NL Records since All-Star break

As if in response to my posting yesterday, John Dewan's Stat of the Week arrived in my e-mail box just minutes ago with the records of best NL teams in the second half, presented as if they determined playoff spots:

Playoff Spot	Team	W	L	Pct
NL West	Los Angeles Dodgers	28	23	.549
NL Central	Pittsburgh Pirates	26	24	.520
NL East	New York Mets	32	16	.666
Wild Card	Florida Marlins	32	21	.604

No surprise to see the Mets doing so well, but the Marlins clearly come in second. One of the biggest surprises are the Pittsburgh Pirates, who have played the best baseball in the Central since the All-Star break. They played well below their Pythagorean record in the first half, so it's not surprising to see them rebounding quite well right now. If there's one thing I like about the NL Central, it's the parity. Every team (except maybe the Cubs...) is decent, but no team is actually, genuinely good.