NL Central Race Tightening Up
One of the great things about professional baseball is the 162 game schedule that the Boys of Summer play. Now many fans may find the length of the season tedious and boring, but there are just as many that like it because it forces teams to prove their dominance in order to earn the right to play in the post season.
The 2005 Houston Astros made it clear that a team is never down no matter how far they are out. In May of that season the Astros found themselves in a pretty poor position, 15 games below .500 with a record of 15-30. Many fans and analysts considered the light hitting Astros down and out, but the team shocked the baseball world by roaring back the rest of the season to win a wildcard berth and eventually the third trip to the World Series in franchise history.
After close to 80 games the true character of a team is likely to have already shown itself. The Washington Nationals appeared to be contenders for a few weeks, but are now 12 games out of first and nine games below .500.
With many teams looking strong as the season gets closer to the half-way point, the division races are really heating up. The NL West still has four teams conceivably within reach; the NL East, AL East, and AL Central three. In the NL Central there have only been two teams in contention for some time.
The NL Central
Realistically, no team is out of the post season hunt just yet. There have been many collapses by division leading teams as well as surges by bottom feeders towards the end of the season when it mattered most.
Fans of the Pittsburgh Pirates and Houston Astros would love to think their teams can make historic comebacks sometime this season and still make the post season. Through 79 games it is not looking good for either team though. Pittsburgh has fallen into last place at 16 ½ games back; the Astros stand 13 games back.
Both teams have already begun calling up some of their talent in the minor league system to see what they can do in the big league. This move could be seen as either throwing in the towel or the team trying to find the right mix of talent to win.
The Milwaukee Brewers and Chicago Cubs could conceivably make a run. Milwaukee sits 8 ½ games back and Chicago 9 ½. A couple months of solid play paired with some lacklustre games by the two contending teams could put both of them in position to make a play for the division.
Both will need to improve their overall game for that to happen. The Brewers are currently the owners of the 13th best batting average in the league while the Cubs are ranked 19th. As for pitching, the Cubs are not doing badly (8th with a staff ERA of 3.85), but the Brewers will have to do much better (27th; ERA of 4.87).
The contenders
The contenders in the NL Central have been battling it out for the division lead for weeks now. As the rest of the division continues to fall further behind the two, the competition between the two is likely to get only better. After 79 games the Cincinnati Reds have the division lead over the St. Louis Cardinals by just a ½ game; the Reds have also played one more game than the Cardinals at this point.
For the Cardinal it has been all about the pitching this season. As of June 30th, the pitching staff has the second best ERA in baseball at 3.24. Three of their starting pitchers are doing extremely well with ERAs under 3 and 2 under 2.5. Closer Ryan Franklin has a 2.23 ERA to go with 15 saves. Offensively they could stand to score some more runs; their 342 through the month of June is good for 19th in the league.
The Reds have been getting it done offensively. Their pitching staff is not bad (ERA of 4.42; 22nd overall), but it is not winning the team many games either. Offensively they have the fourth best batting average as a team at .275. They are also fifth in home runs with 93 through June.
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