The National League Central's bullpen outlook isn't that good, with no team in the top ten on Fangraph's projected rankings. There will probably be more turnover in this category than all others combined before the start of the season, which could change these rankings.
In particular, a David Robertson or Kenly Jansen addition to any of these teams could substantially improve their outlook.
1. Milwaukee Brewers
The Brewers got used to life without Devin Williams finishing games in 2024- they were good last year without him and have a lot of the pieces back. Trevor Megill is a certified flamethrower who flourished as a closer in his age-30 season after breaking out in a setup role the year prior. The former Cub is supported by established stalwarts Joel Payamps, Bryan Hudson, Jared Koenig, and Elvis Peguero again. A name to keep an eye on is Abner Uribe, who throws even harder than Megill with more pitch variation and generates an extremely high groundball rate. He's back from injury and will be leveraged in critical spots in any inning.
2. Chicago Cubs
I want to go on record about being super optimistic about the Cubs bullpen composition this year- Fangraphs doesn't agree with me, with them pegged as 23rd in the MLB in projected WAR. The backend quartet of Ryan Presley, Porter Hodge, Eli Morgan, and Tyson Miller is a fun mix of good advanced pitch data and results. But what I like the most is the Cubs' depth and optionality- last year, they didn't have much of it early in the year. Bullpen guys can have wild year-over-year fluctuations AND intra-year fluctuations in outcomes. I like the odds that 2-3 pitchers in the group of Nate Pearson, Julian Merryweather, Ben Brown, Keegan Thompson, Cody Peteet, Luke Little, and Caleb Thielbar will be in strong form at any single point in the system.
You could also get breakout stretches from guys like Danny Palencia, Jack Neely, or Caleb Killian, who had reportedly added 3-4 MPH on his fastball before getting hurt last year. All these options don't have to put up end-to-end elite seasons- Counsell just needs to have a rotating cast of hot arms to choose from at any specific point in time.
3. St. Lous Cardinals
Ryan Helsley is insanely good- if the Cardinals struggle as much as many expect, it will be interesting to see if they dangle him. He makes their bullpen inherently so valuable, even though it looks pretty thin on paper. Former top prospect Matt Liberatore has settled into being an above-average setup man, and the Cards also have guys like John King, JoJo Romero and Ryan Fernandez returning. Outside of those experienced arms, it seems likely the Cardinals will struggle this year in relief.
4. Pittsburgh Pirates
Pittsburgh has a very similar situation to St. Louis- an ace closer in David Bednar and a few pieces around him. Bednar struggled quite a bit last year- his K rate went down an eye-popping amount from 28% to 22% and batters were able to make a lot more contact with his fastball. He had some injuries in the spring and later on in the year that I feel confident racking the poor performance up to. Bednar has too much talent to have the poor outcomes from 2024 again. Outside of Bednar, Dennis Santana was really good and one to watch to see if he can continue inducing weak contact in 2025. Colin Holderman also throws very hard and has been good for three consecutive seasons now. Outside of that, there's not a ton to get excited about.
5. Cincinnati Reds
The Reds pen will lose Nick Martinez to their rotation for the full season but added Taylor Rogers late in winter. Alexis Diaz really fell off last year, striking batters out at a significantly decreased rate and his average fastball has fallen off quite a bit in the last couple of seasons. Brent Suter and Rogers give them a fun pair of crafty lefties that induce soft contact and give Terry Francona some options against lefty-heavy lineups like the Cubs. There's not a ton of intrigue outside of those three guys.