Schedule challenges

[SteveA]

Taking an off day to take a look at how the schedule looks the rest of the way.   We know a little bit more about the talent of various teams now than we did at the start of the season, but it's a marathon so there is still a lot we can't be sure of.

Breaking the schedule the remainder of the way into sections:

• First, the Orioles are home for 12 of the next 18 games over 22 days starting today, and have three days off in that span.  And 12 of the 18 games are vs teams with losing records, while the others are against teams who are 19-18 and 20-18 at the moment.   So the Orioles have a chance to continue to build wins and continue that .600+ play during this favorable stretch.
   
• Then, of course, there is June.  There has been much talk of June already.  There is only one off day in the 30 day month.   We also play May 31, so that is a stretch of 30 games in 31 days between May 31 and June 30.     And of those 30 games... 24 are against playoff teams from last year!   And the 6 that aren't are against Cleveland and Yankees, who have the 2nd and 3rd best records in the AL this year!   This is why we need to keep banking wins and getting further over .500, because June looks like a real challenge.
   
• But does it get easier when June ends?   Well, certainly the grind does.   In the next two months (I'll call  July 1 to Sept 1, a 63 day span that ends on a Sunday, the next two months)... the Orioles have 10 days off.   Of course 4 are the All Star Break.   But at least there are some breathers for the pitching staff.   But in those 63 days, the Orioles only play 22 home games.   There are two 6-game West Coast trips (counting Colorado as West Coast), a 10 game Cle/Tor/TB swing, and a Tex/Mia swing in the heat of August.   So while June lacks days off, July and August have a lot more travel and a lot less home cooking.
   
• Labor Day then begins a 3 week stretch, with 3 off days, 12 home games, and 6 road games, all against teams that are currently no better than 1 game over .500.   So it is similar to our current stretch.   If we are near the top of the division when Labor Day hits, this will give us an opportunity to take control of the division.
   
• The last week of the season is spent on the road, potentially against two teams we could be competing with for playoff seeds... the Twins and Yankees.   Those games could be huge.

 

[Answerman]

Interesting thoughts...thanks for taking the time to post this!

 

[ChipTait]

22 home games in 63 days?  That is brutal!

I guess I'll take my vacation the first 10 days of August.  Damn.

[Frobby]

I feel like last year there was a really challenging period in the late spring/early summer that we essentially aced.  Hopefully the O’s will pass those tests this year too.  

[Mooreisbetter27]

Kinda odd that every team in the AL has played more games than us and the Yankees have actually played 3 more. 

I don’t know if the Braves have had any rainouts but they’ve actually played 2 games LESS than us. Bizarre scheduling thus far. 

[Rbiggs2525]

The hardest thing about the June run will be we don’t have much flexibility in the pen. We will need to utilize Tate and Vespi more than likely. Hyde has plenty flexibility in the lineup.