NL Central Discussion 2026

[Playing Catch]

9 hours ago, Team Canada said:

Crazy stat of the day: every team in the Central is better than EVERY team in the AL besides the Yankees.

I think we could use a thread dedicated to crazy stats and discussing them.

I couldn't believe the other day when I saw Teddy Higuera's 1986 season, when he led the league with 9.4 bWAR. That's more than Ohtani's 50-50 season.

[Underachiever]

Last year, the Brewers won 97 and had the best record in baseball. Currently on a 96-win pace and out of the playoffs. Would lose the Central by 12 games. LOL. Apparently, that difference between 96 and 97 is HUGE!

[igor67]

I'm assuming that what were seeing is that the NL Central has a really great interleague record at this point. And possibly even the NL as a whole since there is a small number of really bad records in the NL compared to the AL. If so some of the extreme's will have to settle in closer to .500

[SeaBass]

If we threw all of MLB into one division, 2/3 of teams would be at maximum 6 games out of first place. It's just so early that records don't really mean a whole lot right now. Even for the Mets, with the worst record in baseball, being 9 games back.

Brewers are 2.5 back.

[sveumrules]

38 minutes ago, igor67 said:

I'm assuming that what were seeing is that the NL Central has a really great interleague record at this point. And possibly even the NL as a whole since there is a small number of really bad records in the NL compared to the AL. If so some of the extreme's will have to settle in closer to .500

Yup, National League is currently +25 wins on the AL in Interleague play.

NLC teams are...CIN (11 W - 3 L), MIL (11 W - 5 L), STL (9 W - 6 L), PIT (5 W - 2 L), CHI (5 W - 4 L)...so they account for +21 of those +25 wins by themselves.

[Brian]

On 4/20/2026 at 9:35 PM, Frisbee Slider said:

The Reds outfield has been jarringly below replacement level. 

Maybe but at 16-8  I would hate to see them get even hotter ♨️ 

[gregmag]

The Pirates, who are presently in last place in the NL Central, would be in first place in the AL Central and AL West, second in the AL East and NL East, and tied for third in the NL West.  To put the point in a different, more fun way, only one AL team, the Yankees, presently has a better record than the worst team in the NL Central.

What many people don't seem to appreciate is that the NL Central was the second-strongest division in MLB last year.  The AL East in 2025 was 48 games over .500.  The NL Central was +32.  The AL West was +2, NL East -10, NL West -26, AL Central -36.  If you think it's unfair to judge a division by its worst team, we can ignore the last-place team in each division.  That leaves AL East +60, NL Central +52, NL West +40, NL East +20, AL West +20, AL Central +6.  The NL Central was strong at the top (#1 and #6 records in MLB) and well balanced.   

[wiguy94]

1 hour ago, gregmag said:

What many people don't seem to appreciate is that the NL Central was the second-strongest division in MLB last year.  The AL East in 2025 was 48 games over .500.  The NL Central was +32.  The AL West was +2, NL East -10, NL West -26, AL Central -36.  If you think it's unfair to judge a division by its worst team, we can ignore the last-place team in each division.  That leaves AL East +60, NL Central +52, NL West +40, NL East +20, AL West +20, AL Central +6.  The NL Central was strong at the top (#1 and #6 records in MLB) and well balanced.   

Thank you for being one of the few to acknowledge how good the NL Central has become. It was easily the 2nd best division in baseball last year behind the AL East. I'm tired of the NL Central being looped in with the AL Central as the little brother division when the NL Central has consistently been much better than the AL Central in the recent past and now the NL Central looks more like a powerhouse division filled with young talent all over the division.

[owbc]

1 hour ago, wiguy94 said:

Thank you for being one of the few to acknowledge how good the NL Central has become. It was easily the 2nd best division in baseball last year behind the AL East. I'm tired of the NL Central being looped in with the AL Central as the little brother division when the NL Central has consistently been much better than the AL Central in the recent past and now the NL Central looks more like a powerhouse division filled with young talent all over the division.

I know it's unfair because postseason baseball is its own thing, but the NL Central needs to win pennants to get recognition.