Brewers continue to play average baseball, Cubs stay in front
Welcome to the seventh 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 (22-17); 2-4 this week; 92.0% chance to make postseason (Baseball Reference)
The Cubs have had an uncharacteristically down week, dropping the series finale against the Brewers before losing two of three to the Giants and losing their series opener to the Mets on Friday night. They still sit at 22-17 this season, a full two games ahead of the suddenly red-hot Cardinals.
Most of that lack of success can be attributed to a stagnant offense, as their stars (and others who have played like stars) have fallen back to earth. Among qualified hitters, Dansby Swanson had the best week, going 6-for-16 with a .375/.474/.500 line. Kyle Tucker still reached base at a .409 clip thanks to four walks, but Pete Crow-Armstrong, Nico Hoerner, Ian Happ, and Seiya Suzuki all had down weeks.
Their pitching didn’t fare any better, allowing 30 runs across their five games this week, including 28 in their four losses (and 14 alone on Tuesday). Shota Imanaga and Matthew Boyd both had solid starts, with Boyd earning the lone win of the week with a two-run, six-inning outing. Ryan Pressly allowed nine runs (eight earned) while recording just three outs over two outings — that’s a 72.00 ERA. Yikes.
2. St. Louis Cardinals (20-19); 6-0 this week; 11.3% chance to make postseason
The Cardinals were on a heater this week, sweeping a doubleheader against the Mets on Sunday, taking all three games against the Pirates, and blowing out the Nationals on Friday night to extend their win streak to six and move back above .500.
The offense was a key part of the solid week, scoring five-plus runs in all but one of the games. Alec Burleson and Willson Contreras both slugged two homers, with Contreras hitting .400/.520/.750 with nine RBIs, eight hits, four walks, and four runs scored. Nolan Arenado led the team with nine hits, batting .450, while Brendan Donovan continues to bat above .300 with seven more hits this week.
As good as the offense was, the pitching was about as good. They allowed nine runs in their two wins on Sunday but gave up just four runs over the final four games, including shutouts on Wednesday and Friday. Erick Fedde threw a complete game Friday night and earned two wins this week, while Sonny Gray went a scoreless seven frames, Matthew Liberatore allowed one run over seven innings, and Michael McGreevy went 5 2⁄3 scoreless innings in a long-relief role. Kyle Leahy and Ryan Helsley also continue to dominate out of the bullpen.
3. Milwaukee Brewers (19-20); 3-3 this week; 37.9% chance to make postseason
Like so much of this season, this week was a rollercoaster for Milwaukee. They won their series finale against the Cubs, took the first two in their series against the Astros, and have now lost their last two games against Houston and Tampa Bay for an even 3-3 week.
Jake Bauers went 3-for-8 with a homer and three RBIs this week, while Jackson Chourio once again flashed his potential with seven hits to lead the team. Injuries to Sal Frelick and William Contreras and an illness hampering Brice Turang have affected the team’s full offensive potential, but the offense continues to be the key to winning games.
Freddy Peralta had one of his strongest starts of the season on Sunday, going six scoreless frames. Tobias Myers was also strong in Monday’s win, going 5 1⁄3 innings and allowing just one run. Trevor Megill, Nick Mears, and Abner Uribe have been lights out in the bullpen, while Jared Koenig has also been solid despite a slip-up in Friday night’s loss.
4. Cincinnati Reds (19-21); 1-6 this week; 2.8% chance to make postseason
The Reds had a dismal week, losing the last two of their series against the Nationals, losing three of four to the Braves, and dropping their series opener in Houston Friday night.
The offense has been the main issue this week, as they’ve scored just 10 runs in their last six games. TJ Friedl slugged a pair of homers to lead the offense, but when Santiago Espinal’s five hits (and 5-for-23 at that) are good for the team lead, it’s not a great week.
Brent Suter got the team’s only win out of the bullpen, while Andrew Abbott went five scoreless innings in his start but still got a no-decision. Nick Lodolo (two runs over six innings), Nick Martinez (four runs over 12 innings in two starts), and Hunter Greene (three scoreless innings) also had solid starts but have nothing to show for it in the win column. Greene’s groin strain is also a key development as the Reds will be without their ace for at least a few turns through the rotation.
5. Pittsburgh Pirates (13-26); 1-5 this week; <0.1% chance to make postseason
The poor Pirates. They cannot catch a break. They finally snapped a dismal seven-game losing streak — which dates back to their win from the night that fan fell at PNC Park — on Friday night against the Braves. They were swept by the Padres and Cardinals during that stretch.
As with the Reds, the offense has been the problem. They scored no more than four runs in any of their seven losses, including just five runs over the last five games of that stretch. Ke’Bryan Hayes went 5-for-19 to lead the team with a .263/.263/.316 line. Ouch. Oneil Cruz had four hits (second most on the team) but also struck out 10 times. Both he and teammate Bryan Reynolds (fifth with 48 strikeouts) rank in the top 15 in strikeouts this season.
Paul Skenes had another solid start, allowing two runs over six innings with six strikeouts, but he still took the loss. David Bednar pitched two scoreless innings and Bailey Falter went six scoreless in their win Friday night, but that’s about all she wrote in terms of pitching success this week.