Remaining Schedules

[rickh150]

If the Brewers continue to take care of their own business, the Reds will soon be irrelevant. The Reds are paying for being mediocre in the first half of the season. Playing well now, but they will need to be pretty close to otherworldly at this point to make a move on the division. They just aren't gaining any ground because ... the Brewers are playing pretty dang good ball too.

 

 

Sweeping gets us up 11 in the loss column with no more Reds games on the schedule. Getting swept puts us suddenly at 5 games up in loss column with still five games left in August alone. Odds are we win one or two, but this is a big series that’ll set up the gravity of near future series.

[Brewermania101]

Missing Miley in the next series does help the Brewers He always seems to be clutch in important games the last few years

[rickh150]

Missing Miley in the next series does help the Brewers He always seems to be clutch in important games the last few years

 

Think the same… their righties will face more Rowdy and Peterson because of Escobar’s injury; this sounds better than us facing Miley.

[BruisedCrew]

Winker is on the IL so the Reds will be missing one of their big guns too.

 

Moustakas seems to have taken over at third replacing Suarez.

[KeithStone53151]

This 3 game series, basically just don't get swept right? 7.5 becoming 4.5 would kinda suck. But taking 2 of 3 and pushing the lead to 8.5 would more or less be the nail in the coffin with no head to head left.

[wibadgers23]

This 3 game series, basically just don't get swept right? 7.5 becoming 4.5 would kinda suck. But taking 2 of 3 and pushing the lead to 8.5 would more or less be the nail in the coffin with no head to head left.

 

Yeah, I agree. Just don't get swept. Their lead is big enough at this point that even if the Reds take 2 of 3, they only gain one game and are still 6.5 back with something like 34 games left.

[BruisedCrew]

When I first looked at the remaining schedules a few weeks ago, this stretch of 5 series stood out as an opportunity for the Reds to make a big charge.

 

After this series, the Brewers go on to play 13 more games without a day off, with 10 of the games against playoff contenders (Giants, Cardinals, Phillies) and the series against the Twins with none of the Big 3 starting, unless Peralta comes back on the first day he is eligible to come off the IL.

 

At the same time, the Reds have only one series against a playoff contender (a home series against the Cardinals) with the others against the Marlins, Tigers, and Cubs.

 

I think it’s important for the Brewers to win at least 2 of 3 in this series to keep the Reds from using it as a springboard to a big move.

[nate82]

The Cardinals look done. They had to end this month strong and it looks like they are going out with a whimper.

[wibadgers23]

The Cardinals look done. They had to end this month strong and it looks like they are going out with a whimper.

 

Speaking of looking done, the Padres are in absolute free fall mode right now and their September schedule is brutal. We might be heading toward a Reds-Dodgers wild card matchup.

[Eye Black]

Speaking of looking done, the Padres are in absolute free fall mode right now and their September schedule is brutal. We might be heading toward a Reds-Dodgers wild card matchup.

If we end up with a Reds-Dodgers matchup in the Wild Card I sort of wonder if the Reds will use multiple starting pitchers (among Mahle, Miley, Castillo, Gray) in the game. There seems to be such a large drop off between their starting pitching and their bullpen that I wouldn’t blame them for going all hands on deck with their starters.

[Jopal78]

The Cardinals look done. They had to end this month strong and it looks like they are going out with a whimper.

 

It’s kind of funny, the Cardinals have been such a good franchise over the years that even in a season where they probably will win 85 games it will be considered a down year. That’s next level expectations for you.

[MrTPlush]

This 3 game series, basically just don't get swept right? 7.5 becoming 4.5 would kinda suck. But taking 2 of 3 and pushing the lead to 8.5 would more or less be the nail in the coffin with no head to head left.

 

This holds true for pretty much every series left. Head to head is always a bit overrated in my opinion. We just don't want to find ourselves on a losing streak when the Reds are on a winning streak. I have always thought playing the other team is somewhat unbeneficial. The other team is pretty good (I would rather be playing the Pirates) and there is no way to win a series 2-1 and gain two games. If the Reds won a series against someone else and we got swept they can gain 2 games over a 3 game period. Just feels like there is less opportunity to keep pace or gain decent ground....as sweeping a team as good as the Brewers is pretty darn unlikely.

