Unless you are a die-hard baseball fan, you probably haven’t paid too much attention to the other four teams in the Central Division. You know where the Cubs stand in terms of their record, but how do they look in the divisional race?
We are now a quarter of the way through the regular season, and the Cubs are nearly 10 games out of first place. A Central Division title was not likely in 2022, but the Cubs aren’t actually playing bad compared to the other teams.
Things can change quickly in Major League Baseball, but the current standings might be the same at the end of the year. Here are the current standings entering May 25:
- Milwaukee Brewers 28-16
- St. Louis Cardinals 24-19
- Chicago Cubs 18-24
- Pittsburgh Pirates 18-25
- Cincinnati Reds 12-30
Brewers Rolling, Cards Trying to Keep Pace
As expected, the Milwaukee Brewers have jumped out to a big lead in the Central Division and it has come on the backs of their starting rotation. Milwaukee has three Cy Young Award candidates leading the way, and the offense continues to be just good enough.
St. Louis has been wildly inconsistent through the first 40 games, but they look like they could have enough to be a playoff contender this season. The Cardinals fans might wrongly think that they can catch Milwaukee, but that’s just not going to happen.
At this rate, you should expect the Brewers to have the division wrapped up by the middle of September and the Cardinals will simply be fighting for a Wild Card spot.
Cubs Stuck in the Middle
The Chicago Cubs are right where most people predicted they would be at third place in the NL Central. This team has actually been playing very solid baseball over the last two weeks, and they aren’t too far out in the wild Card race.
The Cubs might be creeping back into the race a bit in May, but this is still a team that is going nowhere. Catching the Brewers is next to impossible, and the Cardinals have a better roster as well.
Expect the Cubs to finish the season in third place, and that should be unacceptable for a team that generates this much revenue.
Reds Are Reeling
The Cincinnati Reds got off to one of the worst starts in MLB history, and things haven’t gotten much better since that time. Cincinnati did appear to figure things out a bit at the beginning of May, but this is a team that is headed to 100 losses yet again.
The biggest question for the Reds is which players are going to be traded out of town next? It’s going to be a fire sale at some point, and they could end up shattering records as the worst team in baseball.
Pittsburgh has a comfortable lead over the Reds, but the Pirates will be big sellers as well. The battle for 4th place could be interesting, and the first team to 60 wins might clinch that position.
