[Art Deco]

OK, time to recap May so I can finally catch up to where I am.

April 31-May 2 vs Baltimore (3)

Game 1: A weird game in which the Rays only managed 4 hits for entire game despite facing Kendall Graveman, but thanks to 3 Orioles errors and a 2-run shot by the red-hot Renfroe, they managed to take a 6-3 win behind Glasnow who allowed 2 runs in 6 1/3. Wander had 2 RBI and 2 SBs while Hand got save #6. The win capped off an outstanding 20-5 month of April.

Game 2: The Rays jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead behind Kiermaier and Ji-Man HRs, but that was it as they could only managed 5 hits against a Baltimore bullpen day and ended up dropping a 4-2 decision. McKay only allowed 4 hits of his own through 6 1/3, but with 2 of them being HRs he allowed all 4 runs.

Game 3: Further inexplicable inability to hit against the terrible Baltimore staff, as they lose 5-1 only managing 6 hits. Fried with another mediocre start, allowing 9 hits and 4 runs (2 earned) in 5 1/3. Suddenly the good times of running up big run totals and 10+ hits start to seem far away.

Team record: 24-10.
WanderWatch: .372-7-31-12

May 1: Signed P Adam Ottavino to a minor league contract, assigned him to AAA Durham.

The Yankees had surprisingly waived Ottavino a few weeks into the season despite still putting up pretty good numbers. After he cleared waivers, I got him for a $210K contract and figured you can never have enough power pitchers for depth purposes.

May 3-5 vs Toronto (3)

Game 1: The bad times continue to roll as Rays fall 10-5 to the Jays and to add injury to insult Yonny Chirinos has to leave the game in the 4th with a strained forearm as his deal with the devil may have come up due for payment. Trevor Richards and Drake were terrible in relief, and Kiermaier's 7th HR of the season was the only highlight on offense.

May 3: Placed P Yonny Chirinos on the 15-day DL, recalled P Colin Poche from AAA Durham.

Yonny looks to be out a few weeks in a replay of last season where he kept getting hurt, but it's never fun to lose the reigning AL Pitcher of the Month. Poche is next man up, although I still need to decide whether I'll go with Trevor Richards or Banda in his spot or call someone else up from Durham.

Game 2: The 3-game losing streak was nipped in the bud with a 6-2 win behind Snell. He wasn't terribly efficient but managed to only allow he 2 runs in 5 2/3 despite allowing 10 baserunners. The just-recalled Poche got the win getting the final out in the sixth, while the Rays went HR happy in the game getting blasts from Choi (2, giving him 13), Meadows and Zunino.

Game 3: Tyler Glasnow had his moments of struggle, but still whiffed 10 in 6 innings despite allowing 3 runs, and the offense backed him up with 2 triples from Meadow driving in a pair, a Wander HR and 3 hits from Howie Kendrick, making his first positive contribution for the team in a 6-3 win.

Team record: 26-11.
WanderWatch: .357-8-32-12

May 6: Traded P Colin Poche and IF Michael Brosseau to Seattle for OF Mitch Haniger and P Austin Adams.

I enjoy the "shop a player" function in the game as it's always interesting to see the players other teams are making available. Haniger and Adams caught my eye, with the former off to a great start, looking like his 2017-18 self and the latter becoming one of the more interesting power arms around, picking up 7 saves with 28 Ks in 14 innings as the M's closer. Both are relatively cheap and Brosseau himself is hurt and out for a few months while Poche was always expendable. As Howie Kendrick has not been working out so far, I figure it's Haniger's turn as the drummer in Spinal Tap, er I mean last man on the bench and he can credibly fill in for Renfroe and Meadows when they need days off. Meanwhile Adams gives me a filthy bullpen now.

May 7: Traded 1B/2B Howie Kendrick to St. Louis for P Jake Woodford and 3B Nolan Gorman, designated OF Yoshimoto Tsutsugo for assignment.

Kendrick had to go so I shopped him around, and surprisingly I was able to get another solid arm in Woodford (who could either be a starter or a power reliever) and 3B prospect Gorman who could be a poor man's Joey Gallo with massive power (36 HR in AA) but also big-time contact issues. Obviously 3B is a position of need for the organization. Both were sent to AAA Durham. I needed room on the 40-man to accomodate both the new guys, and Yoshi was a sunk cost and a lost cause to me, so waiver time for him. Unsurprisingly he cleared waivers and is back at Durham.

May 7: Traded P Oliver Drake and minor league P Gustavo Andujar to San Diego for P Jacob Nix.

With Adams on board, despite a good start Drake became the forgotten man on the pitching staff and was out of options so I couldn't send him back to Durham once Yonny came back. So I wanted to pick up a reliever with options and it was power arm time again with Nix, who in 23 innings of middle relief for the Pads had a 5/35 BB/K ratio and a 1.93 ERA. Andujar was one arm among many in rookie/A ball with nothing in his lines to stand out, but he was enough to get the Padres to take the deal.

May 7-9 at Seattle (3)

Game 1: Of course it didn't hurt to take Haniger and Adams off Seattle before playing them, and the Rays took a tight 3-2 win behind McKay who went 5 2/3 allowing 2 runs but uncharacteristically walked 6 (!) batters. Meadows knocked in a pair, the bullpen held the lead for the last 3 1/3 (including a scoreless inning from Adams) and Hand notched save #8.

