With the kind of spring training they're having, the Arizona Diamondbacks certainly wish these games counted.
The D-backs have opened Cactus League play with a 20-4 record, the best in Major League Baseball. The question is: Does spring training success mean anything heading into the games that count beginning April 4?
"(Manager) Chip Hale tells us all the time: These games are important and you want to win them," D-backs shortstop Nick Ahmed said. "There's something to be said about winning a baseball game, even though it's Spring Training."
D-backs starting pitcher Shelby Miller was a key offseason addition via a trade with the Atlanta Braves, and he's one of the primary reasons fans are optimistic about the chances of their team returning to the playoffs this season for the first time since 2011.
Miller said that, even though Cactus League games don't count in the regular-season standings, "it means a little something" that the team has been dominant during spring ball.
"I think our team's good, man. We're capable of having a really good season," he said. "If we just continue to do what we're doing right now, we should be all right."
Some D-backs players, however, caution fans about reading too much into Cactus League success.
"It's a lot of fun to be winning, but at the same time, it's Spring Training, so you've got to kind of take it with a grain of salt," pitcher Daniel Hudson said.
Catcher Tuffy Gosewisch echoed Hudson's sentiments. "It's nice to be winning, and it's fun to win. But, you know, the real games start April 4," he said.
Regardless of how much (or little) Spring Training success might translate into regular-season success, outfielder David Peralta said a great March can help set the tone for the rest of the year.
"We're trying to show everybody what can we do and what we're going to do during the season," he said.
