Not trying to get ahead of things here but just trying to figure out what our best chances are to move beyond the 1st round of the playoffs should we make them. Doing it early so we can hope/root for the best case scenario to happen to give us that best chance to proceed beyond the 1st round and even to the W/S.
What do you think that scenario is?
I think obviously we are gonna have to root for the teams who are more well rounded and less dominant in any one area. The least dominant and/or less established TOR's makes sense as this seems to be the weak link in our club for the playoffs.
Atlanta as winner of the East.
San Diego as winner of the West.
Cincinnati as Winner of the Central.
S.F. as the winner of the W/C.
IMO we have a better chance of beating these teams than any others who still have a realistic shot to make the playoffs. S.F. has the best rotation but weaker offenses IMO than St. Louis or Philly. FWIW Though I think it's likely gonna end up like this.
Philly in the East
S.F. in the West
Reds..
Atlanta as W/C
A quick glance at the schedules shows S.D. with the toughest schedule IMO for the remainder of the season. And if I were a betting man I'd guess Philly has the best record and faces Atlanta. I think we can beat the Giants, sure they have excellent starting pitching but their offense is so-so at best. I also don't give a clear advantage to the Braves or Padres over us, JMO but I think Philly, once in the playoffs would be far tougher to beat.
So IMO the best case scenario is for the W/C to come out of the West and Atlanta to somehow eek out the East. Preferably like so...
Atlanta (best record)
Vs.
San Francisco (W/C)
S.D. (better record)
Vs.
Cincy (worst division winner record)
Atlanta
Vs.
Cincy
Playing more games away hurts the offense a bit but gives the pitching the best bet to succeed. Does anyone think we'd be better off if we had home field advantage? If Philly and/or St. Louis make the playoffs they have the best chance of winning a short series against everyone else.