NL Central: Midseason Report

Has there ever been more trading activity in the past few days than we've seen in the National League Central? A divisional race just got more exciting, but only half of that division has been holding up so far.

Say all you want about Billy Goat curses and 100-year anniversaries. It hasn't stopped the Cubs from emerging as the best team in the National League. They are also the best hitting-team in the majors and the best RBI team in the NL.

Put those elements together and you have fans rewarding them by voting Geovany Soto, Kosuke Fukudome, and the injured Alfonso Soriano into the NL's starting lineup for the All-Star Game.

Besides those three, Aramis Ramirez, Ryan Theriot, and Derrek Lee have also provided the big pop the Cubs have become known for. What you get with six big-hitters is also a lead in the majors in on-base percentage and the NL in slugging percentage.

Sure, the Cubs are swinging the bats, but do they really have the pitching to back it up?

You bet.

Otherwise, they wouldn't be atop the National League now, would they? A strong rotation built with a core of Ryan Dempster, Carlos Zambrano, and Ted Lilly just got stronger today with the acquisition of Rich Harden from Oakland.

When healthy, Harden can be on in his game. Even if he goes down over the next couple of months, as he is also known to do, Cubs fans need not worry about the other three guys.

Finally, what more can you say about Kerry Wood?  An arm that was left for dead has been closing games like crazy.

There is no doubt that the fans at the Friendly Confines have had plenty to cheer about.

One team in the Central wasn't even given a chance to compete in the division.  Despite being just two years removed from a World Series victory, the St. Louis Cardinals weren't counted on to do much of anything, especially after GM Walt Jocketty was fired.

Yet, here they are, second to the Cubs in the division and in the National League batting average rankings. Albert Pujols is back to his old form, ranking third in league in batting average.

Helping Pujols on offense are Ryan Ludwick, Skip Schumaker, Troy Glaus, and pitcher-turned-outfielder Rick Ankiel.

Kyle Lohse, Branden Looper, Adam Wainwright, and Todd Wellemeyer make up a rotation that has helped the Cardinals defy the experts' opinions from the beginning of the year. The rest of the pitching staff will have to help lower a team ERA though, if they want to have a shot at October.

The Milwaukee Brewers really turned heads this weekend by acquiring 2007 AL Cy Young Award-winner CC Sabathia from Cleveland. He made his first start tonight in a Milwaukee uniform and defeated the Rockies.

The Sabathia deal should lower the team's ERA and propel them into a pennant race for the rest of the season. Ace Ben Sheets will be proud to partner with one of his own kind. Ryan Braun has been nothing short of impressive this year and will start in the outfield for the NL in the All-Star Game.

Braun, along with Corey Hart and Prince Fielder, will still have to be the catalysts for an offense that has a lot of power, but not a high, team batting average.

There's not much to say about the Reds, Pirates, and Astros, other than they're battling to stay out of the cellar, so I'll just skip them.

Prediction

The Cubs have both the offense and the pitching to hold on to the division lead for the rest of the season. CC Sabathia is just the key the Brewers need to win the Wild Card. Anything short of at least a playoff berth, and they will go down as a major disappointment.

On Deck: NL West