Dodgers on pace for divisional-era record

Regardless of how you feel about the Dodgers right now—and we know you have a lot of feelings—numbers are far more impartial. With a .648 winning percentage through 159 games, the Dodgers are on track to claim the best regular-season record by a defending World Series champ in the divisional era.

While the divisional race is still up in the air, few teams have put up numbers like this Dodgers team has in back-to-back seasons. Closing out the season with a 104-58 record and .641 winning percentage would put the Dodgers at the top of a list that includes the 1971 Orioles (.639), the 1990 A’s (.636), and the 1976 Reds (.630).

Before 1969, 15 seasons saw a defending championship team with winning percentages of .640 or better, and about half of them belonged to the Yankees. Since then, however, no team has managed anything above that rate.

Thomas Harrigan at MLB.com breaks it down.

Dodgers Links

• Is this Dodgers-Giants division race the best of all time? Abbey Mastracco at Bleacher Report thinks it’s likely. If you’re not already hyped up, this rivalry recap will fix that.
• Nick Diunte at Forbes tells us all about a different kind of hot stove: the one over which Dodgers chef and dietician Tyrone Hall presides.
• We may be headed for a Max Scherzer vs. Adam Wainwright brawl for it all in the Wild Card game, and Mike Axisa at CBS Sports has a sneak peak of what to expect.