 

I thought the Reds were going to need to really gain some ground to cut the lead before the calendar flipped, probably make it sub 5 games back. They are really running out of time to get within reasonable distance.

[DuWayne Steurer]

The Cardinals look done. They had to end this month strong and it looks like they are going out with a whimper.

 

It’s kind of funny, the Cardinals have been such a good franchise over the years that even in a season where they probably will win 85 games it will be considered a down year. That’s next level expectations for you.

 

 

May 29th they were 30 - 22 and 1/2 game up in first place. They proceeded to go 6-18 over their next 24 games after Flaherty went down and pretty much wreck their season as the Brewers and Reds turned things around. As others have said in other threads, the Redbirds fans don't accept tanking/rebuilds, so they were pretty much stuck between a rock and a hard place between selling off some older vet pieces in a lost season and "going for it" when that wasn't really a prime option..... so here they are, 13 games back.

 

They've got Yadi back in his age 40 season at 10 mil next year though, so they'll be fine.

[Jopal78]

The Cardinals look done. They had to end this month strong and it looks like they are going out with a whimper.

 

It’s kind of funny, the Cardinals have been such a good franchise over the years that even in a season where they probably will win 85 games it will be considered a down year. That’s next level expectations for you.

 

 

May 29th they were 30 - 22 and 1/2 game up in first place. They proceeded to go 6-18 over their next 24 games after Flaherty went down and pretty much wreck their season as the Brewers and Reds turned things around. As others have said in other threads, the Redbirds fans don't accept tanking/rebuilds, so they were pretty much stuck between a rock and a hard place between selling off some older vet pieces in a lost season and "going for it" when that wasn't really a prime option..... so here they are, 13 games back.

 

They've got Yadi back in his age 40 season at 10 mil next year though, so they'll be fine.

 

I agree they’ve made some acquisitions and extensions that haven’t worked out: Fowler. Andrew Miller, Goldschmidt, Mikolas, Matt Carpenter.

 

But like I said, they probably win 85 games despite their #1 (Flaherty), #2 (Mikolas) starters missing almost the entire year, and it will be a forgotten season. That’s wild because 60% of the teams won’t get to 81 wins

[brewcrewdue80]

This 3 game series, basically just don't get swept right? 7.5 becoming 4.5 would kinda suck. But taking 2 of 3 and pushing the lead to 8.5 would more or less be the nail in the coffin with no head to head left.

 

This holds true for pretty much every series left. Head to head is always a bit overrated in my opinion. We just don't want to find ourselves on a losing streak when the Reds are on a winning streak. I have always thought playing the other team is somewhat unbeneficial. The other team is pretty good (I would rather be playing the Pirates) and there is no way to win a series 2-1 and gain two games. If the Reds won a series against someone else and we got swept they can gain 2 games over a 3 game period. Just feels like there is less opportunity to keep pace or gain decent ground....as sweeping a team as good as the Brewers is pretty darn unlikely.

 

I thought the Reds were going to need to really gain some ground to cut the lead before the calendar flipped, probably make it sub 5 games back. They are really running out of time to get within reasonable distance.

 

What do you mean H2H is overated? 3 game series and a sweep one way or the other is a 6 game swing in the standings. In any other series not heads up is just 3games where both teams can have the same results. That is essentially what the Brewers have done to the Reds since All Star break is match their record when not H2H. So if the Reds can't gain in a non H2H they need to win the games vs the Brewers to gain games on them.

 

We need to start preparing for the Dodgers catching SF and SF and Reds being the wild card teams. 14-2 in last 16 and Scherzer is 3-0 in 4LA starts, who may just snipe in here on Cy Young and steal it when LA does overtake SF. Milwaukee's late season runs always included a SP who came in and won games that you didn't expect that type of result. Scherzer looks to be that guy for LA and you expect those results.

[adambr2]

I'm still thinking the Dodgers will catch the Giants for the West, but I hope it doesn't happen.

[Fear The Chorizo]

This 3 game series, basically just don't get swept right? 7.5 becoming 4.5 would kinda suck. But taking 2 of 3 and pushing the lead to 8.5 would more or less be the nail in the coffin with no head to head left.

