What makes the Brewers' NL Central lead even more impressive

The Milwaukee Brewers lost their first game of August yesterday afternoon, dropping their series finale with the Cincinnati Reds in extra innings. However, as their lead in the NL Central shrunk for the first time in more than two weeks, the Brewers still enter their important five-game set at Wrigley Field with an eight-game lead over the Chicago Cubs in the division. That's good enough for the second-largest division lead in all of baseball, trailing only the Detroit Tigers, who lead the uninspiring AL Central by 8.5 games.

However, there's a big difference between the Tigers and Brewers when it comes to their division leads. In fact, there's a key difference between the Brewers and the rest of the division leaders in MLB: the Brewers play in the strongest division in all of baseball.

The NL Central currently holds an aggregate winning percentage of .525, according to StatMuse, meaning, as a whole, the five teams in the division have won 52.5% of the games they've played this season. The AL Central, the division of heavyweights that includes the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, and Toronto Blue Jays, all of whom currently hold a playoff spot, has the second-best combined winning percentage in MLB at .523.

Brewers enter Dog Days of August with eight-game lead in the most competitive division in baseball

Division strength matters less after MLB elected for a more evenly dispersed schedule, in which every team plays each other at least once, resulting in fewer divisional games over the course of the season. However, teams still play their four division rivals more than any other team, meaning the strength of a given team's divisional opponents still has a major impact on their overall season record.

The argument could easily be made that the only reason the NL Central has such a high winning percentage is because of the Brewers’ MLB-leading 78 wins, which are five more than any other team in baseball. However, if you take out the leaders of each division, the NL Central's aggregate winning percentage still ranks the second-highest in MLB, and first in the National League. Meaning, the Cubs, Reds, Cardinals, and Pirates have been better than either of the bottom four teams in the NL West and NL East.

Prior to the season, no one expected the NL Central to be leading the charge in terms of combined winning percentage. The NL West was projected to be a dogfight between the Dodgers, Padres, Giants, and Diamondbacks, but that race has quickly turned into another Dodgers-Padres showdown with the latter two teams falling below .500 on the season. Meanwhile, with the Phillies, Mets, and Braves all vying for a division title, the NL East was supposed to be a collection of powerhouses, but only the Phillies and the Mets (barely) remain in the playoff picture on August 18.

Instead, it's been the under-the-radar NL Central that has been the strongest division in all of baseball, with teams up and down the division standings who have reasons to be optimistic about their respective organizations. When the worst team in the division has Paul Skenes heading their rotation, it's clear that no division game is going to be a walk in the park.

And yet, the Milwaukee Brewers hold an eight-game lead. Despite the loss last night, it's truly remarkable what this Crew has pulled off over the last two months. In fact, exactly two months ago, which ironically was the date of the Brewers and Cubs' rainout that led to today's doubleheader, the Brew Crew was 6.5 games back of the Cubs in the division. Now, as the two teams meet once again at The Friendly Confines, things look a little different for the division rivals.