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Three Reasons Why Cubs Can Win The NL Central Over Brewers With A Month Left

Originally posted on Chicago Cubs on SI | By Nick Ziegler | Last updated Aug 29, 2025 2:29 PM ET

With just about a month left in the season, the Chicago Cubs trail the Milwaukee Brewers by 6.5 games in the National League Central standings. However, they shouldn’t be counted out just yet.

Despite a disappointing sweep against the San Francisco Giants, the Cubs have fortunately seen the Brewers also slip up a bit of late. After Chicago was able to beat them in a five-game series a couple of weeks ago, Milwaukee has not been playing great.

They also suffered a series of losses to the Giants and followed that up with a split against the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Brewers went on one of the best runs of any team in baseball this year, but they might be starting to see things even out a bit.

While they still have a very comfortable lead and more than likely they will win the NL Central, the door hasn't been completely shut on the Cubs just yet. Chicago will need to get hot, but they can make things interesting in the coming weeks.

Here are three reasons why the Cubs can still win the NL Central.

Offense Has to Wake Up Eventually, Right?

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Even though the offense has been poor in the second half of the season for the Cubs, they will be heading to Colorado for a series against the Rockies, and that could be exactly the spark the team needs.

Fortunately, Kyle Tucker appears to be breaking out of his slump a bit, and that could have a ripple effect on the rest of the unit. If the team can get hot against the Rockies, they might be able to ride that momentum throughout the final month of the year.

Injuries Becoming an Issue

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While the team did just recently get their star rookie pitcher, Jacob Misiorowski, back from the injured list, they have Jackson Chourio and star closer Trevor Megill currently out.

Over the course of a long season, injuries are going to happen. However, losing Megill at this stage of the campaign is far from ideal. The Brewers usually do a strong job with the next man up mentality, and they are going to need to continue that with their star closer out.

Strength of Schedule

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The Brewers have a brutal stretch of their schedule coming up, with their next six games being against the Toronto Blue Jays and Philadelphia Phillies. As two of the best teams in baseball, Milwaukee could easily slip up against these teams.

On the flip side, the Cubs will be playing three games against the Rockies, and that could quickly become three wins. Overall, the strength of schedule favors Chicago down the stretch. With an opponent's winning percentage of .485 compared to .501, the Cubs have a considerable edge in that area.

A lot would have to go right for Chicago to come back from 6.5 games to win the division, but crazier things have happened, and there are certainly reasons to believe they can do it still with a month to play.

This article first appeared on Chicago Cubs on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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