Bob Lutz: The power at the top of the National League Central

It’s happened only six times since Major League Baseball went to three divisions in each league back in 1994.

It’s about to happen for a seventh.

The St. Louis Cardinals and Pittsburgh Pirates, members of the National League Central, already have topped 90 wins. The Chicago Cubs are close, needing just one more win to reach 90. Three 90-plus teams in the same division is a rarity.

I have watched this division closely all season, of course, being a Cardinals fan. And I can tell you with certainty that the Pirates and Cubs are just as much of a threat to win it all as the Cardinals, Royals, Blue Jays, Dodgers or any other team headed for the playoffs in just more than a week.

The NL Central is loaded with great hitters (Andrew McCutchen, Starling Marte, Kris Bryant, Anthony Rizzo) and especially with great pitchers (John Lackey, Michael Wacha, Gerrit Cole, Jake Arrieta, Jon Lester).

The Cardinals (96-56), Pirates (92-60) and Cubs (89-63) are a combined 98 games over .500. For some perspective, the top three teams in the AL East are a combined 36 games above .500. Next is the AL Central (28), AL West (24), NL West (21) and NL East (1).

All three NL Central teams have 10 games remaining in the regular season and would need to go 19-11 in those games to top what the top three teams in the American League West produced in 2002 when Oakland (103-59), Anaheim (99-63) and Seattle (93-69) combined to win 295 games and finish a collective 104 games over .500.

Oakland rode the offense of Miguel Tejada and Eric Chavez but pitching was the A’s strong suit as Barry Zito (23-5), Mark Mulder (19-7) and Tim Hudson (15-9) led the way.

The Angels, who beat San Francisco in seven games to win the World Series in 2002, were led offensively by Troy Glaus, Garret Anderson and Tim Salmon with Jarrod Washburn, Ramon Ortiz and Kevin Appier leading the rotation.

Seattle, meanwhile, had hitters such as John Olerud, Bret Boone, Mike Cameron and Ichiro Suzuki while the pitching staff was led by Freddy Garcia, Jamie Moyer and Joel Pineiro.

Other seasons that produced three 90-win teams in a division since 1994 include:

2002 NL West: Arizona, 98; San Francisco, 95; Los Angeles, 92.

2006 AL Central: Minnesota, 96; Detroit, 95; Chicago, 90.

2011 AL East: New York, 97; Tampa Bay, 91; Boston, 90.

2012 AL East: New York, 95; Baltimore, 93; Tampa Bay, 90.

2013 NL Central: St. Louis, 97; Pittsburg, 94; Cincinnati, 90.

This year’s NL Central has been a fight, exemplified by the Cardinals being 40 games over .500 and still being chased this late in the season by Pittsburgh and the Cubs.

St. Louis has a four-game lead over the Pirates and is seven up on Chicago just more than a week left. The Cardinals and Pittsburgh have clinched NL playoff spots and the Cubs are close.

It’s not often you come across a division with three teams of this quality. It’s been fun – and a little tense – to watch.

This story was originally published September 24, 2015 at 12:15 PM with the headline "Bob Lutz: The power at the top of the National League Central."