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October 14, 2024: ALCS Game 2 & NLCS Game 1

Tough to win with one run...

https://i.imgur.com/7O3drox.png

The Rays got another well-pitched game, but the Royals got one even better as they edged Tampa Bay 2-1 to even the ALCS at 1. Shane Baz was moved up and had a rough 2nd, but pitched well overall. The problem was the bats could never get anything going. Christian Vazquez, who hit 5 homers all season, blasted his second in as many days to cut it to 2-1 but Jeremiah Jackson, who pinch-ran for Curtis Mead who singled with one out in the 9th, got thrown out trying to get into scoring position to end the game. So now we know we'll be playing 3 in Kansas City starting in two days and Shane McClanahan will pitch the first of them.

High drama in the NL as the Phillies got a 2-run homer from Ethan Wilson in the 8th to tie it and a 2-run walk-off shot from Bryson Stott in the 9th to win Game 1 of the NLCS:

https://i.imgur.com/5vfTj7l.png

October 15, 2024: NLCS Game 2

October 16, 2024: ALCS Game 3

An epic win...

https://i.imgur.com/UG71J8n.png

Juan Soto's 2-run homer in the top of the 11th broke a 4-4 tie and gave the Rays a hard-fought, come-from-behind win in Game 3 of the ALCS and a 2-1 series lead. Christian Vazquez tied it up in the 8th with an RBI single after Zach DeLoach doubled with two out and the Rays' bullpen was stellar once again with 6 2/3 shutout innings, giving them 14 straight scoreless overall. It looked like it might be an easy day when Ozzie Albies' 2-run single gave them a 3-1 lead in the 2nd, but Shane McClanahan had a rough go of it and Bobby Witt Jr took him deep for the second time in the game to put the Royals up 4-3 in the bottom of the 3rd. Earlier in the day Witt signed an 8/151 extension with Kansas City and was inspired to start earning it. But the Rays prevailed in the end and Luis Patino will attempt to put them up 3-1 tomorrow.

October 17, 2024: ALCS Game 4 & NLCS Game 3

It's a best of 3 now:

https://i.imgur.com/OMu9GIU.png

The Rays dropped a tough one at Kauffman Stadium as they fought back from 3-1 down to tie it in the 8th only to see the Royals plate the winner in the bottom of the inning and Lorenzo Cain thrown out at the plate to end the game. Luis Patino wasn't too bad today but he gave up a key 2-run homer to rookie Enrique Bradfield. An RBI single from Cain and a Curtis Mead sac fly got them even, but Jeffrey Springs couldn't hold the door in the 8th. John Swanda will try to send us back to St. Pete with a series lead tomorrow.

In the NLCS:

https://i.imgur.com/6XNH3Z5.png

October 18, 2024: ALCS Game 5 & NLCS Game 4

Backs to the wall again...

https://i.imgur.com/OEm4Unm.png

For the second straight series the Rays find themselves in the position of needing to win the next two games to keep their season alive as they were dominated by Kansas City's Kyle Wright tonight in a 4-1 loss to put them down 3-2 in the ALCS. Wright gave MLB's #1 offense nothing until he wild-pitched in a run in the 7th and John Swanda could not replicate his Game 1 performance, allowing 3 homers in a very rough outing. Shane Baz rescued the Rays in Game 4 of the ALDS and he's going to be asked to do it again in two days' time at Tropicana Field.

Meanwhile we're all tied again in the NLCS:

https://i.imgur.com/T1ZBhEO.png

October 19, 2024: NLCS Game 5

Advantage Phillies as right now we're on course for a rematch of the 1980 World Series:

https://i.imgur.com/xwnkEp4.png

October 20, 2024: ALCS Game 6

as the Eagles sang, we're going to take it to the limit...

https://i.imgur.com/TgCuVTA.png

Curtis Mead came through with an RBI single in the first and a 2-run single in the 2nd as the Rays raced out to a 5-0 lead and took a 5-2 win to send the ALCS to a deciding Game 7 tomorrow with Shane McClanahan on the hill. Our other Shane, Baz, was pitching well before having to leave in the 4th with was later diagnosed as a torn UCL so he'll undergo Tommy John surgery and miss all of 2025 so that's a huge blow regardless of how things go tomorrow. Drew Rasmussen, who will take his spot in the rotation next week if we make it to the Series, took over for Baz and pitched very well until allowing a leadoff homer in the 7th. But Jeffrey Springs and Pete Fairbanks handled the final 3 innings without throwing too many pitches, so outside of Rasmussen the pen should be fully available tomorrow.

October 21, 2024: ALCS Game 7 & NLCS Game 6

Series-bound!

https://i.imgur.com/LMqSJHC.png

Tropicana Field went from disaster to delirium in the space of an inning as after the Rays gave up 3 runs in the 2nd to fall behind 3-0 and saw starter Shane McClanahan leave with an injury, they scored 8 times in the bottom of the frame and went on to an epic playoff rout of the Royals 19-6 to win the ALCS and advance to the franchise's third World Series (I'm guessing the 19 runs is a Game 7 record). For the second straight game the Rays had a starter leave early but unlike Shane Baz's serious injury yesterday McClanahan only mildly tweaked his oblique and will be available for Game 3 of the Series. After Mac left the Rays responded with Zach DeLoach, who had a big homer at Yankee Stadium in the ALDS, blasting a 3-run homer to tie it right up and then they scored 5 more times with 2 out in the inning with a 2-run Curtis Mead single and a 2-run Andrew Vaughn double the big hits. They just kept tacking on from there as DeLoach had a 2-run single to give him a 5-RBI day and in the end even Alex Bregman, hitting .111 in the postseason coming into today, got off the schneid with a 2-run homer. The bullpen had to come through with 6 2/3 innings but with the big lead the pressure was off. Sandy Gaston got his first MLB win of any kind relieving Mac, and fellow rookie Colby White came through with 3 big scoreless innings, taking over after the just-activated Lou Trivino couldn't get anyone out. So who will we face in the Fall Classic? That's still up in the air because...

https://i.imgur.com/7LUyZNP.png

Congrats Durham!

In what is hopefully a good omen for the big club, our AAA affiliate Durham just won the Governors' Cup after beating Memphis in the International League finals. And look how they did it:

https://i.imgur.com/2m8hgO4.png
https://i.imgur.com/2slWTLQ.png

Yes that's right - they lost the first three games of the series and stormed back to win the next four. Of course that's only happened once in MLB and I have no idea if it's been done before in the IL, AAA, or elsewhere in the minors.

Casey Schmitt, the series MVP, is projected to be our 3B next year when Alex Bregman goes free agent, and Taj Bradley, who won Game 5, should be in our rotation especially after the Shane Baz injury. Ian Seymour, who was impressive in a brief stint with the big club earlier this year, and JJ Goss, both of whom won games in this series, may figure into next year's staff as well.

October 22, 2024: NLCS Game 7

Gonna party like it's 2008...

https://i.imgur.com/rhMOyzz.png

It'll be a rematch of the 2008 World Series, the Rays' first, as they'll battle the Phillies once again for the championship of baseball. Tampa Bay will get an advantage though as NL MVP-Elect Bryce Harper (316-50-111, 9.4 WAR) suffered an oblique strain during Game 7 diagnosed as "moderate" and will go on the IL, and the Phillies will be without the odious Trevor Bauer, who suffered a hamstring strain in the game as well.

October 24, 2024: World Series Game 1

Let's go...

https://i.imgur.com/p41J2J2.png

We acquired Juan Soto as a 1-year rental last winter for one express purpose: to win a World Series. Soto had an MVP-caliber season leading us to 102 wins, helped get us to the World Series, and now he's got us 3 wins away after a great performance in Game 1 tonight at the Trop. Soto drilled a 2-run homer in the 1st to give the Rays a 3-1 lead which they wouldn't relinquish, and added an RBI single in the 5th to provide a little breathing room. It was a good thing as rookie John Swanda apparently had a case of the nerves getting the ball for Game 1 of the World Series as he walked the first three Phillies he faced. He settled down after that, giving up only one run on a fielder's choice before fanning the next two and ended up allowing only one hit in 5 innings (albeit with 6 walks in total). He put the first two on in the 6th with the score 4-1 but Christopher Gau induced a double play and ended the Phillies' last best chance tonight. Unfortunately though while we got Randy Arozarena back from injury tonight, we lost two more players. Alex Bregman, who's had a rough postseason but came through with an RBI double to tie the game ahead of Soto's homer, was hit by a pitch his next time up and suffered a fractured thumb, ending his season and most likely his Rays career. And then in the 9th rookie reliever Colby White tore his triceps and is also done for the season. Drew Rasmussen will get the start tomorrow as we hope to go to Philadelphia up 2-0.

October 25, 2024: World Series Game 2

Probably gonna be a long series...

https://i.imgur.com/ryqoNmb.png

Before I get into the recap, we made two moves which will be a sort of a 2025 preview. To replace Alex Bregman at 3B we called up his heir apparent, Casey Schmitt, to take over the position. Schmitt's hit 53 HR and accumulated 9.8 WAR the last two seasons at Durham and is more than qualified for the call. The other move to replace Colby White was to activate veteran starter Carlos Rodon, whom you may recall we signed to a 2-year deal early this season as he was rehabbing from Tommy John surgery. Rodon came back sooner than expected and pitched for Durham late in the season and in their playoffs, and will give us a long relief arm in advance of a likely spot in our 2025 rotation.

Well as you saw from the box above the Phillies have evened the series with a 7-2 win behind a former Ray in Jake Odorizzi. Drew Rasmussen, after a quick first, just didn't have it tonight and although they got within 4-2 on Casey Schmitt's first MLB hit as he became the rare player to make his big-league debut in the postseason (like his teammate Shane McClanahan in 2020), that would be as close as they'd get. Carlos Rodon also made his Rays debut and looked pretty good outside of a solo homer he allowed. So now McClanahan will try to get the Rays back in front at Citizens Bank Park in two days.

