Second-half schedules for NL contenders

[fearofpopvol1]

http://insider.espn.go.com/mlb/blog/...contenders-mlb

It's an Insider article, so I can't post it obviously, but it's pretty interesting. Basically, Olney sets forth that the Reds have the easiest remaining schedule of all teams in the NL who are contending. The Pirates have the 2nd easiest schedule remaining (in the NL and our division), but the Cardinals by far have the hardest remaining schedule of NL Central teams and one of the hardest of all contending teams. Reds/Pirates/Cardinals all have a tough end to the season.

Also, it was mentioned during the game today that the rotation out of the break against the Cardinals will start out with Latos pitching 1st, Leake pitching 2nd, and Cueto pitching 3rd, to give him some extra rest. They didn't say, but I would imagine Arroyo would be 4th and Bailey 5th.

[_Sir_Charles_]

http://insider.espn.go.com/mlb/blog/...contenders-mlb

It's an Insider article, so I can't post it obviously, but it's pretty interesting. Basically, Olney sets forth that the Reds have the easiest remaining schedule of all teams in the NL who are contending. The Pirates have the 2nd easiest schedule remaining (in the NL and our division), but the Cardinals by far have the hardest remaining schedule of NL Central teams and one of the hardest of all contending teams. Reds/Pirates/Cardinals all have a tough end to the season.

Also, it was mentioned during the game today that the rotation out of the break against the Cardinals will start out with Latos pitching 1st, Leake pitching 2nd, and Cueto pitching 3rd, to give him some extra rest. They didn't say, but I would imagine Arroyo would be 4th and Bailey 5th.

Yes, that's the rotation just to verify that.

SAN DIEGO — The Reds will come out of the All-Star Break with a rotation of Mat Latos, Mike Leake, Johnny Cueto, Bronson Arroyo and Homer Bailey.

[Vottomatic]

Reds are 23-16 at home, and 24-22 on the road. That's 39 games at home and 46 games on the road. That should mean the Reds will have 7 more home games than road games in the second half, correct?

Pirates are 29-14 (43 games) at home and 19-23 (42 games) on the road. Hopefully their road record continues to suffer.

Cardinals are the same at home and on the road, 23-20 each.

[Always Red]

4 days, no real baseball....the longest days of the year, IMO.....

[Virginia Beach Reds]

Insider article (can I do this? Not sure (I'm a subscriber))

1. Cincinnati Reds
Home/away: 42 of their final 77 games are at home.

Games left against teams over .500: 24.

Schedule notes: The Reds' first 10 games out of the All-Star break will be at home, and only three of Cincinnati's first 19 games after the break are against teams with records over .500.

The Big Finish: The Reds will have a season-ending challenge with a three-game series in Pittsburgh and three games in St. Louis.


2. Pittsburgh Pirates
Home/away: 38 of their final 77 games are at home.

Games left against teams over .500: 26.

Schedule notes: Remember how the Pirates had by far the hardest April schedule? Well, here's the payoff: Pittsburgh's first 19 games in the second half are against teams with records under .500, including a whole bunch with the Cubs and Astros.

The Big Finish: It won't be easy down the stretch -- the Pirates will likely face contenders in their final 10 games, with series against the Mets, Reds and Braves.


3. San Francisco Giants
Home/away: 39 of their last 76 games are at home.

Games left against teams over .500: 27.

Schedule notes: Depending on how Arizona plays in the second half, the Giants could have an incredibly easy September. After having series with the Astros and Cubs at the end of August, the Giants have 13 games in September against the Padres and Rockies. San Francisco has three separate series with the Diamondbacks, who are currently under .500.

The Big Finish: The Giants' final six games are on the road -- at San Diego and at Los Angeles.


4. Los Angeles Dodgers
Home/away: 38 of their last 75 games are at home.

Games left against teams over .500: 36.

Schedule notes: As the trade deadline nears, the Dodgers have a challenging 10-game road trip that will take them through New York, St. Louis and San Francisco.

The Big Finish: The Dodgers will close out their regular season with six home games -- three against Colorado and three against the Giants.


5. Washington Nationals
Home/away: 41 of Washington's last 79 games are at home.

Games left against teams over .500: 35.

Schedule notes: The Nationals have a chance to distance themselves from the other contenders in the division right after the All-Star Game, because their schedule is filled with games against NL East teams -- 21 of their first 25 coming out of the break.

The Big Finish: Six of the Nationals' last nine games are against the Phillies, and the other three are against the Cardinals.


6. Atlanta Braves
Home/away: 39 of their final 77 games are at home.

Games left against teams over .500: 35.

Schedule notes: Atlanta's season could turn on how it plays against the Marlins, whom the Braves will face 13 times in the second half.

The Big Finish: Interestingly, the Braves close out their year in Pittsburgh with a three-game series.


7. St. Louis Cardinals
Home/away: 38 of their final 76 games are at home.

Games left against teams over .500: 37.

Schedule notes: The Cardinals have nine games left against the Reds, with two of the series in Cincinnati. St. Louis has a ton of games remaining against the best teams in the NL West and NL East, including the Nationals (seven), Dodgers (eight) and Giants (four).

The Big Finish: St. Louis finishes the year with six home games against good teams -- the Nationals and Reds.

[Vottomatic]

Really good info there Va Beach. Thanks.

[757690]

I'm not that concerned with the schedule. I've seen too many contending teams fall out of contention by getting beat by below .500 teams. It seems the teams that make the playoffs are the ones that beat up on the lesser teams. It's not enough to just have them on the schedule. The Reds have to beat them.

[vaticanplum]

Reiterated up by Grantland's weekly power rankings, which have them at seventh this week after the 6-5 road trip, just one place behind the Pirates who went 9-2 in the same span.

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/...-league-notice

7. Cincinnati Reds, 47-38 (358 RS, 316 RA) (last week: 6)

Sure, they've been overtaken by the Pirates. But the Reds' second half looks bright. As Buster Olney wrote, the Reds have the easiest second-half schedule of any National League team, with 42 of 77 games at home, and just 24 games against teams currently over .500.2 If you're looking for trade targets here, think left-handed sock. Despite Joey Votto's outrageous numbers, the lefty-lacking Reds rank just 21st in the majors in production vs. right-handed pitching, with a .306 wOBA.

[Reds/Flyers Fan]

4 days, no real baseball....the longest days of the year, IMO.....

Better than the four months of no real baseball we have to endure starting in November.

[Reds/Flyers Fan]

I'm just thrilled that there are no more (regular season) games in California. It's great getting that out of the way before the ASB.

Icing on the cake: No more games period against the Nats, Braves and Giants and, thankfully, no more games against the blasted AL (though that won't be the case next year at this time).

Possible extra icing on the cake: With the chance that the Reds' playoff fate is decided before the last three games of the year, no more meaningful games in STL.

[Always Red]

Better than the four months of no real baseball we have to endure starting in November.

yeah, but right in the middle of baseball season?

And I don't count the All Star game as a real game.