MLB Odds Today: NL Central Division Betting Analysis for 2024 Season

2023 MLB National League Central Predictions: Top Winner & Top Upset Plays

Odds makers have pegged the St. Louis Cardinals the favorites to win the NL Central Division. The Cards, though, don’t appear to be that much better than the Milwaukee Brewers or maybe even the Chicago Cubs. Is St. Louis the team to back to take the NL Central this season?

Check out MLB lines and analysis to win the National League Central Division in the 2023 baseball season.

MLB Season Info | Updated MLB Odds
Duration: Thursday, Mar. 30 – Sunday, Oct. 1, 2023
Number of games: 162 games
Number of teams: 30 teams

Brewers’ Starting Rotation Analysis

It’s tough to determine how good St. Louis’ starting rotation is going to be because the Cardinals list Miles Mikolas as their ace. Jack Flaherty, who was the Cardinals’ ace before Mikolas jumped ahead of him, threw in just nine games last season.

While it’s difficult to know if the Cardinals’ rotation will be effective, we know for a fact that the Brewers’ starting rotation will rock. Former Cy Young winner Corbin Burnes leads the rotation.

Burnes is one of MLB’s top strikeout artists. Corbin sent 243 batters to the dugout after a third strike last season. Not only that, but Burnes posted a 2.94 ERA and a .97 WHIP.

Brandon Woodruff, the second starter, struck out 190 batters. Woodruff’s ERA was 3.05. Third starter in the rotation Freddy Peralta had a 3.58 ERA. The Brewers’ rotation is solid.

Brewers’ Batting Lineup Analysis

Christian Yelich didn’t have a great season in 2022. Yelich, though, has a real shot of bouncing back in 2023.

Yelich is a lifetime .287 hitter. The .252 average he posted last season was an anomaly, not the norm.

Catcher William Contreras is as good as it gets. Willy Adames hit 31 homer last season. If Adames can raise his batting average, it was .231 in 2022, the Brew Crew have a shot to field the NL Central’s top offense.

MLB National League Central Top Pick: Brewers +158 | Bet Milwaukee Brewers To Win NL Central
MyBookie Betting Lines for the Season

Cubs’ Starting Rotation Analysis

It’s impossible to make the Pirates or the Reds the top underdog pick. Both teams should be out of postseason contention before the all-star break.

The Cubs, though, could surprise. Marcus Stroman, James Tallion, and Kyle Hendricks isn’t the same as Justin Verlander, Max Scherer, and Kodai Senga heading up your starting rotation, but it’s not bad.

Stroman is as consistent as they come. When Tallion has his best stuff, he can sit some good hitters. If the rotation gels, and if Hendricks bounces back with a better season, who knows? Maybe, the Cubs go back to winning games on the regular.

Cubs’ Batting Lineup Analysis

If the Cubs end up winning the NL Central over the Cardinals and Brewers, it will be because Cody Bellinger has the most amazing bounce back season in MLB history.

The former Dodger hit .305 with 47 home runs and 115 RBIs in 2019. But since then, Bellinger has been a disaster.

Last season, Cody batted .210 with 19 home runs and 68 RBIs. If Bellinger can get back to his dominant hitting ways, the Cubs will be an NL Central contender.

MLB National League Central Underdog Pick: Cubs +660 | Bet Chicago Cubs To Win NL Central
MyBookie Betting Lines for the Season

NL Central Season Predictions: Winner and Upset | MLB Betting

For a while, it looked as though we were going to need to look forward to a shortened MLB season, or perhaps even seeing it wiped out completely. The labor strife is now over, and teams are ready to go. Spring training is now in full effect with the full 162-game season right around the corner. As always, spring training tells us very little about what to expect in the regular season, but it is still fun to shepherd in spring with some game time. We are going to skip all that and look ahead at how each division might play out this season. With that in mind, let’s dig a little deeper into the NL Central Division so you can make your bets against the MLB NL Division Odds.

A Quick Breakdown of the NL Central Teams

Last year, the Central basically turned into a 2-horse race, with the Milwaukee Brewers pulling away to win it by 5 games. I think it might be a little closer this season, and we may have another team in the title mix. Right now, it is the Brewers (-149) who are in as the favorite to win it again. All projections from a variety of sources have them winning 88-90 games, which might be just enough to do it.

You look at the second half that the St. Louis Cardinals (+151) delivered last season and you wonder if that can carry over into the new season. If the Cardinals can get the most out of a pitching staff that doesn’t really have a legitimate ace, then they could push the Brewers all the way. It would not be a surprise to see this team in the postseason, especially now that it has been expanded.

The Cincinnati Reds (+910) are considered the 3^rd best option to win the division by the bookies, but that seems like a bit of a stretch to me. The Reds were in the playoff picture for a good portion of last season and fell away late. Making matters worse is the fact that they lost some key pieces in the offseason and did little to replace them. I think they are more realistically looking at 4^th in the Central in 2022.

Things get a little bit trickier when talking about the Chicago Cubs (+970). The front office went on a tear at the deadline last season, offloading talent in a way that suggested they were a team looking at a serious rebuild. Instead, they were rather busy on free agency and added pieces that could well have this team pushing for a Wild Card spot all the way to the end. I might be willing to risk a few bucks on them getting in.

With just 61 wins last season, the Pittsburgh Pirates (+4500) are undoubtedly looking at another long, fruitless year in 2022. I’d be stunned if they finished anywhere other than last in the division. The outlook for the Pirates is not good, and it really is just a matter of figuring out how many games they will lose.

Division Winner Prediction

I am going to go with a bit of a gamble here and take the Cardinals to win the division, although I do believe that they and the Brewers will be postseason bound. If the Cubs can get off to a fast start, we might be in for a good race.