October 27, 2024: World Series Game 3

What a game, what a win...

https://i.imgur.com/ENn8G1e.png

It was a tight, tense affair throughout but the Rays prevailed thanks to Curtis Mead and Randy Arozarena 3-2 in 11 to take a 2-1 lead in the World Series. Mead's homer in the 11th, his 4th hit of the night, on a 3-1 Kevin Abel pitch was the winner, and Arozarena, who hit a clutch 8th-inning homer to tie it, was the hero in the bottom of the 11th when he threw out Ethan Wilson attempting to go from first to third on a single, short-circuiting a Philly rally. The Rays twice had men thrown out at the plate, including one on a Mead single with two out in the 8th that could have put them ahead in regulation. Shane McClanahan wasn't his sharpest but was still pretty good and once again the bullpen was brilliant with 6 more shutout innings including 1 1/3 more from Sandy Gaston (who also made his MLB debut in the postseason) to give him 11 2/3 scoreless over 7 playoff appearances with a 2/11 BB/K ratio. Josh Taylor also turned in a pair of scoreless innings in the 9th and 10th and picked up the win; he has an amazing 9.2 1 0 0 0 11 combined line this postseason, not allowing a hit until tonight. We'll try to take a commanding 3-1 lead tomorrow with Luis Patino on the hill - he's coming off a decent start (6 IP, 3 ER) in the ALCS after a rough one in the ALDS.

October 28, 2024: World Series Game 4

As I was saying, it's gonna be a long series...

https://i.imgur.com/8kvJeKG.png

The Rays couldn't get the pitching tonight and lost a pair of leads and the game 7-3 to the Phillies as the World Series is now knotted at 2. Curtis Mead homered again to make it 1-0, and then Ozzie Albies delivered an RBI single to put the Rays up 3-2 in the 5th but Luis Patino immediately surrendered a 2-run homer to Keston Hiura in the bottom of the inning and it snowballed from there. Carlos Rodon was taken deep by JT Realmuto once again, and JP Feyereisen really let it get out of hand in the 7th. And the news got even worse for Rodon: right after coming back from a UCL tear he tore it again tonight on his final pitch which saw him record his 6th strikeout in 2 innings. He'll miss 10 months this time so at best we get him back for September next year. John Swanda will get the call as we'll hope for a repeat of Game 1 tomorrow night and now we know we'll be heading back to the Trop to play some baseball. The Rays' M.O. this postseason has been putting themselves in a position where they need to win the last two, and that's where they'll be if they don't win Game 5.

October 29, 2024: World Series Game 5

Advantage Rays...

https://i.imgur.com/kUqtmsT.png

The Rays, especially Lorenzo Cain (5 hits) and Randy Arozarena (4), had their hitting shoes on tonight as they routed the Phillies 11-2 on 19 hits to move within one game of a world championship heading back to St. Petersburg. Philly actually led 1-0 after 2 as John Swanda's first-inning jitters continued with wild-pitching in a run but Mr. October struck again as Arozarena drilled a 3rd-inning leadoff homer to tie it up and the Rays unloaded from there. By the time the dust settled Cain had tied an AL record for hits in a playoff game, Curtis Mead (bidding for World Series MVP) homered yet again and doubled, and Arozarena had 3 more safeties. Swanda settled in and dominated, and now Drew Rasmussen will try to improve on his abysmal Game 2 outing and bring home the Rays' first ever championship.

October 31, 2024: World Series Game 6

CHAMPIONS!!

https://i.imgur.com/06yNv7z.png

They did it! In their 27th season of existence (only 23 years after expansion mate Arizona) the Rays are World Champions! It turned out to be a surprisingly easy finale for Tampa Bay as they put 5 on the board in the 2nd and Drew Rasmussen pitched one of the best games of his career to propel them to another comfortable win. Zach DeLoach had the big hit, a 2-run double to put them on top and they kept hitting after that. The cherry on top was a 2-run Curtis Mead homer, and the second-year man unsurprisingly was named Series MVP for his 4-homer performance. The Phillies did get likely NL MVP Bryce Harper back for this game but it didn't matter as Rasmussen was sharp in a complete 180 from his Game 2 start. Now the only question is where to hold the celebrations: a boat parade in Tampa like the Bucs and Lightning or a parade down Central Avenue in St. Pete? For now, there was celebration enough on the field:

https://i.imgur.com/XZDPTP4.png

https://i.imgur.com/npkUIYD.png

2024-25 Offseason: State of the Team

Current state of the team:

https://i.imgur.com/c7lKaeI.png

As we hit the offseason, it seems that 2025 will be a transition year of sorts as the team we built to win a World Series accomplished its mission and now there will be some key departures. Specifically we'll lose about 13 WAR between Juan Soto and Alex Bregman, both of whom are free agents. Other free agents we'll say goodbye to include Lorenzo Cain, who patrolled CF for us the last couple months and had a good postseason, and bullpen mainstays Jeffrey Springs and Andrew Kittredge. We also bid adieu to Ryan Pressly, who pitched in 5 games for us before getting hurt and ending his season. Finally, Austin Meadows is out the door too after a miserable return to the team following a couple of hot weeks after his re-acquisition. I'm also non-tendering a couple of mid-season veteran waiver pickups who were unimpressive with us in Lou Trivino and Caleb Ferguson.

Stu Sternberg has given me a payroll of $130M which will be more than enough to keep the remaining squad intact, which will total about $93M and that's assuming I decide to pay a combined $17M to the back end of the bullpen in Pete Fairbanks and Josh Taylor, who were both very good last year.

A position-by-position look at where things stand:

C-The Christian Vazquez/Rene Pinto combo is back, and that's fine. Vazquez had another Gold Glove-caliber season even if he isn't much of a hitter (although he came up big in the playoffs) and Pinto is a capable backup, both offensively and defensively.

1B-Curtis Mead had a monster postseason and although he's a little light in the power department for the position he's a fine all-around hitter and has a good glove at the position.

2B-Ozzie Albies certainly was an upgrade at the position even if his defense was kinda awful (-7.7 ZR) and he's back.

SS-Wander Franco. The franchise cornerstone had a decent season last year but is capable of better with the bat, and his glove is below average.

3B-This is a transition spot with Casey Schmitt, who averaged 5 WAR the last two years at Durham, taking over for Bregman. We got a taste of Schmitt at the position in the World Series when Bregman broke his thumb and he was alright (we did win the Series after all).

LF/RF: I'm lumping the corners together since Randy Arozarena can play either one with Gold Glove-caliber defense; which one he mans will depend on who wins the the other corner job. Joshua Mears has hit 58 HR and earned 8.2 WAR at Durham the last two seasons and deserves a shot; his best position is RF. Zach DeLoach was decent off the bench for us and eventually took over LF against righties from Meadows and Andrew Vaughn and could force his way into a platoon with the righty-hitting Mears.

CF: This is a problem position, which is why we traded for Cain at the deadline. Josh Lowe was excellent (3.6 WAR) in 2024 but tailed off badly last year to the point he was sent back to Durham, and while he raked there he didn't carry that over back up here in his September callup. Also his defense at the position is average at best; we can live with it if he hits 251/315/453 like 2024 but not 196/272/373 like last year. Arozarena can play the position if I want to go with DeLoach/Vaughn in left and Mears in right but he'd be about Lowe-level defensively if I stuck him there and I'd lose his Gold Glove D in the corners. A position for upgrade.

DH: This was where Juan Soto spent most of his time and he simply isn't going to be replaced. Vaughn has the inside track but I was kind of hoping for more than the 17 and 16 HRs he's hit the last two years. With Soto gone we don't really have a guy I can count on for 30+ homers, although Mears has that potential. All through the lineup we have guys who are "good" but not necessarily "great" with Bregman and Soto gone. So if a true impact bat becomes available I may very well make a move.

Bench: In addition to Pinto, Jeremiah Jackson served as the backup infielder last year and was OK with occasional pop and a decent glove. I once envisioned him as the starting 2B before we acquired Albies but I don't see him as a starter any more. OF backups could be DeLoach, Lowe or Heliot Ramos (remember him?).

Rotation: 4/5 of the rotation returns with McClanahan, Swanda, Patino and Rasmussen all back (Shane Baz tore his UCL and will miss 2025). They were pretty inconsistent throughout the year but we did win 102 games and the World Series with them, although one could say that was because of the league's best offense and a great bullpen - perhaps they could be exposed more with a less potent offense next year. Taj Bradley is the front-runner for the 5th spot and there is some depth with Ian Seymour and JP Sears, who had their brief stints with the team, and JJ Goss, who didn't. And we ended up wasting $6.6M on two years of Carlos Rodon which netted us 2 long relief appearances in the World Series sandwiched between a pair of torn UCLs, although he could return late in the year.

Bullpen: As mentioned, the key end-game guys are back in righty Fairbanks and lefty Taylor, they're just going to be a bit pricey but we can afford them. Setup guys JP Feyereisen and Tanner Scott are back too, as are 2-WAR multi-inning marvels Chris Gau and Forrest Whitley. The departures of Springs and Kittredge open a couple of spots and one of those will go to Sandy Gaston, who was brilliant in his first MLB action in the postseason and fanned 136 in 86 IP at Durham. If I want a third lefty to go with Taylor and Scott, Jovani Moran was very good at Durham (94 whiffs in 53 IP) although he's been inconsistent at the big-league level.

I'm not averse to adding an impact starter or reliever though, especially a starter as the rotation seems a lot like the offense: good but not great.

Speaking of JP Sears:

https://i.imgur.com/1D9WsZN.png

His 50 stuff/45 movement/60 control profile might be a good fit on a better defensive team; I'm not sure how much he'd succeed with us and some rough outings early in the year confirmed that (although he did have a nice start on the season's final day for us).

