Caption: Mitch Keller of the Pittsburgh Pirates

By Ryan Harless

Ryan Harless is a fourth-year undergraduate at BGSU from Hillsboro, Ohio. He is majoring in Sport Management with a Journalism Minor. Baseball and golf at all levels are his primary interests but he is also interested in combat sports, hockey, basketball, and football.

June 11, 2023

Note: This is a follow-up article to the one on the American League that was posted May 29. Editor’s note: My apologies for not posting this update sooner.

Taking a look at the National League, things have been just as crazy as in the American League.

NL East: Heading into this season we saw the New York Mets spend $500 million in free agency which seemingly made them the clear frontrunners to take the division. However, the 2021 World Series champion Atlanta Braves would like to have some input as they are currently leading the division with their 40-24 record, giving them a 9.5 game lead over the Mets, who currently stand in 4th place. New York has really struggled with injuries this season seeing both Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer debut much later than expected. And even when both were healthy, they have yet to live up to the money they are getting paid. Sitting in 3rd place with a 31-33 record are the Philadelphia Phillies. Despite their current standing, I think that this team could get hot and make a playoff push later in the season. They have all the tools and were a very good team last year, they just need to get everything to fall into place at the right time. In 2nd place with a 36-29 record are the Miami Marlins. They have consistently played competitive baseball and seem to have broken through the .500 barrier for good. Furthermore, they are still holding onto their second wildcard spot. In 5th place, behind the Mets are the Nationals with a 25-38 record. Just a few years after winning the World Series, the Nationals have completely dismantled their team and sit 14.5 games behind first. With a pitching staff still lead by Patrick Corbin who has been one of the worst pitchers in baseball for the last three years and hardly any star power, I don’t see this team crawling out of the basement anytime soon.

NL Central: The National League Central is the closest division in baseball at the moment with only 2 teams above .500. Currently, the Pirates (33-30) and Brewers (34-31) are tied for first place, holding a four game lead over the Cincinnati Reds. The Brewers have stepped into a dominant role in the Central Division over the past few seasons and have really benefitted from the struggles of St. Louis this season. The Pirates have absolutely come out of nowhere this season. No one expected much from this team, and they have led the division for a good chunk of time in the early season and have continued to show that they are here to stay in the central. Sitting in the middle of the pack are my Cincinnati Reds with a 30-35 record, only 4 games back of first. This team has really surprised me, I didn’t expect much at all from them at the beginning of the year. And while they have still made some questionable decisions relating to call-ups (perhaps with the exception of rookie Elly De La Cruz who has demonstrated tremendous power and speed on the base paths in his first week in MLB); I think if they ever start giving their starting pitchers run support, they could be a real threat in the near future. Bringing up the back of the pack, the Chicago Cubs are 5.5 games behind the Pirates and Brewers while the St. Louis Cardinals trail the leaders by 7 games. The Cubs are a really young team with a lot to prove. They have lots of talent on both sides of the ball and especially their starting pitcher Justin Steele who has been lights out for the majority of his starts thus far. The Cardinals have been an anomaly this season. Usually the perennial division winners, they haven’t been able to put any sort of consistency together this season. But if this division remains close, any team can easily get hot and make a push to take it.

NL West: The western division has been perhaps the most shocking for me at this point in the season. We have grown accustomed to seeing the Dodgers run away with the division almost every year for quite a while, but this season things have been shaken up. The Arizona Diamondbacks, with a record of 40-25, are currently 3 games ahead of the L.A. Dodgers. The Diamondbacks have been super impressive this season. Lourdes Gurriel Jr. is batting .301, Corbin Carroll has 18 stolen bases, and starting pitcher Zac Gallen has 8 wins with a 2.72 ERA and 93 strikeouts already. This team is ready to start competing year after year in the West. In 2nd place, the Dodgers are playing as we have come to expect, with a record of 37-28. The Giants (and the rest of the division) are quite a way from being a threat in the division, standing 7.5 games back with their record of 32-32. The highlight of their season to this point has been continued dominance from starting pitcher Logan Webb who has shown no signs of slowing down from last year. One game behind the Giants are the disappointing Padres. I really like the Padres and was hoping that getting Tatis Jr. back would be the key to making them contenders again, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. Although they have a positive run differential, they have struggled to win consistently at home. And bringing up the back of the pack yet again are the Colorado Rockies at 26-40 who have the distinction of having the fourth worst record in baseball. This team showed signs of greatness a few years back but have either traded their stars or held onto them beyond their prime and don’t have what they need to compete. Of course, it is probably always hard to compete as far as pitching when you play half of your games in the most hitter friendly park in the league.