Phillies

Tell Your Neighborhood Braves Fan to Look at the Common Opponents Records

By Kevin Kinkead

Published: May 24th, 2024 · 11:19 AM EDT

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As we head into the Memorial Day weekend, let’s do another short exercise to quell some of the “weak schedule” accusations being flung at Major League Baseball’s best team – the Philadelphia Phillies.

Some of the loudest complainers are Braves fans, who create a gameday environment so raucous that it resembles a Modest Mouse concert. They’ll blather on and on about how the Phils have beaten nobody at all while stuffing their fat faces with Zaxby’s.

So let’s take a look at who each team has played, and their record against those teams.

Phillies (37-14)

• vs Braves: 1-2
• vs. Reds: 1-2
• vs. Nats: 5-1
• vs. Cardinals: 2-1
• vs. Pirates: 2-2
• vs. Rockies: 3-0
• vs. White Sox: 3-0
• vs. Reds: 2-2
• vs. Padres: 3-0
• vs. Angels: 2-1
• vs. Giants: 4-0
• vs. Blue Jays: 1-1
• vs. Marlins: 2-1
• vs. Mets: 3-1
• vs. Rangers: 3-0

The Phillies haven’t lost a series since April 3rd. They’re 1-2 head-to-head against the Braves.

Atlanta (29-18)

• vs. Phillies: 2-1
• vs. White Sox: 1-1
• vs. D Backs: 3-0
• vs. Mets: 3-3
• vs. Marlins: 5-1
• vs. Astros: 3-0
• vs. Rangers: 2-1
• vs. Guardians: 2-1
• vs. Mariners: 1-2
• vs. Dodgers: 0-3
• vs. Red Sox: 2-0
• vs. Cubs: 4-2
• vs. Padres: 1-3

The Braves have played the harder schedule. They got swept by the Dodgers and lost series to the Mariners and Padres. They did go 2-1 against a really good Cleveland team and won their series against the Phils, which are the best wins on their schedule right now.

Thing is, they haven’t performed as well against all of these so-called shitty teams that the Phils are beating up on.

Rhetorical question –

If the Phillies’ schedule has been so easy, shouldn’t the Braves also be thrashing teams like the Mets and White Sox?

The common opponents both teams have played include those two, plus the Marlins, Rangers, and Padres. Against those teams, the Phillies are 14-2 and the Braves are 12-9. If you want to throw in the series they played against each other, it’s Phillies 15-4 and Braves 14-10. When you look through the common portion of the schedule, the Phils have done better beating up on the alleged dreck than the Braves have. Part of the reason they’re six games back in the NL East is because they haven’t handled the “trash” as well as the Phillies have.

Do with this information what you will.