Can Anyone Stop the Cardinals From Reclaiming the NL Central in 2024?

The 2024 MLB season will be here before you know it as pitchers and catchers will begin reporting for spring training this week.

With the NFL season wrapped up and the NBA season heading into its All-Star break, now is a great time to get up to speed on some of FanDuel Sportsbook's MLB odds markets. With that in mind, let's take a look at the NL Central odds for this year's National League Central Division winner.

NL Central Division Winner Betting Odds

NL Central Division Winner Betting Odds Analysis

The race to the top of the NL Central appears to be virtually wide open. Only the Pittsburgh Pirates have odds longer than +550, and they came close to mustering a .500 record a season ago. It's going to be a fascinating division to follow in 2024.

The Milwaukee Brewers -- last year's winners -- have the second-longest odds to win it after a confusing offseason. On the flip side, the St. Louis Cardinals have the best odds to win the division in 2024 after finishing in last place in 2023 -- their first last-place finish since 1990. In the middle of the pack are the up-and-coming Cincinnati Reds and the Chicago Cubs, each of whom flashed upside a year ago and could succeed this time around.

St. Louis Cardinals (+140)

The Cardinals clearly did not enjoy being the worst team in the NL Central last year and made significant efforts this offseason to set themselves up for more success in 2024. While much of their offensive core remains in place -- featuring studs like Paul Goldschmidt, Nolan Arenado and Willson Contreras -- they completely revamped their pitching rotation for the upcoming season.

Top 2023 pitcher Miles Mikolas will be back on the mound for St. Louis, but this time, he'll be joined by savvy and productive veterans Sonny Gray, Lance Lynn, and Kyle Gibson. That should help them shore things up on the pitching side after finishing the 2023 campaign with a collective 4.79 ERA, the seventh-worst mark in Major League Baseball.

With how much they invested in pitchers this offseason -- and the team's track record of success prior to the 2023 season -- it makes sense why early bettors are keen on the Cardinals. But it's worth pointing out that St. Louis will be banking on their veterans staying productive and healthy during the season. They have just three of MLB's top 100 prospects under contract, one of whom (infielder Masyn Winn) didn't live up to expectations in his first stint in the majors.

Without some major developments in the minor leagues, the Cardinals will need their current roster to live up to expectations to win the division.

Chicago Cubs +240

The 2023 Cubs outperformed expectations, but it remains to be seen if their fun season was just a flash in the pan or a sign of better things to come.

Their rotation will still feature Kyle Hendricks and 2023 breakout Justin Steele, as well as veteran hand Jameson Taillon and offseason signing Shota Imanaga, who will be making his MLB debut. If Imanaga -- who posted sterling numbers throughout his eight seasons in Japan -- can hit the ground running, he could help take Chicago's starting rotation from being an average unit to being quite strong.

The Cubs still have one major question mark remaining for the upcoming season -- will team MVP Cody Bellinger re-sign with them before the season? Bellinger had a massive 2023 campaign, looking more like the version of himself that won Rookie of the Year and MVP honors earlier in his career than the version that struggled from 2020 to 2022. His 134 wRC+ led the Cubs and ranked 13th league-wide, and only Seiya Suzuki (126) joined him inside the top 50 players in that metric.

Bellinger was critical to the Cubs' success last year but is still a free agent as pitchers and catchers report for spring training. If he does end up re-signing with Chicago, they could jump ahead of the Cardinals in FanDuel's preseason odds.

Cincinnati Reds (+410)

The Cincinnati Reds have spent the last decade trolling near the bottom of the NL Central, but they turned into a very fun team during the 2023 season. With an extremely young roster, I like their chances of earning their first division title since 2012.

Last year's Reds posted the second-best team OPS in the NL Central with a .746 mark. If the Cubs can't retain Bellinger's services for another season, there's no reason not to have optimism that an offense boasting exciting players like Elly De La Cruz, Matt McLain, Christian Encarnacion-Strand, and Spencer Steer all entering their second or third seasons can finish as the top unit in the division.

The team's real challenge this season will be whether or not young pitchers like Graham Ashcraft, Hunter Greene, Nick Lodolo, and Andrew Abbott can rise to the occasion. Both Greene and Lodolo entered the previous season with high expectations and found middling-to-disappointing results, but they could thrive in their third seasons as starters.

Milwaukee Brewers (+550)

As a Brewers fan, let me be the first to tell you that I am not thrilled about the team's prospects for the upcoming season.

Most recently, the team traded away ace pitcher Corbin Burnes to the Baltimore Orioles for a pair of fringe prospects and a future draft pick. The Brewers posted the best team ERA (3.70) in MLB last season, but it's hard to see them repeating that feat without Burnes on the roster.

According to FanGraphs, the Brewers' offense ranked seventh-worst in wRC+ a year ago -- it was very clearly their pitching that led them to a division title. They added veteran first baseman Rhys Hoskins in free agency to help out in that department, but they'll need much more than his .846 career OPS to help their offense get on track.

Still, it's not all doom and gloom in Milwaukee. Former MVP Christian Yelich enjoyed his best season since 2019 as the team's top batter and could continue that trend in 2024. And every Brewers fan is highly anticipating the MLB debut of top prospect Jackson Chourio, who signed a massive extension with the team this winter after tearing through the minor leagues.

The NL Central is still anyone's to claim, so we can't fully count out the Brewers at this stage.

Pittsburgh Pirates (+1600)

Finally, we have the Pittsburgh Pirates, who have not won their division since 1992. Their odds of snapping that streak don't look great for this year -- but this could still be the best Pirates squad we've seen in recent years.

We know Bryan Reynolds is a stud. Ke'Bryan Hayes looked like he was putting it all together, too, as he posted a .874 OPS in the second half of the season. Former first overall pick Henry Davis got his first taste of action in the majors and could grow into an every-game starter in year two. And, of course, Oneil Cruz looked like a player with star potential before a leg injury ended his season.

There are reasons for optimism with this Pirates team, even if they have an uphill road to a division title.

They could use some help in the pitching department but should be eagerly awaiting the MLB debut of 2023 first-overall pick Paul Skenes at some point this season. The former LSU ace finished his final collegiate season with an elite 1.69 ERA while averaging 15.3 strikeouts per 9. There's a good reason he's considered the top pitching prospect in baseball right now.

They'll probably need more than just one rookie ace-in-the-making to push for a division title, but there will definitely be worse teams this season than the Pirates.

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The above author is a FanDuel employee and is not eligible to compete in public daily fantasy contests or place sports betting wagers on FanDuel. The advice provided by the author does not necessarily represent the views of FanDuel. Taking the author's advice will not guarantee a successful outcome. You should use your own judgment when participating in daily fantasy contests or placing sports wagers.