Baseball

Thank god the NL Central is a weak division.

Despite being just a .500 ballclub through their first 30 games, the Chicago Cubs find themselves in second place in the division and 6.5 games behind the strongest team in baseball, the St. Louis Cardinals.

While the Atlanta Braves got off to a sizzling 5-0 start, they have since cooled and now sit under .500 at 14-17. It's been disappointing for the Braves to have fallen under .500 so quickly after that great start.

However, this is about what we expected in 2015.

While the record may not show it, there are signs of the Braves' improvement as a team. If not for some recent bullpen struggles, that record would be significantly better.

New York Yankees pitcher Michael Pineda struck out 16 batters in Sunday's 6-2 win over the Baltimore Orioles, setting a franchise record for the most strikeouts without any walks in a single game, per ESPN Stats & Info.

The Chicago Cubs have hit a rough patch over the past week or so, but they're still right around the .500 mark. That's better than they've been in the past seven years or so, and it's thanks to several improvements the team has already made in 2015.

While they still have plenty to work on if they want to be playing long into October this year, here are five things the Cubs have already managed to improve in 2015.

Last season, the Arizona Diamondbacks finished with the worst record in baseball at 64-98. There were many glaring weaknesses with the team, but it was the 8-22 start that likely buried the D-backs' playoff hopes before the month of May even began.

As if anyone needed further confirmation that no pitcher is safe from Tommy John surgery in today's MLB, another ace has bitten the dust.

This time, it's Tampa Bay Rays right-hander Alex Cobb. And while that's a shame in and of itself, what makes it an even bigger shame is that his career as an ace was just beginning to take off.

When Cincinnati Reds star Joey Votto bumped umpire Chris Conroy during a game against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday, it was only a matter of time before Major League Baseball took action.

Alex Rodriguez stands alone in fourth place on the all-time home run list after hitting his 661st bomb against the Baltimore Orioles at Yankees Stadium on Thursday, passing Willie Mays.

Expectations poured down on Gerrit Cole unlike few Major League Baseball draftees before him. 

That tends to happen when you have a triple-digit fastball, are picked first overall and sign for an $8 million bonus, the highest ever in MLB draft history.

The only job that followed for Cole was living up to the hype. Billing it was the easy part. Fulfilling it, that would take some professional seasoning.

Based on your general disposition, you see the Cincinnati Reds in one of the two following lights: They're a team at or floating around .500 with baseball's worst OBP and worst bullpen ERA, or they're a team at .500 and tied for the remaining wild-card slot.

History suggests Reds owner Bob Castellini will see the latter. He's a competitive soul, so long as the Reds can sniff a playoff spot, don't expect them to sell.