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

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.