The Collegian Thursday, April 6
National League Preview
by Jobn Musser
Collegian Staff Writer
The National League-
East Division.
(1) New York Mets are a
popular choice to win the
pennant. The pitching staff
consists of 20 game-winner
David Cone, fire bailer and
former Cy Young award winner
Dwight Gooden, plus aces Ron
Darling, Sid Fernandez, and Bob
Ojeda.
The Mets may have problems
on offense, as both Gary Carter
and Keith Hernandez showed their
age last year when they suffered
subpar seasons at the plate and on
the field. Also, look for Darryl
Strawberry to improve his paltry
.196 batting average with runners
in scoring position this season.
The Mets still managed to lead
the NL in,runs (703):
Why will the Mets finish
first? Pitching, pitching, and
pitching. All the offense needs to
do is give them adequate run
support and nobody can stop the
Mets this year.
(2) St. Louis Cardinals.
This year Whitey Herzog may
just move his team to a hospital,
with Danny
.Cox (elbow),
Pendleton (left knee), and Greg
Mati - fewi"(temkr anti)'' are
already suffering from ailments.
The Cardinals will rely on
Jose Deleon (208 strikeouts), Joe
Magrane (league best ERA in 'BB
with 2.18), Scott Terry, and
rookie Cris Carpenter for starters.
The bullpen is strong, with Todd
Worrell (32 saves), Dan
Quisenberry, Ken Dayley, and
Frank DiPino.
If Pendleton returns, the
Redbirds will have one of the
most imposing hafting orders in
the East. If centerfielder Willie
McGee can return to the_ run
producing hitter that he used to
be and Vince Coleman steals over
100 bases again, the Cards will
produce.
They must also improve their
play within the division (39-51)
if they are to have any chance at
challenging the Mets.
(3) Pittsburgh Pirates.
The Buccos have returned to
power under field general Jim
Leyland and some shrewd front
office manuevers.
The Bucs feature
what could be the
best defensive
outfield in baseball
The . starting five should
include Mikd Dunne,. Doug
Drabek, John Smiley, Bob Walk,
and Brian Fisher. Drabek lead the
team in wins (15), and Walk - was
an All-star. .
The Bucs feature what could
be the best defensive outfield in
baseball with Barry Bonds, Aridy
VariSYke;ind:ptoßliyilsoiii The
top of the batting orileiLls potent
with Bonds(24 homers and 97
runs), VanSlyke(ls triples, 25
HR's, and 100 RBl's), and Bobby
Bonilla (24 HR's and 100 RBl's).
The Pirates lack production out
of shortstop, a major reason for
the trade of Felix Fermin to
Cleveland for Jay Bell, a true
hitting threat.
The Pirates need their pitching
staff to be more consistent to
make a run for the top.
(4) Chicago Cubs. Wa s
1984 that long ago? Rick
Sutcliffe, Ryne Sandberg, and
Scott Sanderson are the only
remaining players from that
pennant winning season. Don't
expect the Cubbies to return
anytime soon.
The pitching rotation includes
Sutcliffe, Greg- Maddux, Paul
Kilgus, Mike Bielecki, and
rookie Mike Harkey. Maddux
(18), Sutcliffe (13), and Kilgus
(12) were the only starters to win
more than 10 games. The bullpen
is unstable, as manager Don
Zimmer will depend on wild
fastballer Mitch Williams and
Goose Gossage to breathe life
into the league's worst relief
pitching crew.
Although the Cubs lead the
NL in hitting (.261), they hit
only 113 homeruns, down from
209 in 'B7. This 4 ar should b b e .
no different, with Andre Daw 'site
(24 HR's) and Sandberg (19
HR's) the only long ball threats
on the team.
(5) Montreal Expos.
Buck Rodgers is perhaps one of
the best magicians in baseball,
taking teams of little talent and
somehow still challenging the
top teams in baseball.
The Expos will come north
with rookie Randy Johnson and
the unproven Brian Holman to
rotate with Kevin Gross, Dennis
-Martinez, and Bryn Smith. The
bullpen is thin after the trade of
reliever Jeff Parrett.
There is some talent to be
most of it in the uniforms of OF
Tim Raines, 3B Tim Wallach,
and 1B Andres Galan - aga.
The starting pitching is
shaky, the bullpen is on the
critical list, and Rodgers can only
do so much.
(6) Philadelphia
Phillies. The Phillies are a
pretty easy team to read. New
manager Nick Leyva inherits a
starting rotation that handed out
628 free passes last summer on
their way to a pitiful league
worst ERA of 4.14. The Phils
didn't overpower anybody at the
plate either, hitting a low of .240
while their fielding percentage
suffered at .976, equaling the
NL's worst.
Meanwhile, the offense wasn't
exactly on fire either. Somehow
Tommy Herr, Jaun Samuel,
Mike Schmidt, and Lance Parrish
couldn't keep the Phils out of the
hitting basement. Samuel has
moved from to center to
help replace gap and thake‘:.
mini for Heir; but so far ,the:
" ;*" • „ •
•
.4.7. ' 4 ' •
?,• " •
=SE
z~
. -;~. '
New York Mets Darryl Strawberry gets a first inning double as the Mets open their season at Shea
Stadium Monday. St. Louis Cardinals short stop Jose Oquendo waits for the throw from right field.
