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	<title>Comments on: Pirates Have an Easy Second Half Schedule, But Reds Have It Easier</title>
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	<link>http://www.piratesprospects.com/2012/07/pirates-have-an-easy-second-half-schedule-but-reds-have-it-easier.html</link>
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		<title>By: Stephen Stasa</title>
		<link>http://www.piratesprospects.com/2012/07/pirates-have-an-easy-second-half-schedule-but-reds-have-it-easier.html#comment-17201</link>
		<dc:creator>Stephen Stasa</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 09 Jul 2012 17:23:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.piratesprospects.com/?p=35835#comment-17201</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Even if the Reds have more opponents under .500, that doesn&#039;t make their schedule easier.  The Reds play more teams closer to .500 than the Pirates.  They have more against Arizona (7 to 4) and Philly (7-0).  The Pirates have more against San Diego (6-4), Chicago (11-13), and Houston (9-10).  The opponent combined win percent is a much better indicator.  Just looking at teams under/over .500 would imply 3 vs. Miami is as hard as 3 vs. Houston, or 3 vs. the Mets is as easy as 3 vs. the Yankees.  So looking at the combine win%, the Pirates do have the easier schedule (according to ESPN) .462 to .467, followed by the Cardinals at .481.  

ESPN Avg Win % of Opponents: http://espn.go.com/mlb/huntforoctober
See #games against opponents here: http://bit.ly/LCp7VW (it also has strength of schedule, but it appears to be normalized somehow)
Or just compare them yourself: http://mlb.multimatchupsports.com/Schedules.aspx?v=c&amp;season=2012&amp;type=regularseason&amp;location=1&amp;align=3&amp;pit=1&amp;cin=1&amp;power=1#120710]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Even if the Reds have more opponents under .500, that doesn&#8217;t make their schedule easier.  The Reds play more teams closer to .500 than the Pirates.  They have more against Arizona (7 to 4) and Philly (7-0).  The Pirates have more against San Diego (6-4), Chicago (11-13), and Houston (9-10).  The opponent combined win percent is a much better indicator.  Just looking at teams under/over .500 would imply 3 vs. Miami is as hard as 3 vs. Houston, or 3 vs. the Mets is as easy as 3 vs. the Yankees.  So looking at the combine win%, the Pirates do have the easier schedule (according to ESPN) .462 to .467, followed by the Cardinals at .481.  </p>
<p>ESPN Avg Win % of Opponents: <a href="http://espn.go.com/mlb/huntforoctober" rel="nofollow">http://espn.go.com/mlb/huntforoctober</a><br />
See #games against opponents here: <a href="http://bit.ly/LCp7VW" rel="nofollow">http://bit.ly/LCp7VW</a> (it also has strength of schedule, but it appears to be normalized somehow)<br />
Or just compare them yourself: <a href="http://mlb.multimatchupsports.com/Schedules.aspx?v=c&#038;season=2012&#038;type=regularseason&#038;location=1&#038;align=3&#038;pit=1&#038;cin=1&#038;power=1#120710" rel="nofollow">http://mlb.multimatchupsports.com/Schedules.aspx?v=c&#038;season=2012&#038;type=regularseason&#038;location=1&#038;align=3&#038;pit=1&#038;cin=1&#038;power=1#120710</a></p>
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		<title>By: Kirk Lee</title>
		<link>http://www.piratesprospects.com/2012/07/pirates-have-an-easy-second-half-schedule-but-reds-have-it-easier.html#comment-17148</link>
		<dc:creator>Kirk Lee</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 09 Jul 2012 04:40:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.piratesprospects.com/?p=35835#comment-17148</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[38 of their final 77 games at home? That&#039;s just under half. I don&#039;t see how that qualifies as an advantage to their schedule. Still, I like everything else about it. Reds and division race aside, with a schedule like the Pirates&#039; it&#039;s hard to see them finishing under .500 anymore, which we should not disregard as enormous just because there are even bigger things on the horizon. In terms of the division race though, it looks like the games that the Bucs and Reds play against each other could very well be the deciding factor, which could be exciting/terrifying to watch. Let&#039;s also not forget that having the second easiest schedule puts the Pirates at a huge advantage over other teams for the Wild Card, as well as over the not-to-be-forgotten Cardinals in terms of the division. This has been the best half season of baseball I have ever had a chance to watch in my life. Let&#039;s hope the second half blows it