Dodger Thoughts

By Jon Weisman

After beginning the 2016 regular season at San Diego, the Dodgers will open their 2017 season at home against the Padres on Monday, April 3, according to the preliminary schedule released today (click the image above to enlarge).

For the second consecutive season, the Dodgers will play their 162nd game away on the road, concluding the 2017 campaign October 1 in Colorado, in the first October game ever between the two teams at Coors Field.

Here’s what’s cooking for the 160 games in between …

Read More

By Jon Weisman

This year isn’t over, but who doesn’t want a peek at next year?

The Dodgers will open their 2016 regular season April 4 in San Diego, with their home opener coming April 12 against Arizona.

Enjoy these notes about the 2016 schedule (and click the image above to enlarge):

Freeway Series: The annual exhibition games against the Angels will take place March 31 and April 1 at Dodger Stadium, followed by an April 2 game at Anaheim.

In the regular season, there are four games against the Angels, at home May 16-17 and immediately followed on the road May 18-19.

More interleague play: In 2016, the National League West is matched up against the American League East. Dodger Stadium will host Baltimore (July 4-6), Tampa Bay (July 26-27) and Boston (August 5-7), while the Dodgers will travel to play Tampa Bay (May 3-4), Toronto (May 6-8) and the New York Yankees (September 12-14).

In 2013, the Dodgers went 10-6 against the AL East.

Jackie Robinson Day: The Dodgers will play the Giants on Jackie Robinson Day, April 15 (a Friday).

Holiday games: Dodger Stadium will be the place to be on Father’s Day (June 19 vs. Milwaukee), Independence Day (July 4 vs. Baltimore) and Labor Day (September 5 vs. Arizona). The Dodgers are on the road for Mother’s Day and Memorial Day.

Longest homestand: July 1-10, leading into the All-Star Break, the Dodgers have a 10-game homestand against the Rockies, Orioles and Padres.

Longest roadtrip: September 9-18, the Dodgers will be winging their way to Miami, Yankee Stadium and Arizona for a 10-game trip.

Colorado or bust: This was weird. Twice in August, the Dodgers have roadtrips that only go to Colorado for three games: August 2-4 and August 29-31. It’s within a July 26-September 7 stretch in which the Dodgers play 26 out of 39 games at home.

Most consecutive games: From May 6-25, the Dodgers play 20 consecutive days. The stretch begins in Toronto, followed by a nine-game homestand against the Mets, Cardinals and Angels, then a short five-game trip to Anaheim and San Diego, before coming home again for a three-game homestand against the Reds.

Los Angeles plays 13 straight days after the May 26 off day, so that means 33 games in 34 days from May 6 through June 8. The Dodgers also close the 2016 season with 23 games in the final 24 days.

Off days: For the most part, breaks are pretty evenly distributed. Three off days in April (including the day before Opening Day), followed by three off days in May, two in June, three in July (in addition to the All-Star Break), three in August and three in September.

In 2015, the Dodgers were scheduled for games 58 out of 61 days in May and June.

Rest and Rays: Oddly, the Dodgers have off days before and after each of their two-game series with Tampa Bay. No games on May 2 or May 5, and again no games on July 25 and July 28.

The only other time the Dodgers have off days on both sides of a series is in August, when they host the Pirates in between off days on August 11 and 15.

After the All-Star Break: The Dodgers begin the second half of the season on the road for the fourth consecutive year and ninth time in the past 12 seasons. Since 2005, the Dodgers are 25-27 in those post-All-Star roadtrips, even including a 6-0 trip in 2013.

Here’s the past 11 years of trips immediately after the All-Star Game (homestands in italics)

• 2015 — at Nationals (2-1), at Braves (1-2), at Mets (2-2)
• 2014 – at Cardinals (1-2), at Pirates (1-2), at Giants (3-0)
• 2013 – at Nationals (3-0), at Blue Jays (3-0)
• 2012 – vs. Padres (1-2), vs. Phillies (1-2)
• 2011 – at Diamondbacks (1-2), at Giants (1-2)
• 2010 – at Cardinals (0-4)
• 2009 – vs. Astros (2-2), vs. Reds (3-0), vs. Marlins (1-2)
• 2008 – at Diamondbacks (2-1), at Rockies (1-2)
• 2007 – at Giants (3-0)
• 2006 – at Cardinals (0-4), at Diamondbacks (1-3)
• 2005 – vs. Giants (1-3)

At the finish: The Dodgers close the season with three games against the Giants at AT&T Park from September 30-October 2. Los Angeles’ first set of games against rival San Francisco will be at home April 15-17.

By Jon Weisman

Just thought I’d pass along some observations about the Dodgers’ remaining 2015 regular season schedule.

Both the Dodgers’ August 9 game at Pittsburgh and the August 30 game against the Cubs will start at 5:08 p.m. Pacific and be shown on ESPN Sunday Night Baseball.

When the Dodgers finish their weekend series against the Mets, they’ll have played 100 games this season: 50 at home, 50 on the road.

The upcoming five games against the A’s (July 28-29) and Angels (July 31-August 2) are the Dodgers’ only home games in a 27-day stretch between July 13 and August 9.

The Dodgers have two long-distance trips left in the 2015 regular season: August 4-9 (Philadelphia and Pittsburgh) and August 21-27 (Houston and Cincinnati).

