How teams with the best MLB Record have fared in the last 15 postseasons

Establishing dominance during MLB’s regular season is an important springboard to setting up potential postseason success. However, having the best regular season record doesn’t guarantee a World Series title. We’ll take a look at how the last 15 teams performed in the playoffs after finishing at the top of the MLB standings.

It wasn’t going to be an easy road in the National League, as the Dodgers were one of three teams to win over 100 games in 2022. However, it was the 89-win San Diego Padres that tripped Los Angeles up in the division series. Former Dodger Yu Darvish pitched the Padres to a Game 2 victory, and San Diego wouldn’t lose after that.

This was an especially bitter season for Giants fans to stomach. After edging out the Dodgers by one win for best record, San Francisco had to face Los Angeles in the NLDS after the Dodgers won the Wild Card game. Los Angeles won the series three games to two, and many questioned how fair it was for the two teams to have played so early in the postseason.

2020 will always be remembered as one of the strangest baseball seasons ever. MLB had to operate around the raging Covid pandemic, which shortened the regular season to 60 games. The Dodgers and Tampa Bay Rays had the best records in the league, and made it to the World Series. Los Angeles won, as shortstop Corey Seager took home MVP honors.

The Astros had established themselves as one of the premier teams in baseball for several years, but were handicapped by some powerful Nationals arms. Max Scherzer and Stephen Strasburg gave Houston fits. Third baseman Alex Bregman couldn’t get it going at the plate, hitting only .207 for the series.

The Red Sox returned to relevancy with a bang in 2018, and brought home another World Series title in the 21^st century. Boston received clutch contributions from unlikely heroes, such as Steve Pearce, who went on to win World Series MVP. He drove in eight runs while smashing three pitches over the fence.

Los Angeles came about as close to winning a championship without actually doing so. They lost the World Series in seven games to the Astros, who have since been implicated in a cheating scandal that season. Still, the Dodgers, lost a one-run, extra inning Game 5 that could have flipped the result in the other direction. Cody Bellinger went deep in that epic tilt.

As the 2016 campaign wore on, recalls to a Back To The Future line predicting the Cubs would win the World Series that year started to gain momentum. It turned out to be a freakishly accurate prediction, as Chicago won the championship for the first time in 108 years. The curse of the “Billy Goat” was finally vanquished.

With their institutional know-how, fans thought that St. Louis would have little trouble making a deep playoff run. However, the Cubs had other ideas. Knowing them so well from divisional play, Chicago and their bevy of young talent overpowered the favored Cardinals. St. Louis won the first game behind John Lackey, but Chicago won the next three.

Everyone knows the MLB playoffs can be a bit of a crapshoot, but it’s pretty crazy for the team with the best record to be swept out of the postseason in the first round. That’s what happened to Los Angeles, as the Kansas City Royals made quick work of them. Albert Pujols struggled for Los Angels, hitting just .167 in the series.

This season has a bit of an asterisk for the purposes of this list. The Red Sox and the Cardinals both finished with 97-65 records to pace the league. It was only appropriate that the two teams faced off in the World Series that year. With homefield advantage, Boston was able to hold off St. Louis to win the title.

The Nationals were a promising young team, led by superstar Bryce Harper. They ran into a veteran-laden and battle-tested Cardinals team in the NLDS though, and the more experienced team advanced. Carlos Beltran, whom Washington was very familiar with from his New York Mets days, had a scalding hot series at the plate for St. Louis.

The Phillies won 102 games during the 2011 regular season, but their fate hinged on a winner take all Game 5 in the NLDS. It was an intense pitcher’s duel, as Chris Carpenter and Roy Halladay only surrendered one run. However, it was the Cardinals that would get in the scoring column, which was enough to secure the win.

After losing in the World Series the previous year, Philadelphia was motivated to finish that they couldn’t in 2009. They swept the Cincinnati Reds in the NLDS, but fell to the Giants in the NLCS. Philadelphia had one of the better rotations in recent history, featuring Roy Halladay, Roy Oswalt and Cole Hamels, but couldn’t get the job done.

This season is remembered fondly among Yankees fans, as it blended talent from the “Core 4” era and some of the higher priced talent they had brought in. New York dispatched of the Phillies in six games, as Hideki Matsui slugged his way to World Series MVP honors. Old reliable Andy Pettitte picked up the series clinching victory.

Los Angeles was locked into a tight four game series with the Boston Red Sox in the ALDS, but their bullpen had trouble shutting the door in Game 2 and Game 4. Catcher Mike Napoli did the best he could to power Los Angeles to a more competitive series with his two home runs, but none of his other teammates went yard.