Welcome to the 25th 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. Milwaukee Brewers (90-58); 3-3 this week; >99.9% chance to make postseason (Baseball Reference)
The Brewers had an odd week, sweeping the Pirates in Pittsburgh before being swept by the Rangers in Arlington. After an off day Thursday, they won their series opener with the Cardinals on Friday night.
Jake Bauers had a great week in limited opportunities, slugging a pair of homers and a pair of doubles for a .538/.600/1.154 line with seven hits, six RBIs, and six runs in just 13 at-bats. Jackson Chourio added a pair of homers and two doubles, leading the team with eight hits, while Brice Turang remained semi-hot from his great month of August with six hits, including a homer.
Jacob Misiorowski and Brandon Woodruff led the rotation with a pair of quality starts against the Pirates last weekend. Miz went seven innings with one run allowed and eight strikeouts, while Big Woo went six scoreless frames with eight strikeouts. Jared Koenig, Tobias Myers, Craig Yoho, Rob Zastryzny, Grant Anderson, and Carlos Rodriguez had scoreless innings from the ‘pen.
Milwaukee continues the homestand with the Cardinals and Angels through Thursday, and they’ll then begin their final six-game road trip against the Cardinals and Padres next weekend.
2. Chicago Cubs (84-63); 3-3 this week; >99.9% chance to make postseason
The Cubs dropped two of three to the Nats in Chicago last weekend before taking two of three in Atlanta against the Braves to begin the week. After an off day on Thursday, they took Friday’s series opener against the Rays at Wrigley.
Carson Kelly carried the Cubs’ offense with three homers this week, while Ian Happ added a homer of his own. Nico Hoerner turned in a 10-hit week, slashing .435/.500/.609 with two doubles and a triple.
Cade Horton continued his strong rookie year with 6 1/3 innings of one-run ball, striking out a pair. Colin Rea led the team with six strikeouts, allowing just one run in 5 1/3 innings of long-relief work. Drew Pomeranz, Drew Keller, Porter Hodge, Andrew Kittredge, Caleb Thielbar, Ben Brown, and Taylor Rogers worked scoreless innings from the bullpen.
The Cubs will wrap up their three-game set with Tampa on Sunday and then hit the road for the last time this year on a seven-game trip that’ll take them to visit the Pirates and Reds.
3. Cincinnati Reds (74-73); 4-2 this week; 18.4% chance to make postseason
The Reds apparently figured things out this week, as they jump back into the No. 3 spot in our rankings with the best weekly record among NL Central teams. They won two of three against both the Mets and Padres as they’re fighting their way back into the Wild Card race, though they dropped Friday’s series opener with the A’s.
Austin Hays and Sal Stewart each slugged a pair of homers for the Reds this week, as Hays also led the team with seven hits, slashing .318/.333/.591. Will Benson, TJ Friedl, Matt McLain, and Tyler Stephenson also added a homer apiece. Elly De La Cruz picked up five hits and four RBIs while also stealing three bags.
Hunter Greene had a great start this week, spanning seven innings of one-run ball (just a solo homer) with 12 strikeouts. Brady Singer turned in two strong starts, spanning 12 innings with three runs allowed and nine punchouts, while Andrew Abbott bounced back from a few rough outings to go eight innings, allowing one run and striking out six. Nick Lodolo also worked five scoreless frames in his start, in what was a solid week for the rotation as a whole. Brent Suter, Connor Phillips, and Zach Maxwell worked scoreless weeks for the bullpen.
Cincinnati will leave Sacramento on Sunday and head to St. Louis, where they’ll battle the Cardinals for three games. They then return home for a big seven-game homestand that features four games with the Cubs and three with the Pirates.
4. St. Louis Cardinals (72-76); 2-4 this week; 0.3% chance to make postseason
The Cards won their weekend series with the Giants last weekend but have lost four straight since then, as they were swept by the Mariners in Seattle before dropping Friday’s series opener in Milwaukee.
Alec Burleson and Iván Herrera slugged a homer each to lead the Redbirds this week, while Lars Nootbaar led the team with seven hits in 26 at-bats. It was a disappointing week overall for the Cards, as they scored just 16 runs in six games (2.67 runs/game), with Herrera leading the way with three runs scored. Burleson and Thomas Saggese led the team with three RBIs each.
Michael McGreevy turned in a quality start with one run allowed and four strikeouts across six frames this week, while Miles Mikolas went five innings with two runs allowed and two strikeouts in his outing. Matt Svanson, Kyle Leahy, JoJo Romero, Nick Raquet, and John King worked scoreless bullpen weeks, with Svanson leading the way with five strikeouts in 3 1/3 innings.
St. Louis wraps up the road trip in Milwaukee on Sunday before returning home for three-game sets with the Reds and Brewers running through next weekend.
5. Pittsburgh Pirates (64-84); 0-6 this week; <0.1% chance to make postseason
After looking great for the last several weeks, the Pirates had one of their worst weeks this season, as they were swept by the Brewers and the Orioles before losing Friday’s series opener in Washington, all but guaranteeing they’ll once again finish at the bottom of the NL Central.
Spencer Horwitz led the team with two homers this week, while Alexander Canario and Tommy Pham added a homer each. Nick Gonzales and Jared Triolo led the way with six hits each, though Gonzales was the lone hitter in the lineup to hit at least .300, slashing just .300/.300/.400 with two doubles.
The starting rotation (outside of Bubba Chandler) had a solid week overall, as Paul Skenes, Mitch Keller, Mike Burrows, and Johan Oviedo combined to go 26 1/3 innings with just seven runs allowed (2.39 ERA) and 27 strikeouts over their four starts, though they have no wins to show for it. That means the bullpen wasn’t great, as Dennis Santana and Carmen Mlodzinski were the only relievers to allow no runs this week, combining for five innings across four appearances.
The Bucs wrap up their road trip against the Nats on Sunday before returning home for the final time in 2025, as they’ll welcome the Cubs and Athletics through next weekend.
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