Cubs step back into top spot but rest of NL Central is still on their tail
Welcome to the 15th week of our NL Central Power Rankings! We’ll release these rankings each week to grade all five teams and place them one through five. As everyone knows with power rankings, these should be taken as gospel and they’re obviously 100% accurate. Without further ado, let’s rank some teams!
1. Chicago Cubs (53-35); 5-1 this week; 98.3% chance to make postseason (Baseball Reference)
After dropping two of three to the Astros over the weekend, the Cubs bounced back with a sweep of the Guardians before taking Friday’s series opener with the Cardinals.
Michael Busch had a huge week, capped off with a three-homer game on Friday against the Cards. For the week, he hit .500/.545/1.100 with 10 hits, including four homers, nine RBIs, and five runs scored. Seiya Suzuki hit three homers, Pete Crow-Armstrong slugged a pair, and Dansby Swanson tied Busch for the team lead with 10 hits in a solid all-around week offensively.
Colin Rea picked up a pair of wins this week, going 11 2⁄3 innings with three runs allowed (2.31 ERA) and six strikeouts. Matthew Boyd went seven innings and allowed two runs in a win, while Cade Horton worked seven scoreless frames in his start. Drew Pomeranz, Ryan Brasier, Ryan Pressly, Chris Flexen, Brad Keller, and Caleb Thielbar all worked scoreless weeks out of the bullpen.
Chicago wraps up the weekend with St. Louis before an interleague road trip against the Twins and Yankees to wrap up the first half.
2. Milwaukee Brewers (49-39); 3-3 this week; 61.1% chance to make postseason
The Brewers had their most mediocre week in about a month, as they took two of three against the lowly Rockies but dropped two of three in New York against the Mets. They bounced back with a win Friday night against the Marlins.
Sal Frelick, Joey Ortiz, and Christian Yelcih each hit a pair of homers for the Crew this week, and Frelick tied with Brice Turang for the team lead with six hits. Turang’s .353/.421/.529 line led the way, and he added a stolen base. Caleb Durbin went 4-for-12, and Andruw Monasterio slugged his first homer of the season.
Quinn Priester worked his best start of the season against the Rockies but he faltered a bit in Friday’s game against the Marlins. Chad Patrick worked five scoreless innings in his start, while Freddy Peralta also turned in a quality start. Grant Anderson allowed one unearned run with four strikeouts over 3 1⁄3 innings, while Aaron Ashby went 3 2⁄3 scoreless innings with four strikeouts. Nick Mears, DL Hall, and Jared Koenig also had scoreless weeks.
Milwaukee will finish up their road trip in Miami this weekend before welcoming the Dodgers and Nationals to American Family Field to end the first half.
3. Cincinnati Reds (46-42); 3-3 this week; 20.7% chance to make postseason
The Reds took two of three against the Padres over the weekend before dropping two of three to the Red Sox to begin the week. They won Friday’s series opener with the Phillies.
Matt McLain led the Reds’ offense with eight hits on the week, while Spencer Steer, Will Benson, Elly De La Cruz, and TJ Friedl each had six hits, with Steer slugging a homer and leading the team with six RBIs. Austin Hays and Christian Encarnacion-Strand also homered for Cincinnati.
Nick Lodlo worked a solid start with one run allowed over 5 1⁄3 innings with five strikeouts, while Sam Moll starred out of the bullpen, working 3 1⁄3 scoreless frames over two appearances with four strikeouts. Emilio Pagán also worked three scoreless innings with a save and two strikeouts, with Taylor Rogers, Tony Santillan, Brent Suter, Ian Gibaut, and catcher Jose Trevino also working scoreless bullpen outings.
After finishing up in Philadelphia on Sunday, the Reds will end the first half with a homestand against the Marlins and Rockies.
4. St. Louis Cardinals (47-42); 2-4 this week; 48.0% chance to make postseason
The Cardinals continue to play inconsistent baseball. They swept the Guardians over the weekend but then were swept in Pittsburgh against the Pirates. That losing streak stretched to four on Friday in their series opener against the Cubs.
The Cardinals’ offense had a fairly mediocre week overall, but it was a balanced attack as 10 players had at least three hits on the week. Masyn Winn led the way with seven hits, while Victor Scott added six hits, including a homer. Brendan Donovan hit a pair of homers and doubled.
Matthew Liberatore worked six scoreless innings with five strikeouts in a winning performance this week, while Andre Pallante went seven scoreless with three strikeouts. Matt Svanson, Kyle Leahy, JoJo Romero, Ryan Helsley, and Steven Matz all worked scoreless outings from the bullpen, with Helsley picking up the lone save.
St. Louis has two more games in Chicago before a homestand against the Nationals and Braves to finish up the first half.
5. Pittsburgh Pirates (38-51); 5-1 this week; 0.6% chance to make postseason
Pittsburgh had one of their best weeks in recent memory, sweeping the Mets and Cardinals at home for a 6-0 homestand before dropping their series opener with the Mariners on Friday.
Oneil Cruz hit a pair of homers and drove in four runs this week for the Bucs, while Spencer Horwitz, Tommy Pham, and Bryan Reynolds also homered. Ke’Bryan Hayes led the team with nine hits, driving in six and scoring six runs.
The story of the week for Pittsburgh was the starting rotation, as they allowed just six runs (five earned) over 27 1⁄3 innings (1.65 ERA), with four of those five earned runs coming in Bailey Falter’s two starts. The other four starters (Andrew Heaney, Mitch Keller, Mike Burrows, and Paul Skenes) were all solid, with Heaney and Keller leading the team with seven strikeouts each. As good as the starting rotation was, the bullpen was even better, as the Pirates as a team had an insane 1.36 ERA (eight earned runs over 53 innings).
The Pirates finish out the first half on the road against the Mariners, Royals, and Twins.