The Gap Between MLB’s Best and Worst Teams Has Never Been Wider

Big league records for both success and futility were matched on Sunday

The Gap Between MLB's Best and Worst Teams Has Never Been Wider
Chris Taylor #3, Cody Bellinger #35 and Joc Pederson #31 of the Los Angeles Dodgers. (John McCoy/Getty)
Getty Images

On Sunday, the Los Angeles Dodgers entered elite company while the Kansas City Royals took up residence with the dregs of Major League Baseball.

Los Angeles notched their 100th victory of the season and joined the New York Yankees (102-55) and Houston Astros (102-54) as triple-digit winners.

On the other end of the spectrum, the Royals lost their 100th game of the season yesterday and joined the Tigers (46-109), Orioles (51-105) and Marlins (54-101) as triple-digit losers. This is only the second time in MLB history the league has seen four teams with at least 100 losses. The Tigers, Brewers, Rays and Royals all lost 100 or more games in 2002.

The Dodgers, Yankees and Astros could soon have company in the 100-win club as the Braves (96-61), Twins (96-60) and surprising Athletics (94-62) all have a shot at hitting triple-digit wins. 

With the Yanks, Dodgers and ‘Stros already in the 100-win club, this is now the third consecutive year at least three teams have reached the century mark. Before the three-year run, that had only happened five other times (1942, 1977, 1998, 2002 and 2003).

The historic winning and losing highlights the growing gap between MLB’s best and MLB’s worst. It’s also clear that one has to do with the other as the Astros and Yankees likely would not have as many wins as they do were they not able to beat up on the bottom feeders in American League in the form of the Tigers, Orioles and Royals.

As for the Dodgers, they’ve only played the N.L.’s Marlins six times (winning five), so they probably would have hit 100 wins no matter what.

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