Royals' 2027 schedule features unusually loaded month of challenging interleague matchups

As the All-Star break came to a close this week, the baseball world was treated to some major news for the upcoming 2027 season when the official schedules for all 30 teams were released. On a day like this, many fans initially look for Opening Day matchups, rivalry series and what months might look lighter or heavier. However, another thing to analyze is odd anomalies in the schedule and the Royals certainly have one of those next season.

Barring a potential lockout due the ongoing negotiations of the expiring collective bargaining agreement, the Royals will have their hands full with a strange month of May. Of the 27 games they play that month, 18 of them will be against National League opponents. This includes a stretch from May 10 to May 27 where they exclusively play interleague matchups.

Types of inter-league runs like this are reminiscent to the days of old, where part way throughout the season, everyone would seem have a run of series where the leagues crossed over. However, since the Houston Astros moved over to the AL West from the NL Central in 2013, inter-league games have been more frequent and spread out throughout the calendar.

And the strength of opponent is notable here too. Not only do they play traditionally unfamiliar opponents, but there are few, if any, gimmes that fans can circle in their calendars as ones where they could potentially gain some ground in a potential postseason run. The weakest of opponents are arguably the San Francisco Giants and Cincinnati Reds, however, both have looked more bullish on the offseason market in recent years and could always be a threat for October at this point.

Now, for Royals fans, it's an exciting sight for new opponents come to town that only do so every other year. In this instance, in just this month alone, there's the potential that stars like Ronald Acuna Jr., Matt Olson, James Wood, Hunter Greene and Elly De La Cruz among others take the field at Kauffman Stadium. However, with largely less previous experience against opponents like this, to have a month overwhelmingly dominated by them presents a unique challenge in and of itself.

Now, the same can be said on the other side of things, but based on this season, the Royals and their co-worst MLB record of 38-59 likely don't have teams shaking in their boots right now.

Royals may be better suited for interleague heavy May than some might think

The one things Royals fans need to remember is that their 2027 team will not be the same as their current underwhelming 2026 team. Everything that could go wrong for the Royals has this season, highlighted by some incredibly poor injury luck in particular.

On top of that, with long-term extensions handed out in recent years to the likes of MVP-hopeful Bobby Witt Jr. and Maikel Garcia, short-term deals for names like Vinnie Pasquantino and their reported reluctance to trade veteran rocks like Michael Wacha and Seth Lugo, J.J. Picollo and Co. seem focused on ensuring this team can compete in 2027 and beyond.

And even during their underwhelming campaign this season, this bunch has managed to look at least average when met with more unfamiliar NL opponents. While this week could alter things one way or the other with back-to-back series against the Padres and Giants to start the unofficial second half, as it stands now the Royals hold a near-.500 inter-league record of 11-13.

This doesn't make a schedule quirk like May 2027 any less of a daunting task for the Royals, but perhaps the unfamiliarity may not be as bad as some may initially think.

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