MLB standings ordered by run differential: Rays no longer on top

How would nan MLB standings, some American League and National League, look if ordered by tally differential alternatively of wins and losses? 

The MLB play is heating up, pinch respective contenders starting to abstracted themselves from nan pack. The Atlanta Braves and Los Angeles Dodgers are kings of nan National League, while nan Tampa Bay Rays and Baltimore Orioles person nan champion records successful nan American League.

Sometimes, however, win-loss totals tin beryllium misleading. How so? There’s a batch of sound successful game-to-game outcomes. A batch of factors that tin veer a team’s bully capacity disconnected people aliases thief a squad bargain a triumph contempt underperforming.

It’s amended to position contention done aggregate lenses. The teams that person nan astir wins aren’t ever nan teams astir thoroughly beating their opponents. If you bid nan MLB standings by tally differential alternatively of W’s and L’s, nan result is astir illuminating.

MLB standings: Divisional standings ordered by tally differential

AL East

1. Tampa Bay Rays (+107)
2. Baltimore Orioles (+40)
3. New York Yankees (+32)
4. Toronto Blue Jays (+24)
5. Boston Red Sox (+11)

This is perfectly successful statement pinch nan regular standings. The Rays are comfortably successful nan driver’s seat, nan Orioles stay successful beardown runner-up position, and nan Yankees precocious put immoderate abstraction betwixt themselves and nan Blue Jays.

AL Central 

1. Minnesota Twins (+39)
2. Cleveland Guardians (-33)
3. Detroit Tigers (-51)
4. Chicago White Sox (-55)
5. Kansas City Royals (-71)

Yikes… The Twins are amazingly precocious successful nan wide tally differential standings (No. 7) contempt hardly scraping together an above-.500 grounds astatine 25-24. Minnesota could beryllium owed for immoderate much close-game wins successful nan weeks to come. As for nan remainder of nan division, yeah. Not great, Bob.

AL West

1. Texas Rangers (+111)
2. Houston Astros (+42)
3. Seattle Mariners (+28)
4. Los Angeles Angels (+12)
5. Oakland Athletics (-178)

The Angels (27-23) presently beryllium supra nan Mariners (24-24) successful nan existent standings. Seattle is different squad that seems to beryllium underperforming comparative to its expertise to stack up runs. Meanwhile, nan Angels fandom should beryllium connected precocious alert if adjacent games commencement breaking nan different direction.

NL East

1. Atlanta Braves (+54)
2. New York Mets (-19)
3. Washington Nationals (-24)
4. Philadelphia Phillies (-32)
5. Miami Marlins (-57)

Another section pinch a clear frontrunner and respective underperforming teams. The Phillies conscionable made nan World Series — what’s up there? Trea Turner and Kyle Schwarber proceed to slump their measurement done nan early season. We are approaching nan constituent wherever nan communicative shifts from “there’s still time” to “why is this squad not bully anymore?”

NL Central

1. Chicago Cubs (+26)
2. St. Louis Cardinals (+20)
3. Pittsburgh Pirates (+14)
4. Milwaukee Brewers (-6)
5. Cincinnati Reds (-45)

A weird one! The Milwaukee Brewers are successful first spot astatine 26-22. The Pirates are correct down astatine 25-23, past nan section drops off… astatine slightest successful nan triumph column. Both nan Cubs (21-26) and nan Cards (22-28) are beneath .500, and yet some teams person a important affirmative tally differential. The lesson? Chicago and St. Louis are astir apt overmuch amended than nan standings suggest.

NL West

1. Los Angeles Dodgers (+57)
2. Arizona Diamondbacks (+16)
3. San Diego Padres (-5)
4. San Francisco Giants (-14)
5. Colorado Rockies (-43)

The Giants are presently 2.0 games up connected nan Padres, but that falls wrong nan separator for correction pinch this benignant of comparison. The Diamondbacks are treading h2o successful 2nd spot and nan Dodgers are very intelligibly nan squad to hit successful nan NL West — possibly moreover nan full National League.

MLB standings: American League standings ordered by tally differential

1. Texas Rangers (+111)
2. Tampa Bay Rays (+107)
3. Houston Astros (+42)
4. Baltimore Orioles (+40)
5. Minnesota Twins (+39)
6. New York Yankees (+32)
7. Seattle Mariners (+28)
8. Toronto Blue Jays (+24)
9. Los Angeles Angels (+12)
10. Boston Red Sox (+11)
11. Cleveland Guardians (-33)
12. Detroit Tigers (-51)
13. Chicago White Sox (-55)
14. Kansas City Royals (-71)
15. Oakland Athletics (-178)

The Texas Rangers proceed to surge successful some nan existent standings and nan run differential standings. Just past week Tampa was connected top, but Texas has won 7 of its past 10 and is still respective games short of its expected win-loss record, according to MLB.com. The Rangers surely consciousness for illustration a existent threat to topple nan Rays atop nan American League.

Meanwhile, nan AL East section stands gangly supra nan rest. All 5 teams are supra .500 and successful nan early playoff hunt. Meanwhile, nan 2 Texas teams — nan Rangers and nan Astros — are nan superior contenders from nan AL West, pinch nan third-place Angels besides successful nan hunt.

The Twins are a squad to watch. They person a comfortable lead successful nan AL Central and look to beryllium playing beneath their intends arsenic a collective. Even so, 1 has to ideate nan East aliases West will yet correspond nan American League successful nan World Series.

MLB standings: National League standings ordered by tally differential

1. Los Angeles Dodgers (+57)
2. Atlanta Braves (+54)
3. Chicago Cubs (+26)
4. St. Louis Cardinals (+20)
5. Arizona Diamondbacks (+16)
6. Pittsburgh Pirates (+14)
7. San Diego Padres (-5)
8. Milwaukee Brewers (-6)
9. San Francisco Giants (-14)
10. New York Mets (-19)
11. Washington Nationals (-24)
12. Philadelphia Phillies (-32)
13. Colorado Rockies (-43)
14. Cincinnati Reds (-45)
15. Miami Marlins (-57)

It is again worthy reiterating that nan Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals are some below .500 for nan season. Both teams are connected nan verge of taking very different trajectories too: Chicago is embroiled successful meltdown waste and acquisition rumors, while St. Louis is softly resurgent aft a slow commencement to nan season.

The Dodgers and Braves are clear frontrunners successful nan National League, which appears overmuch weaker than nan American League astatine first glimpse — some astatine nan apical and successful nan middle. The AL has much outlier stinkers astatine nan bottom, but nan NL is short connected genuine threats to flooded Atlanta and Los Angeles.