MLB standings by home record: Who's ready to protect their turf in October?

Being the home team comes with its share of advantages in MLB. Not only do home teams have last licks, but they also (in most cases) have the crowd entirely behind them. The crowd can be a major factor in any game, particularly in October.

For these reasons, teams value winning their division immensely. That doesn't guarantee teams a first-round bye in every case, but it does ensure that home-field advantage in the first round will be had at the very least.

With that in mind, let's take a look at which teams do the best job at protecting home field ahead of October.

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MLB standings by home record

AL East

The Toronto Blue Jays have an entire country behind them, and it shows in their play at Rogers Centre. They might be a sub-.500 team on the road, but their home record is tied for the best in the American League, explaining why they're currently tied with the New York Yankees for the No. 1 seed in the AL. Their road struggles could come back to bite them in October, but if they hold on and win the division, they'll likely have home-field advantage through the ALCS, giving them the opportunity to play a vast majority of their games in front of a crowd that will only get rowdier in the postseason.

AL Central

The Detroit Tigers had held onto first place in the AL Central virtually all season long, but enter the final series of the regular season tied with the Cleveland Guardians. A big reason for that is how poorly they've played at home lately: Yes, their 46-35 home record is the best in the division, but the Tigers have lost their last seven at Comerica Park. They've failed to protect home field down the stretch, and could end up losing out not only on a division title but on a postseason berth entirely because of that.

AL West

Home records have come into play in a huge way in the AL West. Not only are the Seattle Mariners a full five games better at home than the Houston Astros, matching their current lead in the AL West over Houston, but the Mariners came to Daikin Park and swept the Astros just last weekend to seize control of the division. The Astros' inability to protect home turf has been an issue for years now, including and especially in the postseason, and it just cost them the AL West division.

NL East

There's a reason Red October gets as much attention as it does. The Philadelphia Phillies thrive when playing in front of their fans at Citizens Bank Park, and their 53-25 record, the best home mark in the Majors, proves just that. The Phillies have gone 13-5 at home in the postseason since the start of the 2022 campaign, and their home dominance could be what leads them on a deep postseason run in 2025.

NL Central

The Milwaukee Brewers will likely have home-field advantage in every postseason series they play in, and with their 51-27 record at American Family Field (tied for third-best in the Majors), they should be confident in their ability to protect home turf. Honestly, the same can be said about their four division rivals, as the NL Central is the only division in the league with all five teams holding a record above .500 at home. If the St. Louis Cardinals and especially the Pittsburgh Pirates had found a way to win road games, perhaps this division would've looked very different.

NL West

The Los Angeles Dodgers have the second-best home record in the Majors, yet will only be the No. 3 seed in the NL. They've proven they can win at an extremely high clip at home, and probably should be trusted to win on the road given what they accomplished last season, but their inability to win on the road in the regular season has forced them on a tougher postseason path than the one they were on in 2024.