Much has been made of pitching in baseball over the past few seasons. The game has seen a shift from more dominant power-hitters to more shutdown pitchers since the “steroid era” “ended.”

While there are still many bona fide power hitters in the majors (Miguel Cabrera, Jose Bautista, Matt Kemp, Ryan Braun, Robinson Cano, etc.), building a strong pitching rotation has become more of a prominent priority for successful teams. Just last season (2011), baseball had a pitcher, Justin Verlander, win both the MVP award and the CY Young award in the American League. Pitching has always been important to America’s pastime but now it’s more crucial than ever.

Here is my fifth installment and this time I’m taking my talents to the National League, breaking down each team’s potential starting rotation for the 2013 season with the average Earned Run Average (we know averaging an average isn’t scientifically sound, but we’re doing it anyway…): This time, the spotlight is on the NL Central…

Cincinnati Reds:

1. Johnny Cueto (19-9, 2.78 ERA, 170 Strikeouts)
2. Mat Latos (14-4, 3.48 ERA, 185 Strikeouts)
3. Bronson Arroyo (12-10, 3.74 ERA, 129 Strikeouts)
4. Homer Bailey (13-10, 3.68 ERA, 168 Strikeouts)
5. Mike Leake (8-9, 4.58 ERA, 116 Strikeouts)

Average Combined 2012 ERA: 3.65

St. Louis Cardinals:

1. Adam Wainwright (14-13, 3.94 ERA, 184 Strikeouts)
2. Chris Carpenter (0-2, 3.71 ERA, 12 Strikeouts)
3. Jake Westbrook (13-11 3.97 ERA, 106 Strikeouts)
4. Lance Lynn (18-7, 3.78 ERA, 180 Strikeouts)
5. Jamie Garcia (7-7, 3.92 ERA, 98 Strikeouts)

Average Combined 2012 ERA: 3.86

Milwaukee Brewers:

1. Yovani Gallardo (16-9, 3.66 ERA, 204 Strikeouts)
2. Marco Estrada (5-7, 3.64 ERA, 143 Strikeouts)
3. Mike Fiers (9-10, 3.74 ERA, 135 Strikeouts)
4. Mark Rodgers (3-1, 3.92 ERA, 41 Strikeouts)
5. Wily Peralta (2-1, 2.48 ERA, 23 Strikeouts)

Average Combined ERA: 3.49

Pittsburgh Pirates:

1. A.J. Burnett (16-10, 3.51 ERA, 180 Strikeouts)
2. Wandy Rodriguez (12-13, 3.76 ERA, 139 Strikeouts)
3. James McDonald (12-8, 4.21 ERA, 151 Strikeouts)
4. Francisco Liriano (6-12, 5.34 ERA, 167 Strikeouts)
5. Kyle McPherson (0-2, 2.73 ERA, 21 Strikeouts)

Average Combined ERA: 3.91

Chicago Cubs:

1.  Matt Garza (5-7, 3.91 ERA, 96 Strikeouts)
2.  Jeff Samardzija (9-13, 3.81 ERA, 180 Strikeouts)
3.  Edwin Jackson (10-11, 4.03 ERA, 168 Strikeouts)
4.  Travis Wood (6-13, 4.27 ERA, 119 Strikeouts)
5.  Scott Baker, 2011 season (8-6, 3.14 ERA, 123 Strikeouts)

Average Combined ERA: 3.83

Aroldis Chapman is a freak. He’s just one reason the Reds will take the division in 2013. By SD Dirk on Flickr (Originally posted to Flickr as “Aroldis Chapman”) [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Last season the Pirates showed the baseball world glimpses of what they are capable of before faltering late in the season, but this year they will be back again and ready to contend. They really have nowhere else to go but up, especially in this division. I expect Francisco Liriano to be better than he has been and help the Bucs already-decent rotation out. There is no doubt that this is a good division, with two of the four National League playoff teams coming from here, and I expect it to be more competitive than ever this coming season. The Pirates rotation will be better, but I don’t think they will win this division in 2013 (though I’d love to be proven wrong).

2013 will be a three-team race between the Reds, Cardinals and Pirates. I think that the Brewers’ sub-par pitching staff will hurt them throughout the season so they fall out of my contending teams in this division. But ultimately I think that the Reds will win this division and also the NL’s best record next year. Last year, Cincinnati overcame major injuries throughout the season and still managed to win 97 games. Without a playoff collapse against the eventual champions, the Reds were one game from winning a playoff series. I believe next year will be different and the Reds get their first playoff series win since 1995.

First, I saw Rickie Weeks in person. In case you didn’t know, I drafted Weeks in the fifth round of last season’s fantasy draft. With a 4th-round run on second basemen, I picked-up the undervalued Brewer and, despite an injury during the previous year, Weeks was one of my most solid players. Because of the sideways looks and jeering laughter I got after making the pick, my team was named the “Rickie Weeks All Stars” last year. The All-Stars weren’t very good, but Weeks was awesome – and because he was awesome, he was picked by someone else early in this year’s draft.

RICKIE WEEKS!

This year, my team is called Orange Jhoulys (after Rockies pitcher Jhoulys Chacin, who I also got funny looks after drafting with my final pick). But my love of Rickie Weeks remains steadfast. I’ve tried trading for him thrice this year to no avail. On Wednesday, I gave him his just due – shouting “RICKIE-WEEKS” in a falsetto tone that Knox Harrington (the video artist) would have appreciated. My friend, Christopher, was pretty embarrassed I think.

The second thing that was really interesting happened I think in the 6th inning or so (was hard to know since the game wasn’t exactly a bundle of excitement). Out of the corner of my eye, I saw something come out of the Brewers’ dugout and fly into the air. It turned out to be a cup full of water, or Gatorade, or something. As it ascended above the dugout, lots of liquid splashed over the dugout and onto the fans.

The first row of fans almost came over the top of the dugout. They were NOT happy. On of them took the empty cup and tossed it back into the dugout, causing a similar reaction from most of the Brewers’ bench.

During the entire at-bat that was going on, most of the Brewers in the dugout turned around and faced the front row of Padres fans.

Arms waved. Fingers pointed. Bad words were certainly exchanged. Padres security (about one for every 10 fans… where are you Pads fans?) was quick to the scene. One security person was stationed on each side of the dugout and one person walked atop the dugout to confront the fan who had thrown the cup back into the Brewers’ dugout.

In most situations like this, fans usually get the brunt of the blame. For whatever reason, the Padres security personnel made an informed and well thought-out decision not to remove the fans from the game. Eventually the Brewers, who clearly “started it,” went back to paying attention to the game, and a situation that could have been a lot worse was nullified.

The easy thing to do would have been to kick the fans out. Instead, the security folks gathered relevant information and made an informed decision.

Good job Padres security personnel.

Now all the Padres need are ownership and management who are willing to spend the same energy on the players on the field. When Ryan Ludwick is your best position player, you’re in trouble. Without the draw of Adrian Gonzalez this year to get people to the park, the Friars are not a very exciting team…

Random thought during the game:

Corey Hart is going to have 20 HRs by the end of the year. He hit at least one that would have been out of any park but Petco. He squared up a few others. The Brewers’ offense is fun to watch.

Random thought of the day:

I just saw an interview with him and, is Lebron losing some hair? I hope the pressure of the multiple championship guarantee isn’t getting to him. He needs to go with the all-shaved look I think.