Before the season started a decent amount of people including myself believed that the NL East was going to be the best division in baseball. To this point in the season, I couldn’t be more wrong as the Atlanta Braves are the only team in the East with a winning record. That brings up the question; what is the best division in baseball?

When making a quick scan of the standings in every division there are two that stick out more than any other. Those divisions are the NL Central and the AL East. If you are unaware of who is in these division, below is the teams with their records.

AL East:

Boston Red Sox (36-24)

New York Yankees (34-25)

Baltimore Orioles (33-26)

Tampa Bay Rays (32-26)

Toronto Blue Jays (25-34)

NL Central:

St. Louis Cardinals (38-21)

Cincinnati Reds (36-24)

Pittsburgh Pirates (35-25)

Chicago Cubs (24-33)

Milwaukee Brewers (22-36)

When looking at strictly numbers you would say that the AL East is the better division based solely on records. The East is stocked with amazing teams and the scary part is that all five of these teams have a chance to be playoff teams. It is not everyday that you look at a division and see that from top to bottom they all can compete. Of course the Blue Jays have been struggling to this point in the season but when you play them it is no walk in the park.

The Central on the other hand has three very good teams and two very bad teams. The Cardinals currently have the best record in all of baseball and are looking like a early World Series favorite. The Cardinals have the best team batting average in the NL, along with the best team ERA in baseball. They are also second in the NL in runs, hits and RBIs, behind only the Colorado Rockies whose offense has been remarkable this year. 

To go further into the statistical side of things we need to look at pitching. The Boston Red Sox are the only team in the East that are top five in team ERA. The Yankees join the Red Sox in the top five in strikeouts as a team as well. On the offensive side of things the Baltimore Orioles have arguably the best offense of all the teams in the East. They are first in home runs in the AL and third in RBIs.

Overall I would say that the AL East is the best division in baseball. We have seen the Pirates start the season off hot and they might keep it going but they could also crash and burn. The Brewers and Cubs also take away from the stock of the Central. Look for both of these divisions to represent in the playoffs well and who knows, you might just see one of these teams taking home the World Series Championship.