Is there a point in the season where the player's in-season statistics play a more vital role in their outcomes than the pre-season stats? What I mean is, say you have a team that is performing WELL above where they should be because of poor opponents. If that team goes up against another team that is performing well but playing against more even-skilled opponents, will the first team have a distinct advantage because their stats have been ballooned?

In one league I'm in, there are two teams in one division that I predict will perform very poorly all season. The good teams in that division will have a distinct advantage getting to play them much more often. This will inflate their stats and record, especially come playoff time.

Do players inevitably regress towards the mean and their drafted season stats (relatively speaking)? Or does the SIM allow for some players to fall back to Earth so to speak when they face better opponents? Is there a point in the season where their current stats have more of an impact on the outcome of each at-bat than the stats of the drafted season?

Thanks.

Each plate appearance is independent of everything else, and certainly doesn't depend on performance earlier in the season (assuming no fatigue issues).

Thanks for the quick response! I'm glad to know that other than fatigue, each PA is independent of everything prior to it and that past performance in the season does not dictate future results. WHEW!