some depth but he struggled with the Toronto Blue Jays last season and there isn’t any guarantee he is better this season. Jumbo Diaz and Blake Wood are interesting pieces but neither is going to dominate for the Reds in 2017.
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