Chicago Cubs: No clear favorite to win N.L. Central

Cardinals’ loss of Wainwright opens the Central up for anyone to take

Most MLB experts pegged the St. Louis Cardinals as the favorite to win the N.L. Central going into the season. With the loss of St. Louis’ ace Adam Wainwright – who went down with an Achilles tear for the season, things have changed. That one injury has had a major impact on the Cardinals and, subsequently, the rest of the division.

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You could easily make the case that the division is now up for grabs for anyone to take.

Even before the injury to Wainwright, most of those predictions featured projections for the Chicago Cubs that don’t exactly match-up with their 11-7 start. Some seemingly forgot how good the Pittsburgh Pirates are and have been the last few years. The Cincinnati Reds when healthy, could contend as well.

The only team that might have a hard time battling the whole year is the Milwaukee Brewers who are struggling in all aspects of the game. Looking at all of the teams, realistically, the Cubs could find themselves fighting for first place throughout the entire season.

As far as offense goes, the Cubs have the ability to be as good as any team in the National League – and that’s without Kris Bryant hitting for the power he’s become known for since he was drafted a few years’ back. They also have the ability to strike out – a lot – although the team is drawing walks at a pace that tops the league.

That’s not to take anything away from St. Louis and Pittsburgh, as both have shown they’re more than capable of bopping with the best of them. However, Andrew McCutchen’s early struggles are a major concern for the Bucs and St. Louis has shown their share of problems – scoring just 67 runs over the course of 18 games – which ranks 12th amongst the 15 NL clubs.

Cincinnati might be able to match up the closest as far as power goes if they stay healthy and Jay Bruce snaps out his horrid slump. For now, Joey Votto is carrying the load – silencing doubters and critics with a red-hot start to the 2015 season.

Starting pitching has to go to the Cubs as well. Jake Arrieta has been nothing short of brilliant so far, assuming the role of staff ace in his second year in the Windy City. Eventually, Jon Lester will start to get in his groove and will start pitching like the guy everyone saw in Boston and briefly in Oakland.

Kyle Hendricks and Jason Hammel are as good as a No.3 and No.4 as you’re going to find outside of Washington, and Travis Wood can more than hold his own as the fifth starter – as we saw in 2013, when he was named to the NL All-Star Game.

When the trade deadline gets closer, you have to believe the Cardinals, Pirates and Cubs will all be active. Actually, St. Louis could be active sooner rather than later to fix the void left in the wake of Wainwright’s injury. In terms of assets, the Cubs have options that are as attractive as any other club’s – including one of the best farm systems in all of Major League Baseball.

The question is, who will make what moves?

The plan was thought to be as good as possible this year, and not to waver from the goal of 2016 contending for the big prize – the World Series. But I don’t think even the front office expected to see this much success so early and so quickly out of this young team. With that, maybe next year is actually this year. The stars might be aligned to jump now instead of waiting.

If the young players like Bryant, Addison Russell and Jorge Soler continue to improve and the Cubs continue to win while doing so – why not believe this year’s team can’t come running out of the gates and into the postseason. All you have to do is get there – then it is anyone’s to win and anything can happen.

If it were up to me, and it’s not, obviously, I wouldn’t change what the Cubs are doing. If the right offer came along for someone they would be willing to give up, do it, but I wouldn’t go out and try to chase down a trade just to rush the process.

That seems like an “oh, duh” approach, but I’m simply stating that this organization has the pieces to win. Sure, you can add depth pieces – perhaps middle relief help – but it shouldn’t take a Cole Hamels and trading away half the system to make this team a contender.

This team, if healthy, is good enough to win right now. Are they good enough to win it all? That remains to be seen, but I like the Cubs’ chances as much as anyone’s right now.

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