NL Central

Starting in Feburary, when spring training begins, MLB experts and fans begin their preseason predictions by selecting Division, MVP, Cy Young, and Rookie of the Year winners.

But there are many twists and turns during an MLB season.

Most of the time these predictions go sour (unless you're me who correctly predicted all four AL playoff teams and at least two NL playoff teams—once in a while a person gets lucky with these things). 

With just over a week remaining in the season, here are five storylines MLB experts and fans didn't see coming.

Chicago Cubs catcher Geovany Soto will have season-ending surgery on his right shoulder, according to MLB.com. Soto, 27, was baseball's best offensive catcher when healthy this year, and will be ready for spring training nest February. 

During the team's final two weeks, however, backup Koyie Hill will see the bulk of the playing time, according to Cubs manager Mike Quade. Here enters the controversy.

For years and years, and it seems like decades that we've been playing a 6 inning game in a 9 inning battle (take out SS, C, & Pitcher --all batting below .230). First all, for those following the Astros, in between Miguel Tejada and Ricky Guiterrez, we've had a disaster at SS. Do you want a 300 +20hr guy at SS? No need to answer that.

Whether you believe that Prince Fielder will be with the Milwaukee Brewers when the 2011 regular season begins or not, there is one seemingly inevitable truth that is staring the collective known as Brewer Nation in the face...

Prince Fielder will not be a Milwaukee Brewer forever.

This is a certainty. There is no getting around it. There is no point in trying to figure out a way that it might not happen. It's an effort in futility.

"It ain’t over ‘til it’s over." Who said that? Was it Yogi Berra?

There is so much truth in those six words.

Ask Mike Weaver who knocked out Heavyweight champion John Tate (may he rest in peace) with seconds to go in the fight after trailing badly on all score cards.

Ask the 1993 Houston Oilers who led the Buffalo Bills 35-3 early in the second half, only to lose 41-38 in overtime.

 
The 2010 MLB season has been the year of the pitcher. But that doesn’t mean there haven’t been plenty of elite performances on offense.
 
Home run totals may be down across the board, but there have been plenty of players that have a legitimate argument for MVP.
 
The list is very exclusive—all of these players should receive at least a few MVP votes. Some of these players have carried their respective mediocre team for the majority of the season. Others are leading the way into the postseason.

When the Arizona Diamondbacks drafted Barret Loux with the sixth overall pick in the 2010 MLB amateur Draft, many said the move was aimed at saving money: Loux was projected to go later in the first round, and was reportedly willing to sign for a smaller bonus than any other promising prospect Arizona could have had in the sixth slot.

The Cubs just did something Wednesday night they haven’t done in the last 12 years—sweeping the Cardinals in St. Louis. 

Homers by Tyler Colvin and Aramis Ramirez and another Carlos Zambrano’s strong outing helped the team to win 7-3 in the three-game series finale. 

Baseball, like all sports, is in the age of specialization.

In football, teams have a guy on the roster who is just a long-snapper and a guy who just handle kickoffs. In basketball, teams have guys on their roster who are defensive specialists or three-point specialists.

In baseball, as we all know, teams have left-handed pitchers on the roster just to pitch to one left-handed batter in the game. Well, the Houston Astros took specialization to another level on Wednesday afternoon.

Twelve is the magic number the Reds have at the moment to garner the National League Central Division title, and with it their first playoff berth in—guh—15 years! And, with a 7-game lead on the St. Louis Cardinals, the Reds are in a good place..