At 46-31, the Chicago Cubs lead the NL Central by 3.5 games and look like a team that, with the right trade deadline moves, can conceivably win the NL Pennant. The St. Louis Cardinals, on the other hand, are 42-36 and just hope to stick around the postseason race. While the Cubs have spent more money than the Cardinals have, the biggest reason why they lead the division and not St. Louis is that they've been able to beat St. Louis at their own game.
The Cardinals entered the year hoping to see major improvement from their young players. Alec Burleson has been red-hot for a while, and Ivan Herrera has crushed the ball when he's been able to play, but have we seen anyone else really break out who we didn't expect to play well?
As for the Cubs, yes, they traded for Kyle Tucker, but he hasn't been solely responsible for their success. They've done an outstanding job surrounding him with homegrown talent, and the team has been clicking on all cylinders as a result.
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Cubs are beating the Cardinals at their own game
Tucker is great, but Pete Crow-Armstrong might be the NL MVP favorite. He's been that dominant. He provided value for the Cubs last season on the base paths and in the field, but he had an 88 OPS+. He's raised that by nearly 60 points this season, and with his defense and base running remaining elite, he looks like a complete five-tool player.
Michael Busch looked good for the Cubs in spurts last season, but has raised his OPS by nearly 100 points and his OPS+ from 118 to 148. He's gone from a good hitter to an elite hitter while playing almost exclusively against right-handed pitching.
Even a guy like Cam Smith, who the Cubs drafted last season, was seen as good enough for them to trade for Tucker, a proven star, and he's had a good year himself in Houston. He's another player that the Cubs can take some credit for.
As for the Cardinals, again, they just don't measure up.
Cardinals need more from their homegrown players
Willson Contreras has turned his season around after a brutal start, Brendan Donovan is having a strong year, and Lars Nootbaar was a catalyst for much of the year. How have the team's young players done, though?
Cardinals fans hoped that this would be the year when Jordan Walker would break out and show the world why he was such a highly touted prospect, but the opposite has happened. He has a .562 OPS in 55 games, proving to be one of the worst position players in the game. In fact, he's tied for 212th out of 222 position players with at least 190 plate appearances with a 59 WRC+ and tied for 219th among the same group of 222 players with -0.9 fWAR.
Victor Scott II won the center field job and, for a little while, looked like a budding star at that position, but he's hitting just .153 with a .477 OPS in his last 25 games. He now has a 91 WRC+, proving to be below average offensively. He can run like the wind and is an elite defender, but it's hard to call him a franchise cornerstone if he isn't hitting.
Masyn Winn is another player Cardinals fans hoped would take another step this season, and he's looked good at times, but he has a .701 OPS in 66 games this season. He, too, is merely an average hitter, as evidenced by his 99 WRC+.
Perhaps if the Cardinals saw meaningful growth from their youngsters, they'd be more threatening to the Cubs at the top of the division. The Cubs finding a way to get the most out of their young players has been, and might prove to be the ultimate difference in the NL Central.