Brewers Divisional Odds Fade to +1400 After Yelich Breaks Knee Cap

• Milwaukee has lost reigning NL MVP Christian Yelich for the remainder of the season
• The Chicago Cubs will have to survive the rest of the regular season without star shortstop Javy Baez
• The St. Louis Cardinals are 26-8 in their last 34 games

The Milwaukee Brewers have lost star Christian Yelich for the rest of the season, which will be a huge blow to the team. Though they’ve been making a late push to win the National League Central, this figures to be a nail in their coffin.

Their odds to win the division have dropped to +1400.

Odds to Win 2019 National League Central

*Odds taken 09/11/2019.

Yelich Breaks Kneecap

Yelich fouled a pitch off his knee in yesterday’s game at Miami and immediately crumpled in pain. The Brewers will now have to find a way to survive without the player that leads them in home runs, batting average, OPS and WAR.

Yelich is the reigning National League Most Valuable Player and he was having an even better season this year. He was batting .329 while clubbing 44 home runs and knocking in 97 RBI. He also has a WAR of 7.1, which was the third-best mark in the majors, only trailing Mike Trout and Cody Bellinger

Brewers Are Hot, But This Will Cool Them Off

It’s really unfortunate timing for the Brewers as they had been red-hot. They enter Wednesday having won five straight games and eight of 10. They are 19-12 in their last 31.

It’s going to be tough to keep that going without Yelich. He had been batting .412 over the last seven days.

Milwaukee is not a great offensive team, so losing their biggest bat is a bigger setback than it would for many other teams. Although they’re ninth in the majors in home runs, Yelich’s power is about 20% of that.

Even with Yelich, they were just 18th in batting average and 20th in runs scored. Their offense is going to tumble without him and that’s going to have a ripple effect on their overall performance.

Cubs Shorthanded After Baez Injury

While the Brewers have lost Yelich, don’t forget that the Chicago Cubs just lost Javy Baez, too. We’re talking about a player who was batting .281 with 29 home runs and 85 RBI.

The Cubs are 18th in runs scored since the All-Star break 23rd in batting average. This is not a player they could afford to lose.

What’s The Best Bet?

It’s not a surprise that the Cardinals are the team that’s at the top of the division right now. They’re the best bet to win it.

Not only are the Cardinals playing really well right now – they’ve won 26 of their last 34 games – they’re also the healthiest. It’s too much to ask the other teams to make up deficits of four games (Cubs) and five games (Brewers) when they just lost their stars.

St. Louis is second in the majors in team ERA since the All-Star break and that pitching is going to carry them to an NL Central crown. They’re the best bet in this spot, even at short -400 odds.