out of the water. ]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>38 of their final 77 games at home? That&#8217;s just under half. I don&#8217;t see how that qualifies as an advantage to their schedule. Still, I like everything else about it. Reds and division race aside, with a schedule like the Pirates&#8217; it&#8217;s hard to see them finishing under .500 anymore, which we should not disregard as enormous just because there are even bigger things on the horizon. In terms of the division race though, it looks like the games that the Bucs and Reds play against each other could very well be the deciding factor, which could be exciting/terrifying to watch. Let&#8217;s also not forget that having the second easiest schedule puts the Pirates at a huge advantage over other teams for the Wild Card, as well as over the not-to-be-forgotten Cardinals in terms of the division. This has been the best half season of baseball I have ever had a chance to watch in my life. Let&#8217;s hope the second half blows it out of the water. </p>
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		<title>By: John Lease</title>
		<link>http://www.piratesprospects.com/2012/07/pirates-have-an-easy-second-half-schedule-but-reds-have-it-easier.html#comment-17102</link>
		<dc:creator>John Lease</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sun, 08 Jul 2012 22:19:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.piratesprospects.com/?p=35835#comment-17102</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[That&#039;s looking way too far ahead.  One series at a time is plenty.  I just don&#039;t know how to react to the continued dominance of the Pirates.  Can&#039;t wrap my head around it, but just have to enjoy it.  The sum is greater than the individual parts, and that&#039;s what a good manager can do.]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>That&#8217;s looking way too far ahead.  One series at a time is plenty.  I just don&#8217;t know how to react to the continued dominance of the Pirates.  Can&#8217;t wrap my head around it, but just have to enjoy it.  The sum is greater than the individual parts, and that&#8217;s what a good manager can do.</p>
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		<title>By: VtTom</title>
		<link>http://www.piratesprospects.com/2012/07/pirates-have-an-easy-second-half-schedule-but-reds-have-it-easier.html#comment-17061</link>
		<dc:creator>VtTom</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sun, 08 Jul 2012 17:37:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.piratesprospects.com/?p=35835#comment-17061</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Hurdle said on his radio show the second half rotation will be JMac Friday in Milwaukee followed by Correia, Burnett, Karstans and Bedard. He mentioned breaking up pitchers who don&#039;t go deep in games to give the bullpen a break. He didn&#039;t say the names but we know who he&#039;s talking about.]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Hurdle said on his radio show the second half rotation will be JMac Friday in Milwaukee followed by Correia, Burnett, Karstans and Bedard. He mentioned breaking up pitchers who don&#8217;t go deep in games to give the bullpen a break. He didn&#8217;t say the names but we know who he&#8217;s talking about.</p>
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		<title>By: Tim Williams</title>
		<link>http://www.piratesprospects.com/2012/07/pirates-have-an-easy-second-half-schedule-but-reds-have-it-easier.html#comment-17058</link>
		<dc:creator>Tim Williams</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sun, 08 Jul 2012 17:33:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.piratesprospects.com/?p=35835#comment-17058</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Yes, it would.]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Yes, it would.</p>
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		<title>By: Lee Young</title>
		<link>http://www.piratesprospects.com/2012/07/pirates-have-an-easy-second-half-schedule-but-reds-have-it-easier.html#comment-17052</link>
		<dc:creator>Lee Young</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sun, 08 Jul 2012 17:23:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.piratesprospects.com/?p=35835#comment-17052</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Would&#039;t it be sweet to play a series at the end of Sept that has playoff implications for US?]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Would&#8217;t it be sweet to play a series at the end of Sept that has playoff implications for US?</p>
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