One X-Factor From Every Team in Playoff Contention (National League Edition)

A Blog By Brett

Following up on my piece from yesterday, as promised, here are my National League X-Factors for the field of contending teams.

Note: Same as yesterday. The teams I included are 7 ½ games back or better (team records recorded mid-day Thursday) in the playoff/wild-card race. Although I know that seven and a half games back with only 30 games left is almost mathematically eliminated, there is still hope. That being the case, I will mention these teams out of respect.

National League

Milwaukee Brewers (83-51)

Intelligence. Led by a brilliant manager in Pat Murphy, this entire roster squeezes every last drop out of their potential talent to play great baseball. They don’t give opposing teams easy outs, they earn walks (5th-MLB 465 BB), and they get on base at the 2nd best clip in baseball with a team .322 OBP.

Los Angeles Dodgers (77-57)

The Dodgers were almost as impossible to assign an “X-Factor”. Everyone knows about their star power, excellent leadership, and the farm system. This team does not rebuild; they reload. That being the case, the X-Factor has to be Organizational Depth. If the Dodgers are to sustain an injury, it is hard to keep them down for long, as they operate with a next-man-up mentality.

Philadelphia Phillies (76-57)

BRYCE HARPER

Playoff Stats → .280 BA with 54 hits, 17 homers, 34 RBIs, and 41 runs scored in 53 postseason games over his career.

Need I say more?

Chicago Cubs (76-57)

If you watch baseball, you know the Cubs are known for their explosive offense in 2025. Even with the loss of their Ace in Justin Steele back in April, the pitching staff as a whole has managed to pitch to a 3.83 ERA, which is good for the 8th best in Major League Baseball. This is rather impressive, especially since it seems the baseball world has slept on the arm talent all season long.

San Diego Padres (75-59)

The Bullpen. San Diego has a loaded lineup, especially when operating at max capacity between Manny Machado, Fernando Tatis Jr., Luis Arraez, Xander Bogaerts, and Jackson Merrill. It is the Bullpen that makes this team lethal come playoff time. Between Jason Adam (1.84 ERA), Wandy Peralta (2.93 ERA), Adrian Morejon (1.78 ERA), Jeremiah Estrada (3.13 ERA), Robert Suarez (3.04 ERA), David Morgan (2.82 ERA), and Mason Miller (1.80 ERA since joining San Diego), this team can throw multiple weapons out there to recover, hold, and save games for the Padres.

New York Mets (72-61)

Not one, but two young and talented arms are joining the rotation as New York is looking to make a playoff push. Nolan McLean is 3-0 with a 0.89 ERA across three starts so far since his debut. Jonah Tong hasn’t debuted yet, but he has 179 strikeouts across 113 ⅔ innings in the minors this year. The Mets seem to have the best, if not one of the best, pitching development units in the league, so my gut tells me Tong is going to be good in the bigs.

Cincinnati Reds (68-66)

No expectations. Speaking candidly, Cincinnati is not really a good lineup. Right now, they are 21st in OPS (.704), 22nd in SLG (.388), 17th in OBP (.316), and 18th in AVG (.246). The rotation is definitely interesting with Nick Martinez, Brady Singer, Nick Lodolo, Andrew Abbott, and Hunter Greene. I think the Reds could be a year or two away with some free agency additions, but if they get hot at the right time, they have the arms to support a playoff run. Never say never!

San Francisco Giants (65-68)

Rafael Devers. He has been utterly disappointing since being traded to San Francisco from Boston. Slashing .226/.335/.407 with 10 home runs and a .742 OPS over 60 games is not what the Giants had in store for Devers when acquiring the superstar. I have faith in Devers, maybe he can pick up some steam and get closer to his career slash line of .277/.349/.507 before the end of the season.

Arizona Diamondbacks (65-69)

This team just puts runs on the board. Even with losses to the rotation of Merrill Kelly and Corbin Burnes via injury and trade, they have managed to stay in the hunt for the 2025 playoffs. I don’t think they are going to ultimately make the postseason, but it will be close, especially if they get hot.

St. Louis Cardinals (65-69)

The Cardinals were almost impossible to assign an X-Factor. I am going with that this is the last year of the President of Baseball Operations, John Mozeliak. Maybe they can put together a nice run here to force their way into the Wild Card?!?