Every year, I put the Royals’ schedule into a spreadsheet and follow a simple formula to create a path to a 90-win season:
- Win or split series at home.
- Win or split road series against weaker teams.
- Don’t get swept.
I don’t figure in any sweeps and split all four-game and two-game series. What I usually end up with is something like a 50-win home record and a 40-win road record.
The same map can be used for different benchmarks. For example, a .500 record is a -9 (9 games behind the pace) on the season.