World Series Predictions For Major League Baseball in 2026

Based on stats, records, and other factors, which teams look like World Series contenders in late October and early November of 2026?

Aitan Dorsky, Staff Reporter • July 6, 2025

REUTERS/via SNO Sites/Vincent Carchietta

Pictured is Giancarlo Stanton hitting a home run. Stanton is currently injured, but when he returns to play, the New York Yankees are expected to get even better.

With Major League Baseball, a select few teams are looking like they could be serious World Series contenders in 2026. Some of these teams may have gone deep in the playoffs last season, while others have been surprising with their success. Here are the five teams with the best odds to win the World Series.

Los Angeles Dodgers

The Dodgers were last year’s World Series champions, and they seem like they’re on a path to do it again. They started out this season 8-0 and have played better than most teams in the MLB. They currently hold the second-best record in the MLB and are in arguably the hardest division in baseball. Shohei Ohtani is off to a great start and already has 23 home runs, a record which makes him tied for third in the MLB. The Dodgers have the best record in the MLB currently, and they have the best win-loss ratio at home games this season. They also have scored the most runs of any team in the MLB up to this point. They also have a dominant offense and defense and have the second-best point differential in the National League.

Detroit Tigers

The Detroit Tigers are currently the best team in the entire MLB. They are also tied for the third-best win percentage in the MLB. They have the second-best point differential in the MLB up to this point and have allowed the fourth-least amount of runs this season. They also have a starting pitcher who is tied for the most wins of any starting pitcher this season. They are two games ahead of any other team in the MLB. They also have the fourth most runs scored of any other team in the MLB, and they are 3.5 games ahead of any team in the American League. They are seventh in overall runs allowed, and they are the only team in the top seven that has scored 80 more runs than they allowed. They are also one of the only teams that hasn’t lost more than five games at home.

New York Yankees

The Yankees have the best point differential in the MLB and have scored the most runs in the MLB. They started off this season hot and have since then slowed down, but they still have the most efficient batters in the league. Aaron Judge has a batting average of over 400, which is extremely uncommon. They have three starters from last year who are injured, which has hurt them a lot. Gerrit Cole is out for the season because he needs Tommy John surgery (a surgical procedure that replaces a torn UCL in the elbow), and the Yankees pitchers have suffered. With Giancarlo Stanton and DJ LeMahieu being injured but slated to return, the Yankees’ dominant offense is going to get even better. The Yankees also have Paul Goldschmidt, who is second in batting average in the MLB, only behind Aaron Judge, and he is third in total hits this season. Aaron Judge is also leading the MLB in all major batting categories, and his OPS (on base percentage plus slugging percentage) is over 200 more than anyone else in the MLB. He also has the most total bases of anyone in the MLB. Based on a more advanced stat, WAR (wins above replacement), which measures how many wins the team that he is on has because he is on that team. Judge is first in WAR as well, with a 3.4 WAR, which is half a game better than any other player in the MLB.

The Yankees beat the Mets in their first regular season series, and they never lost by more than one run, and they always won by at least four runs. In Soto’s return to the Bronx, there were explicit chants against him, and all Yankees fans didn’t even watch him hit. Max Fried is currently the best starting pitcher in the MLB based on all major stats other than strikeouts. At this rate the Yankees will be one of the only 25 teams to have a point differential of over 300 by the end of the season in MLB history.

New York Mets

The Mets currently have the second-best record and third-best point differential in the MLB. They have allowed the least amount of runs of any team in the MLB, and they have been overall dominant. They have shined on the defensive side of the ball, which so far has been the key to their success. So for this season their big offseason signing of Juan Soto is seeming like a severe overpay. He signed the biggest contract in MLB history, and he isn’t even hitting like a top 50 player in the MLB currently. They are tied for the best record in the National League.

Philadelphia Phillies

The Phillies have played really well recently and they have seized control of the National League, passing the Mets and the Dodgers. They have Kyle Schwarber, who is tied for the most home runs in the MLB. They have Zach Wheeler, who is currently second in total strikeouts in the MLB and is first in quality starts. They are currently second in the MLB and have scored the fifth most runs in the MLB. They were one of the last four teams to reach twenty losses. They are third in overall team batting average. They are currently second in fielding percentage in the MLB. They have the second-highest winning percentage in the MLB and are only a half game behind the Detroit Tigers, because the Tigers played one more game than them.

Colorado Rockies

They are the worst team in the MLB, and I wasn’t planning on writing about them, but they have had the worst 50-game start since 1895. They have the worst point differential by over 70 runs. The Colorado Rockies currently have the second to worst win percentage of all time, with a win percentage of 0.167. The Colorado Rockies have yet to win a series against any team this regular season, and they are by far the last team to be under 10 wins. They are currently on pace for the second-worst win percentage ever and the second-most losses ever. The only team that was worse than them was the Cleveland Spiders, which has no relation to any current MLB team.

If the Rockies continue at this pace it will be the worst season by any MLB team in over a century. With a third of the season over, the Rockies need to try to change if they don’t want to have a historically bad season. They are also on pace to have the worst run differential in the modern MLB era (since 1901). They are also on pace to be one of the only teams to win less than 20% of their games in MLB history. They are also on pace to allow the third most runs of all time, beaten out only by the Detroit Tigers in 1996 and the Colorado Rockies in 1999. This Colorado Rockies team is on pace to be remembered forever, just not in the way any team wants to be.

With Major League Baseball, a select few teams are looking like they could be serious World Series contenders in 2026. Some of these teams may have gone deep in the playoffs last season, while others have been surprising with their success. Here are the five teams with the best odds to win the World Series.

About the Contributor

Aitan Dorsky, Staff Reporter

Aitan Dorsky is a Content and Proofreading Editor for ‘The Science Survey’ which means his job is to check to see if the content of the article is true and has no errors. Aitan Dorsky also has to make sure that the content is appropriate for the newspaper as well as looking for spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors. What Aitan finds most appealing about journalism is that he is able to share stories that need to be shared as well as highlighting topics that are underrepresented. Aitan wants to make sure that everybody has a voice and that people know about what is happening in the world, the good and bad. What he finds most appealing about taking photographs that tell a story is that pictures can help readers visualize what is being talked about in the article. Outside of school Aitan is a huge sports fan — especially football — and he also enjoys playing fantasy football. Aitan is also a huge Marvel Comics movie fan and he has seen every Marvel movie in the franchise; his favorite is ‘Thor: Ragnarok.’ Aitan plans on studying journalism in college specifically either sports or investigative journalism, and perhaps also sports broadcasting. In ten years’ time, Aitan sees himself as a graduate of a great university and working for ESPN as either a writer or a reporter.