Olney: Jays have worst opening month sked in AL

[dagger]

Buster's blog: He ranks all AL teams' schedules in order of degree of difficulty.

The Jays are worst, Orioles second worst. Playing in the AL East has something to do with that, of course, since recordwise four of the five teams in the division were over .500 last year. And he's basing this on last year's W-L record.

It's Insider, but I'll give you the Jays part.

1. Toronto Blue Jays
Games against teams which had records of .500 or better in 2010: 38 of their first 44
Home/away: After opening the season with six home games, the Blue Jays will live on the road -- 20 out of their next 25 will be out of Toronto.
Notable: Basically, the Blue Jays are staring at a month of consecutive games against contenders. From April 15 to May 17, every game Toronto plays will be against teams that were .500 or better last year, including 17 against the Yankees, Red Sox and Rays.

[j127]

So the first 44 games seem super tough. What kind of record would everyone be satisfied after 44 games? 22-22?

[LittleOzzy]

Let's hope we can jump on some of these teams as they look past us to the playoffs.

I would rather play them in the first half of the season then when games start to really matter.

[Randle McMurphy]

The Jays have one of the toughest schedules in baseball every year. That's nothing new.

[Schad]

Let's hope we can jump on some of these teams as they look past us to the playoffs.

I would rather play them in the first half of the season then when games start to really matter.

Problem being that it pretty much guarantees that our attendance will suck (even more than it otherwise would) because we're liable to end up a good 6-10 games below .500 by mid-May.

[rdtx2005]

So the first 44 games seem super tough. What kind of record would everyone be satisfied after 44 games? 22-22?

no way.. we are going 44-0.. with 44 homers from JBau

[dagger]

Let's hope we can jump on some of these teams as they look past us to the playoffs.

I would rather play them in the first half of the season then when games start to really matter.

Problem being that it pretty much guarantees that our attendance will suck (even more than it otherwise would) because we're liable to end up a good 6-10 games below .500 by mid-May.

True, but it also means a summer-heavy home schedule after school is out, with treats like Roy Halliday.

[torontoaces04]

I like facing the contenders early in the season when perhaps they haven't quite gotten into the grove of thins yet, and like some before me have said, look past us.

If we start out hot and win 26-30 of those 44 games, it really sets us up well for later in the season.

[Schad]

I like facing the contenders early in the season when perhaps they haven't quite gotten into the grove of thins yet, and like some before me have said, look past us.

If we start out hot and win 26-30 of those 44 games, it really sets us up well for later in the season.

Winning two-thirds of our games against the toughest schedule in the league doesn't qualify as merely starting hot...we'd be demolishing the league.

[torontoaces04]

I like facing the contenders early in the season when perhaps they haven't quite gotten into the grove of thins yet, and like some before me have said, look past us.

If we start out hot and win 26-30 of those 44 games, it really sets us up well for later in the season.

Winning two-thirds of our games against the toughest schedule in the league doesn't qualify as merely starting hot...we'd be demolishing the league.

The numbers may be crazy, when extrapolated over 162 games, but in a small sample like 44 games, it's plausible.

The numbers may be a tad off, but the idea is the same. Start hot, make life easier later in the season.

[Fenris-77]

Meh, it's not like the team is really going to contend for a championship this year anyway, so whatevs. If they play well and the young 'uns look good I'm happy. To hell with W-L.

[satyr9]

I'm just glad there will be interesting opponents to watch early while I'm still in super-jonesing-for-baseball mode.

[Geddy]

I'd rather have the pain early and then ease up a little through the summer. The Jays do usually start seasons hot so hopefully some of those other teams are off to slow starts.

[kavan]

I think if we can come out above 500 we may be alright, but if we come away with a loosing record we will be loosing full games against teams we have to beat to keep it close, if we come away with a slow month we might not be able to catch them at the end of the season this start will test us right out of the gates. You loose against a team ahead of you they win 1 you loose 1 you loose 1 full game. Hopefully we can win a few series.

[baulderdash77]

If we want to talk post season we have to start off 24-20 at a minimum. It's too hard to get 90+ wins in this division if you don't move like that at first.

[sule]

This isn't so bad b/c the Yanks are notoriously slow starters...always picking it up in the second half of the season, and the Rays gutted part of their team.

I don't mind this at all...if we come out with a half-decent record, we can potentially have a pretty good season if we can well the rest of the way...