Standings following the Western road trip

[Est1970]

The TV announcers keep talking about the difficult road trip which is now upon us...3 @ Colorado, 3@ San Francisco, 3@ LA Dodgers.

In the same time period the Cubs have:

1 vs Cincinnati

3 vs. Toronto

3@ Cincinnati

3@ Philadelphia

 

The Cardinals have:

4@ Pittsburgh (1 actually at Williamsport PA)

3 vs San Diego

3 vs. Tampa

 

What will the standings look like as the crew returns home after the trip?

I can't see the Brewers doing better than 4-5, 1 win in Colorado, 2 in SF, 1 in LA.

Cubs go 7-3, winning today and the 2/3 in each series. Cards go 6-4, split with pirates, 2/3 in the other series. That leaves us 4.5 behind the cubs and .5 behind the Cardinals on August 28.

Your thoughts?

[shanedog19]

I think that is a pretty fair assessment of where things will be following the road trip. It would be great to see us go 5-4 and get two over Colorado and claw back into the wild card race. The Dbacks have been coming back down to earth lately as well.

[JohnBriggs12]

They are going to miss Bumgarner in SF, and they are rolling into Denver with hot bats. They should have swept the Dodgers in Milwaukee and frankly the Dodgers are due to lose one series. If they can go 5-4 they'll be very much in it.

 

Projecting results based on schedules is tricky. More important is how you are playing rather than who you are playing.

[DuWayne Steurer]

 

Projecting results based on schedules is tricky. More important is how you are playing rather than who you are playing.

 

Bolded for emphasis. This is a really good point, and we've seen many times a stretch of schedule where our Brewers are going up against a batch of sub-.500 teams and say "we should go like 10 - 2 or 9-3 in this stretch" and see them go 5- 7 or something or other. It's a tough roadtrip, but hopefully they can come out with a net positive, and the Cubs will stumble over the next 10 days.

[Bob Skube Snacks]

I agree. Baseball isn't football. I've always thought strength of schedule is vastly overrated when it comes to a short series. It may show over 162 games, but not three or four.

 

That said, I expect nothing in L.A. The Colorado series is key. If they can take two of three, they can take some momentum to San Francisco.

[MrTPlush]

They are going 6-3 in the trip actually. Screw this 4-5 stuff.

[Bombers]

They are going 6-3 in the trip actually. Screw this 4-5 stuff.

I agree with this. The giants stink they are currently the 3rd worst team in baseball. The homerun hitting brewers should fair well at Coors. So I say sweep the lowly Giants, 2-1 vs Rockies and 1-2 vs dodgers

[adambr2]

The only way I can see them going 6-3 is if they somehow sweep the Giants and take 2 of 3 against the Rockies. I don't see them winning more than a game in LA especislly if Kershaw returns that series. At least we'll miss MadBum.

[Madhawk23]

Is LA expecting to get Kershaw back for that series next weekend? Yeah, that would suck if we catch them at exactly the time that he's coming back from his injury. With that said, maybe he'll be a bit on the rusty side? Definitely a huge break to miss Mad Bum in that SF series, so hopefully we can take advantage of that.

 

Playing in LA will be a different story, but we went head to head with them in Milwaukee and really should have swept that series if our pen doesn't completely implode the first two games.

 

This first series in COL is obviously critical to getting off on the right foot. Need to find a way to take 2/3. Not going to be easy either when we are sending Garza, a rookie making his 3rd big league start (at least he has experience pitching in CO), and a guy making his first start after a 6 week DL stint, out to the mound in the thin CO air. Need our bats to stay hot this series so that we don't have to rely too much on the pitching.

[RobDeer 45]

Boy this is fun to think about but also stressful. I'm always a worrier so I think they will lose ground on the trip. I'm really hoping they can have a great series against COL to star this trip off. One series at a time.

[jerichoholicninja]

At what point do the Dodgers start to dial it back? They've basically clinched the division and half the Nats starting 9 is on the DL. They're almost to the point where they really have nothing to play for and need to keep guys fresh for the playoffs.