From August 28 through the end of the regular season on October 4, the farthest east that the Dodgers will go will be Arizona and Colorado.

During that period, the Dodgers will play 38 games in the final 40 days of the season. Of those 38 games, 16 will be against teams that currently have winning records (Cubs, Giants, Angels, Pirates, Giants).

The Dodgers have seven games remaining against the second-place Giants: at Los Angeles from August 31-September 2, and in San Francisco from September 28-October 1.

As of this moment, the Dodgers have played two more games than the Giants. Here’s how that will resolve:

• Giants play July 27, Dodgers are off. Dodgers +1
• Both teams are off July 30. Dodgers +1
• Giants play August 3, Dodgers are off. Even
• Giants off August 10, Dodgers play. Dodgers +1
• Giants play August 17, Dodgers off. Even
• Giants play August 20, Dodgers off. Giants +1
• Both teams are off August 24, September 10 and September 17. Giants +1
  
• Giants are off September 21, Dodgers play. Even

Here’s a bit more about the Giants’ schedule. Starting on August 6, they play 26 consecutive games against teams that are currently in playoff position and have better records than San Francisco.

• August 6-9: at Chicago (four)
• August 11-12: vs. Houston (two)
• August 13-16: vs. Washington (four)
• August 17-19: at St. Louis (three)
• August 20-23: at Pittsburgh (four)
• August 25-27: vs. Chicago (three)
• August 28-30: vs. St. Louis (three)
• August 31-September 2: at Los Angeles (three)

In their 29 final games from September 3 on, the Giants’ four home games against the Dodgers are their only games against winning teams.

By Jon Weisman

A fast start isn’t essential for winning the World Series, but it does correlate with success.

Since the Dodgers’ last World Series title in 1988, only three Fall Classic champions have been below .500 at the end of April, none since 2003 and none by more than two games.

The Dodgers’ don’t have an easy path in April. They play six ’nuf said games against the defending champs from San Francisco, six more against the Padres that will be fraught with tension, and three at home against the Mariners, who according to Fangraphs project to have the best record in the American League.

Their remaining six April games are against the rebuilding Diamondbacks and Rockies, the latter three at home.

Below are charts showing how World Series champions have fared at various stages of the season since 1988, and the Dodgers’ performance in that time.

Read More

By Jon Weisman

A little side content while we wait to see how the Dodger roster will adjust for the latest injuries to Justin Turner and Hanley Ramirez …

On Monday, the Dodgers will host Cleveland while the Giants are idle, meaning that Los Angeles will have played three more games than San Francisco at that point.

It also means that the Dodgers (who moved within a game of first Saturday when San Francisco went into the ninth inning against Cincinnati with a 1-0 lead and somehow ended up losing 7-3 in extras) could have more wins than the Giants on Monday but still be in second place.

Here’s how the Giants will catch up to the Dodgers in games played:

• July 7: Giants at Athletics/Dodgers idle (two more games played by Dodgers)
• July 14-17: All-Star Break/Dodgers and Giants both idle (2)
• July 24: Giants at Phillies/Dodgers idle (1)
• July 28: Pirates at Giants/Dodgers idle (0)

In short, over a 22-day stretch, San Francisco will play 18 games while the Dodgers play only 15.

However, the Giants and Dodgers don’t remain even the rest of the way – in fact, the Dodgers play 20 straight days from July 29-August 17, while the Giants are off on July 31, August 11 and August 14.

• July 31: Braves at Dodgers/Giants idle (1)
• August 11: Dodgers at Braves/Giants idle (2)
• August 14: Dodgers at Braves/Giants idle (3)

So they’ll be three games apart in their total again, at which point we’ll restart the countdown:

• August 18: Dodgers and Giants both idle (3)
• August 25: Rockies at Giants/Dodgers idle (2)
• August 28: Rockies at Giants/Dodgers idle (1)

On September 1, the Giants and Dodgers draw even in games played again, through unusual circumstances. While the Dodgers host the Nationals, San Francisco and Colorado will have some bonus baseball: the completion of a May 22 game suspended after six innings with score tied, 1-1, plus their regularly scheduled game.

From then on, the Dodgers and Giants will remain no more than one apart in games played:

• September 4: Dodgers and Giants both idle (0)
• September 8: Padres at Dodgers/Giants idle (1)
• September 11: Diamondbacks at Giants/Dodgers idle (0)
• September 18: Dodgers at Cubs/Giants idle (1)
• September 25: Padres at Giants/Dodgers idle (0)

Then, over the final three days of the 2014 regular season, San Francisco will continue to host San Diego, while Los Angeles hosts Colorado.

As for head-to-head competition, the Dodgers and Giants play each other in these remaining series:

• July 25-27: Dodgers at Giants
• September 12-14: Dodgers at Giants
• September 22-24: Giants at Dodgers

San Francisco is 7-3 against Los Angeles this season, including 5-2 at Dodger Stadium. All those games were played before the Giants’ June struggles that have seen them, after a 42-21 start, lose 14 of 18 games and all but a single game of a 9 1/2-game National League West lead.

In 2013, the Dodgers went 2-7 in their first nine games against Arizona as the Diamondbacks charged out to their NL West lead, but the Dodgers went 7-3 in the final 10 games against the Diamondbacks as part of last year’s big rally.