The Oakland A’s are off to as good of a start as anyone could have reasonably hoped for. Their record is 18-16, a couple games on the winning side of .500, and they’ve put that together against a balanced mix of good, bad, and mediocre opponents. For now they’re out of last place, with a reasonable hope to stay that way through year’s end.
However, there is a serious test coming up for the rest of the month of May. The A’s face just about the toughest schedule possible over the next three weeks (team records in parentheses):
- 3 games against Astros (21-15)
- 3 games at Yankees (24-10)
- 4 games at Blue Jays (19-16)
- 3 games against Mariners (19-14)
- 3 games against D’Backs (23-11)
That list includes five of the six current best teams in the AL by record, with only the Angels missing.