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Rambling Thoughts on the Schedule, and other things.

The Brewers currently trail the Cubs by 7.  The Cubs have played 56 games.  They are 25-8 at home.  It's interesting to note that the Brewers have accounted for half of the Cubs 8 home losses, but the Brewers don't visit Wrigley again until mid-September.  Of their remaining 106 games, the Cubs will play 58 of them on the road.  They have played just 23 on the road so far, with a 10-13 mark.  The Cubs are currently on pace to win 101 games. 

The Brewers are 28-28 as of this writing.  While there's been a lot of talk about the number of road games they've played so far this year, the ongoing homestand has largely balanced things out.  They've played 25 at home (15-10), and 31 on the road  (13-18).  At the conclusion of the series against Arizona, they will have played 29 games at home and 31 on the road.  By the end of their mid-June homestand, the Brewers will have officially played more at home than on the road, though the road trip that follows will reverse that again.  Whatever imbalance between home and road matchups existed in April and May (and we're really only talking about 5 games or so) will essentially vanish in the next week or two.  So the next time Bill or BA try to pawn off the slow start on the schedule, keep that in mind.  That said, if the Brewers are going to take advantage of a spate of home games to make a move, the time is here.  June is evenly split between home and the road, while July and September each see the Brewers at home for  more games than they'll play on the road.  August is the only remaining month in which they will play more road than home games (17/10). 

The Cubs and Brewers play just 10 more games against each other, 7 of which will be played at Miller Park. 

There's been occasional mention of the season closing series the Brewers have against the Cubs in Miller Park and how that might favor the Brewers if they manage to stay close.  There's been little discussion of the road trip that precedes the final homestand with the Pirates and Cubs.  From September 11th to the 22nd, the Brewers play 10 games in 11 days against the Phillies, Cubs and Reds.

Ben Sheets has been allowed to throw more than 120 pitches in two of his last 3 starts.  I'm probably reading too much into this, but I've suspected since the beginning of the year that the way Sheets was used this season would give some indication as to whether they had any serious intent of trying to sign him.  Given his prior shoulder problems, including a brief flare-up this year, I wonder how much less likely Yost would be to let Sheets throw 120+ pitches in an outing if he wasn't heading for free agency this offseason.  While I'm on that subject I have to say I'm not sure how a rational person isn't concerned enough about Sheets' pitch count to pull him before the 9th inning tonight, but is concerned enough to pull him 15 pitches later with just one out to go.

Someone mentioned the other day that Fielder didn't seem to have the same joy playing the game this year as he did last season.  So it was good to see him charge up the hallway from the clubhouse with a big grin on his face so Weeks and Yost could point out to him how far Branyan hit his solo shot to right.   

Food for thought:  On June 1st, 2007, the eventual division champion Cubs were 22-30, in 4th place (behind the Cards, Pirates and Brewers), and were 7.5 games back.  Not so different from where the Brewers will wake up tomorrow, including the fact that the division leader is on a pace they will not be able to maintain.

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“Someone mentioned the other day that Fielder didn’t seem to have the same joy playing the game this year as he did last season. So it was good to see him charge up the hallway from the clubhouse with a big grin on his face so Weeks and Yost could point out to him how far Branyan hit his solo shot to right.”

I didn’t see it on TV but it’s good if he’s back to being jolly. I like that Prince better than the chip-on-his-shoulder, always-intense Prince.

Obscure baseball records and more at my blog, Recondite Baseball.

by TheJay on Jun 1, 2008 12:30 AM CDT reply actions   0 recs

Sheets

Lots of good thoughts here but I don’t think that Sheets’ pitch count has anything to do with the Brewers’ plans for signing him. Ned is in survival mode right now and Sheets is his only reliable starting pitcher. If the team loses when he pitches they are in trouble because the next 4 games the starters are probably only pitching into the 6th inning at best.
Hopefully the Crew can go 3-1 in the next 4 home games because the road trip to Colorado and Houston after that looks pretty manageable. If the Cubs somehow keep up this pace (they won’t) we can always shoot for the wild card. Before the season I wouldn’t have been happy with a .500 record starting June, but right now I think the Crew is in decent shape.

by molitorfan on Jun 1, 2008 8:19 AM CDT reply actions   0 recs

You're probably right.

And I know my reaction to Sheets pitch count last night and few starts ago are probably out of proportion, but I think Yost’s handling of the top of the 9th yesterday was beyond idiotic…

by Ted Simmons Speed Camp on Jun 1, 2008 8:25 AM CDT up reply actions   0 recs

Incidentally...

Roy Hobbs just went yard against the Cubs on Bravo. Even fake home runs against the Cubs are fun to watch.

by Ted Simmons Speed Camp on Jun 1, 2008 8:37 AM CDT reply actions   0 recs

"I will agree that the attitude [at BCB] is ridiculous and they have done so much to instigate animosity and then block us from responding. Real mature!"

by roguejim on Jun 1, 2008 9:15 AM CDT up reply actions   0 recs

It isn't just the road games though

Our opponents have an average winning percentage of .522 second highest in the NL while the Cubs opponents have an average winning percentage of .501 in the middle of the pack obviously. Thanks to MLB we will almost certainly again play a harder schedule than the Cubs but this differential will fall and that will help a lot too.

Visit my baseball blog ...or else!

by dixieflatline on Jun 1, 2008 9:52 AM CDT reply actions   0 recs

Umm

That’s because the Cubs have beaten their opponents, 14 games over .500 (like the Pirates, 9 out of 11 or something but the Pirates are pretty good against everybody else.) Try taking out the Cubs’ & Brewers’ games of their opponents and check the winning percentages of the opponents then.

by CarolDunc on Jun 1, 2008 11:48 AM CDT reply actions   0 recs

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