If Your Team's Still In It, Here's How It Can Win the Pennant

(Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)

St. Louis Cardinals

The Positive

You sit atop the NL Central by two-and-a-half games.  You have the best hitter in baseball in Albert Pujols.  You have the fourth best ERA in baseball behind a healthy Chris Carpenter, Adam Wainwright, Kyle Lohse, and Joel Pineiro, where a 4.26 ERA is the highest amongst them. 

Colby Rasmus is doing well as a rookie and Ryan Franklin has completely saved (pun definitely intended) what looked like a terrible closer situation at the beginning of the year.  

Directions To Champagne

Either Todd Wellemeyer or Brad Thompson have to step up in that fifth starter role.  Mark DeRosa needs to get healthy and help the offense.  

Milwaukee Brewers

The Positive

Any middle lineup that has Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder is scary, but Mike Cameron has added some more pop to it.  Yovani Gallardo and Trevor Hoffman have held things down for the pitching staff.  

Directions To Champagne

The rest of the pitching staff needs to step up especially starters Jeff Suppan, Brandon Looper, Manny Parra, and Seth McClung (until Dave Bush comes back) because it represents the 24th ranked ERA in baseball.  Corey Hart, JJ Hardy and Bill Hall are also having awful seasons, so any upgrade from them would be much needed.

Chicago Cubs

The Positive

You have been bruised and battered this entire year while having uncharacteristically bad years from players.  All this and you are still just three-and-a-half games out of the division lead.  You are fifth in baseball in ERA.

Bright spots have been Ted Lilly, the most consistent starting pitcher, Randy Wells, who has to be considered a first half rookie of the year candidate, Angel Guzman, the most consistent pitcher in the bullpen, Derrek Lee, who is tearing the cover off the ball, and Kosuke Fukudome batting leadoff finally (he has a .361 OBP). 

Directions To Champagne

You are paying your outfield, made up of Milton Bradley, Kosuke Fukudome, and Alfonso Soriano, $36.5 million this year and they are batting .241 with 27 home runs and 81 RBI.  Could be a big reason why you are 27th in runs scored in baseball. 

Aramis Ramirez and Ryan Dempster need to get healthy, Carlos Zambrano needs to act like a big boy and keep his hands to himself and his mouth shut, and Rich Harden needs to fix whatever is wrong with him.  Kevin Gregg has been pretty good lately, but Carlos Marmol and Aaron Heilman have to step things up.

All together now, pitching...wins..championships.

Houston Astros

The Positive

You have a lineup made up of Michael Bourn, Miguel Tejada, Lance Berkman, Carlos Lee and Hunter Pence.  Your pitching is 11th in baseball in team ERA.  Wandy Rodriguez is having the best season of his career along with Roy Oswalt, Russ Ortiz and Mike Hampton having solid years. 

Chris Sampson and LaTroy Hawkins have been handing the ball to closer Jose Valverde with ease.  

Directions to Champagne

Even with a lineup featuring the players above, you somehow are 23rd in baseball in runs scored.  This could because Berkman and Lee are having down years, but both have been getting hot as late. 

The rest of your lineup outside those five is also pretty awful.  Hampton and Ortiz will need to stay healthy in the second half and Oswalt will need his usual second-half magic for the Astros to compete.

Cincinnati Reds

The Positive

Not much to say positively about this team.  It is pretty mediocre, but only five games out of the division lead which says something about the NL Central.  Brandon Phillips has had a good season and David Weathers, Nick Massett, and Francisco Cordero have shortened games for their awful starting staff. 

Aaron Harang has been up and down, Johnny Cueto has recently had some struggles while Micah Owings and Bronson Arroyo have been terrible.  

Directions to Champagne

Jay Bruce and Edinson Volquez need to get healthy and improve their terrible numbers.  Arroyo and Harang also need to be far more consistent.  Johnny Cueto cannot hold the starting staff together by himself.  

Pittsburgh Pirates

The Positive

Andrew McCutchen looks like the real deal and Zach Duke is back to his old form.  You are only nine-and-a-half out of the division lead, but really don't have a chance.

Directions to Champagne

Mapquest has this estimated at least five years.  You have to unload Matt Capps, Adam LaRoche, Freddy Sanchez, Jack Wilson, and maybe even Paul Maholm.  They need to start rebuilding...again.  

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