2024-25 Offseason, Part 1

Like the Oscars, we have our In Memoriam section except for players who are retiring rather than dying:

New York Mets: SP Max Scherzer retired from professional baseball.
Arizona Diamondbacks: SP Madison Bumgarner retired from professional baseball.
Toronto Blue Jays: RF Jason Heyward retired from professional baseball.
Washington Nationals: SP Stephen Strasburg retired from professional baseball.
Arizona Diamondbacks: 1B José Abreu retired from professional baseball.
1B Joey Votto retired from professional baseball.
SS Elvis Andrus retired from professional baseball.
SP Dallas Keuchel retired from professional baseball.
SS Starlin Castro retired from professional baseball.
SS Brandon Crawford retired from professional baseball.
LF Khris Davis retired from professional baseball.
SS Andrelton Simmons retired from professional baseball.

Former Rays hanging it up:

Seattle Mariners: 2B Derek Dietrich retired from professional baseball.
RP Sergio Romo retired from professional baseball.
C Robinson Chirinos retired from professional baseball.
CL Alex Colomé retired from professional baseball.
Minnesota Twins: 2B Daniel Robertson (AAA St. Paul) retired from professional baseball.
2B Joey Wendle retired from professional baseball.

Surprised the Reds aren't retiring Votto's number.

Awards season:

Gold Gloves: As expected our catcher Christian Vazquez won the AL award at his position.

Reliever of the Year: AL winner was KC's Abner Uribe, 6-0, 8 saves, 1.48 ERA while the NL nod went for the second straight year to the Cardinals' Kevin Ginkel, 41 saves, 1.61 ERA, 91 K in 61 IP, 2.9 WAR.

Silver Sluggers: We took two: Ozzie Albies (2B) and Juan Soto (DH).

Rookie of the Year: In the AL White Sox 2B Jose Rodriguez (.287-18-59) took 29 of 30 first-place votes with our John Swanda finishing second with one first-place vote (guess whose?). The NL winner was Jordan Walker of St. Louis, a unanimous choice after an impressive .247-43-113 season.

Cy Young: No surprise in the AL as it went to Jacob deGrom of the Yankees (15-8, 2.04) while in the NL Corbin Burnes copped his second in four years after going 14-8, 3.09. deGrom was unanimous and Burnes took 29 first-place votes with one going to Miami's Sandy Alcantara.

MVP:

https://i.imgur.com/WfnRtlQ.png

Congrats to our (soon-to-be-former Ray) Juan Soto, who had the contract year of contract years, winning the MVP and the World Series. Alex Bregman finished 8th in the voting. Jacob deGrom, who finished 10th, picked up the other 3 first-place votes not shown above.

In the NL it unanimously went to Philly's Bryce Harper, his 2nd MVP in 4 seasons, after a .316-50-111, 9.4 WAR season the best of his illustrious career.

Our first business of the offseason:

https://i.imgur.com/HEEAelj.png

So Ryan Pressly's Rays career won't be limited to 5 games after all. I had assumed he'd want too much money given he had been paid 8-figure salaries the last few years, but for the heck of it I clicked on "offer contract extension" and he was only asking for a 1/4 deal and ended up taking 3.5. There's a little risk here considering his age and the fact he missed 4 months with shoulder inflammation, but given the money and term it won't be much.

Arbitration: We won our hearings with Josh Lowe and Shane Baz, but lost them with Randy Arozarena and Luis Patino, so that adds about $1.5M to our wage bill between them. Juan Soto and Alex Bregman declined the qualifying offers as expected and we'll recoup a couple of sandwich picks when they sign elsewhere.

November 25: A couple of interesting trades with Minnesota sending OF Jake Cave to the Blue Jays for 2B Cavan Biggio, and the Red Sox sent former Rays rental Josh Bell to the Angels for a prospect.

The veteran international free agent class is pretty poor this year; sometimes you can get a decent bargain there but not this time.

Blockbuster trade incoming!

https://i.imgur.com/QDnifcB.png

I said I wanted to add an impact bat to the lineup, and boy oh boy did we add one. You probably don't need any introduction to Kyle Tucker, but he's a perennial .300-30 HR guy who plays excellent defense in RF and has earned 6.8 and 6.7 WAR each of the last two seasons. The catch of course is that like Juan Soto last year, Tucker is a one-year rental. The cost was a bit steep, primarily in terms of Jimenez who is ranked the #21 prospect in baseball and was our July 2 signing in 2023. If he pans out he could be a top-tier 3B, but of course that's if he pans out. Colmenarez is no slouch either, a potential Gold Glove SS who has some ability with the bat. And to save salary Houston took Carlos Rodon off our hands, who we were going to pay $3.3M to maybe pitch in September before becoming a free agent. Combined with the fact Houston is also taking on 80% of Tucker's salary it's basically going to cost us nothing money-wise. And we'll recoup a prospect when Tucker goes free agent next winter and we get a sandwich pick in the 2026 draft. Also, the fan interest was "amazing" and Tucker is a local boy, having been drafted by Houston out of Plant High in Tampa.

This also gives me a lot of flexibility in the OF as I now have an excellent fielder in RF with Tucker, meaning I can put Randy Arozarena in center and go with a DeLoach/Mears/Vaughn mix at LF/DH.

November 29: Another big trade as the White Sox sent SP Dylan Cease to the Angels for four prospects.

December 3: Well that was quick and not particularly ideal - Juan Soto signed an 8/324 deal with the Yankees. We get a supplemental 1st rounder out of it but I would have obviously preferred he went back to the NL or at least out of the division.

December 7: And the other big free agent shoe drops as Alex Bregman is off to the team we vanquished in the World Series, the Phillies, for 6/210. Also division rival Boston signed 37-year-old Paul Goldschmidt for 3/76, which seems an overpay considering Goldy's production has dropped the last couple of seasons including hitting 258/350/404 last year. The Bregman signing of course brings us another supplemental 1st-rounder.

December 10: The biggest name among starting pitchers in this year's free agent class has a new home as Walker Buehler joins the Cubs on a 6/165 deal.

December 12: What's this about the draft helping the small market clubs? The Cubs and Dodgers had off-years in 2024 and both moved up big-time in the draft lottery with Chicago securing the #1 pick instead of the 10th and LA moving up from 11 to 3. Cue the "rigged" complaints. Also Atlanta signed SS Tim Anderson to a healthy 4/123 deal. Anderson won the AL batting crown at .328 and had 20 HR and 75 RBI.

December 16: Well-traveled slugger Jorge Soler may finally be settling down as he inked a 4/47 pact with Washington.

December 24: Boston signed CF Victor Robles to a 6/117 deal. Before acquiring Kyle Tucker I was thinking of kicking the tires on Robles.

December 26: Added 1B Kyle Manzardo, OF Nick Decker and C/OF Jeferson Morales to the 40-man roster.

Rule 5 time. Manzardo is the mostly likely to this trio to have an impact as a power-hitting 1B. Decker is a 4th/5th OF-type and Morales is a bat-first catcher who is terribly defensively but can hit.

We didn't lose anyone in the Rule 5 draft, although I might have taken Pittsburgh 2B prospect Maikol Escotto, a top 100 prospect, had he been available at my turn but the Astros scooped him up first.

December 27: Another of our free agents has gone to Philadelphia as Lorenzo Cain, who played for the Phillies in 2023, joins Alex Bregman and will be paid 3/58. Veteran closer Edwin Diaz signed a 1/5.6 deal with the Angels.

December 28: Jonathan Loaisiga, who pitched for us in 2024 and was part of the package we sent to Atlanta for Ozzie Albies, has joined division rival Toronto on a 4/78 contract.

December 30: Jordan Hicks, the one-time reliever converted to a very effective starter by the Cardinals a few years back, signed a massive 6/151 deal with the Angels.

2024-25 Offseason, Part 2

January 1: Jeffrey Springs, a mainstay of our staff the last several years, now joins the enemy Yankees on a 3/17.8 deal. Also Dominic Smith, who had to take a minor league deal with the Reds last year before hitting 36 HR and driving in 115 between Cincinnati and the Angels, parlayed his big season into a 3/52 pact with those same Reds in a rare case of a free agent going back to the team that traded him at the deadline.

January 5: Anthony Rizzo still commands interest around the league and the Astros inked him for 3/62. Meanwhile longtime White Sock Yoan Moncada stayed in the division thanks to a 6/81 deal with Kansas City.

January 9: Former Royals and Angels closer Scott Barlow's career is over thanks to a serious case of shoulder inflammation.

January 15: The Hall of Fame results are in and nobody got in. Closest was first-year man Ichiro Suzuki at 72.9% while Todd Helton and Carlos Beltran were at 66.9% and Adrian Beltre at 66.6%. Also Mitch Haniger, who had a nice run for us in the second half of 2024, is on the move again as Colorado has dealt him to Milwaukee.

January 21: Longtime Oakland OF Ramon Laureano is on the move to Arizona in a deal for a couple of prospects.

January 24: The Blue Jays dealt OF George Springer to Cleveland for a couple of minor leaguers and retained most of his contract.

Rays news: I made an offer to free agent SP Julio Urias, who is a great pitcher but has major issues staying healthy (i.e., he's "wrecked"). He's only looking for a 1-year deal which is great, but is asking $11M which isn't considering I might only get 40 IP from him. I offered him $8M which he rejected but I have a feeling he'll come crawling back to me as Spring Training gets closer.

February 3: Another of our longtime relievers turned free agent signed elsewhere as Andrew Kittredge joined the White Sox for 2 years at just under $7M total. He's still recovering from a torn rotator cuff suffered midseason last year and won't be ready until May.

February 5: Minnesota traded 1B Rowdy Tellez to Colorado for 2B Brendan Rodgers.

February 13: Closer Liam Hendriks signed a 2/16 deal with Miami.

February 22: St. Louis found its Paul Goldschmidt replacement as they dealt for Baltimore's Ryan Mountcastle.

February 23: Former Rays SS Willy Adames had to settle for a minor league deal with Oakland.

February 27: Austin Meadows, who flopped in his return to us last season, signed a minor league with Kansas City.

March 10: The Angels swung a deal to acquire 1B Brandon Belt from San Francisco.

