Here’s a schedule breakdown the rest of the way. Maybe one way to look into the future and decipher who exactly has the edge for the AL East crown. I don’t care if it’s early.
Boston Red Sox
Number of Games: 105
Home Games: 57
Road Games: 48
Opponents: New York (9), Toronto (8), Baltimore (9), Tampa Bay (9), Chicago (6), Detroit (3), Cleveland (4), Minnesota (6), Kansas City (9), Texas (5), Oakland (10), Los Angeles (6), Seattle (6), Washington (3), Philadelphia (3), New York Mets (3), Florida (3), Atlanta (3)
Longest Road Trip: August 22-30 (9 games in 9 days)
Longest Homestand: June 19-21, August 31-September 10
Easiest Stretch: August 4-13 (@ TB, KC, vs. BAL)
Hardest Stretch: August 28-September 6 (@ OAK, vs. TOR, vs. CHW)
Opponents Combined Record*: 28.59-29.90
Opponents Winning Percentage: .488
*= For this, I added the opposing teams record however many times the team plays them. For example, I added the Mets record three times for a total of 108-69. I added that for each team and divided the combined total by the games remaining. Even though this is probably skewered in some way, I feel like one of those sabermetric guys. We?ll call it REC%
New York Yankees
Number of Games: 104
Home Games: 53
Road Games: 51
Opponents: Boston (9), Toronto (13), Baltimore (12), Tampa Bay (13), Chicago (6), Detroit (3), Cleveland (7), Minnesota (3), Kansas City (3), Texas (3), Oakland (3), Los Angeles (7), Seattle (6), Washington (3), Philadelphia (3), Atlanta (3), New York Mets (3), Florida (3)
Longest Road Trip: August 18-27 (11 games in 10 days)
Longest Homestand: June 23-July 2
Easiest Stretch: June 19-June 28 (@ Wash, @ Phil, vs. Florida, vs. Atlanta)
Hardest Stretch: July 14-July 26 (vs. CHW, vs. SEA, @ TOR, @ TEX)
Opponents Combined Record: 29.00-29.89
Opponents Winning Percentage: .492
We can come to these conclusions:
– The winning percentages are a .004 difference for the rest of the season, so this race is coming right down to the wire with no huge schedule advantage for either team.
– The Yankees have an advantage in travel; They only have to play 6 games in LA and Seattle the rest of the way. Boston has to go West twice, one series 9 games in 9 days against LA, Oakland and Seattle.
– The Yankees play divisional opponents 47 more times; the Red Sox 35.
– The Yankees play at Fenway 5 times, the Red Sox at Yankee 4 times.
– Boston has four more home games than New York, a very slight difference.
I tried to find a final conclusion in doing this, but all I found was that the schedule strengths are significantly similar. The Yankees and Red Sox combined 22 more games against the Blue Jays could make or break the race?for all three teams. I didn?t do Toronto because just two teams took surprisingly long, but they could win this division. Although, when you combine the Red Sox four more home games, one more vs. the Yankees, and a worse opponent winning percentage, and the .5 game lead the Yankees have right now?our projections call for the Red Sox to win the division by 1 game. There ya go.
