We are just past one-quarter of the way through the 2026 season.
And the Cubs are off to one of the best 41-game starts in franchise history. Since 1945 — an arbitrary cut-off, granted — only two other Cubs teams have gone 27-14 to start the season. Those were the 1969 and 1977 Cubs and, well, you know how those seasons ended.
From 1945 through this year, though, 56 other teams in that span have begun with a 27-14 record, including the 2026 Cubs. Here’s the complete list.
As you can see on that list,
starting the season with a .659 winning percentage is somewhat predictive of success for that year. Of the 57 previous teams to do this, 26 made the postseason, 14 won league pennants and six were World Series champions. Thirty-four of the teams won at least 90 games and 10 won 100 or more.
Let’s look at the six World Series champions who went 27-14 to start the season, in chronological order.
1951 Yankees
The Yankees dominated MLB from 1947-64, winning 15 AL pennants and 10 World Series in that 18-year span. The 1951 club’s WS title was the third of five in a row. They went 98-56 and won the AL pennant by five games over Cleveland. They were second in their league in runs and runs allowed.
1960 Pirates
The team that won the World Series on Bill Mazeroski’s famous homer was a bit lucky during that Series — they lost three blowouts and won four close games and were outscored 55-27.
After their 27-14 start they were in first place by 1.5 games and kept winning. From Aug. 1 through the end of the season they went 38-20, eventually winning the NL pennant by seven games, with 95 wins.
1989 Athletics
This was the second of three straight AL pennants and World Series titles won by the A’s, though they had to wait through a 10-day earthquake delay before sweeping the Giants in the WS.
The race for the AL West title was close until September, when they won 11 of their last 14 to win the division by seven games, with 99 overall wins. Then they won the ALCS by four games over the Blue Jays and took the WS.
2015 Royals
The defending AL champions won their second straight league title, taking over first place in the AL Central for good in early June, eventually winning the division by 12 games with a 95-67 record. They won the last six games of the regular season, won a close division series (3-2) over the Astros, beat the Blue Jays 4-2 in the ALCS and won the World Series four games to one over the Mets.
2024 Dodgers
This Dodgers team went wire-to-wire in first place. At the time they were 27-14 they led the division by 6.5 games and eventually won it by five games, finishing 98-64.
They took the Padres three games to two in a division series, beat the Mets 4-2 in the NLCS and won the World Series over the Yankees four games to one.
2025 Dodgers
The supposed juggernaut Dodgers team from last year won the fewest games — 93 — of any of these six teams, taking the NL West by three games. Thus they were forced into a wild-card series against the Reds, which they won two games to none. They lost one game in a division series win over the Phillies, swept the Brewers in the NLCS, then won an extremely close World Series over the Blue Jays four games to three.
These six teams averaged 98 wins. Of all the 58 teams that started the season 27-14 since 1945, just two finished with losing records — the 2009 Blue Jays (75-87) and 1995 Phillies (69-75 in a strike-shortened 144-game season). Two others (1966 Indians, 1977 Cubs) finished exactly at .500.
While you can’t necessarily predict the result of a full season based on a 25 percent sample size, it would seem that the Cubs have a very good chance of at least a 90-win season, possibly a 100-win season, and that they are very likely to make the postseason. In addition to good baseball, the six teams that started 27-14 and won the World Series all had a little bit of luck involved.
Mostly, I just did this exercise for fun as we await the Cubs beginning their series in Atlanta. Where do you think the Cubs will finish 2026?