March 27: Signed OFs Marcell Ozuna and Michael A. Taylor to minor league contracts with MLB options; Ozuna still looks like he can hit for power while Taylor is a Gold Glove-caliber outfielder. Both are insurance against Mears/DeLoach. Also Julio Urias has received some other offers and is now back to demanding $11M even though he did come back to me at the start of Spring Training, so the heck with him.

2025 Opening Day Roster & Preseason Predictions

No injuries worth reporting during ST, always a good thing. Here's our 27-man (MLB is going with 27-man rosters now) Opening Day roster:

C-Vazquez, Pinto
1B-Mead
2B-Albies
SS-W.Franco
3B-Schmitt*
IF-J.Jackson
OF-DeLoach, Arozarena, Tucker, Mears*, J.Lowe
DH-Vaughn

SP-McClanahan, Swanda, Patino, Rasmussen, Bradley*
LR-Whitley
MR-Gau, Moran, C.White, T.Scott
SU-Pressly, Taylor, Feyereisen
CL-Fairbanks

*rookies

I listed "OF" since it's going to be fluid both positionally and in terms of who's playing. You can count on Tucker and Arozarena playing every day, mostly in RF and CF respectively. Either will play some LF and we'll mix and match.

The last cuts were Sandy Gaston on the pitching staff, mainly because Jovani Moran is out of options, and Heliot Ramos in the OF as I opted to go with Josh Lowe for his defense and ability to play CF.

The preseason predictions, which notoriously don't like us (remember they predicted 69(!) wins last year, a total we exceeded by 33 with a World Series title):

https://i.imgur.com/7IIp8s3.png

They like Kyle Tucker and the offense but not our pitching (4.36 ERA). While the staff (primarily the rotation) does not exactly fill me to the brim with confidence, I'm sure we'll do better than 4.36 ERA or changes will be made.

April 7-10, 2025: vs Boston (4)

Time to start another season of Rays baseball:

https://i.imgur.com/VJo2y9g.png

Opening Day couldn't have been scripted any better as new star acquisition Kyle Tucker hit a 3-run homer in the bottom of the 8th to turn a 2-1 deficit into a 4-2 Rays lead as they went on to beat Boston 5-2. Tanner Houck had shackled the offense but they took advantage of Lance Lynn with Ozzie Albies and Wander Franco singling and then Tucker depositing a Lynn offering into the RF seats. Shane McClanahan had a nice start and Josh Taylor saved with a lefty up after Pete Fairbanks had put two men on with two out.

Game 2: 1-5 L. LP-Swanda (0-1, 3.2 8 5 5 0 5). Rough outing for Swanda and the offense only managed 6 hits.

Game 3: 6-3 W. WP-Patino (1-0, 5 5 3 3 1 4). S-Fairbanks (1). HR-Vaughn (1). Rays scored 4 in the first and never looked back. Vaughn drove in a pair and Tucker was 2-3 with 2 runs scored and an RBI.

Game 4: 1-5 L. LP-Rasmussen (0-1, 5 6 3 2 0 5). Ras was decent but the offense stunk again.

Team record: 2-2. Next up: 3 at home vs Texas including Taj Bradley's MLB debut starting the opener.

April 11-13, 2025: vs Texas (3)

Game 1: 4-5 L. LP-Scott (0-1). Starter-Bradley (5 4 2 2 3 3). HR-Franco (1), Tucker (2). Taj Bradley was impressive in his MLB debut shutting out Texas through 5, but put the first two on in the 6th and Tanner Scott gave up a 3-run homer to Nick Yorke and the Rays never could come all the way back.

Game 2: 6-2 W. WP-Taylor (1-0). Starter-McClanahan (6 6 2 2 0 7). HR-J.Jackson (1), Mead (1). Filling in for a banged-up Wander Franco, Jeremiah Jackson blasted a 2-run homer in the 7th to break a 2-2 tie and Mead added a 2-run shot in the 8th.

Game 3: 7-1 W. WP-Swanda (1-1, 5.2 4 1 1 2 7). HR-Tucker (3). Kyle Tucker was 4-5 including a solo homer and Ozzie Albies had a pair of RBI hits including a triple to pace the offense and support a well-pitched game from Swanda.

Team record: 4-3, tied with the Yankees atop the AL East. Next up: Our season-opening homestand concludes with 3 against Detroit.

April 14-16, 2025: vs Detroit (3)

Game 1: 5-1 W. WP-Patino (2-0, 5 4 1 1 3 5). Patino was sharp and four relievers each threw a hitless inning. A 4-run 3rd capped by a 2-run Kyle Tucker single propelled the Rays to victory.

Game 2: 2-6 L. LP-Gau (0-1). Starter-Rasmussen (6 4 2 1 2 5). HR-J.Jackson (2). This time the bullpen let them down, allowing 4 runs in the final 3 innings after Jackson's 2-run homer tied it in the 6th.

Game 3: 5-1 W. WP-Pressly (2-0). Starter-Bradley (4.2 4 1 1 2 7). HR-J.Lowe (1), W.Franco (2). Josh Lowe saw his first action of the year and homered in his first at-bat, and Wander was 3-3 with a homer and 2 RBI. Taj Bradley missed out on his first MLB win as he put 2 on with 2 out in the 5th and was at 95 pitches.

Team record: 6-4. Next up: An off-day then our first road trip of the year starts with 3 games in Oakland.

April 18-20, 2025: at Oakland (3)

Game 1: 5-3 W. WP-McClanahan (1-0, 5 5 3 3 3 6). S-Fairbanks (2). HR-Albies (1), Tucker (4), W.Franco (3). Albies and Tucker had 2-run homers in a 4-run 3rd which keyed the win although they should have scored a lot more than 5 considering 15 men were LOB and they had 16 hits.

Game 2: 12-3 W. WP-Swanda (2-1, 6 7 2 2 1 4). HR-W.Franco (4), Schmitt (1), J.Lowe (2). A 0-0 game after 3 was 9-2 Rays after 6 as they exploded in the middle innings. Casey Schmitt had 3 hits including his first MLB homer as did Curtis Mead, and Wander drove in 3.

Game 3: 6-5 W (10). WP-Pressly (3-0). Starter-Patino (5 7 5 5 3 3). HR-Schmitt (2). Patino couldn't hold a 4-0 lead but the Rays came back to tie it in the 8th on a Rene Pinto triple and then Schmitt homered for the second straight day in the 10th to win it.

Team record: 9-4, now 2 games above the Yankees, whom are next on the agenda with 3 at the Stadium.

April 21-24, 2025: at NY Yankees (4)

Game 1: 7-5 W (11). WP-Fairbanks (1-0). S-Scott (1). Starter-Rasmussen (7 4 1 1 2 5). HR-J.Lowe (3), Vazquez (1). Feyereisen and Taylor blew a 5-0 lead in the late innings but DeLoach's RBI single in the 11th was the winner.

Game 2: 4-2 W. WP-Bradley (1-0, 6 4 2 2 1 6). S-Pressly (1). HR-Arozarena 2 (2), W.Franco (5). Taj Bradley finally picked up his first MLB win in his third start despite pitching well in all of them, and Arozarena led off the game with a homer then added one for insurance in the 9th.

Game 3: 4-3 W (10). WP-Pressly (4-1). S-Feyereisen (1). Starter-McClanahan (4.2 6 2 2 4 3). HR-Albies (2). Taylor Scott gave up a Kyle Schwarber homer to let the Yankees tie in the 8th but Rene Pinto won it in the 10th with an RBI single as the Rays made it 7 straight.

Game 4: 2-4 L. LP-Feyereisen (0-1). Starter-Swanda (5 4 1 1 3 6). HR-W.Franco (6). Rays couldn't hold the lead again and this time it cost them when Feyereisen gave up 2 runs in the 8th.

Team record: 12-5. Next up: 3 games in Houston.

April 25-27, 2025: at Houston (3)

Game 1: 12-6 W. WP-Gau (1-1). Starter-Patino (4.2 6 6 5 4 3). HR-Tucker (5), Mead 2 (3). Rays overcame a poor Patino start with Casey Schmitt's RBI triple in the 8th breaking a 6-6 tie before they broke it open. The pen turned in 4 1/3 hitless innings. Mead drove in 4 and Vazquez had a bases-clearing double.

Game 2: 12-9 W (13). WP-C.White (1-0). Starter-Rasmussen (4.1 7 7 7 3 3). HR-Franco (7), Arozarena (3), Mears (1). Just like yesterday the Rays battled back from shaky starting pitching to win, although this time the pen blew leads in the 8th and 10th to prolong it. Schmitt was 3-4 with 5 RBI, Wander was 3-6 with 4 runs scored and 2 RBI and Joshua Mears hit his first MLB homer after clubbing 58 the last 2 years at Durham. Vaughn had the game winner, an RBI single in the 13th.

Game 3: 6-2 W. WP-Bradley (2-0, 7 5 2 2 1 8). HR-J.Lowe (4), J.Jackson (3). Taj Bradley was outstanding again despite allowing a couple of solo homers, and Josh Lowe has done nothing but rake since being put in the lineup over the last 10 days after being an afterthought for the first two weeks. He was 3-4 with 4 RBI today including his homer and is hitting 333/391/667 with 4 HR and 9 RBI in 11 games. With the sweep, the Rays have now won 10 of 11.

Team record: 15-5. Next up: Back home for 3 vs the Yankees.

April 28-30, 2025: vs NY Yankees (3)

Game 1: 0-6 L. LP-McClanahan (1-1, 5.1 7 4 4 0 4). Rays were dominated by Jacob deGrom who pitched a 5-hit complete-game shutout. Mac hung in there until giving up 3 in the 6th.

Game 2: 1-5 L. LP-Swanda (2-2, 5 4 2 2 2 6). HR-J.Lowe (5). It was Gerrit Cole's turn to shackle the offense today, although they had their chances early against him but couldn't score and he settled in to whiff 10 over 8 innings.

