by Jerry Feitelberg

photo credit bing images: Aroldis Chapman New York Yankees

The Oakland A’s play the Yankees in New York Tuesday night to start a ten-game road trip that will take them to New York, Toronto, and Detroit. It will be a major test for the A’s to face these three potent teams. First, up will be the Yankees. The legendary franchise is struggling a bit to start the season. The Yankees are a veteran club, and many of their key players are reaching geezer status. However, these geezers can be dangerous, and the Yankees have a starting rotation that could be one of the best in baseball. The Yankee bullpen is also strong even with Aroldis Chapman out with a 30-day suspension.

Alex, Rodriguez, Mark Teixeira, Carlos Beltran, Brian McCann, and Jacoby Ellsbury lead the Yankee lineup. All these players have made the All-Star team in past years. A-Rod has been an MVP. Teixeira and Ellsbury were MVP candidates. The Yankees acquired former Chicago Cub shortstop, Starlin Castro, to play second. Castro has responded and is hitting .333 and has an OPS of .925. The Yankees also have stolen thirteen bases so far to lead the league in that category. A’s catchers Stephen Vogt and Josh Vogt will have to be on their toes to keep Ellsbury and Gardner from stealing a base.

The starting rotation inclu the veteran C C Sabathia, Ivan Nova, Nathan Eovaldi, Michael Pineda and Luis Severino. Their bullpen is excellent. Dellin Betances is the setup man, and Andrew Miller is the closer for right now. Johnny Barbato and Chase Shreve have also performed well so far.

The Yankees have committed seven errors in the first eleven games. The A’s, however, lead the league with ten.Both the A’s and the Yankees are one game under the .500 mark. The record for the Green and Gold is 6-7. The pitching matchups for the three games are the following. On Tuesday, the A’s will send LHP Eric Surkamp to the hill. Surkamp enters the game with a 0-1 record and an ERA of 4.00. He will be opposed by Michael Pineda (1-1, 6.55 ERA). On Wednesday, it will be Kandal Graveman (0-1, 2.38) going against Nathan Eovaldi (0-1, 6.94.) Thursday’s game will feature lefty Rich Hill (1-2, 4.15 ) versus Luis Severino (0-2, 5.91.)

The A’s  are starting to hit, and they gained a little confidence as they beat the World Series Champs, the Kansas City Royals, two out of three over the weekend. Graveman, Chris Bassitt, and Sonny Gray have all pitched well. Rich Hill has had two not-so-good outings and one good performance so far. Eric Surkamp has to perform well, or he may be sent down when Jesse Hahn is ready. The A’s bullpen has been fairly good this year. They are way better than last year.This road trip will be a big test for the team.

The A’s  still have work to do to improve the defense. They lead the league with ten errors in the first thirteen games. If they are to improve over last year’s won-lost record,  they cannot give opponents extra outs. Bob Melvin, Ron Washington, and company have their work cut out for them. Lastly, the A’s need to win at least five games on the trip. It will be a tall order as the pitchers will face three potent offensive lineups. Should be interesting.