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Keep hope: The division is bad
As I mentioned earlier, the Cubs are only 3 games out of first place in arguably the second-worst division in baseball besides the AL Central. The Brewers are not as good as they've been in recent years, the Pirates are getting cold after a hot start and the Cardinals are having one of the most disappointing seasons ever for a team with so much talent. Everything is in place for the Cubs to jump ahead and stay there if they can take advantage against their division rivals, which they have done against the Pirates so far with back-to-back sweeps.
And even though the Reds are hot right now, and their offense looks pretty good, they have a genuine lack of quality starting pitching outside of Hunter Greene (who is currently on the IL), and rookie Andrew Abbott. This is a big problem and it will hinder the Reds for the remainder of the season unless they make significant additions at the deadline, which seems highly unlikely.