Blogs By FansC70 At The Bat
Sponsor


Cardinals_WideSkyscraper.jpg

Baseball Schedule is your best source for the latest St Louis Cardinals Schedule information as well as keeping up with division rivals including Cubs Schedule, Reds Schedule, Brewers Schedule and Astros Schedule.

Bet on the Cardinals with Sports Interaction's MLB betting lines


Slots Galore Casino Tournaments

Get your tickets from Bubba! Cheap St. Louis Cardinals Tickets and more, including tickets for the next MLB All-Star Game. Bubba's got Boston Red Sox Tickets and New York Yankees Tickets

Authentic, large selection of Cardinals memorabilia, guaranteed and certified.

Subscribe
RSS Feed

Archives

Players

Categories


Alliance tickets has an extensive inventory of St. Louis Cardinals Tickets , Colorado Rockies Tickets, San Francisco Giants Tickets and Seattle MarinersTickets.

With all of the St Louis tickets out there, Cardinals tickets and Rams tickets make for great presents. GoTickets.com can fill all of your sports tickets needs, just check out our testimonials!

UCB Project: NL East Predictions

Posted on March 22, 2011 at 10:03 PM
Filed Under: United Cardinal Bloggers
Today, the UCB gets into the Senior Circuit as we examine the NL East.  A potent division, with the strong possibility of two teams making it into October.  Let's see how it shakes out.

1) Philadelphia Phillies--It's really difficult to pick anyone else.  Even with a mediocre offense, a rotation of Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Roy Oswalt and Cole Hamels would be a favorite in almost any division.  When you back them with Ryan Howard, Shane Victorino, Jimmy Rollins and, if he's healthy, Chase Utley, you have the makings of a team that can run away and hide.  Never know exactly what you'll get out of Brad Lidge, but the starters should go deep enough to hide a lot of the bullpen issues.

2) Atlanta Braves--The Braves shouldn't miss a beat as they switch from Bobby Cox to Freddi Gonzalez in the dugout.  The same professionalism and solid play that has made Atlanta a regular contender will still be on display.  Jason Heyward will be healthy and ready to go for another year and he's joined by Freddie Freeman to make for a young power core.  Veterans Dan Uggla and Chipper Jones will help in the scoring runs department.  The pitching staff may not be as sexy as it was in the '90s, but it still is consistent enough to get the job done.  There's a gap between them and the Phillies, but Atlanta should be in the mix for the wild card.

3) Florida Marlins--The last year for this team, as they turn into the Miami Marlins as they move into new digs next year.  Hanley Ramirez returns and some younger faces, such as Gaby Sanchez and Logan Morrison, look to continue the impact they made in 2010.  If Josh Johnson can repeat what he did last year while staying healthy and pitchers like Anibal Sanchez can back him up, the last year of Florida might be one worth watching.

4) New York Mets--Where do you start with the Mets?  As spring training comes to a close, they are playing players to NOT play for them.  Their best pitcher is on the shelf for an indeterminate length of time.  Carlos Beltran is still hurting.  There's not a lot of hope for Mets fans right now.  They have enough talent to stay out of the cellar, but asking more than that for them could be a stretch.

5) Washington Nationals--This is a team that is already looking to 2012 with real excitement.  Stephen Strasburg likely won't return until then and there's a good bet Bryce Harper won't be around much before then either.  But those two, plus Ryan Zimmerman at the hot corner, gives Washington something to build around and more star power than it has had since coming from Montreal.  Nats fans seem to see the light at the end of the tunnel.


Leave a comment




2 Comments

2 Comments | Leave a comment

user-pic
WilliaminMaine | March 22, 2011 10:53 PM | Reply

Ah. No wonder why you're all so quiet today. :) The Braves are going to steal this division.

user-pic
Deckacards | March 22, 2011 11:17 PM | Reply

I just don't get all the love for Florida...and I have a hard time seeing David Wright et al letting themselves fall into fourth this year...of course, that's my emotional side overriding my logical side...but that's how I roll, so I ran with it ;)

Leave a comment




Cardinals_MediumRectangle.jpg

UCB_11_trans_dark_sm.png

Search



BallHyped Best Sports Blogs Book
This blog was featured in the Best Sports Blogs of 2010 Book!
• Pick up the limited print edition
• Free Best Sports Blogs ebook 


