First Five Play As NL Central Bottom Dwellers Square Off

Cubs vs. Reds, 7:10 ET

The NL Central is one of the more competitive divisions in baseball. This season, all five teams have a realistic chance at a postseason spot. The Brewers started hot and looked like they were going to easily take the division crown. The Cardinals have made that a little less probable (as have injuries), and the Pirates are also looking like a good enough team to steal a spot. However, the last two teams in the division are unlikely to make it, but at least still in the conversation or consideration - they square off tonight as the Cubs take on the Reds. 

The Cubs are five games under .500 and just made a trade that landed them one of the biggest names on the market. Most of the reports said that the club was going to be on one of the sellers at the deadline. Before we start to invest too far into the Cubs and think this will mark some sort of magical turnaround, this trade seems to be as much about the future (if not more) than it is about the current squad. The team traded for Isaac Paredes, a third basemen from the Rays. Paredes is expected to be a long term answer at third base for the Cubs. Does that mean they will hold onto the rest of the team? Who knows, it could just have been the right move at the right time. There are plenty of other players on the club that other teams have interest in, including tonight's starter Jameson Taillon. Although he has only made it through 100.1 innings, he has 17 starts under his belt this season and has a strong 2.96 ERA and a 1.15 WHIP. Taillon has allowed three or fewer earned runs in all but one of his 17 outings this season. He has put together seven quality starts in his last eight times on the hill. Against Cincinnati, he has allowed 18 hits in 63 at-bats. Ten of those hits have been for extra bases, and five of them have gone over the fence. Although they've collectively had success against Taillon, there isn't one clear great hitter against him.

The Reds are in a similar situation to the Cubs as they are also five games under .500 and looking to see what they will do at the deadline. The reality for both teams is that they are both probably out of the race no matter what they do. To me, if the Reds did make the playoffs this season it would be a bit ahead of their process in the rebuild. Cincinnati has some good pieces, but they don't feel like they are a complete team yet. The team is hitting just .228 for the season, but they have scored 460 runs which is 15th in the league and ahead of everyone but the Brewers in the NL Central. They are a strikeout-prone team with 950 for the season, which puts them at sixth in the league. Tonight, they send out Carson Spires to the mound as he is activated from the injured list. Spiers is making his 11th start of the season. This will be his first start since the All-Star Break. Before that, he had allowed at least three runs in four of his last five outings. Spires has faced the Cubs once this season and was strong against them, going 5.2 innings and allowing just four hits in the scoreless outing. 

These are two rather evenly matched teams considering their record, position, and even statistics. However, I do think there is a clear edge here with Taillon on the mound. He has been very good this season. While there is a possibility that he is removed from the game early due to a trade or something, I still have faith he should deliver a good outing. I'm going to mitigate that risk a bit and take Taillon and the Cubs through five innings at -115. 

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