Welcome to the 10th week of our NL Central Power Rankings! We’ll release these rankings each week to grade all five teams and place them one through five. As everyone knows with power rankings, these should be taken as gospel and they’re obviously 100% accurate. Without further ado, let’s rank some teams!

1. St. Louis Cardinals (32-25); 4-2 this week; 50.7% chance to make postseason (Baseball Reference)

The Cardinals remain the hottest team in the Central, and I had to push them above the Cubs for the first time this season. They swept the Diamondbacks at Busch Stadium and then took two of three against the lowly Orioles. They’re in Texas this weekend battling the Rangers.

Five players hit a homer each this week for the Cards, as Brendan Donovan led the team with nine hits, slashing .450/.476/.700 with a homer, two doubles, and three runs scored. Jordan Walker, Masyn Winn, and Lars Nootbaar also had strong weeks, accumulating 22 hits and driving in 13 runs combined.

Matthew Liberatore made a pair of starts, allowing six runs (five earned) and striking out nine over 12 frames. The rest of the rotation didn’t look good, but Phil Maton, Ryan Helsley, and John King were all solid out of the bullpen, combining for nine scoreless innings, a win, and three saves.

After the Cards finish up their road trip on Sunday, they’ll head home for a nine-game homestand that features the Royals, Dodgers, and Blue Jays.

2. Chicago Cubs (35-22); 4-2 this week; 96.0% chance to make postseason

Chicago’s week was bookended by a pair of losses to the Reds, with four consecutive wins against Cincinnati and the Rockies (a three-game sweep at home) in the middle. They remain in first place in the NL Central, but the gap between them and the field isn’t as large as it once was, especially with the Cardinals surging.

Matt Shaw made his return to the majors and promptly hit .429/.478/.524 with a team-high nine hits, driving in a pair and stealing three bases. Pete Crow-Armstrong homered but had one of his worst weeks this year, hitting .167/.160/.333 with 10 strikeouts. Michael Busch, Seiya Suzuki, and Kyle Tucker also enjoyed solid weeks.

Colin Rea had a terrible week, picking up both losses as he allowed 12 runs over 10 2⁄3 innings. Matthew Boyd worked six frames and allowed just an unearned run with eight strikeouts, while Jameson Taillon and Cade Horton also had quality starts. The bullpen was actually one of the strong suits this week for Chicago, as they allowed no earned runs (one unearned run) across 21 2⁄3 innings.

The Cubs wrap up their homestand with two more games against the Reds before they hit the road for a nine-game road trip that takes them to Washington, Detroit, and Philadelphia.

3. Milwaukee Brewers (30-28); 5-1 this week; 22.7% chance to make postseason

The Brewers had a solid week, taking the series finale in Pittsburgh and sweeping the Red Sox at home. They’re now in Philadelphia for the weekend.

The Brewers’ offense had a strong week overall, with Christian Yelich leading the way. He accumulated three homers, including a walk-off grand slam on Monday night. He drove in eight and scored six times this week, slashing .391/.417/.826 with nine hits. Sal Frelick led the team with 11 hits, driving in three, scoring twice, and hitting .478. Caleb Durbin picked up seven hits and slashed .350/.440/.600.

Quinn Priester looked solid in two appearances this week, spanning 12 innings and allowing three runs (2.25 ERA). Logan Henderson and Chad Patrick both had quality starts, though Henderson was sent back to the minors with the sudden surplus of pitching options. Aaron Civale worked a strong five innings in his start, and DL Hall looked good in his return, allowing one run over 5 1⁄3 innings in two appearances. Abner Uribe, Aaron Ashby, and Grant Anderson were all solid out of the bullpen.

After wrapping up with the Phillies, the Brewers will head to Cincinnati to take on the Reds before returning home for a 10-game homestand.

4. Cincinnati Reds (29-29); 4-2 this week; 4.5% chance to make postseason

The Reds had a solid week, taking two of three against the Royals and splitting four games with the Cubs, including a win Friday afternoon.

Elly De La Cruz and Tyler Stephenson put together a strong week, as both hit three homers. De La Cruz batted .375/.444/.833 with seven RBIs, nine hits, and 10 runs scored, while Stephenson batted .421/.476/.895 with six RBIs, eight hits, and three runs. TJ Friedl outhit them both, going 13-for-25 with a .520/.600/.680 line, including a homer, a double, and seven runs scored.

Andrew Abbott picked up a pair of wins, allowing one run over 12 2⁄3 innings with a team-high 10 strikeouts this week. Brady Singer and Nick Martinez both had quality starts in winning efforts, but the bullpen mostly struggled outside of scoreless frames from Ian Gibaut and Brent Suter.

The Reds wrap up their series in Chicago this weekend before hosting the Brewers and Diamondbacks next week.

5. Pittsburgh Pirates (21-37); 3-3 this week; <0.1% chance to make postseason

The Pirates played .500 baseball this week! They split four games with the Brewers last weekend and managed to take two of three in Arizona against the Diamondbacks to begin the week. They wrap up their West Coast trip this weekend in San Diego.

Oneil Cruz hit a pair of homers but didn’t do much else, while Bryan Reynolds looks like the Bryan Reynolds of old. He collected a team-high eight hits, including a homer, as he batted .400/.455/.700 with five RBIs and eight runs scored. Alexander Canario also had eight hits and slashed .381/.435/.476, while Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Andrew McCutchen, Tommy Pham, and Adam Frazier also provided some offense on the week.

Paul Skenes continues to contend for the Cy Young, going 6 2⁄3 scoreless frames with seven strikeouts in his latest start. Mitch Keller made a pair of starts, striking out eight and allowing four runs over 12 innings. David Bednar picked up a pair of saves over three scoreless outings, and Dennis Santana also looked great with four strikeouts in two innings of work.

After finishing up with the Padres on Sunday, the Pirates will head to PNC Park as they welcome the Astros, Phillies, and Marlins for three games each to begin June.