MLB power rankings: Rampaging Cubs finally look like NL Central bullies
Baseball's best division? The NL Central has been surprisingly strong.
The National League Central has been baseball's best division, a fact that seems straight out of the upside down. The Chicago Cubs have been the division's bully, a development that seems long overdue. The Cubs have been on an early-season rampage, winning 14 of their last 17 games, dominating their Wrigley Field stomping grounds and soaring to No.
4 in USA TODAY Sports' power rankings. At 22-12, the Cubs have the second-best record in the NL, yet they're just two games ahead of the 20-14 Cincinnati Reds and St. Louis Cardinals.
All five Central clubs are at least three games over . 500, on the strength of a combined 44-28 record in interleague play. And the Cubs improved to 14-5 at Wrigley by sweeping a decent Arizona Diamondbacks team, capped by a wind-swept 8-4 victory in which rookie Moisés Ballesteros hit a go-ahead homer.
Next up: A four-game Wrigley showdown against the Reds. A look at our updated rankings: 1. Los Angeles Dodgers (-) Blake Snell nearing return, creating a 17-man rotation (estimated).