AP Sports Photo
transition has been rough.
- The National Leaguk-
West Division.
(1) San Diego Padres.
General Manager Jack McKeon
has made some big deals for the
Padres, but none bigger than the
acquisition of Jack Clark from
the Yankees. McKeon didn't stop
there, as he also picked up free
agent lefty Bruce Hurst of
Boston.
The Padres boast a strong
pitching staff with Hurst (18-6),
Eric Show (16-11), Dennis
Rasmussen (16-10), Ed Whitson
(13-11) and Walt Terrell who was
acquired from Detroit. The
Padres, in addition to Clark, have
Roberto Alomar, Benito
Santiago, John Kruk, Carmelo
Martinez and three-time batting
champion Tony Gywnn.
The only problem for San
Diego appears to be in the
outfield, where Gywnn will have
to cover alot of ground between
Kruk and Martinez, both of
whom lack defensive range.
(2) Cincinnati Reds. Do
the Reds always finish second?
Manager Pete Rose has guided
Cincy to four straight second
place finishes.
For a change, Rose enters a
season whithout having to worry
about his pitching staff. Danny
Jackson (23-8), • Tom Browning
(18-5), John Franco (39 saves)
and Jose Rijo (13-8) give the
Reds solid starting pitching. .
Rose compliments "his
picthing.with power sueli as Eric
Davis (26 HR's and' 93" RBI's);
Kal Daniels (18 ,HR's,. .291),
Paul O'Neill (16 • HR's„: 73
RBl's), and Chris Sabo „(11
Virt:s),_,Todd:jlcazinger,Avho
:" , :r4k•A,
cracked 13 homers and drove in
70 runs for the Bosox last year,
will play firstbase -for the Reds
this year.
(3) San Francisco
Giants. Manager Roger Craig's
main worry this year is age. Not
his, but that of his starting
pitchers. The staff is lead by Rick
Reuschel (19-11, 3.12 ERA) who
will be 40 years young on May
16: Joining Reuschel on the
mound will be Don Robinson
(10-5, 2.45 ERA, age 32), Kelly,
Downs (13-9, age 29). and Atlee
Hammaker (9-9, age 31). The
bullpen is thin, headed by Scott
Garrelts who was 5-9 and blew
11 save oppotunities.
With Brett Butler (.287, 43
steals) and Will Clark (29 HR's,
109 RBl's, .282), the Giants
almost don't
,nped fli) , other
offense. However, if the Giants
want to finish in the money,
Candy Maldonado (68 RBl's,"
.255), Matt Williams (.205, 9
HR's), Robby Thompson (7
homers, .264), and Chris Speir
(.216) must produce more than •
last year.
Without a solid bullpen
stopper or offensive help for
Butler and Clark, Craig and his"
pitchers may age quickly this
yam•
( 4) Los Angeles
Dodgers. What happens .when.
you replace a young, soli d
secondbaseman with an aging vet
and the league MVP suffers from, ,
injuries? You don't worry about_
making hotel reservations - in
October.
The Dodgers still l!alie-oneOf
the best Oitcliirig - staffs in
baseball,
.includin e t - "Cry : young
winner Orel Hershiser:Questions
remain about Fernando
Page 11
Valenzuela's recovery from last
seasons shoulder injury, and John
Tudor is still Tocovering from
elbow surgery and could miss
half of the wson.
Newly acquired Eddie Murray
adds alot of power (28 homers) to
the L.A. batting order and
solidifies first. If Gibson's (25
HR's„29o) knee problems keep
him out of the line-up, Murray
and Mike Marshall (20 HR's, 82
RBl's) will have to carry the load.
Expect a dropoff from the
pitching staff, most of whom had
career years last season. If Gibson
can come back from the knee
injury, the Dodgers will be a
different team. It still won't be
enough this year.
(5) Houston. Astros. Ne w
manager Art Howe inheritS a
team with good pit Ching (Mike
Scott, Bob Knepper, Jim
Deshaies, and reliever Dave
Smith) and virtually no offense
other than Glenn Davis. What did
the Astros do during the
offseason? They signed free agent
pitcher Jim Clancy and traded for
Yankee hurler Rick Rhoden. That
means Houston will have to
manufacture runs like the
Cardinals do, but the Astros don't
have the speed nor the power of
St. Louis.
(6) Atlanta Braves. The
Braves have gotten so bad that it
has even affected superstar Dale
Murphy, who. batted .226 last
year. Things should improve this
year, as the Braves have a stable
of young quality pitchers in Jan
Smoltz, Tom Glavine, Derek
. .1411 . kluist..antl,Pete Smith. The
• problein'is, .tie staff ,is
4 - heir - pet - kneed and there is ;no
defense or offense to back them
up.