United Cardinal Bloggers

FRIENDS OF THE UCB


Download the iPhone or Android UCB app by clicking on the nice orange picture.
Open in Mobile App 

And check out the UCB Network over at LockerDome!
lockerdome-share_63x63.png
  



Other Cardinal Blogs

Recommended Cardinal Forum

Other Cardinal Sites

General Baseball Blogs/Sites



Heroes
Matt Holliday (5)
Matt Carpenter (4)
Rafael Furcal (4)
Carlos Beltran (3)
Jaime Garcia (3)
Jon Jay (3)
Kyle Lohse (3)
Lance Lynn (3)
Yadier Molina (3)
David Freese (2)
Adam Wainwright (2)
Lance Berkman (1)
Allen Craig (1)
Shane Robinson (1)
Fernando Salas (1)
Jake Westbrook (1)

2011 Top Hero: Lance Berkman (24)
2010 Top Heroes: Matt Holliday and Albert Pujols (24)
2009 Top Hero: Albert Pujols (28)
2008 Top Hero: Albert Pujols (25)

Goats
Matt Holliday (4)
Carlos Beltran (3)
David Freese (3)
Jaime Garcia (3)
Jason Motte (3)
Marc Rzepczynski (3)
Adam Wainwright (3)
Rafael Furcal (2)
Tyler Greene (2)
J.C. Romero (2)
Fernando Salas (2)
Mitchell Boggs (1)
Matt Carpenter (1)
Tony Cruz (1)
Daniel Descalso (1)
Jon Jay (1)
Erik Komatsu (1)
Kyle Lohse (1)
Victor Marte (1)
Eduardo Sanchez (1)
Jake Westbrook (1)

2011 Top Goat: Ryan Theriot (12)
2010 Top Goat: Brendan Ryan (14)
2009 Top Goats: Rick Ankiel and Todd Wellemeyer (13)
2008 Top Goat: Troy Glaus (13)

2012 Happy Flights
Happy Flights: 7
Happy Flight Opportunities: 12
Happy Flight %: 58%

Through 5/20

    Cardinal Nation Approval Ratings (March 2012)
    Adam Wainwright 91.9% (down 2.8%)
    Chris Carpenter 90.1% (up 3.2%)
    Lance Berkman 88.6%
    Tony La Russa 88.2% (up 17.4%)
    Yadier Molina 87.4% (up 3.7%)
    Matt Holliday 87.3% (down 3.8%)
    David Freese 85.5%
    John Mozeliak 85.4% (up 13.3%)
    Mike Shannon 85.3% (up 0.4%)
    Jose Oquendo 84.7%
    Derrick Goold 82.8% (down 5.0%)
    Mark McGwire 82.6% (up 20.1%)
    John Rooney 81.5% (down 2.8%)
    Mike Matheny 81.1%
    Bill DeWitt 79.8% (up 8.8%)
    United Cardinal Bloggers 78.9%
    Skip Schumaker 73.3% (up 9.2%)
    Jim Hayes 71.9% (down 4.2%)
    Jon Jay 71.1%
    B.J. Rains 69.5% (down 0.9%)
    Kyle Lohse 68.9% (up 13.8%)
    Dan McLaughlin 68.0%
    Joe Strauss 67.7% (up 10.2%)
    Ricky Horton 67.5% (down 1.6%)
    Al Hrabosky 66.4% (up 3.2%)
    Albert Pujols 54.9% (down 45.5%)
    Colby Rasmus 46.5% (down 35.3%)

    2011
    Dave Duncan 87.9% (up 0.9%)
    Matthew Leach 85.5%
    Pop Warner 76.7%
    Ryan Franklin 72.8% (up 3.1%)
    John Vuch 68.9%
    Jeff Luhnow 66.4%
    Dan Lozano 58.7%

    2009
    Rick Ankiel 83.9%
    Chris Duncan 69.1%


    Looking for St. Louis Cardinals Tickets?  TicketCity is your source for New York Yankees Tickets and World Series Tickets.

    Looking for Cardinals tickets? Stop by OnlineSeats. We’ve got Blues seats and even Rams games. Go to the coasts as well and catch a Celtics game or get Dodgers tickets.

    Referrals