Projections Still Give Cubs Best Odds to Win Division

I sometimes feel like going full meatball when the Cubs can’t scratch across more than a few hits against a Disney cartoon dog of a pitcher. But after a few hours, I come back down to reality. And the reality is that the computers think the Cubs will still be the NL Central kings.

They boast a 57.5 percent chance of raising another division banner. Milwaukee, which is off to a roaring 33-win start, still only has a 12.2 percent chance of ousting the Cubs. In the middle of the two stand the Cardinals with a 25.1 percent chance.

Whew, now I feel better. Until I watch them play again, anyway.

But baseball is a wacky sport sometimes. One standard deviation is about six wins or losses when it comes to FanGraphs projections. So the Brewers and Cardinals are within computational striking distance as well as real striking distance now that the 2016 World Series champs have started off a bit stagnant here.