[Madhawk23]

Just read up on Kershaw a bit, and it sounds like he has one more 3 inning simulated game on Monday before heading out on a rehab assignment - so it would appear that there is little/no chance we'll be seeing him in our series in LA next weekend. LA has no need to rush him back at this point either, as they just need to make sure he's ramped up by early October. So, that's a break to head out west to SF and LA and miss both of the big lefties on the trip. Now, let's please take advantage of it!

[owbc]

The Dodgers' walkoff call last night: "It's not a question of if, but when and who..."

 

Winning 2/3 reduces their winning percentage. It's insane. Hopefully the Brewers can steal one game, but the Dodgers have so much depth that even "dialing it back" wouldn't help.

 

Those Rockies and Giants series are totally winnable though. Hopefully the bats keep it up.

[A Swing and A Drive]

Clayton Kershaw will likely still be on a rehab assignment so the Brewers should have the good fortune to miss him as well.

[folly412]

7-2. Look out baseball, we're back.

 

Hey, someone's got to be optimistic. I'll try not to be the first with salty jokes out of frustration if it turns out 2-7.

[NievesNoNO]

I'd like to say I'm optimistic but I'm really not for this trip. Garza to open things up makes me cringe. They have been on a nice little stretch though so hopefully they can keep the bats going. Should be an entertaining series with at lot of runs I'd guess. They really should take 2/3 in SF. I'll give them one in LA....maybe the Dodgers will start getting bored and check out a couple games or something.

 

I'll say 5-4.

[FVBrewerFan]

Impossible to predict, so I won't play along on that part. Captain Obvious here, but this is a big road trip. They can't win the division, but if they have an awful trip and the Cubs/Cards have a great stretch at the same time, it's all but over. If they're 7 games out at the end of the month, good night. And with the scheduled posted above, that is a real possibility.

 

More likely, I think, is they will still be in it. Does that mean 1 game out or 3-4? Who knows.

[tmwiese55]

I think they'll find a way to go 5-4 and keep hanging around. If somehow they can get to that Cubs series on Sept 9th weekend and still be in it then anything is possible.

[Ennder]

We follow that road trip with 2 against the Cardinals and then 4 against the Nationals. We should have a really good idea of our chances by Sept 4th.

[MoreTrife]

They are going to miss Bumgarner in SF, and they are rolling into Denver with hot bats. They should have swept the Dodgers in Milwaukee and frankly the Dodgers are due to lose one series. If they can go 5-4 they'll be very much in it.

 

Projecting results based on schedules is tricky. More important is how you are playing rather than who you are playing.

 

That Dodgers series still sticks in my craw. Totally should have swept them.

[SoCal Brew Crew Fan]

Going to be an interesting couple of weeks. If they can somehow muddle through this trip and hang within a few of the Cubs, they'll have a legit shot to pull out a shocker in September. My brain says 3-6 road trip...my heart says 6-3.

[MoreTrife]

Just looked at the Cubs remaining games...ridiculously easy schedule remaining rest of season. Division games but other than that teams like Braves, Phillies and Mets. While Brewers face Dodgers Nationals and Rockies. If we somehow make it through we'll have EARNED it. I'm not hopeful but we'll see. Silver lining, Cubs aren't powerhouses and I don't see them getting out of the first round.

[Ennder]

Just looked at the Cubs remaining games...ridiculously easy schedule remaining rest of season. Division games but other than that teams like Braves, Phillies and Mets. While Brewers face Dodgers Nationals and Rockies. If we somehow make it through we'll have EARNED it. I'm not hopeful but we'll see. Silver lining, Cubs aren't powerhouses and I don't see them getting out of the first round.

 

Lester got hurt today so maybe that helps a bit as well.

[Thurston Fluff]

Projecting results based on schedules is tricky. More important is how you are playing rather than who you are playing.

 

I think the first sentence is true because of the second sentence is true. It's also why I do not buy into the argument we can't beat the upper echelon teams in a playoff series.

[DuWayne Steurer]

The lowly Reds just took two out of four in Chicago. Strength of schedule matters but it's always difficult to just assume that you should win a series or sweeper series or win a road trip or a homestand based on who you're playing. As many others have said how you're playing at a given time matters more than who you're playing against. And that doesn't mean that I think if the Brewers are hot they'll just Waltz all over the Dodgers. I just think we'll see how things shake out over the next 10 days or so