1932 NL Preseason Predictions
The Cardinals are coming off their 3rd NL pennant over the past four seasons. During the offseason, they added pitcher
Tex Carleton (9-7-6 ratings) and left fielder
Ducky Medwick (9-8-6-4-7 ratings) to their roster. With all the talent on this team and the fact that the Giants have not been keeping up in terms of adding new, young players, you would think that the Cardinals are an easy pick to win the pennant again this season. While I personally think they will pull it out, the rankings below say otherwise. Those numbers say that the Giants are favored to win the pennant.
The main reason for this is a St. Louis defense that is expected to struggle. 3-time BOY
Chick Hafey (.295, 52 HR, 128 RBI) is being forced to move to centerfield in order to get Medwick in the lineup in left. This significantly reduces their outfield range as Hafey has not played centerfield regularly during his MLHR career and because former centerfielder
Taylor Douthit (.273, 11 HR, 36 RBI, 69 R) is a 4-time Gold Glover with a ton of range. The team hopes that Medwick's offense makes up for the loss in range that Hafey's move to center will produce. The Cardinals also have a lack of range across the infield. All of these defensive issues may hurt their pitching staff. Fortunately for them, their pitching staff is incredibly talented and should be able to handle the added stress.
As for the Giants, they had the top offense in the NL last season, and their pitching staff is still solid. Rookie
Jim Faulkner (9-11, 4.57 ERA) did not pan out as the team's 5th starting pitcher last season. He will move to the bullpen and a new rookie,
Ben Cantwell (4-7-8 ratings) will take a stab at the starting rotation. Some stability at the bottom of the rotation would likely be enough to propel the Giants into the front-runner position this season. Their offense is aging, but it is still very good. In fact, they scored the most runs in the NL last season and they hope to do so again this year.
The Cubs have a fair shot at capturing the pennant too. They have a very good pitching staff that finished third behind St. Louis and Atlanta last season in runs allowed. Their offense scored just the 5th most runs last year, so they have improved the top of their lineup with rookie third baseman
Stan Hack (7-6-3-7-7 ratings) and second baseman
Billy Herman (8-7-2-6-8 ratings), who hit .282 with a .317 OBP in 206 plate appearances as a rookie last season.
The Pirates are a dark horse candidate this season. They feel like they have made a big upgrade to their pitching rotation with the addition of rookies
Bill Swift (7-7-8 ratings) and
Hal Smith (5-8-8 ratings). They also feel that the presence of those new starters has allowed them to upgrade their bullpen by moving two former starting pitchers into relief roles. They have also replaced veteran
Pie Traynor (.239, 6 HR, 24 RBI in 309 AB) at third base with rookie
Arky Vaughan (8-7-4-7-9 ratings). The Pirates expect Vaughan to improve the on-base percentage at the hot corner, although his defensive skills are not equal to Traynor's.
Predicted Standings
(Scale of 1-12)
| Rank | Team | Rotation | Bullpen | Offense | Bench | Speed | Defense | Totals | Grade | Predicted Record |
| 1 | San Francisco Giants | 7 | 9 | 12 | 11 | 8 | 7 | 8.9 | A | 102 | 60 |
| 2 | St. Louis Cardinals | 12 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 6 | 3 | 8.7 | A | 99 | 63 |
| 3 | Chicago Cubs | 8 | 9 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 8.0 | B+ | 91 | 71 |
| 4 | Pittsburgh Pirates | 7 | 7 | 6 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 7.5 | B | 86 | 76 |
| 5 | Philadelphia Phillies | 4 | 5 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 10 | 6.6 | C+ | 75 | 87 |
| 6 | Los Angeles Dodgers | 8 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 6.2 | C+ | 71 | 91 |
| 7 | Atlanta Braves | 8 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 9 | 5.9 | C | 68 | 94 |
| 8 | Cincinnati Reds | 6 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 6 | 4.8 | D+ | 55 | 107 |
MLB results for the NL in 1932
Champs: Chicago Cubs, (90-64, .584)
World Series: Yankees defeated Cubs 4-0
MVP: Chuck Klein, Phillies
For players who appear below on a team they are not playing with in MLHR, their MLHR team is listed in parenthesis
Combined WAR: Mel Ott, Giants, 7.9
Offensive WAR: Mel Ott, Giants, 7.5
Defensive WAR: Billy Jurges, Cubs, 2.7
Batting Title: Lefty O'Doul, Dodgers (Yankees), .368
On-Base%: Mel Ott, Giants, .424
Slugging%: Chuck Klein, Phillies, .646
Runs: Chuck Klein, Phillies, 152
RBI: Don Hurst, Phillies, 143
SB: Chuck Klein, Phillies, 20
OPS+: Mel Ott, Giants, 174
AB/HR: Mel Ott, Giants, 14.9
Pitching WAR: Lon Warneke, Cubs, 6.9
Win%: Lon Warneke, Cubs, .786
WHIP: Carl Hubbell, Giants, 1.056
K/9: Dizzy Dean, Cardinals, 6.011
Innings: Dizzy Dean, Cardinals, 286.0
K/BB: Carl Hubbell, Giants, 3.425
ERA+: Lon Warneke, Cubs, 160
FIP: Watty Clark, Dodgers (Indians), 3.35
MLHR Milestone Watch
2000 RBI
Rogers Hornsby, STL, Age 35, 1934 RBI
2000 Runs
Rogers Hornsby, STL, Age 35, 1959 Runs
750 Games Pitched
Moses Yellow Horse, PIT, Age 34, 718 G
Sheriff Blake, PIT, Age 32, 713 G
500 Saves
Rosy Ryan, SFG, Age 34, 499 Sv