Entering Thursday night’s Midwest League game with Lake County, the Dayton Dragons were 11 games under .500 and in last place in the Eastern Division.

Any team in the majors in that type of situation — say the Cubs or Padres — is in for a long rest of the summer. There is virtually no chance for teams like that to improve enough to make the playoffs.

That isn’t the case in the low minors. Certainly the Dragons will not be as good as they were a year ago when they posted their best record ever, but with a split schedule, everything starts over again after the first 70 games.

That means that six-game losing streak the Dragons suffered through from May 12-17 won’t count after the All-Star break as the season resumes June 22 with everybody even again.

Two things start to happen during the second half of seasons that greatly affect the standings. The better teams start to have their best players moved up. The teams that started out slowly, such as the Dragons, start to figure things out and begin to win.

The Dragons have had several seasons like that, and already are beginning to show what they can do.

Since that six-game losing streak, the team is 10-8. In the last 11 games (again, prior to Thursday), they are 7-4. In the last seven games, they are 5-2. The team was also on a three-game winning streak.

Being at Fifth Third Field is always going to be fun. It’s more fun when the team wins. This one is starting to do that, and when the season re-starts, the Dragons are contenders again.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2157 or mkatz@DaytonDailyNews.com.