I’ve always firmly believed that you do not need to play 162 games to determine who are the best baseball teams. When I first dug into the numbers last April, it seemed that as few as twenty games into the schedule, the majority of the teams occupying playoff spots would end up making the postseason. I revisited the topic in the middle of May, at which point the D-backs were tied for the final wild-card spot. And, wouldn’t you know it, after a hundred and eighteen further games, the D-backs ended the season... tied for the final wild-card spot.
The significance of early standings: revisited
