Por Renan Filho · 2026-10-18**Lead**
As the 2026 World Series approaches, the team with the best regular-season record in Major League Baseball is doing something unusual: they are still calling themselves underdogs. Despite leading the league in wins, run differential, and nearly every major statistical category, the club has repeatedly framed its postseason run as a battle against doubters, injuries, and a schedule that supposedly worked against them. The narrative, repeated by players and coaches alike, has become a defining storyline of their October—and one that has sparked debate across the sport.
**Context**
The team in question finished the regular season with a record that was the envy of the league, securing home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. Their pitching staff posted the lowest ERA in baseball, while their lineup led the majors in home runs and on-base percentage. Advanced metrics, including FanGraphs' WAR and Baseball Prospectus' playoff odds, consistently ranked them as the clear favorites to win the championship. Yet, in nearly every press conference since the Division Series, the message has been the same: "Nobody believed in us."
This underdog framing is not entirely baseless. The team dealt with a significant injury to a key starting pitcher in August, and their bullpen, while effective, lacks the star power of some recent champions. Additionally, their division was widely considered the toughest in baseball, with three other teams finishing above .500 and one wild-card contender taking them to a decisive Game 5 in the ALDS. Still, analysts point out that every team faces adversity, and the club's 100-plus win season hardly qualifies as a Cinderella story.
The rhetoric reached a peak during the Championship Series, when a veteran outfielder told reporters, "Everyone counted us out after the trade deadline." That statement raised eyebrows, as the team made one of the most aggressive deadline acquisitions in recent memory, adding a former Cy Young winner and a power-hitting infielder. The moves were universally praised by pundits, with ESPN's Buster Olney calling them "the clearest signal of a championship-or-bust mentality."
**Analise**
Why does a team with the best record in baseball insist on playing the victim? Sports psychologists suggest that the underdog narrative can be a powerful motivator, creating a sense of unity and urgency that might otherwise be lacking for a heavily favored squad. By framing every game as a must-win against the odds, the team may be attempting to replicate the hunger of a wild-card club, avoiding the complacency that has doomed many top seeds in recent postseasons. This strategy has historical precedent: the 2018 Red Sox, who won 108 games, famously adopted a "nobody believed in us" mentality despite being favorites, and they went on to win the World Series.
However, the approach carries risks. Publicly, it can come across as disingenuous, especially to fans of smaller-market teams who genuinely face financial and competitive disadvantages. The backlash on social media has been swift, with critics accusing the club of "manufactured grit" and "performative humility." Even some within the baseball media have pushed back, with The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal noting that "claiming underdog status when you have a $250 million payroll and the best record in the sport is a hard sell."
From a strategic standpoint, the narrative may also affect how opponents prepare. The National League champion, a team that scraped into the playoffs as a wild card, has openly embraced its own underdog role, and the contrast between the two clubhouses could shape the series' psychological dynamics. If the favorites lose, the underdog talk will be seen as a failed attempt to manage pressure. If they win, it will be praised as a masterstroke of mental preparation. Either way, the World Series will be as much a battle of narratives as it is of fastballs and home runs.
**Fontes**
- ESPN (Buster Olney, postseason coverage) - The Athletic (Ken Rosenthal, MLB analysis) - FanGraphs (team WAR and playoff odds) - Baseball Prospectus (postseason projections) - Official MLB standings and statistics (2026 regular season)