Comparing the New York Yankees’ Remaining Schedule Against Other Competitors’
September 8, 2014 · Anthony Maimone · Jump to comments
Article Source: Bleacher Report - New York Yankees
After dropping two of three over the weekend to the Kansas City Royals, the New York Yankees have decreased their chances of claiming a Wild Card spot down to 1.3 percent.
The Yanks are currently 4.5 games back of the Seattle Mariners for the second wild card spot and have two other teams, the Detroit Tigers and Cleveland Indians, still to leap before getting to the Mariners.
Entering mid-September, time is running out on the Yankees and they sit in a position where they don’t really control their own destiny.
Scoreboard watching becomes very prevalent around this time as what the other teams are doing becomes just as important as what the Yankees are actually doing.
With that said a breakdown of the remaining schedules for teams in the hunt for the final Wild Card spot shows that the Yankees will need a lot of help.
New York Yankees
Remaining games: 21 (11 home; 10 away). Average win percentage of remaining games: .514.
The Yankees’ schedule down the stretch will not be an easy one.
That is in large part due to the eight games they still have left with the first-place Baltimore Orioles, who are still fighting for home-field advantage.
The key stretch for the Yankees will be the seven games in between the two series against Baltimore.
They face the Tampa Bay Rays and Toronto Blue Jays respectively, two teams currently behind the Yankees in the standings.
The Yanks can do no worse than 5-2 during that stretch and 5-3 against the Orioles.
If that happens, it would set them up for a final weekend series against the lowly Boston Red Sox for a chance to make the playoffs.
Cleveland Indians
Remaining games: 21 (10 home; 11 away). Average win percentage of remaining games: .499.
The Cleveland Indians will be heard from before season’s end thanks to the strength of their remaining schedule.
Nearly half of the Indians’ remaining games come against the bottom-dwelling Minnesota Twins and Houston Astros.
At 3.5 games back, the Indians will need to dominate those games to give them a legit chance at making the playoffs.
Currently riding a three-game winning streak, the toughest stretch the Indians will face will be the 10-game road trip they still have left.
Despite being against relatively easy teams, the Indians have been one of the worst teams on the road this season, playing eight games under .500.
Detroit Tigers
Remaining games: 19 (13 home; six away). Average win percentage of remaining games: .490.
The Tigers have the easiest remaining schedule of any of the contending teams.
Detroit is only half a game back of Seattle for the final Wild Card spot, and with seven games left against the Twins—including the final four at home to end the season—the Tigers should be in good shape.
The Tigers, however, may have bigger plans as they trail the Kansas City Royals by only two games and still have six to play against them.
It would seem the only way the Tigers fail to make the playoffs would be if they really struggle in those games.
Seattle Mariners
Remaining games: 20 (nine home; 11 away)
The Seattle Mariners currently hold the final Wild Card spot in the American League.
They also have the hardest remaining schedule of any team still fighting for a spot.
The biggest reason is that the Mariners still have seven games against the best team in baseball in the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.
Throw in an 11-game road trip and the Mariners are going to have to earn that final spot.
A saving grace for them could be the six remaining games against the Astros, but it is the games against the Angels that the Mariners are going to need to survive to hang on.
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