Cubs holding solid in Central race

The Cubs took two out of three against the Cardinals this weekend, finishing off a 6-3 homestand and pushing St. Louis seven games back in the NL Central.

That seven-game differential is comforting, because I'm still worried about the Brewers. Milwaukee picked up a game this weekend while hosting the NL-worst Washington Nationals, shrinking the Cubs' lead to four games and extending their winning streak to five. Four games is also the Brewers' advantage in home/road scheduling the rest of the way.

With the league's top three teams all playing in the Central, though, the Cubs' lead over the Brewers is less important than their lead over the Cardinals, running second in the Wild Card race. It would take two teams in the Central getting hot, or one from the Central and two from the East, to push the Cubs out of playoff contention. At least, barring a total collapse by the North Siders.

If I was the Cubs' GM, with about three weeks to go before the trade deadline I don't see many moves that need to be made. Among position players, I'd only bounce Daryle Ward in favor of Micah Hoffpauir (who hit four home runs for Iowa the other day). With the additions of Chad Gaudin and Jeff Samardzija, the only pitcher I'd move would be Bobby Howry. While he's fallen completely off the radar, my first choice would actually be to bring Rich Hill back for a couple of middle-relief appearances to see what he's got before finalizing the roster on September 1.

Regardless, after 118 games if the only moves I'd make would be at pinch-hitter and relief-inning-eater, we're dealing with a good ballclub. All the Cubs need to do is to play consistently and stay healthy, and... well, we'll talk about that later.