Teams that don’t have players salaried in the tens of millions apiece have to make adjustments at several stretches of the season. It’s admirable when they do.
It’s a long season; it amounts to a mile run rather than a sprint. So it matters where you are at the finish rather than the first lap or even the third. The D-Backs had a nice kick this year. Their chemistry became downright formidable.
There’s really no reason to denigrate them, any more than the ‘69 Mets. They had to jell before becoming giant killers.
I’m not denigrating them, I’m pointing out that it’s not traditional baseball and the 162 game season doesn’t matter anymore.
40% of the teams go in to the post season.