The Yankees were off last night, so the Sox were only able to pick up a half of a game on their blood rivals, but we’ll take it.
The Sox now sit just three games in the loss column behind the Yankees and will play the Marlins two more times before this weekend’s rivalry showdown, with the Yankees playing three games against the Astros. The Marlins and Astros have nearly identical records, though the Marlins have two more wins and a significantly better run differential. In other words, even though the Astros are
closer to the playoffs in the mediocre AL than the Marlins are in the NL, the Sox have the tougher job this week. And we have to get used to that, because here’s the strength of schedule for the rest of the season:
Looks worrisome, right?
After this weekend’s clash, the Yankees will only have three series against teams at .500 or better: the Rays, Diamondbacks, and Padres. Meanwhile, they’ll get to feast on the Rockies, Mets, and Angels.
But here’s the thing: the Sox will also have only three series left against teams at .500: the Rays, the Cubs, and the Guardians, who currently sit right at .500. And while the Sox don’t get the Rockies and Mets, they do get the Angels and Royals.
Here’s the thing about strength of schedule in baseball in general and in the pathetically mediocre 2026 AL specifically: it’s just not that big of a deal, because there isn’t a drastic difference in the quality of teams. 9 of the 15 AL teams currently have between 61 and 68 wins. The truth is that “strength of schedule” is one of those concepts that’s been imported from other sports, but doesn’t really fit baseball. Any team can beat any other team on any given day in this sport. Any team sweep any other team on any given weekend in this sport.
So am I worried that the Sox have the supposedly harder schedule down the stretch? Not in the least. Just keep winning ballgames.
Use this space to talk about schedules and whatever else you want and, as always, be good to one another.
