CHICAGO – Josh Bell smiled when asked about the second half of the season.
“It’s going to be fun,” the Pirates' All-Star first baseman said. “It’s going to be a battle in the National League Central.”
It’s shaping up that way. Just 4 1/2 games separate the division’s five teams as everyone gets back to action Friday after four days off for the All-Star break.
The Cubs (47-43) lead the Brewers (47-44) by 1/2 game, while the Cardinals (44-44) are two games back. The Pirates (44-45) are 2 1/2 games behind and the Reds (41-46) are 4 1/2 games back.
The Pirates begin the second half against the Cubs in the opener of a three-game series at Wrigley Field. It is the first of 40 games remaining inside the division for the Pirates – 13 against the Cardinals, 12 versus the Cubs, nine against the Reds and six versus the Brewers. Discussing that dynamic, Bell kept it short and sweet.
“They’re all going to be big games,” Bell said.
Reds right-hander Sonny Gray knows something about strong divisions, having spent the previous two seasons in the American League East with the Yankees. The AL East is generally considered the toughest division by the national media, but Gray says it has nothing on the NL Central. He also dismisses the idea that the NL Central has a crowded field because all five teams are mediocre.
“All five teams are good teams, teams with good lineups that are difficult to face,” Gray told me during the All-Star Game festivities in Cleveland earlier this week. “When I look at it, I could see any of the five teams winning it.”
Cardinals shortstop Paul DeJong concurs.
“Games inside the division are always battles,” he said. “It might be even more so in the second half. There is a lot at stake for all five teams. Usually, there is a little separation in the standings by this point in the season, but not this year.”
The divisional race was so tight last season that a tiebreaker game was needed to decide the title. The Brewers beat the Cubs at Wrigley Field. Furthermore, the Cardinals weren’t eliminated until the final weekend.
No race has ever ended in a three-way tie since Major League Baseball went to divisional play in 1969. However, Brewers closer Josh Hader wonders if the NL Central might set a precedent this year.
“We might need a game 163 again,” Hader said. “Maybe even a game 164.”
While tight pennant races are fun for the fans, they can be nerve-wracking for those in uniform. However, Brewers catcher Yasmani Grandal would welcome a five-team race in September.
Grandal played for the Dodgers last season. Like the Brewers, the Dodgers had to win a tiebreaker against the Rockies to capture their sixth consecutive National League West title.
“I’ve been in races where there’s been a game 163, and I’ve been in a race that was decided by 20 games,” Grandal said. "You know which one was more fun? The one with game 163. When you’re a competitor, you welcome the competition, and the competition is really good in our division this year. For me, that makes it more fun. I hope it comes down to the end. It looks like it will.”
Despite blowing a five-game lead in September and losing the tiebreaker in 2018, the Cubs entered this season as the consensus favorite to win the NL Central. While they hold the slimmest of leads, the Cubs have lost 16 of their past 26 games.
President of baseball operations Theo Epstein has been so frustrated by the team's slump that he's threatened to be a seller at the July 31 trade deadline if his team doesn’t play better. Manager Joe Maddon’s contract expires at the end of the season and many in baseball don’t think he will be retained.
As one Cubs’ person said when Chicago visited PNC Park last week, “We’re not the 2016 Cubs that won the World Series and steamrolled everybody. We have issues.”
Third baseman Kris Bryant acknowledges that the Cubs have underachieved so far. However, he is also confident Chicago will break away from the pack.
“We want to be 10 games ahead,” Bryant said. “There's a lot more breathing room, but it just hasn't gone that way for us this year. First place is great, but we've missed a lot of opportunities to separate ourselves. That's the frustrating part. We just have to play better. I know we can do it.’
The Cubs will get their chance, starting Friday against the Pirates. Yet four other teams are basically in the same position, of which Maddon, who recently referred to the Central as 'cannibalistic,' is well aware.
“I've been talking about this for the last two years, how teams are getting better in our division,” Maddon said. "It's not going to go away. The second half is going to be very similar to what you've seen in the first half."
PERROTTO’S TAKE
The Cubs have the most talent in the division but have never seemed quite as focused since winning the World Series three years ago. The Brewers and Cardinals have also been disappointments to date.
Will those three teams leave the door open for the Pirates to win their first division title since 1992? It’s possible.