6 things we learned from the first month of the MLB season: The NL Central is good, this rookie class is special and more

One month down, five to go in the 2026 MLB regular season. Four weeks of action are in the books, with teams having played between 24 and 26 games, or roughly 15% of their schedules. Soon, all of our “it’s only April” caveats will no longer apply as the sample of data grows to the point that we can start trusting the results as reality.

For now, we’re left to take stock of what has happened thus far with the caveat that we’re looking at a limited sample. Even so, over just a few weeks of play, some big themes have emerged that will be worth monitoring for the rest of the year. Here are six big takeaways one-sixth of the way through the regular season: The NL Central is making a statement Maybe we shouldn’t be surprised; this division did send three teams to the postseason last year, including the Brewers with the best record in baseball.

But the degree to which the NL Central has separated itself in April has been stunning. This has partially been the product of a wonky early schedule that has featured hardly any intradivision games, thus limiting the chances for these teams to beat up on one another. Instead, all five clubs have seized their opportunities to prove themselves against the rest of the league, resulting in the NL Central accounting for five of the 10 best records in MLB at this point .

Here’s a look at each division’s combined record: AL East: 60-63 AL Central: 58-69 AL West: 59-69 NL East: 58-69 NL Central: 73-50 NL West: 69-57 The Cubs and Reds are tied at the top at 16-9, though they’ve taken vastly different routes to first place. The Cubs are riding a nine-game winning streak , powered by an offense that is fully healthy and starting to fire on all cylinders. Chicago is missing a ton of key arms due to injury, but its elite defense and strong showings from Shota Imanaga and Edward Cabrera have ensured reliable run prevention nevertheless.