 

This holds true for pretty much every series left. Head to head is always a bit overrated in my opinion. We just don't want to find ourselves on a losing streak when the Reds are on a winning streak. I have always thought playing the other team is somewhat unbeneficial. The other team is pretty good (I would rather be playing the Pirates) and there is no way to win a series 2-1 and gain two games. If the Reds won a series against someone else and we got swept they can gain 2 games over a 3 game period. Just feels like there is less opportunity to keep pace or gain decent ground....as sweeping a team as good as the Brewers is pretty darn unlikely.

 

I thought the Reds were going to need to really gain some ground to cut the lead before the calendar flipped, probably make it sub 5 games back. They are really running out of time to get within reasonable distance.

 

What do you mean H2H is overated? 3 game series and a sweep one way or the other is a 6 game swing in the standings. In any other series not heads up is just 3games where both teams can have the same results. That is essentially what the Brewers have done to the Reds since All Star break is match their record when not H2H. So if the Reds can't gain in a non H2H they need to win the games vs the Brewers to gain games on them.

 

We need to start preparing for the Dodgers catching SF and SF and Reds being the wild card teams. 14-2 in last 16 and Scherzer is 3-0 in 4LA starts, who may just snipe in here on Cy Young and steal it when LA does overtake SF. Milwaukee's late season runs always included a SP who came in and won games that you didn't expect that type of result. Scherzer looks to be that guy for LA and you expect those results.

 

I think the point with the H2H matchups of playoff teams down the stretch is that it's just tougher to sweep series against other good teams - so there's always this "6 games left against team X who's trailing by 5 games, if they win all 6 they win the division" line of thinking, when the reality is that even if they go a much more likely 4-2 against a team that has proven to be better than them all year long, they walk away from those 6 H2H games still 3 games behind the team they are chasing. Yes, making up ground can be done most efficiently with H2H matchups, but so can losing ground in the standings. More often than not what it takes for a big lead to be squandered or overcome (depending whether the team you root for is leading/chasing) is a team scuffling just below 0.500 for a few weeks while the other team plays 0.800 baseball during that same stretch against weak competition, maybe with 1 H2H series mixed in amongst that stretch that builds momentum. All 162 wind up being important, and at this stage it's just critical for the Brewers to avoid a poorly timed 5-7 game losing streak.

 

I agree that the Dodgers look like they're catching the Giants next month - assuming that does happen, then I'd want the Brewers to gun for the top overall seed so their 1st round matchup would be against the Reds or Giants and the Dodgers would have to deal with a Braves team that has been rolling until it ran into an equally scalding Yankee squad the past couple nights. As this season winds down, it will be interesting to see how that final series in LA will unfold - whether the Brewers/Dodgers are both gunning for the best record or not.

[MrTPlush]

What do you mean H2H is overated? 3 game series and a sweep one way or the other is a 6 game swing in the standings.

 

Sure, but that can happen in any three game period though, that was my point. If we go get swept in our next series and they sweep whoever they play...boom, 6 game swing. Sure, it is the Reds last chance to have the 'power' to force both those outcomes...but once you consider sweeping us is incredibly unlikely it really isn't that great of a situation. I just think it is a little over glorified. The Reds either gain 3 games or they would gain 1 game. If they faced a different team they could gain 0, 1, 2, or 3 games...more opportunity for neutral or positive gains in the standings.

[monty57]

The Cardinals look done. They had to end this month strong and it looks like they are going out with a whimper.

 

It’s kind of funny, the Cardinals have been such a good franchise over the years that even in a season where they probably will win 85 games it will be considered a down year. That’s next level expectations for you.

 

I've always thought that the Cardinals should be the team we model ourselves after. Similar market size Midwestern team that has a rabid fan base largely because of their winning tradition. They never go "all in," and they never "tank for a draft pick," they have a mid-tier market and payroll, yet they are always contending and have won more World Series than anyone outside of the Yankees.

 

I think Stearns is going for this type of model, which as a long-suffering Brewers fan makes me very happy.

