2019 MLB season: who has the easiest September schedule?

Currently, teams will be looking to tighten their grips on their respective divisions. Who has the easiest September schedule this 2019 MLB season?

Entering play Thursday, the Milwaukee Brewers lag three and one-half games out of the National League wild-card race. But the Brewers have at least one edge over the other wild card contenders this 2019 MLB season: a relatively easy September schedule.

The Brewers play 17 of their final 27 games against teams that will enter September with losing records. And eight of the other 10 will be against the two NL Central teams presently ahead of them, the St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago Cubs.

That leaves the Brewers with just two September games against plus-.500 teams that do not present head-to-head opportunities to make up ground; the Brewers host the Houston Astros Monday and Tuesday.

It’s a matter for speculation how much of an advantage the schedule will convey, and a very fair question whether it can swing the kind of three and one-half game edge the Brewers need to make up.

But this much is beyond doubt: when the calendar turns to Sept. 1, the Brewers will have one of the easiest schedules of any of the post-season contenders.

In the 27 games they will have remaining as of Sept. 1 – not counting a pair of late-August contests against the Cubs in Chicago – Milwaukee will face opponents that have a .478 average winning percentage. That figure is weighted to reflect the number of times the Brewers play each opponent. Among 13 teams in divisional or wild card contention – and not including the Dodgers, Yankees, and Astros, whose races are functionally decided — that’s the fourth easiest schedule remaining.

Here’s a look at the scheduling advantages – or disadvantages – in the NL East, NL Central, NL wild card, AL Central and AL wild-card races.