After the 2019 Major League Baseball season, some all-decade teams have been speculated. Of course, there are different opinions on what players should make the rosters, but if everyone agreed on the same roster, it could get boring. Some may even go as far as saying the decade should count as 2011-through-2020 while others say 2010-through-2019. Either way, here is a potential all-decade team for the National League Central from the years 2010-through-2019.
(This includes a starting lineup [without a DH,] a pitching rotation and two bullpen pitchers.)
Team: Pittsburgh Pirates (2009-2017)
With the Pirates, Andrew McCutchen finished in the top five of the NL MVP voting four times, including 2013 when he won the award. That year, he hit 21 homers, 38 doubles and scored 97 runs. He kept hitting well the next season in 2014 when his slash line was .314/.410/.542 for the year. From 2010-through-2017, Cutch made five All-Star games and won four Silver Slugger Awards as well as a Gold Glove.
Team: Cincinnati Reds (2007-Present)
One of Joey Votto‘s more impressive stats is his on-base percentage. From 2010-through-2019, his OBP was at least .400 for eight out of 10 years. He led the MLB in bases on balls three times as well. Votto has also been able to hit for extra bases during his career. He had a career-high .600 slugging percentage in 2010, a big part of it being from his 37 homers and 36 doubles. Votto has made six All-Star games and won the NL MVP in 2010.
Ryan Braun (Image from Sportsnet)
Team: Milwaukee Brewers (2007-Present)
Ryan Braun‘s numbers have been down some over the past few seasons. However, he had some notable years with Milwaukee as well. From 2010-through-2012, he made the All-Star game and won a Silver Slugger award each of those seasons. He won the NL MVP in 2011 and was the runner-up in 2012. The year he won NL MVP, he had a slash line of .332/.397/.597, giving him a .994 OPS.
Team: St. Louis Cardinals (2009-2016)
Matt Holliday‘s first full season as a Cardinal came in 2010. That year, he hit .312/.390/.532 as well as made the All-Star game and won a Silver Slugger. He made three more All-Star games with the Cardinals, the most recent one being in 2015. From 2010-through-2016, Matt Holliday hit 143 dingers, 221 doubles and had 561 RBIs, including 103 in 2010.
Team: Chicago Cubs (2015-Present)
By the time Kris Bryant was 25-years-old, he had already won Rookie of the Year and an MVP with the Cubs. The year 2019 was his fifth season in the MLB. Through those years, his career slash line is .284/.385/.516. He has 751 hits, 403 RBIs and 138 homers during those years as well. When the 2020 season starts, Kris Bryant will be just 28-years-old.
Team: Chicago Cubs (2014-Present)
Another Chicago Cub who debuted at a young age is Javier Baez. He struggled to start his career, having a .169/.227/.324 slash line in his first season. It wasn’t until 2018 that Baez made his first All-Star game. He was also the runner-up to the NL MVP that year in which Christian Yelich won the award. Baez led that National League in RBIs in 2018 with 111. He also had 34 homers and 40 doubles that year.
Yadier Molina (Image from Sporting News.
Team: St. Louis Cardinals (2004-Present)
During the years 2010-through-2019, Yadier Molina made eight All-Star Games and won seven Gold Glove awards. One of his best seasons came in 2012 when he had a career high 22 homers and a .315/.373/.501 slash line. That year he finished fourth in the NL MVP voting, and he finished in third the following year. Molina will be turning 38-years-old in July of 2020.
Team: Cincinnati Reds (2006-2016)
Brandon Phillips made three All-Star appearances from 2010-through-2013 with the Reds. He also won three Gold Glove awards and one Silver Slugger during those four years. One of his best seasons of the 2010s was 2011. He hit 18 homers and 38 doubles that year. He also had a slash line of .300/.353/.457 in 2011. Phillips went to the playoffs in three different seasons, and his line there was .325/.317/.575.
Team: St. Louis Cardinals (2005-2019)
Adam Wainwright has been on the Cardinals for his whole MLB career. He finished in the top three of the NL Cy Young voting three times in the 2010s, being the runner-up to Clayton Kershaw in 2013. In 2013, Wainwright had a 2.94 ERA in 241 2/3 innings pitched, the most innings pitched in the MLB that year by a single pitcher. That year was one of the three times he made the All-Star game. Wainwright also had an impressive 10 shutouts during the 2010s.
Team: Chicago Cubs (2013-2017)
Jake Arrieta started his MLB career with the Orioles, and it didn’t go too well for him. He pitched in 69 games with them and produced a 5.46 ERA over 358 innings pitched. Some things changed for him with the Cubs. After pitching 803 innings with them, his ERA came out to 2.73. He won a Cy Young award in 2015 when he made 34 starts and posted a 1.77 ERA and 236 strikeouts. Arrieta also threw a no-hitter that year, and then another one in 2016.
Team: Cincinnati Reds (2008-2015)
Johnny Cueto pitched in eight seasons with the Reds. He had a stretch of four seasons from 2011-through-2014 where his ERA was below 3.00 each year. In 2014, Cueto finished as runner-up for the NL Cy Young award to, once again, Clayton Kershaw. That year, Cueto made 34 starts and posted a 2.25 ERA as well as led the NL in strikeouts with 242.
Team: Chicago Cubs (2014-Present)
Kyle Hendricks doesn’t rack up strikeouts like some other pitchers, but he can be efficient. An example of Hendricks being efficient on the mound is from 2019 when he threw an 81 pitch shutout. His highest ERA for a single season with the Cubs is 3.95. His best was 2.13 in 2016, which led the entire MLB among starting pitchers. After six seasons, his career ERA is 3.14.
Gerrit Cole (Image from Newsday)
Team: Pittsburgh Pirates (2013-2017)
Gerrit Cole pitched some solid seasons with the Pirates. His career ERA came out to 3.50 with them. His best season with Pittsburgh came in 2015 when he made the All-Star game and finished fourth in the NL Cy Young voting. That year, Cole had a 2.60 ERA in 32 starts. He also had 202 strikeouts in 208 innings pitched. Cole was with Pittsburgh for five seasons before going to the Astros.
Teams: Cincinnati Reds (2010-2015) Chicago Cubs (2016)
Aroldis Chapman is the only southpaw pitcher on the list. Some of his best seasons came from 2012-through-2015. In all of those seasons, he had at least 106 strikeouts, and his highest ERA was 2.54. He also made the All-Star game in each of those years. The current Yankee also pitched some of 2016 with the Cubs. He had a 1.01 ERA in 28 games, allowing just three earned runs. Chapman won the World Series with the team that year.
Team: St. Louis Cardinals (2012-2017)
Trevor Rosenthal pitched in six seasons with the Cardinals. He had a 2.99 ERA with the club. In 2015, he made the All-Star game and posted a 2.10 ERA in 68 appearances. Rosenthal also had a solid year in 2013 when he pitched 75 1/3 innings and threw a career-high 108 strikeouts. His last season with the Cardinals was 2017 where he pitched in 50 games and had a 3.40 ERA.
Feature Image Courtesy of Zimbio.
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