It sounds strange to hear, but the Chicago Cubs are the clear favorites to win the National League Central Divison this season.

With a young roster fresh off a National League Championship appearance and with a bevy of new additions featuring former St. Louis Cardinals Jason Heyward and John Lackey, Chicago became the World Series favorite at some point this off-season, as well.

Despite the accolades, the Cubs will rely heavily on a group of young players who will need to duplicate last year’s production to reach expectations.

The odds of that happening don’t seem great, and history tells us Chicago will flame out in historic fashion sometime after Labor Day.

But that doesn’t mean the St. Louis Cardinals are without their question marks, either.

Will the young pitching hold up? Michael Wacha returned last season from a shoulder injury and posted a 3.38 earned-run average. His outings in September, however, were forgettable. The 24-year-old right-hander couldn’t get past the sixth inning in five September starts, finishing the month with a 7.88 ERA. He then got chased from Game 3 of the National League Division Series against the Cubs after giving up four earned-runs — three via the home run — in 4 1/3 innings. Entering his third full season in the Majors, Wacha has yet to prove he can pitch an entire year injury-free. 

Carlos Martinez, a fellow 24-year-old, also struggled down the stretch. 

Martinez entered August with a 2.53 ERA and posted a 3.85 ERA in the final two months.

With John Lackey gone and Adam Wainwright a year older and coming off an Achilles injury, the Cardinals can’t be expected to make another run without late-season contributions from Wacha and Martinez.

Sophomore slump from Piscotty? Stephen Piscotty hit .305 as a rookie last season in 63 games. Now that Heyward is in Chicago, Piscotty will be expected to play every day, either in right field or at first base. A sophomore slump by Piscotty would be like losing two players from last year’s lineup, as you wouldn’t have Heyward or Piscotty’s production to count on.

How much longer can the old core stay productive? Matt Holliday and Jhonny Peralta, who are expected to anchor the middle of the lineup, are 36 and 33, respectively. Holliday’s power numbers have steadily gone down since 2009. He has taken ground balls at first base this spring, which is an admission that his days as an outfielder are numbered. Peralta is in a three-year decline in slugging percentage and on-base percentage. 

Yadier Molina will be 34 in July, but he is about 50 in catcher’s years.

Molina has played in 82 postseason games in 12 Major League seasons, and is returning from thumb surgery over the off-season.

The eight-time gold glove award winner missed 111 games last season.

Will Mike Matheny change his ways in the postseason? Matheny has proven to be one of the best regular season managers in the game.

But the difference between regular season and postseason baseball is greater than any other sport, and Matheny has failed in three tries.

It’s not that the Cardinals haven’t won the series, but rather how they haven’t won the World Series.

Matheny cost St. Louis the 2014 NLCS when he brought in Wacha — a rookie starter coming off an injury — into a tie game in the bottom of the ninth in San Francisco.

Travis Ishikawa sent the Giants to the World Series on a walk-off home run.

Last season, Cubs manager Joe Maddon took Matheny to school for most of the five-game NLDS.

Maddon managed his pitching staff like every inning was the final inning of the season, while Matheny seemed to think it was a mid-June series in San Diego.

Matheny left Wacha in two innings too late in Game 3, costing the Cardinals the win. He let Kevin Siegrest, a reliever who kills right-handed batters but struggles against lefties, pitch against left-handers Anthony Rizzo and Kyle Schwarber in Games 3 and 4.

The duo combined for three home runs off Siegrest in both games.

The list goes on, and Matheny’s questionable postseason style will be nitpicked until he wins a title in St. Louis.