Game 3: 4-2 W. WP-Gau (2-1). S-Fairbanks (4). Starter-Patino (5 4 1 1 3 5). HR-Tucker (6). After Chris Gau blew a 2-1 lead in the 6th, Kyle Tucker's 2-run shot in the bottom of the inning won it, and Curtis Mead added a 2-run double.

Team record: 16-7. Next up: An off-day then 3 in Toronto, currently in second 3 1/2 games back.

April Players of the Month

Forgot to include this info in the previous post, so I'll give it one of its own:

https://i.imgur.com/lkURjHj.png

Congrats to Taj, who might have been our most consistent start in the season's first month.

https://i.imgur.com/f5YZRhe.png

Caminero was once a Top 100 prospect, ranking as high as #59 after the end of the 2022 season, but has stalled out at Bowling Green although he seems ready for a promotion to AA Montgomery. He now projects as a 50-55 rated hitter across the board and can play 1B, 2B or 3B so he could fill in as a bench player down the line.

https://i.imgur.com/jgicT4N.png

Curet is an up-and-coming relief prospect who seems to be following the Colby White path, moving up a level each year and succeeding.

MLB Players of the Month:

Batter: NL-Bryce Harper (PHI), .338-8-24; AL-Mike Trout (LAA), .338-8-23. Harper also hit his 400th career homer.

Pitcher: NL-Deivi Garcia (ARI), 3-0, 0.66; AL-Jacob deGrom (NYY), 3-0, 1.15.

MLB News: The Padres, off to an 18-9 start, have lost superstar SS Fernando Tatis Jr. for 4 weeks with a knee sprain.

May 2-4, 2025: at Toronto (3)

Game 1: 1-7 L. LP-Gau (2-2). Starter-Rasmussen (5 5 1 1 1 6). Jays scored 6 times in the 6th to break open a 1-1 game with Chris Gau charged with 5 of those runs in a brutal inning.

Game 2: 10-3 W. WP-Bradley (3-0, 6 6 3 3 0 5). HR-Schmitt (3). It was the Rays' turn to bust open a closing game late as they scored 4 times in the 7th to break a 3-3 deadlock and win going away. Tucker and Vazquez each knocked in a pair to lead a balanced attack with all but two Rays driving in runs and all but one getting a hit.

Game 3: 7-0 W. WP-McClanahan (2-1, 6 5 0 0 1 8). HR-Schmitt (4), Arozarena (4), Albies (3). Mac was dealing and again a close game through 6 wasn't close after 7 as the Rays opened up a 2-0 game. Wander had 3 hits including a pair of doubles.

Team record: 18-8. Next up: An off-day then the eyes of the baseball world will be upon Tropicana Field as the 21-5 Angels visit in a matchup of the teams with the two best records in MLB.

May 6-8, 2025: vs LA Angels (3)

Game 1: 5-7 L. LP-Swanda (2-3, 5 7 5 5 1 4). HR-J.Lowe 2 (7). The Rays lost despite a huge game from Lowe, who hit a pair of solo homers and an RBI double. No idea what's gotten into his this year after a miserable 2024 but he's staying in the lineup until he stops hitting.

Game 2: 0-10 L. LP-Patino (2-1, 3 6 7 7 3 2). Patino this year has either been great or has been shelled and it's been the latter more often despite this only being his first loss as his ERA sits at 7.16. Dylan Cease held the Rays to three hits over 6 2/3 and they only managed five in total against the now 23-5 Angels.

Game 3: 4-1 W. WP-Rasmussen (1-1, 6.2 1 1 1 3 8). S-Fairbanks (5). HR-Mears (2). Ras no-hit the mighty Angels until one out in the 6th and finally picked up his first win despite pitching well for the most part this season. A 4-run 3rd which started with Mears' homer and was capped by Mead's 2-run single was enough to salvage the finale. Mears is going to get a run at DH to try and take advantage of his power and so far so good.

Team record: 19-10, 2 up on the Yankees. Next: 3 games at home vs Oakland.

May 9-11, 2025: vs Oakland (3)

Game 1: 0-4 L. LP-Bradley (3-1, 2.1 4 2 2 0 3). Taj Bradley left with a herniated disc and will be out 3-4 weeks while the hitters all played like they had herniated discs.

Transaction: Taj goes to the IL and Sandy Gaston, who was brilliant in last year's playoffs but has yet to make a regular season appearance, is called up from Durham.

Game 2: 7-8 L (10). LP-Fairbanks (1-1). Starter-McClanahan (5 7 4 4 2 3). HR-J.Lowe (8). A wild game that saw the Rays down 4-3 after 8 only for Feyereisen to allow 3 runs before they rallied for 4 in the bottom of the inning to tie it on Lowe's homer, a 2-run Wander triple and a balk to score him. Alas Fairbanks gave up a run in the 8th and they still lost anyway.

Game 3: 6-3 W. WP-Swanda (3-3, 6.1 7 3 3 3 9). S-Pressly (2). HR-Schmitt (5), Arozarena (5), W.Franco (8). Swanda was excellent, shutting out Oakland through 6 before a rough 7th, and Casey Schmitt's 3-run homer was the big blow.

Team record: 20-12. The Yankees swept Seattle and have pulled into a first-place tie, a tie which will be addressed when New York visits for 4 games. This will be our third series with the Yanks already this year.

MLB News: Craig Kimbrel recorded his 400th career save for the Mets, who promptly put him on waivers.

May 12-15, 2025: vs NY Yankees (4)

Game 1: 13-8 W. WP-Gau (3-2). Starter-Patino (4.1 8 5 4 3 4). HR-Franco (9), Schmitt (6), Mears (3). Rays went up big early and handed Patino a 10-2 lead, but he couldn't make it through the 5th and the Rays' pen wasn't very good. Fortunately they kept tacking on runs with Schmitt 2-3 with the HR & 3 RBI and Wander 3-5 with a double, homer and 4 RBI.

Game 2: 13-2 W. WP-Rasmussen (2-1, 5 3 1 1 4 5). HR-Mears (4). The Rays put a baker's dozen on the board for the second straight night and this time banged out 20 hits. Kyle Tucker drove in 4 with a double and single, Josh Mears had a 2-run homer and RBI double, and Wander had another big night going 3-5 with 2 RBI.

Game 3: 7-1 W. WP-Whitley (1-0, 7 2 0 0 2 11). HR-Arozarena (6), Franco (10). Forrest Whitley made his first start for the Rays after 58 relief appearances the last two years and he may not be going back to the bullpen after tonight's dominant outing filling in for Taj Bradley. He got plenty of support as Wander drove in 3 more, Mead was 2-4 with 2 RBI and Arozarena had 3 hits including a homer as the Rays have scored 33 runs in the first three games of this showdown series.

Game 4: 5-7 L (13). LP-Gaston (0-1). Starter-McClanahan (6 5 2 2 1 5). HR-J.Jackson (4). Tonight started out as a McClanahan-deGrom duel and it was just that as it stood 2-1 Yanks after 8. Tanner Scott then gave up a run to make it 3-1 New York in the top of the 9th but in the bottom of the inning Jeremiah Jackson ripped a 2-out, 2-run double to tie it. And after the Yankees went back ahead 5-3 in the 12th Jackson did it again, launching a 2-run homer to keep the Rays alive. Alas, Sandy Gaston struggled big-time in the 13th and this time the Rays didn't have an answer (probably because they couldn't get Jackson to the plate) and had to settle for taking 3 of 4 in the series.

Team record: 23-13, 2 up on New York. Next up: Philadelphia comes to town for 3 in a rematch of last year's World Series. The Phillies are atop the NL East once again, but with a middling 19-16 record.

MLB News: Arizona's Ketel Marte will miss 1-2 weeks after spraining his knee while chasing his girlfriend on the beach (in Arizona?). Meanwhile the Tigers swung a deal with Cincinnati sending pitcher Matt Manning to the Reds for power-hitting young 3B Elly de la Cruz.

Rays news: We signed veteran starter and long-time Mariner Marco Gonzales to a minor league deal for some starter depth. Gonzales is recovering from a torn elbow ligament and won't pitch for three weeks, and he wasn't exactly overpowering to begin with so I'm not expecting much here.

May 16-18, 2025: vs Philadelphia (3)

Game 1: 4-5 L. LP-Swanda (3-4, 5 7 5 5 2 5). HR-Vaughn (2). Swanda put them in a 5-0 hole which they nearly climbed out of with Vaughn's 3-run homer getting them back in it, and they should have won it considering they left 14 on base.

Game 2: 7-9 L (11). LP-Feyereisen (0-2). Starter-Patino (3.2 7 7 7 4 3). HR-Arozarena (7). Patino was horrible again including allowing 5 in the first before retiring anyone, but they came all the way back from 7-0 down only to lose in extras. Arozarena's 3-run shot in the 8th tied it up, only to give them another tough loss.

Game 3: 0-2 L. LP-Rasmussen (2-2, 5 4 2 2 1 6). They finally got a good start but forgot to score runs as the Phillies managed a small measure of revenge for last year's World Series by sweeping the Rays. Hyun-Jin Ryu dominated them completely (7.1 2 0 0 2 5), getting 12 ground ball outs.

Team record: 23-16. The Yankees won 2 of 3 from Washington at the same time and then beat the Mets on a walk-off Stanton slam on our off-day so the Rays have dropped 1/2 game behind New York. Next up: After that off-day we'll play 3 in Miami.

Disgusted by the sweep and especially Luis Patino's pitching (now with an 8.33 ERA), it was time to make a move:

https://i.imgur.com/Ql5X3nT.png

Starting pitching has been the team's weak link this year and we went ahead and shored it up by acquiring one of the top starters over the last several years in Luis Castillo. The veteran righty was 4-1, 1.95 this year and earned 7.3 WAR over the previous two full seasons. Castillo didn't come cheap of course, both in terms of what we gave up (Kinney, the #90 prospect in MLB) and what we'll spend (Castillo is due $16.8 next year and $14.7M in 2027, although Texas is picking up 10% of that). Castillo will of course take Patino's spot in the rotation with Patino either going to Durham (he still has an option) or going to long relief.

