MLB standings by days missed to injury: Dodgers, Braves and real contenders survive

Injuries have much more of an influence than any MLB fan would like to admit. It's an unfortunate reality, but injuries can change how any given game or season unfolds.

In a 162-game season (plus more postseason games for the fortunate teams), injuries are impossible to avoid. Some, unfortunately, will have worse luck than others. What these injuries really force teams to have is depth. Not just players who can be sent up and down between the majors and Triple-A, but quality depth.

Obviously the stars who get hurt are irreplaceable, but the teams who have the best organizational depth are often the ones who find themselves competing in September for a playoff spot.

Here's a look at how unlucky certain teams have been with injuries. Spoiler alert: even some of the unluckiest teams find themselves in the postseason hunt because of the quality depth their teams have built.

Note: All records and games missed are from before games on Wednesday, 9/11.

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MLB standings ordered by days missed to injury

AL East

The Boston Red Sox have been decimated by injuries all season, not only losing key offensive contributors like Trevor Story, Tyler O'Neill and Triston Casas for substantial parts of the season, but also losing virtually their entire pitching staff. Lucas Giolito and Liam Hendricks haven't thrown a single pitch for Boston this season. Garrett Whitlock, James Paxton, Nick Pivetta and Cooper Criswell have all missed time as well. Somehow, despite all of this, they're 73-72 in a year which many expected them to be at the cellar in the AL East, and are still somewhat in postseason contention.

AL Central

The Chicago White Sox are almost certainly going to finish with the worst record in MLB history this season, and they deserve to based on how they've played, but that doesn't mean that they haven't gotten a bit unlucky. The White Sox don't have much talent, obviously, but players they expected to play big roles like Luis Robert Jr., Eloy Jimenez, Yoan Moncada and Mike Clevenger have all missed time. Had that not been the case, perhaps they would've been able to win a couple more games.

AL West

For those wondering why the defending World Series champion Texas Rangers have fallen off as much as they have this season, injuries have undoubtedly played a huge role. Some of them, like the injuries to Jacob deGrom and Tyler Mahle didn't come as a surprise as they were suffered last season, but others have hampered them. They've been so ravaged by injuries that it's harder to find players who have avoided the IL than picking out those who have missed time.

NL East

The Atlanta Braves might not lead the majors in days missed due to injury, but when looking at the quality of the players who have gone down to injury, it's easy to make the argument that they've been the most unlucky team in the majors. Ronald Acuña Jr. and Spencer Strider suffered season-ending injuries early in the year. Austin Riley, Ozzie Albies, Michael Harris II and Sean Murphy are among key position players to miss substantial time. Max Fried, Reynaldo Lopez and A.J. Minter are among the pitchers to miss time. Somehow, despite all of that, Atlanta is tied with the New York Mets for the third Wild Card spot in the NL, showing how quality depth and a deep roster can do wonders.

NL Central

The St. Louis Cardinals have been the third-luckiest in the NL based on this statistic, yet are only a .500 team with little to no chance of making the postseason. Willson Contreras, Lars Nootbaar, and Sonny Gray are among those to miss some time this season, but they've been relatively healthy related to their peers, yet still aren't good enough to make it to the playoffs. If this isn't a wake-up call to John Mozeliak, I'm not sure what will be.

NL West

The Los Angeles Dodgers lead the majors in days missed due to injury, yet are on their way to yet another NL West title and have as good of a chance as any team does to win the World Series. Having Shohei Ohtani in the lineup every day helps, but their lineup has looked unrecognizable behind him on several occasions, and their pitching staff has been decimated by injuries like no other team.