NL Central

The first year of the Epstein/Hoyer/Sveum era has been... well, odd. In spring training, guys such as Joe Mather and Steve Clevenger, who were considered to be ticketed for AAA Iowa, forced their way onto the ball club.

During the regular season, Matt Garza threw away a shutout—literally. Darwin Barney was the first Cub of the year to hit a home run.

The Milwaukee Brewers' quest to repeat as National League Central champions just became a whole lot more difficult.

In the second inning of their 5-2 loss to the San Francisco Giants Saturday afternoon, newly acquired 35-year-old free-agent shortstop Alex Gonzalez appeared to have badly injured his right knee while attempting to steal second after singling in a run off Giants hurler Madison Bumgarner.

After the loss of star slugger Albert Pujols to free agency over the winter, the Cardinals were seen as a team surely on the mend. 

The Chicago Cubs were able to bounce back from yesterday's devastating loss by beating the Los Angeles Dodgers behind the strong outing of Paul Maholm, 5-4.

Here is what we learned after this Cubs victory.

Third base is typically a thin position in fantasy baseball, so any injuries to top options quickly drain what little depth there is.

It's been hard to be a Milwaukee Brewer fan for the last 25 years or so. Only a handful of memories stick out.

But then 2011 came along.

One of the most memorable seasons started when the Brewers acquired Nyjer Morgan from the Washington Nationals.

Nyjer Morgan was the Brewers fans favorite player in 2011. The eccentric "T-Plush" brought enthusiasm and energy night in and night out.

The St. Louis Cardinals have played 21 of their 22 games this season against NL Central opponents en route to a division-leading 14-8 record.

That trend won’t change this week, with the Cardinals taking on the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The Pirates have struggled their way to a 10-12 record this season, good for fourth in the NL Central.

I heard of Paul Janish's possible injury yesterday. Today it's been confirmed by beat writer John Fay that Janish broke his wrist when he was hit by a pitch in Saturday's game against the Norfolk Tides.

Janish will be placed on the DL and is likely to miss 6-8 weeks (standard recovery time from a broken wrist).

Houston Astros fans were surprised when Brad Mills announced Brett Myers would be the Astros' primary closer heading into the 2012 season. The biggest reason was Myers was expected to be No. 1 or No. 2 in the rotation; a rotation that was atrocious last year.

Starlin Castro has quickly established himself as one of the best shortstops in the league.

He led the National League in hits (207) and at-bats (674), and also popped 10 home runs while collecting 66 RBI. His slash line of .307/.341/.432 was also very impressive.

Early in this season, Castro is putting up great numbers.

He's played in all 17 games, while driving in eight runs and posting a line of .358/.389/.478.