Cubs' Chances Of Winning World Series Are More Than Twice That Of Any Other Team

(CBS) It's a position the Cubs haven't found themselves in often but one they're certainly embracing.

It's Sept. 1, and the Cubs' chances of winning the World Series are more than twice that of any other team in baseball, according to the experts at fivethirtyeight.com. The Cubs have a 23 percent chance of winning the championship, per the data that's based on 50,000 simulations.

The next-most likely champion is the either the Blue Jays or Rangers, who each boast an 11 percent chance of winning the World Series. Following them are the Red Sox (10 percent), Indians (9 percent), Dodgers (9 percent) and Nationals (8 percent).

With a 15-game lead in the NL Central with 30 regular-season games left, the Cubs are a playoff lock, with odds of more than 99 percent to win the division and make the playoffs.

Fivethirtyeight.com projects the Cubs to finish with a 103-59 record. Chicago is currently 85-47 and finished August with a 22-6 mark, matching the franchise's best mark of 22-6 by the 1932 NL champion Cubs team.