Oakland A’s Have Toughest Road To Playoffs:

Of the 15 teams in contention for playoff berths, only 10 will make it to the post season. Sure the Cincinnati Reds and Texas Rangers look like shoo-ins for October, but which teams will be looking in from the outside?

If you consider strength of schedule, then the Oakland A’s definitely have the toughest road to the playoffs.

Oakland (O.co) Coliseum

After this weekend’s series in Seattle, the Green and Gold will be playing the Yankees, Rays and White Sox in the weeks ahead, plus seven games against the Texas Rangers.The A’s opponents have a .548 winning percentage, which is tops in the American League. Add in the likely season-ending injuries to Brandon McCarthy and Brandon Inge — and the Oakland Athletics look like a long-shot to make the playoffs — but these guys have been overperforming all season long, so you can never count them out.

By contrast, the Detroit Tigers have the easiest schedule of all playoff contenders.

Comerica Park, Home of the Detroit Tigers

Their opponents have a winning percentage of just .474, which is significant down the stretch.

In the National League, the Los Angeles Dodgers have the toughest schedule, as their opponents have a .534 winning percentage.

Dodger Stadium

The San Francisco Giants have the fourth toughest schedule ahead, facing teams with a .472 winning percentage.

AT&T Park

By contrast, the St. Louis Cardinals have the easiest schedule, playing 9 straight games vs. the lowly Chicago Cubs and hapless Houston Astros in mid-September.

Busch Stadium

Here’s how Sports Illustrated ranks the playoff contenders in terms of strength of schedule:

American League:
Team    SOS
1. A’s    0.548
2. Angels    0.533
3. Rays    0.525
4. Rangers    0.520
5. Orioles    0.506
6. Yankees    0.485
7. White Sox    0.477
8. Tigers    0.474

National League
Team    SOS
1. Dodgers    0.534
2. Nationals    0.500
3. Braves    0.494
4. Giants    0.472
5. Pirates    0.469
6. Reds    0.467
7. Cardinals    0.464

I’m picking  the  Yankees, Rangers and Tigers to win their divisions and I like the  White Sox chances for the Wild Card in the American League, along with my dark horse pick, the Angels for other slot.

In the National League, I’ll take the Nats, Reds and Giants as division winners, with the Braves and Cardinals for the Wild Card slots.

I’d love to hear your thoughts…

About Mike

Mike Luery is an award-winning journalist with 25 years on TV and radio. Currently, he is the political reporter for KCRA-TV, the top-ranked station in Sacramento. This is Luery's second tour of duty with KCRA, where he was also a reporter from 1984 - 2000. In between, he was NBC's Capitol Bureau Chief in California and a reporter for CBS 13 in Sacramento. Luery lives in northern California with his wife Carol. Baseball Between Us is his first book.
This entry was posted in Uncategorized. Bookmark the permalink.