Astros, Mariners, and more: Bold predictions for every AL West team in May

Jim Morrison always said the “West is the best” and I’m always inclined to agree. The West has fantastic beaches, gorgeous mountains and all the sun you could ask for. The West also has a rich history of baseball and there are a few things in the AL West that could just make it a historic season in the division. October is a long way off, so let’s take a peak at what May has in store out west in the American League.

May AL West bold prediction: Texas Rangers

Sure they’d be in fourth place if they were in the East, but they’re not and the Texas Rangers have taken full advantage of their AL West status. Seen as just the Cowboys’ neighbors for much of the past decade, the Rangers have quickly become Arlington’s favorite resident. After just over a month of the season Texas is first in the AL West, 2.5 games up on the Houston Astros and Los Angeles Angels heading into Wednesday’s play.

Texas has scored the second-most runs (184) in all of MLB, given up the fifth-fewest runs (110) and holds the second-best run differential (+74) in all the land. The only team better in all three of those categories is the Tampa Bay Rays.

My bold prediction for Texas this month is not only that the Rangers keep on rolling but who keeps them rolling this month and beyond.

The Rangers have achieved success without shortstop Corey Seager, who’s been sidelined with a hamstring injury since just after Easter. Seager was off to a solid start to the season (batting .359) and there was deep concern what his injury would do to the lineup. What it did was light a spark. Catcher Johah Heim has become a complete stud at the plate, anchoring a lineup that really caught fire at the end of April. Manager Bruce Bochy has platooned Ezequiel Duran and Josh Smith to spell Seager with the former really having an impact at the plate. Duran is batting .302 and has been tough to take out of the lineup. Outfielder/DH Robbie Grossman is shaking off a cool start and heating up as tornado season ramps up in the region. Grossman is coming off a strong week of batting .364 and looks to finally be coming into form.

Even though Texas has lost starter Jacob deGrom for what looks to be the first half of May, they appear to have the pitching staff to carry them until his return. Only one of their regular starters has an ERA over four and guys like Nathan Eovaldi and Martin Perez have been absolute studs of late on the mound. Eovaldi just pitched a complete game shutout against the Yankees and Perez has given up just two earned runs with seven strikeouts in his past two starts.

Texas plays everyone in the division except Houston in May and the rest of the schedule looks pretty favorable with series against Arizona, Colorado and Detroit. Tough tests on the road include trips to Baltimore and Pittsburgh, which should prove as good litmus tests as to how good this Ranger team really is.

I see the Rangers expanding on their divisional lead stretching it to six or eight games by the time June rolls around. Additionally, with Seager due back and Duran hitting well, it’s quite possible Grossman becomes the odd man out and on the trading block for additional help on the mound to sure up a run into the postseason.

The weather in October is fantastic in the Metroplex and this fall the temperatures could be quite epic!

May AL West bold prediction: Houston Astros

I’m sure there are baseball fans around the world who would love to bury the Astros after the first month of the season. They sure didn’t look much like defending World Series champs for most of April, but they’ve turned things around heading into May having won seven of their last 10 games. Contributing to the turnaround has been an impressive 8-4 road record.

Saddled with a ton of injuries to key players one would think the Astros would fade further down the standings in the AL West in May, but I see just the opposite. The prognosis for those ‘Stros on the IL is favorable. Jose Altuve appears to be ahead of schedule from his thumb injury, center fielder Chase McCormick is set to rejoin the team any day now while both Michael Brantley and Lance McCullers Jr. are making positive strides in their rehabs.

The bats haven’t exactly been there for Houston as they are middle of the road in most stats. It’s the pitching that has salvaged the season for the defending champs. Houston is second in the entire MLB in ERA and third in quality starts. Of their regular starters, only one of them has an ERA over 4 and that guy, Jose Urquidy (5.20 ERA), left Sunday’s game with shoulder soreness.

With a favorable May schedule including road series against Seattle, the Dodgers, White Sox, Oakland and Milwaukee, a month from now Houston could very well be on the launch pad to an explosive start to the summer.

May AL West bold prediction: Los Angeles Angels

For the Angels outlook in May, I am very tempted to do a write-up the 1978 classic “Same Time Next Year.” Cue Alan Alda. It’s looking very much like another season with two of the best players in baseball that will end in mediocrity.

Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout have been as billed as explosive, dynamic and exciting. The rest of the roster, not so much. Of the regular starters only Trout (.308) is hitting over .300 and, aside from Ohtani and Trout, only third baseman Gio Urshela (.299) is batting over .260. On the mound isn’t much different than the batting lineup after Ohtani. Patrick Sandoval (2-1, 3.16 ERA) has had a nice start to the season but, after him, there’s a lot of high ERAs and not much to pin hopes on. The Angels recently called up right-hander Chase Silseth and have high hopes for him. Silseth throws a solid 99 mph fastball along with a productive slider. He made two relief appearances last week and I think the Angels are going to rely on the youngster a lot more in May.

The list of suitors and projected return for Ohtani, should the Angels trade him, is as impressive as a that of an 18th century European royal. Angels fans, unfortunately, will have to sit and wait out the “Shohei Watch” knowing there’s no way they could get the equivalent in return. As for the Angels front office and team, they don’t get paid to sit on their hands and wait. They have to take action, which means planning for the future. In this case, the immediate future.

The Angels have a tough schedule in May and, unlike the rest of their AL West counterparts, they don’t get to play the A’s. As the kids say, “The Angels are gonna Angel,” which translates as disappointment all around. For May, I see the Angels slipping further behind the Rangers and Houston as they try to groom Chase Silseth to be the next star on the mound after Ohtani.

May AL West bold prediction: Oakland A’s

Well, things can’t get much worse, right? (insert nervous laughter). Let’s get the particulars out of the way. Oakland has the worst record in the entire league, 6-23. Oakland has the worst run differential in the entire league, -117. The A’s already have losing streaks of five, six and seven games even after starting the season 1-0. As bad as things are for Oakland, believe it or not, they could be worse.

In what would seem to be a statistical miracle, the A’s have a better team batting average (.229) than the Yankees (.225) and just a point behind the Dodgers (.230). Left fielder Brent Rooker has become a lone bright spot for the A’s, hitting .353 with nine homers and 22 RBI in 22 games played. After Rooker, there’s not much to smile about and on the mound its frowns abound for Oakland.

The A’s only have one pitcher who has started a game this season who has an ERA under five and that’s Drew Rucinski (4.76 ERA), who just saw his first action of the season Friday against the Reds. Take Rucinski out of the equation and no A’s starting pitcher has an ERA under six. Yikes.

My bold prediction for Oakland in May is that, when the calendar flips to June, they do not have the worst record in baseball. With two series against Seattle and a series against the Royals, the A’s will leapfrog KC for worst record in the league. I also see Oakland try to build a lineup around Rooker by getting a jump on calling up players like Lawrence Butler, Zack Gelof and Tyler Soderstrom.