Who Has the Best Chance of Catching the Cardinals in the NL Central?

The Cardinals are rising high, with Albert Pujols leading the way.

Pujols leads the league in home runs, RBI, and slugging percentage.

Despite Pujols doing so much, the Cardinals still only have a 2.5-game lead over the second-place Brewers. The Cubs and the Astros are only 3.5 games behind. The Reds are five games behind and the last place Pirates are 9.5 games behind.

All of the teams in the division have a chance to catch up, but there are couple in the division that have the best chance.

Milwaukee Brewers:

The Brewers are playing well behind their slugger and 2009 home run derby winner, Prince Fielder.

Fielder has 22 home runs, 78 RBI and is batting .315 this season.

Ryan Braun and Cameron are hitting really well this year too! Braun has hit 16 homers this year and Cameron has hit 14 homers.

The pitching staff is where the Brewers are weak. There best pitcher, Yovani Gallardo has lost his last three games.

Suppan is not pitching well either, with an a era of 4.70. The Brewers are going to have to get better pitching if they want to win the division.

Chicago Cubs:

The Cubs are having the opposite problems.

Their pitchers are pitching excellent. Carlos Zambrano has pitched well, but he hasn't got any run support this season, so he only has a record of 5-4. He does have 82 strikeouts.

One of their best pitchers, Ryan Dempster went on the disabled list due to a toe injury. Before his injury he was 5-5 and had a era of 4.09.

Ted Lilly is pitching great this year, 9-6 with a 3.18 era and 101 strikeouts.

Injuries have really slowed the Cubs offense down.

Aramis Ramirez went on the DL for a while and just recently returned to the lineup.

Derek Lee was out for a while too, battling neck spasms for a while, but also returned recently.

With the offense getting some key players back, the Cubs could make a huge run, catch up with the Cardinals, and hopefully win the division.

Houston Astros: 

The Astros are doing decently, but they are a young team and still are developing young talent.

Miguel Tejada is batting .329 this year, but only has seven home runs. Lance Berkman leads the Astros in homers with 18, but is only batting .271.

They need some young batters to help this team catch up with the Cardinals.

The Astro's best starting pitcher, Wandy Rodriguez, has pitched excellent this year. He has a 8-6 record with an era of 2.96 and has 106 strikeouts.

Russ Ortiz and Brian Moehler haven't pitched well. Moehler's era is 5.08 and Ortiz's era is 4.44.

If the Astros want compete for the division, their pitchers have to allow less runs per game.

Cincinnati Reds:

Brandon Phillips and Jay Bruce have helped the Reds a lot this season by hitting tons of homers. Bruce has hit 18 homers and Phillips has hit 14.

No one else has been stepping up for the Reds and they really need some other hitters.

Pitching has been a big problem, too. Their best pitcher, Johnny Cueto, has struggled in a lot of starts this season. In his last start, he gave up nine runs to the Phillies in the first inning. He is still 8-6 with a 3.62 ERA.

The rest of the Reds pitchers all have and ERA over 4.00.

Pittsburgh Pirates:

The pirates haven't played that well this season. They are a decent team, but lack a big hitter and a pitching ace.

Their best hitter is Adam LaRoche, who has hit 12 homers but only has 39 RBI.

Their No. 1 starting pitcher, Zach Duke, has been solid, but not great. He has an 8-8 record this season and 65 strikeouts this season.

The rest of the Pirates pitching starters all have an ERA of 4.28. The Pirates need some help if they want to win the division.

The Cubs and the Brewers look like the only teams who have a chance at catching up to the Cardinals.

The Cubs are more likely to catch up though. They are getting players back and their pitchers can pitch comfortable now with a healthy offense that could get you more run support.