For the next month and a half, the Atlanta Braves will begin a stretch where they will play 43 games with just one day of rest (yes, you read that right).
After four scheduled off days in the month of April, the Braves have only four combined days of rest in the months of May and June.
May will prove to be particularly difficult. Following a three-game set with the Houston Astros that begins tonight, Atlanta will play the New York Mets five times (three at the new Citi Field), the Florida Marlins twice and the Philadelphia Phillies for a three-game series at Citzen’s Bank Park.
That right there, folks, could quite possibly decide how the Braves fair for the rest of the season. Those 10 games have the opportunity to make or break this club.
The end of the month provides a seven-game road trip that includes stops in San Francisco and Arizona, before coming back to Turner Field to take on the Chicago Cubs in the first week of June.
Of course, we can sit around here and blame the schedule makers (with good reason) for this horrid set up. I understand the reason for an ample amount of off-days during the first month of the season as team’s above the Mason-Dixon line battle, at times, the frigid temperatures and poor weather. However, it is their fault when they schedule a large portion of games in the opening weeks of the season in such arctic cities as Philadelphia, Chicago, New York and Boston.
Sure, those metropolises will bring the crowds and, after all, Major League Baseball is all about filling those seats and cashing their checks. Yet, if you’re going to schedule games in cities that are likely to have such porous weather, causing possible postponements, why include so many off-days.
Spread them around and give these team’s a chance to catch their breaths.
It’s not just this season. The schedule makers have been dropping the ball, quite literally, for the past decade. Ever since Interleague play was instituted and MLB’s only invested interest became money, these ridiculous setups have taken an incredible toll on teams.
In a perfect world (AKA my world), there would be no 10-day stretch of an East coast team traveling to the West Coast for three games, then back to the East for three before finally heading back to the West for a four-game set (yes, even I’m confused). Teams would also get at least one day off every two weeks and the bizarre two-game series would be thrown out the window.
Ah……if only I was in charge.
Add us as a preferred source on Google