NL Central Odds Update: Brewers Favored, Cardinals Continue Dropping

The NL Central has been messy in 2023, but the Milwaukee Brewers lead the way.

We’ll dive into each team in the division ranked where FanDuel Sportsbook has them on the odds board. 

Stay ahead of the game and elevate your sports betting experience with SportsGrid and our daily MLB game picks. 

The Milwaukee Brewers have met their preseason expectations at 34-29. With the St. Louis Cardinals not putting up a fight in the cellar of the NL Central, the Brew Crew are in a great spot to come out on top in the division. Milwaukee is coming off a 6-4 record over their last ten games, maintaining their status as the top team in the division. With the Brewers’ solid stretch of play, they’ve found their odds bet down again from -115 to -155. 

The St. Louis Cardinals entered the year as the favorite to win the NL Central. They looked anything but a contender through April and early May, struggling to pick up wins. For most of last month, the Cardinals played better, digging them out of that early hole. Into June, though, the Cards have struggled again, posting a 3-7 record over their last ten games, which now has them eight games back in the NL Central. The Redbirds have seen their odds to win the NL Central nearly double from +210 to +400 over the last week. 

The Pittsburgh Pirates got off to a shockingly good start and led the NL Central for a large portion of the first two months. They’ve since returned to earth and are hovering around the .500 mark at 32-29. Despite two losses in a row, the Pirates have posted a decisive 6-4 record over their last ten games. Let’s be honest, the Pirates weren’t expected to be contending at this point in 2023, so it’s been an impressive start, to say the least. With Pittsburgh sitting just one game behind the Brewers, their odds to win the NL Central have risen from +900 to +650 over the last week. 

The Dansby Swanson and Cody Bellinger signings boosted the Chicago Cubs lineup early on, but Bellinger’s knee injury has kept him out a month, hurting the offense. After an encouraging April, May has seen the Cubs go off the rails. Four straight losses have put them in an even more difficult position, with a 26-36 record. Chicago finds themselves 7.5 games back in the division and has seen their odds drop again from +650 to +700. 

The Reds went into the regular season and were projected to be one of the teams that struggled the most in baseball. That hasn’t transpired to this point, and some of their young talent has helped reignite this ball club and keep them alive in a relatively poor division. For the second straight week, the Reds have seen their odds to win the NL Central bet down from +2600 to +1800, where they sit five games behind the Brewers for the top spot. 

NL Central Odds on FanDuel Sportsbook.