They say that hope springs eternal in spring training. Each of the 30 MLB teams has a certain degree of optimism and many feel they can not only make the playoffs but also contend for the championship. All too often, however, April brings a dose of reality when the games start to count and losses start to pile up.

Getting off to a good start in April sure helps. Consider this: Only seven of the 30 playoffs teams in the last three MLB seasons played under .500 in the first month of the season. Furthermore, only two playoff teams from 2014-16 played under .400 in the first month of the season.

Take a look at the standings just one week into the 2017 campaign. The team with the worst record in baseball last season, the Minnesota Twins, have gotten off to a great start and are 5-1… their .833 winning percentage is currently the best in baseball.

Let’s take a look at how well each of the 30 teams has played in the first month of the season over the past three years. The New York Mets top the list with a .634 winning percentage in the first month of the season from 2014-16. The Detroit Tigers are the only other team with a winning percentage over .600 in the first month the last three years at .609. The worst team in the first month from 2014-16 were the Arizona Diamondbacks; they had a winning percentage of .397.

Here’s a look at the winning percentage of each team in first month of the baseball season (games played in March and April are included) in the last three campaigns.

New York Mets .634, Detroit .609

Kansas City .577, St. Louis .568, Washington .568, Chicago Cubs .559, Los Angeles Dodgers .548, Baltimore .537, Chicago White Sox .534, Boston .534, Oakland .526, Colorado .521, New York Yankees .514, Pittsburgh .514, San Francisco .507

Los Angeles Angels .493, Texas .493, Seattle .486, Miami .486, Philadelphia .479, Tampa Bay .472, Toronto .453, Milwaukee .452, Atlanta .451, Cincinnati .438, San Diego .434, Houston .419, Minnesota .414, Cleveland .400,

Arizona .397