Strength of Schedule
By Jake • Feb 19th, 2008 • Category: Feature Story
Trivia answer: Both Chicago teams (19-17).
Interestingly, two of the remaining clubs the Pirates have winning records against are hail from cities full of hot air.. Washington and San Francisco. Perhaps that’s all we really need on the road.. to pack a few wind machines to fill our sails? So, what explains our winning record against the Rangers? Did you say the Bush ‘hot air’ connection? Maybe.. maybe.
Now, will Pirates fans be eating canned hash or roast beef this year?
It looks like another variation of hash to me.
The table below shows the Pirates schedule breakdown for the 2008 season. It’s not a pretty sight when viewed in the context of our previous season’s work. The Bucs have a decent chance of playing .500 or better the first two months of play, but then the schedule gets a bit tougher. After the break through August is downright obscene.
The only thing holding us back from a 100 loss season seems to be one corner or one starter being dealt before the break for lower level impact prospects.
Notes:
# > .500 means the number of series we play during each period where the opposing club had a .500 or better record in 2007
Win% Against is our record - overall - against that team the last two years, unless indicated in the bottom table notes
Expected Wins/Expected Record are based on our Win% Against last two
Jake is no longer contributing at Bucco Blog, a fan blog covering the Pittsburgh Pirates.
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Does baseball, like football, intentionally give weaker schedules to weaker teams? I have never heard of such a thing, so I don\’t think they do, but thought you might know better. Seeing the Pirates consistently slotted to play the Yankees (and so far only in NY) during inter-league play makes me think the opposite. That they are served up as easy wins for the Yanks to give them a better chance of making the playoffs.
erad — no, they pretty much slot all the teams the same it seems. Some get the easier schedule early, some late.. we just happened to get all our harder games at one point after the break.