Welcome to The Opener, where every weekday morning you’ll get a fresh, topical column to start your day from one of SI.com’s MLB writers.
The Minnesota Twins are in danger of playing themselves out of the playoffs in April. Among other expected contenders, the New York Yankees, Atlanta Braves and Washington Nationals are flirting with a doomsday April.
Go ahead and tell yourself this is a long season. Remind yourself how the 2001 A’s (8-17) and the 2015 Rangers (7-14) recovered from terrible Aprils to make the postseason.
But know this: by doing so you would be banking on the exception, not the rule.