While I wasn't thrilled about dealing Kinney, he was probably going to end up at 1B rather than 2B given his mediocre defense and we have two pretty good 1B prospects still in Kyle Manzardo and Junior Caminero, not to mention a young guy in Curtis Mead already holding down the position with the big club. Zellem was a "make it work" guy we'll likely not miss.

May 20-22, 2025: at Miami (3)

Game 1: 0-2 L. LP-Whitley (1-1, 5 4 2 2 3 2). The Rays were dominated by Sandy Alcantara, who went 8 5 0 0 0 10 against them as they suffered their fifth straight defeat.

Game 2: 9-1 W. WP-McClanahan (3-1, 6.1 5 1 1 1 7). Tampa Bay snapped its 5-game losing streak in emphatic fashion but it came at a price. Wander Franco tore his groin and will be lost for 2 1/2 months. As for the game, Casey Schmitt drove in 3 with a 2-run single and a triple and Andrew Vaughn had a 2-run double.

Transactions: Wander went on the 10-day IL although he could be shifted to the 60 if we need a 40-man spot. Alika Williams' contract was purchased from Durham; the 2020 supplemental first-rounder finally makes the bigs as he's hit 371/427/567 at Durham (the 291/342/383 he hit last year is a bit more representative) and sports a 60 glove at SS. Jeremiah Jackson will get first crack at SS but Williams will sub for him defensively and get some starts as well. We also optioned Colby White to AAA Durham to make room on the roster for Luis Castillo, who will start the finale. White had a 1.64 ERA in 21 innings and is a big-leaguer but someone with an option had to go and Sandy Gaston and Luis Patino can pitch multiple innings (plus one of those two is going down anyway when Taj Bradley comes back).

Game 3: 3-4 L. LP-Scott (0-2). Starter-Castillo (6 4 3 3 1 6). Josh Mears' 2-run double in the first gave Luis Castillo a 3-0 lead in his Rays debut, but he gave the 3 runs back in the 2nd. He pitched well otherwise but the offense couldn't score again the rest of the way and Scott gave up the winner in the 7th.

Team record: 24-18. The Yankees split two games with the Mets while we played this series so we're 1 back in the division. Next up: We visit Citi Field to take on those Mets for 3 games.

MLB News: Cleveland ace Shane Bieber tore his UCL and is done for the year.

May 23-25, 2025: at NY Mets (3)

Game 1: 5-0 W. WP-Swanda (4-4, 7 5 0 0 1 3). HR-Mears (5). Swanda was outstanding and Josh Mears singled in a run in a 3-run 1st and then put the game away with a 2-run homer in the 6th.

Game 2: 5-1 W. WP-Rasmussen (3-2, 5 8 1 1 2 4). HR-Mears (6). Another solid win was marred by an injury to 2B Ozzie Albies, who will miss 3 weeks with elbow inflammation and puts our entire keystone combo of he and Wander out of commission. Casey Schmitt had a big 2-run double in the 1st.

Transaction: Albies goes on the IL and Royce Lewis is brought up from Durham. Jeremiah Jackson will take over at 2B and Alika Williams will be the everyday SS.

Game 3: 7-2 W. WP-Whitley (2-1, 5 4 2 2 4 4). S-Gaston (1). HR-Arozarena (8), Vazquez (2). The Rays completed the sweep of a Mets team which now has the worst record in MLB at 15-30. Randy's 3-run HR in the 2nd sent them on their way and Gaston went the final 3 for his first MLB save. Kyle Tucker had 3 hits including a couple of doubles.

Team record: 27-18. The Yankees were swept in Atlanta so the Rays are now back in first by 2 games over New York. Next up: Back home for 2 against Washington then we go there for 2 more. Kind of strange the schedule makers didn't reverse the order of those for travel purposes.

May 26-27, 2025: vs Washington (2)

Game 1: 5-4 W. WP-Taylor (2-0). Starter-McClanahan (6 5 1 1 0 5). HR-Vazquez (3). Vazquez was in the thick of everything, with his 3-run homer giving the Rays a 4-1 lead, his error in the 9th opening the door for two Washington unearned runs to tie it, and then he won it with a walk-off RBI single in the 9th.

Game 2: 6-4 W. WP-Patino (3-1). S-Fairbanks (6). Starter-Castillo (5 9 4 4 1 6). HR-J.Jackson (5), Mears (7). Luis Castillo's Trop debut with the Rays didn't go so well as he put them in a 4-0 hole but Jeremiah Jackson brought them back, first with a solo homer to get them on the board then a bases-clearing double to put them up in the 6th.

Team record: 29-18. Good news as the Yankees dropped both their games and suddenly the division lead is up to 4 after they were in second five days ago. Next up: The return leg to Washington for 2 games.

Transaction: Taj Bradley was activated off the IL and Sandy Gaston was sent to Durham. Bradley will return to the rotation and Forrest Whitley will go back to long relief after filling in admirably as a starter.

May 28-29, 2025: at Washington (2)

Game 1: 1-9 L. LP-Swanda (4-5, 4 6 6 6 3 2). HR-A.Williams (1). Brutal game all around with Swanda giving up a Jorge Soler slam in the first. Only 3 hits from the offense but one was Alika Williams' first MLB homer.

Game 2: 2-9 L. LP-Scott (0-3). Starter-Bradley (1.2 3 0 0 0 2). HR-Tucker (7). We had not one, not two but three pitchers leave the game with injuries. Bradley left with back spasms in his first start back, Whitley took over and two batters later he left with a mild oblique strain and then Jovani Moran replaced him, went 1 1/3 and left with wrist soreness. It was actually a 2-2 game in the 6th when Soler took Tanner Scott deep to break the tie then Pressly and Feyereisen combined to allow 6 thereafter to let it get away. Among the injuries Moran's is the most serious and will require an IL stint; the other two are day-to-day for a week (minimal).

Team record: 29-20. Of course the Yankees won both of their games so the lead is back down to 2. Next up: 3 games in Chicago against the White Sox.

May 30-June 1, 2025: at Chicago White Sox (3)

Transaction: Placed P Jovani Moran on the 15-day IL with wrist soreness, recalled P Sandy Gaston from AAA Durham. Gaston's demotion did not last long.

Game 1: 6-7 L. LP-Fairbanks (1-2). Starter-Rasmussen (5 6 4 3 2 5, 2 HR). HR-Tucker (8). The Rays lost leads of 4-2 and 6-4 in this game with Chicago walking it off against Fairbanks in the 9th. Tucker had a double and a 3-run homer.

Game 2: 6-3 W. WP-Gaston (1-1). Starter-McClanahan (6 3 1 1 1 8). HR-Tucker (9). It was the Kyle Tucker show with the star RF hitting a 3-run homer and 2-run double. Luis Patino, who struggled in the rotation, struggled in the pen today as well blowing a 3-1 lead in the 7th before Tucker rescued him and the team with the 2-run double in the 8th.

Game 3: 9-4 W. WP-Castillo (1-0, 6.1 4 2 0 1 6). HR-Mead (4). Curtis Mead drove in 5 including a first-inning slam and Luis Castillo picked up his first Rays win after two no-decisions to start his Tampa Bay career, improving to 5-1 overall. Kyle Tucker capped a massive series by going 2-3 with two walks and an RBI, making him 8-12 with 3 walks, 2 homers and 9 RBI in the three games.

Team record: 31-21. The Yankees dropped 2 of 3 so the Rays are 3 up in the division. Next up: An off-day then we head to Seattle for 3.

June 3-5, 2025: at Seattle (3)

Game 1: 4-1 W. WP-Gau (4-2). S-Fairbanks (7). Starter-Swanda (5 7 1 1 1 6). HR-Mears (8). Josh Mears' 3-run homer in the 7th turned a potential 1-0 loss into a win. The ridiculous run of middle infield injuries continued as Jeremiah Jackson, filling in so well with Wander and Albies out hitting .303-5-15, took a knee to the head on a collision at 2nd and suffered a concussion which will put him out for a little over two months.

Transaction: Jackson went on the 60-day IL and without any more middle infielders on the 40-man we purchased the contract of Brett Wisely from Durham. Wisely can only play 2B and not that well, but he swings a decent bat. A lefty hitter, we'll platoon him with Royce Lewis at 2B until Albies comes back in a couple of weeks.

Game 2: 1-3 L. LP-Rasmussen (3-3, 6 1 1 1 3 4). Ras was brilliant in a return to his hometown Pacific northwest, but unfortunately the one hit he gave up was a Jesse Winker homer, then Seattle got two more off the pen as the bats only managed 4 hits and didn't score until the 9th.

Game 3: 5-3 W. WP-McClanahan (4-1, 6 6 3 3 0 5). S-Fairbanks (8). HR-Mears (9). Kyle Tucker capped his big week with a 3-RBI performance including a key 2-run double to put the Rays up 3-0 early. He now leads the AL in RBI with 41 and is second in WAR at 2.6.

Team record: 33-22. The Yankees dropped 2 of 3 to Texas so the division lead grows by another game to 4. Next up: We return home to face the 32-22 Cardinals for 3 including a game against old friend Blake Snell.

June 6-8, 2025: vs St. Louis (3)

Game 1: 1-3 L (10). LP-Taylor (2-1). Starter-Bradley (5 3 0 0 2 6). The Rays hung in there and the pen pitched out of jams galore (Cards had 12 LOB) before finally faltering in the 10th as the offense could only manage 4 hits on the night, half of which came from Brett Wisely.

Game 2: 7-2 W. WP-Castillo (2-0, 6.2 2 1 1 2 10). HR-Tucker (10), Arozarena (9), Pinto (1). Luis Castillo was dominant and Tucker and Arozarena blasted 3-run homers in the 1st and 2nd off Blake Snell, treated rudely in his return to the Trop.

Game 3: 0-1 L. LP-Swanda (4-6, 5.2 3 1 1 2 9). A gem from Swanda was wasted as the bats went silent again with another 4-hit night. Playing without Wander and Albies has caught up to the team.

