The Cubs’ pitching staff is really, really bad. I’m assuming they’re going to add at least one more starter, but still, it’s going to be one of the worst 4 or 5 staffs in baseball.
They should have the best offense in the division, but see last season.
Fangraphs has the Cardinals, Brewers, Cubs and Reds ranked 7th, 8th, 9th and 11th in the NL respectively, with 5 games separating the four teams. We could argue the particulars on the rankings, but I think the division is really that bad and that the top four teams are really that close to each other.
ETA - the only reason these teams are likely to have winning records is they each get 19 games against the Pirates who are shaping up to be the worst MLB team in decades.
it’s anybody’s division, which is what makes it so infuriating that the Cubs have picked this year of all years to punt.