Strength of Schedule and the Dodgers

The Dodgers have been impressive, since June 22 only losing 12 games, winning 46, good enough for a .793 winning percentage over 2 full months of baseball. They’ve only lost back to back games twice during this run. It got me thinking about their strength of schedule.

According to the expected win percentages of the teams they’ve played all season, they’ve had a weak schedule – with their opponents averaging an expected .494 winning percentage. Since June 22nd, it’s been slightly easier, at .492.

However, their schedule does get easier, as their opponents for the rest of the season have an expected win percentage of .489.

Like most teams, they do better against bad teams than good teams: their wins average out to opponents win percentage of .492, and their losses against .497 teams. They are 23-16 against expected .500+ teams. 53-38 against sub .500 teams, which are roughly the same.

In short, the Dodgers aren’t taking advantage of an easy schedule, they’re just taking advantage of every one.