Welcome to the 26th 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 (94-60); 4-2 this week; 100.0% chance to make postseason (Baseball Reference)
The Brewers had another solid week, taking two of three against the Cardinals before sweeping the Angels in the middle of the week. They then dropped Friday’s series opener in St. Louis to begin their last six-game road trip.
Sal Frelick flashed some power this week, slugging a pair of homers and a pair of doubles while driving in seven and scoring seven runs, as he hit .333/.417/.778 to lead the team. Caleb Durbin, Danny Jansen, and Christian Yelich each added a homer, while Jake Bauers stayed hot with five more hits (all singles) and a steal this week.
Freddy Peralta bounced back from a rough outing to shut down the Angels, allowing one run (a solo homer) with 10 strikeouts. Quinn Priester and Brandon Woodruff also turned in strong starts, as Priester allowed two runs over 5 2/3 innings with 10 strikeouts, and Woo went five innings, allowing one run and striking out nine. Aaron Ashby, Chad Patrick, Jared Koenig, Joel Payamps, and Erick Fedde worked scoreless weeks from the bullpen.
Milwaukee wraps up in St. Louis on Sunday before heading to San Diego for their last road series with the Padres. They’ll then finish out the regular season slate with three games against the Reds next weekend.
2. Chicago Cubs (88-66); 4-3 this week; 100.0% chance to make postseason
The Cubs took two of three from the Rays at home before sweeping the Pirates in Pittsburgh. They’ve now lost the first two of a four-game set with the Reds in Cincinnati.
Michael Busch led the offense with three homers and three doubles this week, while Moisés Ballesteros slugged his first (and second) career homers during a six-hit week. Nico Hoerner led the offense with 11 hits, while Dansby Swanson added eight hits and Ian Happ picked up seven hits, including a pair of homers.
Colin Rea went 12 1/3 innings across his two starts this week, allowing four runs and striking out 16. Cade Horton went five innings, allowing one run with six strikeouts. Jameson Taillon worked six scoreless frames with three strikeouts in his start. Andrew Kittredge, Aaron Civale, Drew Pomeranz, Michael Soroka, Javier Assad, Caleb Thielbar, and Taylor Rogers pitched scoreless weeks for the bullpen.
The Cubs wrap up their final road trip of the year on Sunday in Cincy, as they’ll return home for their last two series against the Mets and Cardinals after an off day on Monday.
3. Cincinnati Reds (78-76); 4-3 this week; 17.7% chance to make postseason
The Reds had an odd week, getting swept by the A’s in Sacramento but following it up by taking two of three from the Cardinals and winning the first two games of their four-game series with the Cubs this weekend.
Spencer Steer slugged three homers this week, slashing .500/.545/1.400 with eight RBIs. Will Benson and Sal Stewart added a pair of homers each, with Stewart also leading the team with eight hits as he slashed .381/.458/.714 with six runs scored.
Hunter Greene turned in a complete game shutout against the Cubs on Thursday night, striking out nine as he allowed just one hit and one walk. Brady Singer went 5 2/3 innings with two runs allowed (one earned) with six strikeouts. Connor Phillips picked up a pair of wins in relief, totaling 3 2/3 scoreless frames across three appearances. Emilio Pagán, Tony Santillan, Chase Burns, and Brent Suter added scoreless bullpen weeks.
The Reds continue their final homestand against the Cubs and Pirates through Thursday before heading to Milwaukee for the last series of the season.
4. St. Louis Cardinals (75-79); 3-3 this week; <0.1% chance to make postseason
The Cardinals dropped two of three against both the Brewers and Reds this week, but they bounced back to win Friday’s series opener against Milwaukee by a 7-1 final.
Alec Burleson, Brendan Donovan, Iván Herrera, and Thomas Saggese each homered this week, as that quartet also led the team in hits. Burleson slashed .409/.500/.682 with nine hits, including three doubles; Donovan and Herrera each finished the week with seven hits; and Saggese had nine hits, including a pair of doubles. Nolan Arenado led the team with five RBIs in his return from injury.
Sonny Gray made a pair of solid starts against the Brewers, allowing three runs with 15 strikeouts across 11 innings. Michael McGreevy worked seven scoreless frames in his outing, striking out six. Matthew Liberatore and Miles Mikolas also turned in solid outings. Gordon Graceffo led the bullpen with 3 2/3 scoreless innings over three outings, while Jorge Alcala and John King also had scoreless weeks.
St. Louis finishes up their final home series this weekend before visiting the Giants and Cubs to wrap up the season.
5. Pittsburgh Pirates (65-89); 1-5 this week; 0.0% chance to make postseason
The Pirates had another rough week as they’re just waiting for the season to end mercifully. They dropped two of three to the Nationals, were swept by the Cubs, and lost Friday’s series opener against the A’s as they’re on the verge of another 90-loss season.
Joey Bart and Jared Triolo hit the only homers for Pittsburgh this week, as Triolo also led the team with six hits, albeit across 26 at-bats (.231 batting average). Bryan Reynolds added five hits, and Spencer Horwitz batted .308/.471/.462 with four hits and four walks.
Most of the starters — including Paul Skenes — had a rough week for Pittsburgh, but that wasn’t the case for Bubba Chandler. Chandler went six innings, allowing one run with seven strikeouts in his outing. Carmen Mlodzinski worked five scoreless frames across two relief outings, striking out eight. Kyle Nicolas, Justin Lawrence, and Dennis Santana added scoreless weeks for the bullpen.
The Pirates finish up their final homestand against the A’s this weekend, as they’ll then hit the road to play the Reds and Braves in the final week.
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