Baseball is very close to being back in Milwaukee. The Brewers home opener is scheduled for April 14 against the St Louis Cardinals. Prior to that, they will begin this season on the road against the Chicago Cubs on April 7. In the first month, 16 of the Brewers first 23 games will be against NL Central opponents. If you expand this further into May, it jumps to 23 out of their first 33 games against division opponents. These early season games could have an influence on the final standings.
Of the NL Central teams, the Brewers and Cardinals are the heavy favorites to win the division. The Brewers are looking to make their fifth consecutive play-off appearance and the Cardinals their fourth. Over the past four years, the Brewers have won the division twice whereas the Cardinals just once. The Reds, Cubs, and Pirates currently are on the outside looking in.
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With the start of the regular season being just around the corner, here at Wisconsin Sports Heroics our writers gave their predictions on the final standings in the NL Central.
Robin Adams – @theotherRobin19
Brewers (98-64)
Cardinals (84-78)
Reds (80-82)
Cubs (70-92)
Pirates (63-99)
Dylan Buboltz – @DylanBuboltz
Cardinals (90-72)
Brewers (88-74)
Cubs (82-80)
Reds (76-86)
Pirates (68-94)
Tyler Koerth – @TylerKoerth
Brewers (94-68)
Cardinals (90-72)
Cubs (83-79)
Reds (78-84)
Pirates (64-98)
Zach Lensmire – @zachlensmire
Brewers (92-70)
Cardinals (86-76)
Cubs (79-83)
Reds (77-85)
Pirates (73-89)
Mike Wendlandt – @MikeWendlandt
Brewers (97-65)
Cardinals (88-74)
Cubs (77-85)
Reds (75-87)
Pirates (67-95)
Max Stapleton – @Max_Stapleton38
Brewers (95-67)
Cubs (90-72)
Cardinals (89-73)
Reds (80-82)
Pirates (62-100)
Of these predictions, five out of six had the Brewers repeating as NL Central Champions. The Cardinals were most commonly in second with the Reds and Cubs coming in at a mixture of third and fourth place. A lot can happen over the course of a baseball season, but given the current make up of each team I like the Brewers chances of re-claiming the division crown.
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