Believe it or not August is halfway over and the baseball season is racing to a finish. There are plenty of players, story lines and themes expected to develop over the final six weeks of the season as teams make their final pushes toward playoff berths.

This is by no means a comprehensive list, but here are five things – in no particular order – worth watching in the National League as the season winds down.

The Cubs:

The Cubs aren’t making the playoffs, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t worth a look. When the Cubs called up prized prospect Javier Baez they instantly made themselves an entertaining team to watch.

With Baez, Starlin Casto, Anthony Rizzo, Arismendy Alcantara, Jake Arrieta and Kyle Hendricks the Cubs are full of young talent.

What makes the Cubs intriguing the rest of the way is the fact that expanded rosters are coming and the Cubs have even more talent in their farm system.

Depending on who the Cubs bring up in September, baseball fans – specifically Chicago fans – will get a glimpse of the future and see what those within the Cubs organization are so excited for the next few years.

The Brewers Pitching Staff:

The Brewers have a two game lead in the NL Central and an 85.2 percent chance of making the playoffs according to Baseball Prospectus, but losing a key member of the starting rotation is never easy.

Pitching is always important, but it seems this time of year the value of a strong staff is amplified. With Matt Garza on the DL (left rib cage strain) there has been a bit of extra pressure on the Brewers pitching staff to fill the void.

In the 11 games since Garza has been out, the Brewers have a team ERA of 2.78 so they are doing a good job of holding it together, but how long can that last?

The Brewers have been in first place for 143 days this season, but are only two games up on the Cardinals.

Cardinals Injuries (Molina, Wacha, Motte):

The Cardinals are two games back in the NL Central and have a game and a half lead in the NL Wild Card race, but how long can they keep it up?

St. Louis has been hit hard with injuries to key players this season and it makes some wonder how they’ve managed to stay afloat.

Michael Wacha has been on the DL since late June with a stress reaction in his right shoulder, Yadier Molina has been on the DL since early July after having thumb surgery and Jason Motte was recently sidelined with a lower back sprain.

While the injury news has been grim for the Cardinals this season, the good news is it looks like they are getting healthier.

Molina caught a bullpen session earlier this week and hopes to start swinging a bat next week while Wacha threw off flat ground this week and has a follow-up MRI set for Monday.

If all goes well, the Cardinals could get Wacha and Molina back in September which would obviously be a huge lift to the organization.

In the meantime, the team needs to continue to find ways to win games and hope there aren’t any setbacks.

The Giants:

The Giants are only a half game out of the Wild Card, but they’re lost six of their last seven games, are just 11-15 since the All-Star break and are falling fast.

San Francisco got off to a hot start this season, but but was sub-.500 in both June and July and are on track to do so again in August.

The Giants have won the World Series in two of the past four seasons so it would be foolish to count out a team with that sort of late-season experience, but lately they are not playing like a team poised for a deep October run.

Clayton Kershaw:

The Dodgers look to be on their way to a second straight NL West crown and if that turns out to be the case, it will be in large part thanks to Clayton Kershaw.

The Cy Young Award frontrunner is 14-2 with a 1.78 ERA this season and has won 11 straight decisions.

Kershaw is widely regarded as the best pitcher in baseball and although everyone knows how good he is, he’s on the list for one plain and simple reason.

Whenever he pitches, you should watch.

Regardless of how you feel about the Dodgers, watching Kershaw pitch is a great experience for any baseball fan.

Kershaw is truly one of those very special players that only comes around every so often and as the season winds down, it will be fun to watch him pitch on meaningful October nights.