Quantify hope: Cubs remove dirt from Milwaukee's grave and increase their chances of playing in the playoffs by up to 87%

With three more games to play in Milwaukee, the Cubs have the opportunity to do something they could not do last season: Bury the Brewers. Last year, the NL Central Champions were not able to collect a new set of Devil's Magic after exhausting their limited supply to fuel last year's race. The fall of chances has continued.

The Brewers are now five games behind the Cubs and tied with the Mets, followed by the Diamondbacks and Phillies. Even with a favorable schedule including playoffs against the Marlins, Padres, Pirates and Rockies, there is still a long way to go.

As for the Cubs, well, they are once again dealing with an opponent who just does not seem to lose enough often. The Cardinals are crazy since the second week of August and they do not seem to drop gasoline, even though they're spinning through a series of 11 games in nine days. If the Cubs keep up, the last seven games between the two teams could have a huge impact on the series race in general.

The Braves and Dodgers are locked up, with Nationals boasting a 96.9% rating at this stage. Then you have the Mets (9.6%) and D-backs (7.8%) remaining on the periphery. If their remaining clashes become really unbalanced, Cubs or Cards could end up outside the hunt. As blasphemous as it sounds, it might be better than the Wild Card.

I mean, this is not the case, but these exceptional players impose the soul. We can save this conversation for another time, because Cubs have more immediate tasks to take care of.