You can’t predict baseball, and that’s a big part of what makes the season so much fun.

Way back in February, with Opening Day still weeks away, DraftKings Sportsbook released its preseason win totals for all 30 teams. The odds ranged from the Dodgers on the high end (101.5) to the Pirates on the low end (59.5), and needless to say, a lot has happened since then.

Now, with the regular season set to wrap up this weekend and the playoffs just around the corner, it’s a good time to look back on those preseason odds and see which teams defied them the most. Who surprised by going over? And who disappointed by falling under? Here are five clubs that stand out in each category based on the DraftKings projections.

The pleasant surprises

San Francisco Giants
Preseason win total: 75.5
Current win total: 104 (+28.5)
Not only did the Giants exceed expectations and the .500 mark, they’ve played like the best team in the Majors throughout the season, giving the heavily favored Dodgers everything they could handle in the NL West. Thanks to savvy moves from Farhan Zaidi’s front office and great work from manager Gabe Kapler’s staff, the Giants have received unexpectedly stellar contributions from both veterans (Buster Posey, Brandon Crawford, etc.) and under-the-radar breakouts (Logan Webb, LaMonte Wade Jr., etc.) on their way to a triple-digit win total.

Seattle Mariners
Preseason win total: 72.5
Current win total: 89 (+16.5)
By Pythagorean record, which is based on run differential, the Mariners are more or less where the odds put them before the season. But fortunately for Seattle, a negative run differential hasn’t stopped the club from approaching the 90-victory mark and hanging in the AL Wild Card race all season long as it seeks its first postseason berth since 2001.

Milwaukee Brewers
Preseason win total: 82.5
Current win total: 95 (+12.5)
Flash back to the offseason, and most of the buzz in the NL Central was about the Cardinals, who acquired Nolan Arenado. The Brewers, coming off a 29-31 record in the shortened 2020 season, did nothing quite so splashy. But phenomenal pitching, led by a three-headed rotation monster (Corbin Burnes, Brandon Woodruff and Freddy Peralta) and lights-out closer Josh Hader, have gone a long way. Plus the May trade for shortstop Willy Adames – who will get some down-ballot MVP votes – has sparked the offense. Craig Counsell’s Crew are the division champs and headed for a fourth straight October appearance.

Tampa Bay Rays
Preseason win total: 85.5
Current win total: 98 (+12.5)
Shouldn’t everyone know not to underestimate the Rays by now? The under might have been tempting after Tampa Bay traded Blake Snell and let Charlie Morton walk after last season’s World Series trip, but the club’s success has never been about any one player (or two). With a deep roster bereft of weak links, the Rays have just kept on trucking and claimed their second straight AL East title, while tying the franchise record for wins in a season.

Boston Red Sox
Preseason win total: 80.5
Current win total: 89 (+8.5)
The Sox have experienced more than their fair share of wild swings in fortune over the past 10 years, finishing last in the AL East four times (including in 2020), while also winning the division four times. That won’t quite happen in 2021, but Boston still has a shot to return to the postseason following last year’s disastrous pitching implosion, dropping its ERA by well over a run with manager Alex Cora back at the helm.

The disappointments

Arizona Diamondbacks
Preseason win total: 74.5
Current win total: 50 (-24.5)
While the D-backs weren’t expected to make a postseason run in a tough NL West, the preseason odds did not come close to foreseeing the depth of their struggles in 2021. Arizona started well enough (14-12 in April), but the collapse after that was severe (12-56 from May 1-July 17, including a 17-game losing streak in June). Now, the question is whether Arizona or Baltimore will earn the No. 1 pick in the 2022 Draft.

Washington Nationals
Preseason win total: 84.5
Current win total: 65 (-19.5)
There was hope that the Nationals could make another run behind the Big Three in their rotation (Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg, Patrick Corbin). Instead, Strasburg barely pitched due to injury, Corbin has posted an ERA near 6.00, and Scherzer was traded at the Deadline (along with Trea Turner) before picking up his 3,000th career strikeout in a Dodgers uniform. The phenomenal Juan Soto has authored another historic season in Washington, but not a whole lot else has gone right.

Minnesota Twins
Preseason win total: 88.5
Current win total: 71 (-17.5)
From 2019-20, the Twins went 137-85 (.617) and won back-to-back AL Central titles. There was little reason for anyone to expect that the club would not at least challenge the White Sox for a third straight crown. Yet, after a 5-2 start, things quickly went south for the Twins, who sustained some key injuries and wound up a Deadline seller that traded away José Berríos and Nelson Cruz.

San Diego Padres
Preseason win total: 94.5
Current win total: 78 (-16.5)
One of the major questions of the spring was whether the Padres would challenge the Dodgers. The odds still favored L.A., yet pegged only one other team (the Yankees) for more wins than the upstart Friars. That projection appeared on track for the first third of the season, but San Diego then fell behind the Dodgers and out-of-nowhere Giants before ultimately plummeting out of the playoff picture entirely behind an unraveling rotation.

New York Mets
Preseason win total: 90.5
Current win total: 75 (-15.5)
Hopes were high for a grand start to a new era of Mets baseball, with owner Steve Cohen in place and star shortstop Francisco Lindor arriving via trade. But Lindor didn’t enjoy the sort of Queens debut that was expected, and runs became tough to come by for much of the season. When ace Jacob deGrom -- on track for a third Cy Young Award -- was lost for the season in early July, it spelled doom. The Mets still led a mediocre NL East into early August but got left in the dust down the stretch.