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Chicago Cubs: Fans won’t like this NL Central prediction
There’s little more I need to say about this. Last year, the Brewers shocked the baseball world, keeping the Cubs from winning a third-straight National League Central crown. That, of course, forced Chicago into the one-game Wild Card – which they promptly lost in front of a packed house at Wrigley Field.
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- Cubs: P.J. Higgins deserves to be in the lineup on a daily basis
So what will 2019 bring? More of the same if you ask Reviewing the Brew.
Q: What’s your prediction for the NL Central race?
A: I have the Brewers winning the division again (shocking, I know). They won it last year and only got better in the offseason with the additions of Yasmani Grandal and Alex Claudio, and the re-signing of Mike Moustakas.
I actually have the Cardinals finishing in second and the Cubs finishing in third, and this is not because of any disdain for the Cubs, but because I don’t think they got any better. The Cardinals made a push in the middle of last season and finished a close third and just added Paul Goldschmidt and Andrew Miller. They got better. The Cubs, I don’t think they improved their team very much. Jon Lester and Cole Hamels got a year older, and they didn’t make any notable additions. Perhaps improved health will make them better, but I think the rest of the division got better while the Cubs didn’t.
The Reds I think will finish fourth and the Pirates will finish in the basement. The Reds got a lot better but they’re not ready to break into the Top 3 yet.
So, with a lot on the line for an early April series, the Cubs will open a highly-anticipated weekend showdown at Miller Park on Friday. Can they get their season back on track with a sweep of the first-place Brewers? Guess we’ll know soon enough. Otherwise, we may be seeing stories about Joe Maddon‘s job security popping up come Monday morning.