As baseball enters the second half of the season, teams that are in control of their division have a tremendous advantage in terms of qualifying for the playoffs. Since 1995, the first postseason with the wild-card berth, 93 of the 144 eventual division champions (65%) held at least a share of the division lead at the All-Star break. Fifteen of 24 World Series champions also led their divisions at the break.
That’s good news for the New York Yankees, Minnesota Twins, Houston Astros, Atlanta Braves, Chicago Cubs and Los Angeles Dodgers, all of whom top their divisions at the moment.