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Cubs, Reds have opposite NL Central standings spots to what the stats would suggest originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The NL Central standings are tight in the early going, so this isn't to say that they need to be too deeply read into.
But there is something a bit odd about the spots the Cincinnati Reds and Chicago Cubs find themselves in.
Entering Sunday's action, the Reds are in first place, and the Cubs are in last place.
But of the five teams in the division, the Reds have the worst run differential, and the Cubs have the best run differential.
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There are a couple of ways this isn't perfectly informative, the first of which being that the Cubs do have an 11-9 record. They haven't been absurdly unlucky. The division just has five teams with winning records in the early going.
There also is something to be said for winning close games, which the Reds have proven capable of.
Teams can decline in run differential if their lesser pitchers, the ones who pitch when they're already losing, are particularly bad.
On the flip side, if a team like the Cubs roughs up pitchers like those when they're in a lead, they can balloon their run differential.
The standings still might flip, based on these numbers. But it's a quirk of early-season baseball for now at least.
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