2019 MLB Tournament of Champions: Group Play Round 20

The MLB Tournament of Champions rolls on as we near the two-thirds mark!

128 teams, including every World Series champion, plus representatives from the other franchises, have been hard at work for weeks, and while I'm running behind, we still have 57 games in the books. 33 games remain until we cut the field in half.

Depending on the group, anywhere between 35 and 41 wins is our current barometer for winning a group. Advancing requires a minimum of 31 wins across the entire tournament field, only because there are a few places where 30-27 teams are in a tie that would leave somebody out; elsewhere, a 27-30 mark is enough to advance.

You can view the full standings, as well as the schedule and scores, here. All simulations are provided by WhatIfSports.com. Let's get to it!

2019 MLB Tournament of Champions: Group Play Round 19

We're 60 percent of the way through group play in the 2019 MLB Tournament of Champions as we continue to play catchup!

It's late June officially, and I'm about two and a half weeks behind on getting results put in due to some travel and some chaos at work, but I'm working hard to get back on track. It helps that we've had some compelling drama in this tournament so far!

Of the 128 teams that entered, only 64 will advance to the next stage when all is said and done. 54 games in, a 29-25 mark if the season ended today would guarantee advancement, largely because I'm staring at a four way tie in one group where only two 28-26 teams can advance. 38 wins to this point remains the high water mark for any team, with a couple teams just a game behind. On the other side, a pair of Dodger teams from their first decade in LA have 16 wins or fewer. Life is rough out west.

You can view the full standings, as well as a schedule and scores, here. All simulations are provided by WhatIfSports.com. Let's play ball!

2019 MLB Tournament of Champions: Group Play Round 18

The catch-up game continues as the 2019 MLB Tournament of Champions rolls on!

51 games in, we've got a lot of tight races, but also some groups that seem to have runaways. There is now a three way tie for the best team in the group. The '27 Yankees are still right in the mix, as are the '66 Orioles, but now the 1944 Cardinals are on a heater, having won 12 straight games to tie the O's atop Group B. The biggest lead is in Group E, where the aforementioned '27 Yankees have a six game advantage on their nearest competitor.

If the tournament ended today, a 27-24 mark would guarantee a postseason appearance, though teams with a 25-26 record would make it from some groups. With just a hair under 40 games remaining, a lot can still change!

You can view the schedule, as well as standings, here. All simulations are provided by WhatIfSports.com. Let's get to it!

2019 MLB Tournament of Champions: Group Play Round 17

We're into the second half of the 2019 MLB Tournament of Champions, as I'm working hard to try and get caught back up with today again.

The games in Round 17 took place following Memorial Day, so we're about three weeks behind at this point. Between vacation and chaos at work, it's been hard to get this back to on time again, but I'm hoping over the next couple weeks to get caught back up.

In the goings on, after going almost seven weeks without a no-hitter, we've had them on back to back Sundays after Chris Sale threw one the day before Memorial Day. In terms of standings, the '27 Yankees remain the cream of the crop with a 36-12 record and a seven game lead atop their group. In terms of advancing beyond group play, it's a little chaotic depending on your group. Some groups would have 23-25 teams advancing if this stage ended today, while others have ties between 25-23 teams that would leave someone out. We'll see how much that trend holds as we get down towards the end.

All simulations are provided by WhatIfSports.com, and you can view the schedule and standings for yourself here. Let's play ball!

2019 MLB Tournament of Champions: Group Play Round 16

We are officially halfway through the group stage of the 2019 MLB Tournament of Champions, and I'm falling way behind.

Back on April 1st, I began an arduous journey to try and find the greatest MLB team of all time. 128 teams entered, and when the second half of this stage is complete, that number will be cut in half. So far, as far as I can tell, every team has played every other team in their group once (or three times, since it's three game series each round), and the rest of the way will be finishing out the double round robin.

Due to the nature of this tournament, different groups have different cutoffs. Overall to this point, a 25-20 record is a guarantee of advancement. We have one group where there are six teams tied at 24-21 with three teams ahead of them, meaning one of those teams will end up missing out. Meanwhile, we have other groups where a 21-24 mark is good enough to make it in. Baseball, man.

The postseason plan is to have the first three rounds be played within groups and make intergroup play take over once we hit the quarterfinals; this will limit the controversy of this to some degree, but I'd feel bad if a 50 win team ended up missing the postseason. Unfortunately, nothing I can do about that.

You can view the full standings, as well as the schedules, here. All simulations are provided by WhatIfSports.com. Let's kick off the second half!

2019 MLB Tournament of Champions: Group Play Round 15

We're still playing catchup at this point, but after this batch of games, we will officially be halfway through the 2019 MLB Tournament of Champions!

Games played in this round will have taken place on May 20th, 21st, and 22nd, so we're still a couple weeks behind at this point in time, but since this is only a 90 game regular season, if I'm not quite caught up, I'm not quite caught up. All in all to this point though, we've had a fairly interesting race for the top team in the tournament. The 1966 Baltimore Orioles were the first team to 30 wins, but are now no longer the top team in the tournament as the vaunted 1927 New York Yankees pulled off a sweep the prior weekend to move to 31-11. It's also going to be interesting in the race for the final few playoff spots, as in some groups you have nine or ten teams at or above .500, while other groups have below .500 teams that would make the next stage. Although I guess it could be worse: you could be the 11-31 1963 Los Angeles Dodgers.

We also finally saw some history in the last round: the first no hitter of this year's tournament. It took almost seven weeks to get one, when in 2017 I think we had three or four. There's still time though.

You can view full standings and schedules here. All simulations are provided by WhatIfSports.com. Let's play some baseball!