Team record: 34-24. Despite losing 2 of 3 they lost no ground as the Yankees did likewise to the Angels, so they're still 4 up. Next: Toronto comes to the Trop for 4 games.

June 9-12, 2025: vs Toronto (4)

Game 1: 3-1 W. WP-Rasmussen (4-3, 5 3 1 1 1 9). S-Fairbanks (9). Brilliant pitching from Ras and the pen got them in a win in a game which saw Arozarena and Tucker need to rest. The makeshift lineup with Wander and Albies also out got a couple of RBI hits from Curtis Mead.

Game 2: 7-6 W. WP-McClanahan (5-1, 5.2 7 6 2 1 7). S-Taylor (3). HR-J.Lowe (9), Mears (10). Jays went up 5-0 in the first on a 3-run Kieboom homer (4 runs unearned) but the Rays stormed back, immediately answering with a 2-run Lowe shot and then going ahead for good in the 5th on a 2-run Mears homer and the pen locked it down again with 2 1/3 scoreless from Forrest Whitley.

Game 3: 1-3 L. LP-Bradley (3-2, 4 5 3 3 2 4). HR-Mead (5). Taj put the first two on to start the game and then gave up a 3-run homer to Vlad Jr, and you could have gone home after that.

Game 4: 4-1 W. WP-Castillo (3-0, 5 4 1 1 2 8). S-Fairbanks (10). Luis Castillo was brilliant again but ran up a pitch count early so he only lasted 5, which was no problem with the way the bullpen pitched this series. Alika Williams' RBI infield hit in the 4th broke a 1-1 tie.

Team record: 37-25. The Yankees took 2 of 3 and were off on Thursday, so the lead is now 4 1/2 games. Next up: We fly cross-country to play 3 in San Francisco.

Rays news: We signed veteran SP Zach Wheeler to a minor-league deal. He's lost the stuff which made him dominant at times about 4-5 years earlier (now rated 40) but still has 65 movement and 55 control, so he could be passable if needed.

MLB News: Seattle's Eugenio Suarez hit his 300th homer, the Yankees lost reliever Yerry De Los Santos for the season with a torn rotator cuff, and the Dodgers' Chris Taylor tripped over a coffee table and will be out 4 days.

June 13-15, 2025: at San Francisco (3)

Game 1: 7-3 W. WP-Swanda (5-6, 6 5 2 2 2 3). HR-Tucker (11). A 6-run 5th which saw Josh Lowe hit a 2-run double followed by Tucker's 3-run homer broke it open.

Transactions: Activated 2B Ozzie Albies from the 10-day IL; optioned IF Brett Wisley to AAA Durham, sent P Shane Baz to AAA Durham for a rehab assignment. Baz, thought to be out for the year, has made surprising progress and my trainer says he's ready to pitch again. With Taj Bradley pitching well there really isn't an opening but we'll see what happens over the next couple of weeks while Baz rehabs.

Game 2: 13-6 W. WP-Gau (5-2). Starter-Rasmussen (4.1 5 2 2 3 2). The Rays banged out 19 hits, with everyone in the lineup getting at least 2 except for Mead (who had 1). Schmitt and Vazquez drove in 3 while Tucker and Arozarena each plated a pair. Rasmussen couldn't handle a 6-0 lead to get through the 5th and get the win.

Game 3: 2-4 L. LP-McClanahan (5-2, 3.2 6 4 4 2 5). Mac struggled although the pen kept them in it. Alas after scoring 20 the previous 2 games the offense struggled although Tucker and Arozarena rested. Both pinch-hit and reached in a 9th-inning rally that fell short with the bases loaded. Also Josh Lowe left with a calf strain and will miss 3 weeks.

Team record: 39-26. The Yankees swept Arizona so the lead is down to 3 1/2. Next up: We had down the coast to play 3 at Dodger Stadium.

MLB News: Former Ray Nate Eovaldi's career is over thanks to a torn labrum while the high-flying Angels (an absurd 46-19) lost starter Dylan Cease for the rest of the year with a torn back muscle. And Julio Urias, whom we tried to sign in the offseason but had outlandish demands relative to his health record, unsurprisingly tore his rotator cuff and is done after making 5 starts with the Cubs.

June 16-18, 2025: at LA Dodgers (3)

Transaction: Josh Lowe went on the IL with his calf strain and Heliot Ramos is back for the first time in two years from Durham. Ramos, who carried the Rays in April & May of 2023 only to slump badly and then never to be heard from again, was a decent 271/333/415 with the Bulls.

Game 1: 1-3 L. LP-Bradley (3-3, 5 4 2 2 1 4). HR-Pinto (2). The Rays were shut down by the immortal Adbert Alzolay, who went 7.1 2 0 0 0 7 against them with Pinto's consolation homer in the 9th averting a shutout.

Transaction: Forrest Whitley strained his elbow and will be out 2 weeks, so another Luis Patino demotion is short-lived.

Game 2: 1-6 L. LP-Castillo (3-1, 5.2 7 3 3 3 3). HR-Arozarena (10). Randy led off the game with a homer but that was it once again for the offense and Luis Castillo lost his first game since coming over from Texas.

Game 3: 5-4 W. WP-Swanda (6-6, 5 8 3 3 3 4). S-Fairbanks (11). HR-Mears (11), Tucker (12), DeLoach (1). DeLoach's 2-run homer in the 4th broke a 3-3 tie and the Rays held on over the last 5 innings to snap a 3-game losing streak.

Team record: 40-28. The Yankees took 2 of 3 from Colorado to whittle the division lead to 2 1/2. Next up: An off-day to fly cross-country as we return home for 3 against the White Sox.

MLB News: Toronto shipped OF Ian Happ to Atlanta for a prospect and Houston sent veteran RP Aroldis Chapman to Colorado for one as well. Meanwhile the Angels lost another starting pitcher as Jake Odorizzi tore his flexor tendon and is done for 2025.

June 20-22, 2025: vs Chicago White Sox (3)

Game 1: 6-3 W. WP-Rasmussen (5-3, 6 4 0 0 1 3). S-Taylor (3). HR-Tucker (13). Tucker drove in 3 with a 2-run single and homer, and Alika Williams had a big RBI double to back a strong Ras outing.

Game 2: 7-2 W. WP-Gau (6-2). Starter-McClanahan (6 5 2 2 3 7). HR-Arozarena (11), Mears (12). A rookie duo broke a 2-2 tie in the 8th when Casey Schmitt had a 2-run single and Josh Mears followed with a 3-run homer to propel the Rays to victory.

Game 3: 11-0 W. WP-Bradley (4-3, 5 4 0 0 2 6). HR-Albies (4), Mead 2 (7), Tucker (14). Schmitt did it again, driving in 5 with a a 2-run double and a bases-clearing two-bagger, Albies scored 4 runs and Mead homered twice to pace a rout.

Team record: 43-28. The Yankees took 2 of 3 from Detroit so the lead is back up to 3 1/2. Next up: 4 games in Boston.

MLB News: Pirates star Brian Reynolds hit for the cycle - again. Having done it on June 8, he did it again on the 20th. According to this article, only Toronto's Aaron Hill in 2015 had a pair of cycles closer together - by one day (11) to Reynolds' 12. Also 38-year-old Andrew McCutchen of the Phillies is done for the year after tearing his labrum.

June 23-26, 2025: at Boston (4)

Game 1: 3-2 W. WP-Castillo (4-1, 5.1 4 2 2 3 4). S-Fairbanks (12). Bullpen was brilliant with 3 2/3 hitless innings to preserve the slender lead. Alika Williams was 2-3 with an RBI single and he scored on Rene Pinto's RBI double that was the difference.

Game 2: 14-8 W. WP-Gau (7-2). Starter-Swanda (4 8 6 5 4 3). HR-Schmitt (7). A remarkable game which saw the Rays score 12 in the final 3 innings to overcome an 8-2 deficit, tying it with a 6-run 7th capped by Vazquez's 2-run single and then going ahead in the 8th on Schmitt's 2-run homer before tacking on 4 in the 9th. Schmitt drove in 4 while Albies and Alika Williams each knocked in 3.

Game 3: 18-6 W. WP-Rasmussen (6-3, 5 6 5 5 1 5). Instead of recapping the homers, I'm just going to post the batting part of the box:

https://i.imgur.com/bOgX1Jh.png

37 baserunners! 16 LOB (it could have been so much more)! By the way combined with yesterday that's 30 runs in their last 12 innings. Also Casey Schmitt has knocked in 17 runs over his last 5 games.

Game 4: 8-7 W. WP-Pressly (5-0). S-Fairbanks (13). Starter-McClanahan (5 7 2 2 0 9). HR-Mears (13). 8 more runs, why not? They needed all of them after blowing a 7-2 lead thanks to Sandy Gaston loading and bases and letting a run in before Chris Gau gave up a Paul Goldschmidt grand slam. But they loaded the bases in the 9th and Vaughn was hit by a pitch to force in the winner, they completed the 4-game sweep, and extended their win streak to 8. Vaughn was 3-3 with a walk, the HBP and 4 RBI as he's about doubled his YTD output in the last two games.

Team record: 47-28. The Yankees split their 4 games with Baltimore so the lead has grown to 5 1/2. Next up: Back home against Pittsburgh, which in the past would have sounded like a gimme but the Pirates are really good this year at 42-33.

Rays News: Josh Lowe's calf strain is not healing as well as hoped and he'll be out another two weeks.

MLB News: Miami's Mike Moustakas is done for the year with a broken bone in his elbow.

June 27-29, 2025: vs Pittsburgh (3)

Game 1: 2-0 W. WP-Bradley (5-3, 5.2 4 0 0 1 7). S-Fairbanks (14). HR-Mears (14). Taj was dealing again, lowered his ERA to 2.67 and has allowed only 5 runs total over his last 5 starts. Mears' homer in the 2nd was all they needed tonight.

