“There’s battle lines being drawn. Nobody’s right if everybody’s wrong.” – The Buffalo Springfield, For What It’s Worth
I took a stab yesterday at predicting the outcome of this year’s NL Central race and, as I see it, the Cubs should enter the 2024 playoffs as division champs. I’m still unsure whether it will be an edge-of-your-seat race through the final month or a woebegone derby between mediocre teams fighting for the opportunity to be among the first-round elimination candidates.
The division itself may be a cesspool of inferiority as compared to the league’s East and West divisions, and peculiar scheduling will prevent compelling late-season tilts that tend to weigh heavily on placing.