NL Central Odds Update: Brewers Extend Lead on Reds, Cubs Hanging

The NL Central has been messy in 2023, as the Milwaukee Brewers are favored to win the division. Still, the Cincinnati Reds and Chicago Cubs remain in the picture.

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

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The Milwaukee Brewers continue to lead the NL Central on August 11, but they’ve got company in the ranks from the Cincinnati Reds and Chicago Cubs. Even though the Brewers have posted just a 5-5 record over their last ten games, they’ve still extended their lead in the division to 2.5 games. The Brewers have plenty of experience in tight division races with this core of players, which should help them down the stretch. Even amidst a mediocre stretch, the Brewers extending their division lead has led them to see their odds rise from +110 to being juiced at -125. 

The Chicago Cubs‘ regular season has had some ups and downs, but they’ve been able to hang around the NL playoff race with a solid last 45 days. The Cubs have won six of their last ten games and trail the Brewers by 2.5 games for the division lead while being just a half-game behind in the NL wild-card race. The Cubs have continued to see their odds of winning the NL Central bet down this week from +240 to +135. 

The Cincinnati Reds went into the regular season projected to struggle. That hasn’t happened, and their young talent has reignited the club. Even when pundits continue to count out the Reds, they’ve remained right there with the Brewers and Cubs in the race for the NL Central. Entering action on August 11, the Reds trail the Brewers by 2.5 games for the NL Central lead. The issue for the Reds is that they’ve lost eight of their last ten and are struggling. The good news is that much of their wild-card race competition is also struggling. Still, the Reds’ odds of winning the division have dropped from +200 to +550 over the last week. 

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The St. Louis Cardinals entered the year as the favorites to win the NL Central. They’ve looked anything but contenders and were sellers at the MLB trade deadline. St. Louis finds itself in the basement of the NL Central with a disappointing 51-65 record. The Cards trail the first-place Brewers by eleven games, and their odds to win the NL Central have plummeted again this week from +11000 to +25000. 

The Pittsburgh Pirates got off to a shockingly good start, leading the NL Central for a significant portion of the first two months. They’ve since returned to earth and are playing more like the team we expected. Pittsburgh has dropped to 52-63 on the campaign, which is on par with what many predicted the season would look like for them. The Pirates have played themselves out of the division race, but there are still some reasons to be optimistic about this club with their young talent, even with +25000 odds to win the division. 

NL Central Odds on FanDuel Sportsbook. 

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