Game 2: 2-0 W. WP-Castillo (5-1, 7 3 0 0 2 5). S-Taylor (4). Deja vu all over again as Castillo lowered his Rays ERA to 2.68 and has been everything we hoped for after acquiring him. Mears stayed hot, going 3-3 with a walk and RBI double as the Rays made it 10 straight wins.

Game 3: 13-1 W. WP-Swanda (7-6, 6 5 1 1 3 3). HR-Arozarena (12), Pinto (3), Tucker (15), Mears (15). Rays scored 7 in the 3rd to break it open with a Mead 2-run single and Schmitt 2-run triple the big hits. Josh Mears capped his huge week(end) with a homer and 3 RBI as it's now 11 straight wins for Tampa Bay.

Team record: 50-28. The Yankees won 2 of 3 over the weekend (including a 6-hit Gerrit Cole shutout in which he fanned 18) then lost 1-0 to San Diego on our off-day Monday, so the lead is now a whopping 7 games. Next up: That off-day followed by a trip to Coors Field to play 3 against the Rockies, which should test our staff.

MLB News: The Rays are not the only MLB team on a double-digit win streak as St. Louis has now won 13 in a row. We also had a couple of trades. Former Rays farmhand Joe Ryan was dealt by Minnesota to San Diego, and it was he who shut down the Yankees in that game in his Padres debut. And another former Ray is on the move as Oakland dealt Willy Adames to Cincinnati. Injuries of note: Boston has lost Trevor Story for 3 months with a torn meniscus and the Angels have lost yet another pitcher as Jordan Hicks joins Dylan Cease, Jake Odorizzi and Ryan Yarbrough on the shelf with a torn elbow ligament, putting him out for over a year. Finally Houston's Anthony Rizzo is done for the year with a broken bone in his elbow.

June Monthly Awards:

Player: AL-Juan Soto (NYY). Last year's MVP and Rays star hit .410-7-22 after a slow start in New York. NL-Joey Gallo (ATL) .330(!)-17(!!)-35 with a .459 OBP. Incredible. In this save Gallo is rated for 45 contact so he's a true superstar with his HR/BB ability and fielding.

Pitcher: AL-Gerrit Cole (NYY), 5-1, 1.99 with 69 Ks in 49 IP. NL-Rookie Donye Evans (NYM), 4-1, 2.94, 51 whiffs in 33 IP.

Also down on our farm:

https://i.imgur.com/aXaeHJq.png

The former #13 overall pick in 2022 has consistently over-performed his ratings (50 contact, 40 power, 45 eye), hitting 304/378/472 last year in AA and 333/395/509 so far this year for the Bulls. He's blocked of course by Albies and Wander and we have other good middle infielders (Jeremiah Jackson, Alika Williams, Royce Lewis), so his future with the big club is uncertain but if nothing else he's building trade value after we traded Austin Shenton (at AAA for LAA) and Nick Schnell (out of baseball) for him a couple of winters ago.

July 1-3, 2025: at Colorado (3)

Game 1: 4-14 L. LP-Rasmussen (1.1 6 9 9 4 0). Coors Field had to have freaked out Rasmussen, who put up one of the ugliest lines I've ever seen. DeLoach's 2-run double was the Rays' lone highlight as their 11-game win streak came to an ignominious end. It wasn't a good night for streaks as the Cardinals' win streak ended at 13 as well.

Game 2: 9-7 W. WP-Pressly (6-0). S-Fairbanks (15). Starter-McClanahan (6 5 2 2 2 5). HR-Tucker (16), Arozarena (13), Lewis (1), Mears (16), Albies (5). Your typical Coors game as Gau and Pressly blew a 6-2 lead allowing 5 in the 7th but Mears' 2-run homer in the 8th restored the lead and they held on. Royce Lewis was 4-4 with 2 doubles, a steal and a homer in the game of his MLB career.

Game 3: 4-1 W. WP-Patino (4-1). S-Fairbanks (16). Starter-Bradley (2 1 0 0 1 1). HR-Mears (17). Taj had to leave with a herniated disc (he'll miss a couple of weeks) after the red-hot Josh Mears hit a 3-run shot in the 3rd to make it 4-0. Colorado scored in the bottom of the frame and then somehow we had 6 scoreless innings to close out the game which suited the Rays fine.

Team record: 52-29. The Yankees won both their games so our lead is 6 1/2 games at the halfway mark of the season. Next up: We return home for the July 4 holiday with 3 against Cincinnati.

July 2 international signing news: The best 3-4 guys weren't particularly interested in us including a couple of promising pitchers so we signed this guy:

https://i.imgur.com/UgsJvPL.png

I'm hoping this wonderfully-named Aruban becomes our catcher of the 2030s; not only does he have a very promising bat but he also projects to be an above-average defensive catcher. He could be one (Van) Hell of a player if he pans out.

MLB News: While Van Hell's career begins another one ends as sadly once-promising young pitcher Matt Manning has been forced to retire due to a badly torn labrum. Meanwhile the Nationals traded once highly-regarded prospect and current closer Cade Cavalli to the Cardinals just for the alliteration, er for a pitching prospect.

2025 Midseason Review

A hot streak which has seen the Rays win 13 of 14 - all without Wander Franco - has them at 52-29 and with the second-best record in baseball, only one behind the Angels who got off to a ridiculous start but have come back to Earth lately. The standings and leaders:

https://i.imgur.com/wrjZ2Iv.png

(Side note: I wish OOTP would let you open the standings page in a browser like reports and boxscores, would make it easier to put all the leaders and the wild-card race in there too).

https://i.imgur.com/9gF5QiA.png

Two great months sandwiched around a mediocre one and we're on pace for 104 wins. The pitching has been excellent despite our usual lousy defense and an uncharacteristic penchant for walks. And thanks to some recent outbursts in Boston and Colorado our offense now ranks among the league's best.

https://i.imgur.com/VB7Cg83.png

And aside from Kyle Tucker, who's been every bit the superstar and Juan Soto replacement we hoped he'd be (now we just need to find the next Soto or Tucker next year to rent), nobody has really stood out on offense over the course of the season despite the success we've had in putting runs on the board. Instead it's been kind of one guy gets hot for a while and right now the hot guy is Joshua Mears with 5 homers in his last 7 games. And really, Mead, Arozarena and Vazquez have been pretty dreadful at the plate, so this team could score even more runs if they get going when Wander returns in about a month.

https://i.imgur.com/Btb2hrQ.png

Excellent pitching numbers all around with the exception of Feyereisen and Patino. Taj Bradley has exceeded all expectations - when he's been healthy that is as he's gone back on the DL but for a short stint. And swapping out Patino for Luis Castillo has really made the staff formidable.

A look at the farm:

https://i.imgur.com/ycTxen1.png

Not quite as impressive as a year or two ago, with graduations (Mead, DeLoach, Taj, Schmitt, Mears) and trades (Cooper Kinney, Danny Jimenez, Carlos Colmenarez) depleting the list.

July 4-6, 2025: vs Cincinnati (3)

Transaction: Taj Bradley went on the 15-day IL and Forrest Whitley was activated.

Game 1: 10-1 W. WP-Castillo (6-1, 6.2 5 1 1 4 8). HR-Vazquez (4), Schmitt (9). Luis Castillo was dominant against his original team and the bats feasted again with Schmitt's 3-run shot a big blow and Josh Mears still going nuts at 3-4 with 2 RBI.

Game 2: 6-4 W. WP-Scott (1-3). S-Taylor (5). Starter-Swanda (4.2 6 3 3 4 5). HR-Mears (18). Rays came back from 3-0 down with Albies' RBI single (one of his 4 hits) the game-winner and DeLoach's 2-run single the difference.

Game 3: 8-5 W. WP-Scott (2-3). S-Fairbanks (17). Starter-Whitley (4 5 4 4 2 4). HR-Mead (8), Tucker (17). Whitley lost a 3-0 by giving up a slam in the 4th but they came back of course. Mead was 3-5 with the homer and 2 RBI, Schmitt was 3-4 with a ribbie and Tucker's 2-run shot put it away. Mears' 9-game RBI streak came to an end although he did double and score.

Team record: 55-29. They've now won 16 of 17, now have the best record in MLB, and have opened up an 8 1/2-game lead in the AL East. Next up: 4 games at home vs Baltimore.

July 7-10, 2025: vs Baltimore (4)

Game 1: 6-1 W. WP-Rasmussen (7-4, 6 3 1 1 1 6). HR-Schmitt (10). Ras rebounded from his Coors debacle and Schmitt drove in 2 more runs to put him 3rd in the AL at 60 as the Rays made it 17 of 18.

Game 2: 0-3 L. LP-McClanahan (5-3, 7 4 3 2 0 6). Grayson Rodriguez cooled off the Rays, holding them to 3 hits in 8 innings, and Adley Rutschman drove in all 3 Baltimore runs with a homer and sac fly.

Transaction: Josh Lowe was activated off the IL and Heliot Ramos was returned to Durham.

Game 3: 1-2 L. LP-Castillo (6-2, 7 5 2 2 2 6). Luis Castillo was great once more but the offense was toothless again today. Josh Mears extended his hit streak to 13 in his last at-bat in the only highlight of note.

Game 4: 9-7 W. WP-Gau (8-2). S-Fairbanks (18). Starter-Swanda (6 5 4 4 2 7). HR-Albies (6), Vazquez (5). Swanda left down 4-3 then Scott put 2 on in the 7th and Gau gave up a 3-run homer to make it 7-3 as it looked like the Rays would drop 3 straight. But a 6-run outburst in the 8th won it for Tampa Bay with Tucker's pinch-RBI double tying it and Arozarena's 2-run single the winning hit. Everyone in the lineup had at least a hit including Mears who's now hit in 14 straight.

Team record: 57-31, 8 1/2 up on the Yankees. Next up: Off to Kansas City for 3 before we hit the All-Star break. The Royals are an impressive 55-33 so it could be a playoff preview.

MLB News: The 2025 Amateur Draft is the Friday before the break and I'll recap the Rays' high picks in the next post. In injury news St. Louis lost starter Tyler Anderson for the season with a torn labrum.