[BruisedCrew]

 

I've always thought that the Cardinals should be the team we model ourselves after. Similar market size Midwestern team that has a rabid fan base largely because of their winning tradition. They never go "all in," and they never "tank for a draft pick," they have a mid-tier market and payroll, yet they are always contending and have won more World Series than anyone outside of the Yankees.

 

I think Stearns is going for this type of model, which as a long-suffering Brewers fan makes me very happy.

 

I don’t think the Cardinals and Brewers are similar market size. The Cardinals market covers a much bigger area beyond the immediate St. Louis area, whereas the Brewers are kind of penned in by Chicago, the Twin Cities, and Lake Michigan. As one of the old 16 franchises, they have a big following in areas throughout the Great Plains and mid south. I’m sure their broadcast rights revenue is much higher than the Brewers, which is one of the lowest in MLB.

[BallFour]

 

I've always thought that the Cardinals should be the team we model ourselves after. Similar market size Midwestern team that has a rabid fan base largely because of their winning tradition. They never go "all in," and they never "tank for a draft pick," they have a mid-tier market and payroll, yet they are always contending and have won more World Series than anyone outside of the Yankees.

 

I think Stearns is going for this type of model, which as a long-suffering Brewers fan makes me very happy.

 

I don’t think the Cardinals and Brewers are similar market size. The Cardinals market covers a much bigger area beyond the immediate St. Louis area, whereas the Brewers are kind of penned in by Chicago, the Twin Cities, and Lake Michigan. As one of the old 16 franchises, they have a big following in areas throughout the Great Plains and mid south. I’m sure their broadcast rights revenue is much higher than the Brewers, which is one of the lowest in MLB.

 

This is so true just look at the radio affiliates for the Cardinals vs. the Brewers. The Cardinals have affiliates in Illinois, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Iowa, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Indiana. We will never be able to compete with that.

[Eye Black]

I’ve been hoping the Brewers would enter their final series of the season in LA versus the Dodgers playing meaningless games. While that is looking pretty likely at the moment from the Brewers perspective, it will be interesting if that series decides whether or not the Dodgers win the division or play in the wild card game. Not that I necessarily expect that to change how the Brewers would approach that scenario, but it would be sort of interesting if they have an opportunity to land a direct blow to the Dodgers World Series chances even before the playoffs begin.

[DuWayne Steurer]

13 up on the Cards with 35 games to go. They aren't mathematically eliminated, but are we feeling pretty good about them being firmly in the rear-view yet?

 

Reds are on their last gasp after losing the first 2 games of this series. Even winning today doesn't do them much good in the division race now.

[MrTPlush]

I’ve been hoping the Brewers would enter their final series of the season in LA versus the Dodgers playing meaningless games. While that is looking pretty likely at the moment from the Brewers perspective, it will be interesting if that series decides whether or not the Dodgers win the division or play in the wild card game. Not that I necessarily expect that to change how the Brewers would approach that scenario, but it would be sort of interesting if they have an opportunity to land a direct blow to the Dodgers World Series chances even before the playoffs begin.

 

The Dodgers probably get the Brewers top dogs regardless, so it won't really matter what situation we are in. The NLDS doesn't start till Friday/Saturday. That means even the Sunday finale starter is on 4+ days rest come the start of the NLDS. I wouldn't be shocked if they line it up Burnes/Woodruff/Peralta to the end the season. Each guy would end up with about a weeks rest before they pitch.

 

Now would those guys throw 100 pitches? Probably not. Would we put together our strongest line ups? Definitely not.

[KeithStone53151]

13 up on the Cards with 35 games to go. They aren't mathematically eliminated, but are we feeling pretty good about them being firmly in the rear-view yet?

 

Reds are on their last gasp after losing the first 2 games of this series. Even winning today doesn't do them much good in the division race now.

 

The Reds next 6 series include 4 layup series(Marlins, Cubs, Tigers, Pirates) and then 2 against the Cardinals. Earlier in August they had 4 game sweeps of both the Pirates and Marlins. I get the odds are long regardless of schedule, I guess I'll say I expect the 9.5 game gap to close at least some over the next 3 weeks or so. There's just no way we can extend the lead with them having such a cake schedule. My shot in the dark guess is we'll have a 6 game lead on 9/16 with 12 to play and them about to face a Dodgers team that probably will still need the wins.