| League | National League |
|---|---|
| Sport | Major League Baseball |
| Founded | 1994 |
| No. of teams | 5 |
| Most recent champions | Milwaukee Brewers (2025; 6th title) |
| Most titles | St. Louis Cardinals (12) |
TheNational League Central is one ofMajor League Baseball's six divisions. This division was created in 1994, by moving two teams from theNational League West (theCincinnati Reds and theHouston Astros) and three teams from theNational League East (theChicago Cubs, thePittsburgh Pirates, and theSt. Louis Cardinals).
When the division was created in 1994, the Pirates were originally supposed to stay in the East, while theAtlanta Braves were to be moved to the Central from the West. However, the Braves, wanting to form a natural rivalry with the expansionFlorida Marlins, requested to remain in the East. Despite the Marlins offering to go to the Central, the Pirates instead gave up their spot in the East to the Braves.[1] Since then, the Pirates have tried several times unsuccessfully to be placed back in the East.[2][3]
In 1998, the NL Central became the largest division in Major League Baseball when theMilwaukee Brewers were moved in from theAmerican League Central, which gave them six teams.[4][5][6] In 2013, the Astros moved to theAmerican League West.[7][8]
This division has been dominated by the Cardinals, who have accounted for 12 of the 26 division championships, plus three wild card appearances. Aside from the Cardinals, the Cubs and the Brewers both have the second-most division championships with six, as well as four wild card appearances for the Cubs and three for the Brewers. The Astros had four division titles and two wild card appearances, while the Reds have three division titles, along with one wild card appearance. The Pirates have never won the NL Central, though they do possess three wild card appearances.
Place cursor over year for division champ or World Series team.
| NL Central Division[A] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Years | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 94 | 95 | 96 | 97 | 98 | 99 | 00 | 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 |
| Chicago Cubs | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cincinnati Reds | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Houston Astros[C] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| St. Louis Cardinals | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Pittsburgh Pirates | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Milwaukee Brewers[B] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Team not in division Division Won World Series Division Won NL Championship | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
§ – Due to the1994–95 Major League Baseball strike on August 12, no official winner was awarded.Cincinnati was leading by half a game overHouston at the time of the strike.
* – The Astros and Cardinals finished with identical regular season records. Because the Astros won the season series 9–7 against the Cardinals, they were awarded the National League Central division title, and the Cardinals were declared the National League Wild Card team.
† – Due to theCOVID-19 pandemic, the season was shortened to 60 games. By virtue of the eight-team postseason format used for that season, division runner-upSt. Louis (30–28, .517) also automatically qualified for the playoffs.
The wild card was introduced in 1994 and was initially assigned to the team with the best record in each league that did not win its division. The first year of implementation was 1995 as a player strike prematurely ended the 1994 season. Since implementation, each of the NL Central teams has won the wild card. In 2012, a second wild card was added to post-season play, and in 2022, a third was also added.
* – Defeated theSan Francisco Giants in aone game playoff for the Wild Card, 5–3.
† – Finished with the same record as theHouston Astros, but Houston won the season series vs. the Cardinals that year, and were given the higher seed in the playoffs.
** – From 2012 to 2019, and in 2021, the Wild Card was expanded to two teams. Those teams faced each other in theWild Card Game to determine the final participant in theNational League Division Series. In 2020 only, eight teams, including the three division winners, played in a best-of-three Wild Card Series, with the winners advancing to the Division Series. Starting in 2022, the Wild Card field was increased to three teams, and along with the lowest-ranked division winner, qualified for the best-of-three Wild Card Series to determine the remaining two slots in the Division Series.
†† – Due to theCOVID-19 pandemic, the season was shortened to 60 games.
*** – Finished with the same record as theSan Francisco Giants but won the wild-card spot due to a superior intra-divisional record (Brewers went 19–21 vs. the NL Central while the Giants went 18–22 vs. the NL West).
**** – Finished with the same record as theNew York Mets, but won the wild-card spot due to the Reds winning the season series 4–2.
| (#) | Denotes team that won theWorld Series |
| (#) | Denotes team that won theNational League pennant, but lost World Series |
| (#) | Denotes team that qualified for theMLB postseason |
| Team | Division championships | Postseason records[a] | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number | Year(s) | Most recent | Wild Card[b] | NLWC | NLDS | NLCS | World Series | |
| Current Teams in Division | ||||||||
| St. Louis Cardinals | 12 | 1996, 2000, 2002, 2004–2006, 2009, 2013–2015, 2019, 2022 | 2022 | 5 | 1–3 | 11–3 | 4–7 | 2–2 |
| Milwaukee Brewers | 6 | 2011, 2018*, 2021, 2023, 2024, 2025 | 2025 | 3 | 0–4 | 3–2 | 0–3 | 0–0 |
| Chicago Cubs | 6 | 2003, 2007, 2008, 2016, 2017, 2020 | 2020 | 4 | 2–2 | 4–4 | 1–3 | 1–0 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 3 | 1995, 2010, 2012 | 2012 | 3 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 0–0 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 0 | — | — | 3 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 |
| Former Team in Division | ||||||||
| Houston Astros† | 4 | 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001* | 2001 | 2 | 0–0 | 2–4 | 1–1 | 0–1 |
| Total | 30 | 1995–present | 2024 | 18 | 3–13 | 21–16 | 6–15 | 3–3 |
* – Won division via tiebreaker
† indicates no longer in division or part of NL since 2013
