I like their lineup better than ours but I like our overall pitching depth better. I think the two teams are basically even but pitching and defense gave us a slight edge last year so I hope it will again.
The Cubs have better offense to look forward to, for sure. I just see their pitching as a major hole that likely will not be able to be filled. Lester is 36, Darvish 33, Quintana 31 and Hendricks 30. Besides that they don’t have much in the way of proven starting pitching. Those guys are old and declining in some cases, and will need to pick it up or the Cubs will have some of the worst pitching in the league.
The Cards offense has similar question marks. O’Neill will need to hit like he’s capable of and Carpenter and Goldy will need to be more like their 2018 selves than the poor 2019s they had. That said, pitching is more volatile than hitting so if you’re gonna hang your hat on one that you can have more assurance of above average results, I’d hang it on pitching.
In a short season, anything really goes but I’d still peg the Cards at least a couple of games better than the Cubs. That could be the difference between 1st and 4th in the bunched up NL Central.