Let's figure it out, 2nd half SOS!

[Mario-Rijo]

An interesting breakdown of "The Contenders" remaining schedule. Give me your thoughts.


Assessing NL strength of scheduleposted: Saturday, July 15, 2006 | Feedback | Print Entry

Following yesterday's American League second-half schedule examination, here is the NL version, which includes more teams. Again, the numbers are rooted in the All-Star break standings. I include Philadelphia and the Braves because they're not buried in the wild-card standings.
Here are the schedule strengths, ranked most difficult to less difficult:


1. Arizona Diamondbacks
Games remaining against teams sub-.500: 25.
Home games remaining: 41.
Toughest stretch: Sept. 19-27 will test them, as they play the Padres, the Dodgers and the Giants on the road.
Big Finish: They close with a four-game homestand against San Diego.

2. Los Angeles Dodgers
Games remaining against teams sub-.500: 28.
Home games remaining: 35.
Toughest stretch: Aug. 18-Sept. 10, with six series against contenders, including four road games against the Mets.
Big Finish: Six road games, at Colorado (three) and at San Francisco.

3. Milwaukee Brewers
Games remaining against teams sub-.500: 40.
Home games remaining: 32.
Toughest stretch: The final two weeks has a chance to be brutal for Milwaukee, with seven games against the Cardinals and four against the Giants, among 13 games.
Big Finish: The Brewers finish on the road, with two games in Wrigley Field and four games in St. Louis. Whew.

4. San Diego Padres
Games remaining against teams sub-.500: 31. Home games remaining: 34.
Toughest stretch: July 20-Aug. 13, when the Padres have an 11-game meatgrinder through San Francisco, L.A., and Colorado, come home for six games, and then head out to play the Mets and Astros on the road.
Big Finish: Seven road games, with three at St. Louis and four at Arizona.

5. Colorado Rockies
Games remaining against teams sub-.500: 33.
Home games remaining: 37.
Toughest stretch: The rest of this month will be a serious trial for the Rockies, who have 10 road games before going home to play the Cardinals and the Padres.
Big Finish: Colorado has a 10-game homestand leading up to the final weekend of the season, and then closes with three games in Wrigley Field.

6. San Francisco Giants
Games remaining against teams sub-.500: 34.
Home games remaining: 36.
Toughest stretch: The last three road trips the Giants have in the second half will be long -- 10 games, 9 games, and 10 games. Not easy.
Big Finish: Six games at home, against Arizona and the Dodgers.

7. Houston Astros
Games remaining against teams sub-.500: 45.
Home games remaining: 32.
Toughest stretch: From Aug. 17 to Sept. 23, the Astros are scheduled to play 26 games -- and of those, 20 are on the road. Three of the six home games in that stretch are against the Mets.
Big Finish: They finish on the road, with three games at Pittsburgh and three at Atlanta.

8. Cincinnati Reds
Games remaining against teams sub-.500: 40.
Home games remaining: 39.
Toughest stretch: They're into it already -- coming out of the break, they've got a 10-game homestand against the Rockies, Mets and Brewers, then hit the road and play the Astros and Brewers, before facing the Dodgers in Cincinnati. We may know by then whether they are contenders or pretenders.
Big Finish: All on the road, with three games at Florida and then at Pittsburgh.

9. Philadelphia Phillies
Games remaining against teams sub-.500: 53 (Every game the Phillies are scheduled to play in September, in fact, will be against teams currently under .500).
Home games remaining: 34.
Toughest stretch: July 14-Aug. 17, in which the Phillies have seven games against the Mets, a West Coast swing through San Francisco and San Diego, and a series at. St. Louis.
Big Finish: Three games at Washington, three games at Florida.

10. Atlanta Braves
Games remaining against teams sub-.500: 48.
Home games remaining: 37.
Toughest stretch: They could either become serious contenders or get knocked out in the next couple of weeks -- out of the break, they open with 10 road games, including three in San Diego, three in St. Louis and four in Philly, before returning home for three games against the Marlins and then the Mets.
Big Finish: They play the Mets and the Astros at home in the last week.

11. St. Louis Cardinals
Games remaining against teams sub-.500: 49.
Home games remaining: 38.
Toughest stretch: Sept. 11-24, when the Cardinals host the Astros and the Giants in a six-game homestand, before hitting the road for seven games at Milwaukee and Houston.
Big Finish: All home games in the last week, with three against the Padres and four against the Milwaukee Brewers.

12. Mets
Games remaining against teams sub-.500: 54.
Home games remaining: 36.
Toughest stretch: Aug. 18-Sept. 3, six home games against the Rockies and Cardinals, and a three-game series at Colorado and another at Houston.
Big Finish: Three games at Atlanta, three games at Washington.

My thoughts are that Philly looks more & more like they will fold the tent soon, so with that in mind it's between us, the Astros and the Braves IMHO. Of course one thing to remember is that our SOS basically lists these other 2 as part of our sub .500 schedule so keep this in mind.

[Henry Clay]

My main thought is that the "big finish" category looks like, if the Reds can keep it close in the Division or the WC, the finish could actually have some drama. Finishing against a by-then depleted Pittsburgh team and a young, rebuilding Marlins team is not a bad thing, at all. Plus, this team plays well on the road.

[RBA]

Interesting they say the D'Backs have the toughest schedule left by saying this..

"Toughest stretch: Sept. 19-27 will test them, as they play the Padres, the Dodgers and the Giants on the road"

Hmm, at the end of August, first week of September the Reds play the Giants, Dodgers, Padres on the road. But this isn't mentioned in the Reds write up.

Me thinks, this is another writer who has no clue.

Also, none of the other teams have the Reds as part of "their toughest stretch". Interesting or just ignorant?

[Phhhl]

Generally speaking, the Cards and Astros stand between this team and the post-season. Houston is a better team than St. Louis right now, so I suggest we beat the snot out of the Cardinals when we play them down the stretch. That's convenient, since they are currently in first place and motivation should not be a factor.

We definately need to play better than we have against the Brewers too.

[George Foster]

The first 15 games after the All-Star break is like the first 5 minutes in the
2nd half of a college basketball game....it's sets the tone "for the rest of the game." A 4-0 start is good, very good. We need to win 8 out of 12 against the Mets, Brewers, Astros, and Brewers again. This will set the tone. If we loose 8 out of 12 we are in hospice...

p.s. We are DUE to put a whoppin' on the Brewers..IMO

[RedsMan3203]

The Reds play better away from GABP - So finishing up the season away.. Could also help us... Even better with Pittburgh.. But, the Marlins are still a tough team.... Depends how they are playing down the stretch...


They Key to the rest of the season.... The West is going to beat up on each other... (LA, SanFran, SD, Arizona, and the Rockies)

What I believe stands between us, and the post season is: A long streak where our bats go cold (like the month of May) or playing bad against Houston and the Brewers.

We have 2, 3 game sets left with the Brewers.. 1 home and 1 away... (end of july) If we can get by them with a 3-3 or a 4-2 record.. We are good...

Houston we have 3, 3 game sets 1 home, 2 away. We have to atleast take 5 out of those 9 games from them....

The rest should be taken care of... If we do what we need to do... Play 500 ball on the road, and play good at home.