Division Leaders Enter September With Playoffs Weeks Away
MLB.com finds 80 percent of division winners since 1996 led their division entering September, as six teams hold leads now.
The Six Division Leaders
Major League Baseball entered September with the Rays, White Sox, Astros, Braves, Brewers and Dodgers holding at least a share of their division leads, according to MLB.com.
MLB.com reports that since 1996, the first full season with at least one Wild Card in each league, 140 of 174 eventual division champions held at least a share of the lead entering Sept. 1. That is 80 percent.
There has not been a season since 1996 in which none of the September division leaders went on to win their divisions. MLB.com notes that history suggests most, but not necessarily all, of the current six will hold on.
Recent Collapses and Comebacks
Last year, four of the six eventual division winners led entering September: the Blue Jays, Phillies, Brewers and Dodgers. The Tigers led the American League Central but finished as a Wild Card team, and the Astros led the AL West but missed the playoffs entirely.
MLB.com cites the Elias Sports Bureau in reporting that the largest division lead entering September for a team that did not win the division is 9 1/2 games, held by last year's Tigers. The Guardians completed what MLB.com calls the largest comeback to win a division or league since 1900, overcoming a deficit that reached 15 1/2 games overall and 11 games in September.
Of the current leaders, the Astros, Brewers and Dodgers were also in first place at this point last year. The Braves last led entering September in 2023, and the Rays and White Sox last did so in 2021.
Awards Races in the Final Weeks
CBS Sports reports that the regular season has three weeks and five days remaining before October baseball begins.
The Most Valuable Player race features Cubs outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong against Shohei Ohtani, who is seeking a fifth MVP award and a fourth in a row. CBS Sports says Ohtani has not pitched since July 3 because of knee and biceps injuries, and that his planned return to the mound was scuttled over the past weekend.
CBS Sports also lists Dylan Cease against Cam Schlittler for the American League Cy Young Award, and Misiorowski against Chris Sale and Cristopher Sánchez in the National League. Astros hitter Yordan Alvarez leads the AL in all three Triple Crown categories, though CBS Sports notes he hit .287 with two home runs and 12 RBI in August, allowing Caminero to pull even in home runs and Alonso to gain ground in RBI.
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