NL East: The Atlanta Braves have been the surprise team in the National League this year.  They are on top of the division with 79 wins up to this point and are gaining some separation with their NL East rival Philadelphia Phillies who are now 4.5 games back.  The Braves have not been to the postseason since 2013 when they lost to the Dodgers in 4 games in the NLDS.  However, this team is very different from the 2013 Braves.  This Braves team has a lot of youth with their two rising stars.  Ozzie Albies their second baseman has 22 HR, 67 RBIs and a batting Average of .271.  Also their left fielder Ronald Acuna Jr. has 24 HR (7 leadoff home runs most is braves history) 51 RBIs & a batting average of .290 and will most likely win the National League Rookie of the year. That’s not including their All-Star first baseman, Freddie Freeman.  Freeman has 21 HR, 83RBIs & is hitting .305 on the season and is in the National MVP conversation.

NL Central:  The Milwaukee Brewers are somewhat of a surprise to most baseball fans. Coming into the year most of them thought that the National League Central would be all wrapped up by the end of the first week with the Chicago Cubs easily winning the division and coasting into the playoffs by the end of the regular season.  What fans did not see coming was the young Milwaukee Brewers.  Although they did have a chance to make the postseason last year via the wild card, they came up one win short in accomplishing that goal.  But this year is a whole new season and with every season comes new opportunity and the Brewers and their fans do not want to miss this one.  The “Brew Crew” has some very good hitters on their team like their first baseman Jesus Aguilar who has 31 HR (Tied for most on brewers w/Christian Yelich) 97RBIs & a batting average of .276.  Also their outfielder Christian Yelich who has 31 HR, 86 RBIs AVG .316.  Milwaukee acquired him in an off season trade with the Miami Marlins.  The brewers also have some good starting pitching and a very good bullpen.  Their rotation is led by Jhoulys Chacin who as a 3.59ERA and 14 wins for Milwaukee this year and their bullpen who is led by their closer Josh Hader who has a 2.08ERA and 11 saves for the Brewers this year.  If everything goes well in the last month for the “crew”, they should be able to make the playoffs for the first time since 2011.

NL Central:  The Chicago Cubs had some big expectations coming into this season.  Even though the Cubs lost last year in the NLCS to the Los Angeles Dodgers 4-1 in a best of 7 series.  Also, the Cubs are only 2 years removed from their first World Series Title in over 108 years when they beat the Cleveland Indians in 7 games.  This year the Cubs did not get off to the start they were hoping for by getting off to a 31 and 22 record in the first two months of the season.  But when the weather in Chicago started warming up, so did the Cubs.  The Cubs took over sole position of first place by the end of the first half of the season.  However, the Cubs lead has since slipped to only one game as of 9/11.  But the Cubs have been able to sustain their lead in their division and relevance in the postseason picture.  They have done this with the help of their 2B/SS Javier Baez who is one of the favorites for the NL MVP. Baez has 30HR, (most home runs in the Cubs) 100RBIs, and a batting average of .294 on the season.  Also, the Cubs got some mid-season help when they acquired Cole Hamels (SP) from the Texas Rangers prior to the July 31^st trade deadline.  Hamels is 4-0 in 8 games with Chicago.  With all this coming into play for the Cubs they should be well on their way to October.

NL West:  The Dodges are fresh off a pennant winning season in 2017.  Even though the Dodgers lost the World Series in seven games last year, there was still very high hopes that they can get back there this year.  The Dodgers did not get off to the start they were looking for in the early part of the season.  But when the second half rolled around, the Dodgers were starting to get into mid-season form.  LA also made some notable mid-season trades in acquiring SS/3B Manny Machado and 2B Brian Dozier prior to the deadline.  Also last year’s NL rookie of the year Cody Bellinger has been heating up in the second half for the Dodgers.  Most baseball experts say that the Dodgers have the most complete team in the National League and are still the team favorite to go the fall classic this year even though the Dodgers are 1.5GB from the Rockies for the top spot in the west.  If LA can hold on for the remaining weeks of the season they should find themselves back in the postseason for the 5^th straight year.

NL West:  The Colorado Rockies are coming off a postseason appearance in which they got into the “Wild Card Game” last season even though they lost the one game playoff to Arizona 8-11. Prior to making the playoffs last year the Rockies have not been to the postseason since 2009 when they lost to the Philadelphia Phillies in the NLDS 3-1.  This season Colorado did not get off to the start they were hoping for, and by July 4^th they were 4.0 GB in the west behind the Dodgers and Diamondbacks in the NL west.  Once the second-half of the season came around, so did the Rockies.  Colorado went 27 & 20 after the all-star break and has climbed their way back up the standings and as of 9/12 are +1.5 on the Dodgers and Diamondbacks.  The Rockies have gotten some big contributions from their 2 All-Stars, Shortstop Trevor Story who has 32 HRs, (tied most HRs on Rockies) & 100 RBI for the season and their third baseman Nolan Arenado who also has 32 HRs, 100 RBIs and is arguably the Rockies best player.  Even though Colorado has to play at a higher elevation than everyone else, the Rockies have been scoring fewer runs at home than on the road this season.  However their starting pitching has done very well at home this year and one of their starting pitchers Kyle Freeland has been one of their best.  Freeland has posted up a 2.91 ERA in 176.1 innings pitched and has the most wins by a Rockies starting pitcher with 14 on the season and is one of the big reasons why the Rockies are back in first place in the West.  If all goes well for the Rockies and their pitching holds up until the end, the Rockies and their fans could see their first NL west crown in franchise history.

NL West:  The Arizona Diamondbacks are coming off of a season in which they made the playoffs via the “Wild Card Game” and advancing to the NLDS where they eventually lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers 3-0.  Although the “D-backs” got swept last year, the team and their fans believe that they can win the division and perhaps go all the way to the World Series.  If they go to the World Series this year it will be the second time in franchise history they have played in the “Fall Classic” last being in 2001 when they won in 7 games to the Yankees on Luis Gonzalez’s Game winning RBI single up the middle agent then Yankees hall of famer closer Mariano Rivera.  This year’s Diamondbacks have been powered by their first baseman Paul Goldschmidt and left fielder David Peralta despite the Diamondbacks currently being in third place behind the Rockies and Dodgers.  Paul Goldschmidt has 33 HRs (most on D-backs) 83 RBIs and is hitting .297 this season.  David Peralta on the other hand has the second most home runs (27) and RBIs (78) on the D-backs next to Goldschmidt.  The Diamondbacks also have some very good starting pitching with Zack Greinke at the top of that list.  Greinke as posted a 3.11 ERA in 163.2 IP this season and has the most wins by a D-backs starting pitcher with 14 the year.  Arizona has a pretty solid bullpen as well in Archie Bradley who has a 3.76 ERA and Brad Boxberger who has 4.41 ERA and 32 saves for the D-backs this season.  With all this being said the Diamondbacks have a fighting chance to get into the playoff for the second consecutive year.

 All Stats as of 9/10,  9/11  &  9/12