Finally, Prince is hitting like royalty.

Arizona Diamondbacks

The Diamondbacks are holding on to a four game lead over the underperforming Dodgers. Despite a 3.81 ERA over the last seven games, the team is only 3-4. Pitching is clearly what has given them first place in the division. The team’s hitting is obviously not up to the level that would win even the NL West. This week, Chris Young led the offense with a .333 batting average, one home run, and five RBI. Yeah, those numbers led the team. Conor Jackson hit .320 but had no RBI. Mark Reynolds scored five runs to lead the team despite hitting .217 and striking out 10 times. This coming week, he should surpass 100 strikeouts on the season – the record could fall. Brandon Lyon picked up two saves while putting up zeros in runs, walks, and hits. Dan Haren got two wins this week after he struck out 13 and only allowed one earned run in 14 innings. Doug Davis stepped up and struck out 14 in 13 innings, though the four runs he allowed made both of his starts into no decisions.

Chicago Cubs

Okay, call me a visionary if you want. I am calling this division for the Cubs. They have outscored their opponents by about two runs per game this year. This week, hitting has definitely continued at an unstoppable pace. Leading the attack are pretty much the names you would expect: Aramis Ramirez, Derrek Lee, and Kosuke Fukudome. In addition, Jim Edmonds continues to prove the NL Central is the division for him as he hit three homers and drove in five in four games. Eric Patterson is also up (again) to help cover Alfonso Soriano’s DL stint. In 11 at bats has been a terror: six hits including a double and a homer, five runs, three RBI, and a stolen base. It was not a great week for all their hitters as Mark DeRosa, Ryan Theriot, and Geovany Soto combined to score three runs. Clearly, the success of Ryan Dempster back in the rotation and Kerry Wood closing is the main story for the Cubbies pitching staff. However, it should be noted with relievers like Bob Howry and Carlos Marmol and the ability to start guys like Rich Hill and Sean Gallagher as the No. 5 starter when they have about a 4.00 ERA makes this a pretty good overall staff. The best performances of the week came from Wood (a win and a save in two appearances), Dempster (one win by going eight innings and allowing one earned run), and Ted Lilly (eight strike outs in 6.2 innings).

Florida Marlins

Led by Dan Uggla and Hanley Ramirez have one of the better infield offenses in baseball; the hodgepodge that they have had in the outfield less so. This week has seen Hanley Ramirez show why he is a fantasy stud after hitting .350 with a home run, three stolen bases, and eight runs scored. Uggla hit .316 with three homers and seven RBI. Jeremy Hermida had a good week himself with two home runs, five RBI, and a .318 batting average. The starting rotation has an ERA of 4.95-they are not a big factor in the team’s run at the division. All of their regulars are more than capable of good games, but lack consistency. A good example of that is Andrew Miller who has a lot of talent and had a really good May. After three poor to mediocre starts, he had starts on June 11 and 16 that were each seven innings with only one earned run. In his last start, he only went four innings allowing four earned runs and nine men on base. This week was pretty good for Scott Olsen, Ryan Tucker, and Ricky Nolasco, who allowed seven earned runs in 20 innings.

Milwaukee Brewers

The Brewers have won six of their last seven. This has led to Salomon Torres getting five saves. This makes 12 saves in a month for him. The other recent development in the pitching staff is Seth McClung, who has allowed one or two earned runs in six or 6.2 innings in each of his last four starts and has a 19:6 K/BB ratio and a WHIP under 1.00 in that time. This was also a good week for Ben Sheets, who got two wins over 15 innings with 12 strikeouts and only 4 walks. Offensively, the Brewers only hit .275 for the week, which is good, but not amazing. However, they had on OPS of .925. Leading the offense, as he should probably have all year, was Prince Fielder, who had five home runs, nine runs, and eight RBI. Russell Branyan has been receiving pretty regular at bats for about a month and this week has been a good example of what he has been doing with them. He hit .294 with three home runs and six RBI. Corey Hart and Ryan Braun were both eight for 25 with two home runs.

Philadelphia Phillies

The Philadelphia Phillies are still on top of the division in spite of a six game losing streak. I have been writing regular (well semi-regular) weekly columns about the NL for a few years now and frequently feel like writing that no one wants to win this division. This is the case again. This was a short week for the team, which may be a good thing since they have an OPS of a pathetic .467. The closest things they had to offensive standouts – well, since they hit over .200 I guess they do stand out from the rest of the team – were Pedro Feliz, who hit an uncharacteristic .357 and had five RBI, and Jimmy Rollins, who stole four bases. The bullpen only allowed three earned runs in 17.2 innings, so that clearly was not a major factor in their losses. Cole Hamels gave up three earned runs in seven innings without allowing a walk and Brett Myers allowed four runs in 7.2 innings with seven strikeouts as their two best starters of the week.

St. Louis Cardinals

The main question for this division at this point is who is finishing second. So far this month the Cards have won 12 games and the Brew Crew 15. It is too early to predict that the Cards will give up the 1.5 games they have on the Brewers, but that is my suspicion.

The offense should receive a big shot in the arm as Albert Pujols returns from the DL much earlier than initially expected. Of course, maybe the Cards should expect Brendan Ryan, Aaron Miles, Brian Barton, Adam Kennedy, Jason LaRue, and Yadier Molina to average over 1.000 OPS each week as they just did. Yeah. Another question that remains to be answered is, what will Ryan Ludwick do? This month he has only three homers and a .235 batting average, and it is getting worse – he has not had a multi-hit game since June 11, and that includes two five at-bat games and one with six. The Cardinals continue to manage the pitching staff well considering the capabilities of most of their starters. Jason Isringhausen returned from the DL to success so far, but not enough to regain the closer’s role. Ryan Franklin got one save this week in three appearances only allowing one earned run in four innings despite giving up four hits and four walks. Todd Wellemeyer should be returning from his injury soon. Adam Wainwright is due off the DL soon, and hopefully Mark Mulder will finally be ready to pitch in a week or so.