Numbers prove that Brewers' divisional dominance is only matched by one other team

In the past four seasons, the Milwaukee Brewers have spent an astonishing 468 days in the lead of the NL Central. Coming off of Pat Murphy's inaugural season with the club, the Brewers enjoyed a 10-game cushion to once again become the division champions. In all of baseball, only the Los Angeles Dodgers have spent more time at the top of the NL West.

In 2024, both the Cubs and Cardinals found themselves 10 games behind the Brewers. Milwaukee clinched their third division title in the past four years. After missing out in 2022, the Brewers finished the 2023 season nine games ahead of the Cubs. The 2021 race saw Milwaukee just five games ahead of St. Louis, but it resulted in a division title nonetheless.

Neither the Pirates or Reds have been mentioned thus far, so it's no surprise to see they both rank in the bottom half of division games led. Surprisingly enough, both Pittsburgh and Cincinnati have led the division for 46 days each since 2020. Even with the likes of Paul Skenes and Elly De La Cruz, baseball is truly a team sport and one individual cannot change the outcome of the game, specifically throughout the course of a 162 game season.

Obviously, this list only includes the regular season. No matter how many days the Brewers have led their division, it has only resulted in two post-season wins throughout the four year span. Division dominance is one thing, but translating that into a deep playoff run is another.

Regardless, Milwaukee has led the division for 169 more days than the four remaining teams combined. Let that sink in. Since 2020, the Brewers have led the NL Central for 468 days. Since 2020, the Cardinals, Cubs, Pirates, and Reds combined have led the NL Central for 299 days.

Only the Dodgers have led their division for longer than the Brewers since 2020

Out of the four remaining teams, the St. Louis Cardinals have led the division the longest. Clocking in at 115 days, the Cardinals have still only led the division for less than a quarter of the time compared to the Brewers. St. Louis did lock up their 12th NL Central title in 2022, the lone regular season division title (not counting the modified 2020 year) in the 2020s that has not gone to Milwaukee.

Since the playoffs expanded, the NL Central champions have not made it past the wild card round. The Cardinals wild card loss in 2022 shouldn't necessarily make Brewers fans feel any better about their lack of success, but at the end of the day the Brewers were still the last team in the division to make the NLDS.

Craig Counsell's Cubs have only led the division for 92 days since 2020. They did win the division in 2020 with a 34-26 record, but the Brewers 29-31 record and fourth place division finish were still enough to make the playoffs. 2020 saw the Brewers have a losing record in the division (19-21), but that year saw only the Pirates not make the eight team post-season field. It's safe to say that the 2020 season doesn't count and absolutely should not be accounted for as it'll never be replicated again.

The Brewers head into 2025 looking to win their third straight division championship. With a few key players leaving, Milwaukee has their work cut out for them. No one thought Pat Murphy would be capable of what he did last season, but he outperformed every expectation put in front of him. If the Brewers can maintain most of the success they had in 2024, it'll only be a matter of time until they surpass 500 days at the top of the division.

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