Chicago Cubs: The NL Central will have no playoff wins in 2022

The Chicago Cubs had a strong finish to the 2022 Major League Baseball season. Their schedule was very weak which allowed them to go into the offseason with some confidence.

Unfortunately, that wasn’t even close to enough as they finished 19.0 games out of first place with a 74-88 record. They finished in third behind the St. Louis Cardinals and Milwaukee Brewers. St. Louis won the division at 93-69 but the Brewers missed out at 86-76.

Unfortunately, the division as a whole is going to come out of 2022 with zero playoff wins. As mentioned before, the Brewers missed out entirely and the St. Louis Cardinals were swept by the team that took the last Wild Card spot from them in the Philadelphia Phillies.

In the first game, the Cardinals were winning going into the 9th inning but they couldn’t close it down. A day later, Philly carried that momentum into game two and won the game and the series. After just two games, St. Louis is done. They played a whole two more games than the Cubs.

The Chicago Cubs could start to see the division fall in their favor again in 2023.

This is a bad look for the division. It is unclear who is going to come out on top in 2023 because there is going to be some turnover. After the Cardinals went out the way that they did, there could be a few changes coming.

For one, Albert Pujols and Yadier Molina are done. They both announced their retirement before the season began before having great years on this great team. Unfortunately, they are now done. The next time we see them will be in the Hall of Fame.

After missing the postseason this year, you can bet that the Brewers plan on making some changes as well. The Cincinnati Reds and Pittsburgh Pirates are likely going to be terrible again which means that the Cubs can compete in the division if the right moves are made.

The fact that the NL Central had no postseason wins should be both disgusting and good for the teams not named the Cardinals. It is clear that the division was weak and it is only going to be weaker. However, as mentioned before, the door is opening for the Cubs again.