Play Now <br> <a href="https://picks.cbssports.com/college-basketball/ncaa-tournament/bracket" class="">Men's Brackets</a> <br> Play Now <br> <a href="https://picks.cbssports.com/college-basketball/ncaaw-tournament/bracket" class="">Women's Brackets</a> <br> <a href="/podcasts/the-early-edge-a-daily-sportsline-betting-podcast/" class="">A Daily SportsLine Betting Podcast</a> <br> <a href="/podcasts/fantasy-football-today-podcast/" class="">NFL Draft is coming up!</a> <br>Can a team dig too deep a hole to recover these days? <br>I'm sure it's possible. I mean, the <a class="Annotation-link" href="https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/teams/CHW/chicago-white-sox/">White Sox</a> aren't making the playoffs or anything, nor are the <a class="Annotation-link" href="https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/teams/MIA/miami-marlins/">Marlins</a>. But with 12 playoff teams now instead of four or even eight, any team would have to work awfully hard in futility to dig a hole that was past the point of no return. <br>To illustrate, let's look at the <a class="Annotation-link" href="https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/teams/HOU/houston-astros/">Astros</a> and <a class="Annotation-link" href="https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/teams/MIN/minnesota-twins/">Twins</a>. <br>After being swept in Wrigley this past week, the Astros were an abysmal 7-19. They've won two straight since and sit 9-19. That's still terrible. They are better than this, too, I'm sure of it. A few decades ago, what was left in front of them might've been too steep a hill to climb. In the three wild-card era, though, getting into the playoffs remains pretty workable. Let's say the Astros are a true talent 95-win team. If they play like it the rest of the way, they'd end up 88-74. That's likely a playoff team these days. <br>The Twins started this season 7-13. There's no reason to sugarcoat it. They were awful. But! They've now won seven straight and are actually above .500. It's funny how quickly things can turn, huh? It's still so early in the season that a huge winning streak can cure all ills. They are only 1 1/2 games out of playoff position, just like that. Teams have gotten off to worse starts for longer periods of time in recent years and overcome it. <br>Remember, the 2018 <a class="Annotation-link" href="https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/teams/LAD/los-angeles-dodgers/">Dodgers</a> started 16-26 and won the pennant. The next season, the 19-31 <a class="Annotation-link" href="https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/teams/WAS/washington-nationals/">Nationals</a> became the World Series champions. <br>Of course, there's a flip side to this. Now with the cushion of three wild-card spots in each league, any team banking a large number of wins in the early going is really setting themselves up for a playoff run. Take the <a class="Annotation-link" href="https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/teams/CLE/cleveland-guardians/">Guardians</a>: They are 19-9, already 10 games over .500 before we've even gotten to May. Just for the sake of argument (and easy math), let's say they are an 81-win true talent team. If they play .500 ball the rest of the way, the Guardians would finish 86-76. Last season, there were two playoff teams with fewer than 86 wins and one of them ended up winning a pennant. Those were on the NL side, sure, but it gives us a good idea of just how well the Guardians have set themselves up this season in such a short period of time. It would actually be pretty surprising at this point if they aren't playing in October. Sure enough, SportsLine has them with a 79.9% chance to make the playoffs right now. <br>© 2004-2024 CBS Interactive. All Rights Reserved.<br>CBS Sports is a registered trademark of CBS Broadcasting Inc. Commissioner.com is a registered trademark of CBS Interactive Inc.<br>Images by Getty Images and US Presswire<br><br><a href="https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMiiAFodHRwczovL3d3dy5jYnNzcG9ydHMuY29tL21sYi9uZXdzL21sYi1wb3dlci1yYW5raW5ncy1icmF2ZXMtaG9sZC1vbi10by1uby0xLXNwb3QtYXMtdHdpbnMtc3VyZ2UtYnV0LWFyZS1hc3Ryb3MtZGlnZ2luZy10b28tZGVlcC1hLWhvbGUv0gGMAWh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmNic3Nwb3J0cy5jb20vbWxiL25ld3MvbWxiLXBvd2VyLXJhbmtpbmdzLWJyYXZlcy1ob2xkLW9uLXRvLW5vLTEtc3BvdC1hcy10d2lucy1zdXJnZS1idXQtYXJlLWFzdHJvcy1kaWdnaW5nLXRvby1kZWVwLWEtaG9sZS9hbXAv?oc=5">source</a>
