Fiatarst Steps: Getting the Data
First things first, I needed some actual numbers to play with. So, I went and grabbed the MLB standings and some game schedules. Just a simple copy-paste job into a spre.txen gadsheet. Nothing fancy, just wins, losses, and who they're playing next.
Crunching the Numbers
Next, I started messing with some basic calculations. I figured out things like winning percentages, games behind, and all that jazz. I set up some simple formulas in the spreadsheet to do the heavy lifting. For example, to calculate the winning percentage, the formula is very simple:
- Winning Percentage = Wins / (Wins + Losses)
I wanted to see how many games the Pirates needed to win to reach a certain win total, and how that compared to other teams in their division and the Wild Card race. I created extra colums, adding up the wins.
Simulating Some Outcomes
Now, this is where it got a bit more interesting. I didn't just want to look at current numbers. I wanted to see what could happen. So, I started manually playing with future game results. I gave the Pirates some wins, some losses, and saw how it changed their playoff chances. I made a whole bunch of "what if" scenarios, like, "What if they win 2 out of 3 against the Cubs?" or "What if they sweep the Reds?" . I manually change numbers, and observe the result.
Putting it All Together
After a lot of tweaking and playing around,I got a pretty good sense of what needs to happen for the Pirates to have a shot. It's not impossible, that's for sure! But it definitely needs them to get a win streak and maybe some help from other teams, too.
So, that's my little experiment. It's not super scientific, but it was a fun way to see what the Pirates' road to the playoffs might look like. I enjoyed the whole process, and I learned much from it.