Game 2: Max Fried continues to make my Adames deal look bad (although Willy is only hitting around .230 for Atlanta he's up to 9 HR in late May), as he seems to believe being the #4 starter means you give up 4 runs, this time in 5 innings. The only bright spot was he managed a season-high 9 Ks in the outing but the Rays still fell 5-3 with the entire offense coming from Hunter Renfroe's 2 HR as they only managed 2 other hits off the immortal Nestor Cortes. Meanwhile another 0-fer has Brandon Lowe down to .188.

May 8: Optioned P Jacob Nix to AAA Durham, recalled P Ryan Yarbrough.

Yarbrough wins the temporary 5th starter lottery and gets the nod in Seattle, where he had his best game as a big-leaguer shutting out the Ms for 8 2/3 innings before then-manager Kevin Cash inexplicably took him out needing one more out for the shutout.

Game 3: Something about pitching against his old organization brings out the best in Yarbrough, and he threw 7 innings of 1-run, 5-hit ball to lead the Rays to a 4-1 win. Yandy woke from his season-long slumber to club his first 2 HRs of the year to provide 3/4 of the runs and Hand nabbed save #9.

Team record: 28-12.
WanderWatch: .351-8-33-16 (leads AL in steals)

May 10-12 at Los Angeles Angels (3)

Game 1: Another day at the office for Snell (7 5 2 2 1 9) and thanks to 2 RBI apiece from Ji-Man and Yandy the Rays rolled to a 5-2 win. With Hand getting the night off, Nick Anderson notched save #2 and Snell is now 5-1, 1.70.

Game 2: The Rays scored early and often against Griffin Canning and took a 7-0 lead in the 3rd on their way to an 8-4 win. Glasnow threw 6 innings of 3-hit shutout ball but needed 117 pitches. Banda and Roe yielded the 4 runs in garbage time. Meadows and Castro homered as did Mitch Haniger, his first in a Rays uniform.

Game 3: After his strangely wild day in Seattle, McKay snapped back to throw 7 shutout innings with 0 BBs and 6 Ks and Wander went 5-for-5 to pace a 6-2 win and series sweep. Renfroe, Haniger (again) and Zunino went deep.

Team record: 31-12 (man I'm looking like a genius)
WanderWatch: .370-8-33-16

May 13-16 at Chicago White Sox (4)

Game 1: If I told you it was Fried's turn in the rotation and the Rays lost, you wouldn't be surprised but this time it wasn't his fault as he was a hard-luck 2-1 loser with Tim Anderson's 2-run HR being the decisive blow. Apparently jet-lagged after playing in LA the day previous, the offense could only muster 4 hits off newly-recalled journeyman Jake Arrieta.

Game 2: This loss can be attributed to manager error as I accidentally auto-played this game and instead of Yarbrough getting another start, the AI started Banda and he promptly gave up 4 runs in 3 innings before Yarbrough relieved him with 3 scoreless. Those 4 runs were all it took in a 4-3 White Sox win with the only Rays offensive highlight being Manuel Margot's first round-tripper of the season as the team only managed 5 hits.

Game 3: The offense continued to dry up as did the wins in a 3-1 setback that saw the Rays struggled with Dallas Keuchel, who came into the game with a 6+ ERA. Snell's line was pedestrian for him (6 8 3 2 3 7), while Renfroe was the entire offense with a solo shot.

Game 4: They're surely not going to lose 4 straight to the mediocre White Sox, are they? No they're not. The offense woke from its slumber with 8 runs and 13 hits while Glasnow got the win despite not being at his best (6 7 3 3 3 4) and the final was 8-3. Meadows and Renfroe went deep to pace the bats. But there was a dark cloud in this silver lining: early in the game Wander had to leave with a strained calf muscle.

Team record: 32-15 (the Yankees gained ground and are now 1/2 game out)
WanderWatch: .360-8-33-16 and now hurt.

May 17: Placed SS Wander Franco on the 10-day DL, recalled IF Taylor Walls from Durham.

Wander's injury was a 5-day DTD calf strain and rather than risk him getting hurt further I went ahead and put him on the DL. Galvis was still at Durham but he'd have to go on the 40-man and get his MLB salary so for the short term I went with Walls, figuring I'd get a look at him for a week+ even though he hadn't done much at Durham.

May 17: Traded 2B Brandon Lowe to Kansas City for 2B/OF Whit Merrifield and minor league P/DH Dante Biasi.

Well this was the big one. With the team in an offensive slump and Lowe showing zero signs of breaking out of his funk (perhaps this is where playing the games out batter-by-batter can lead to emotional decisions as I couldn't take seeing Lowe's batter icon swing and miss again with 2 strikes and hear the game's ump yell "Strike Three!" one more time). He was at .170 with 57 strikeouts in 141 AB and only one HR. Meanwhile, Merrifield's among the league leaders in hitting and always was a guy I liked. This is obviously a controversial trade with Lowe perceived as a franchise cornerstone and given a long-term contract, and he was coming off a 3.9 WAR season in 2020. But I'm in win-now mode and ran out of patience. Plus outside of Wander this team strikes out a lot and I wanted someone to provide more contact. Also, Merrifield has another year left on his contract and although he makes about $3M more this season, his 2022 salary is only $2.75M, cheaper than Lowe's. Throw in the fact that 2B is a position of depth in the organization (with Brujan at AAA and Xavier Edwards at AA) and I could live with this. But of course the fact remains Lowe could very well regain his form and be a value for years to come and I may regret this deal sooner than I think. Also, Biasi's an interesting lottery ticket, showing some 2-way ability in the minors with power.

May 17-19 vs Oakland (3)

Game 1: Back home after a mixed bag of a road trip, the Rays were blanked for the first time this season as Frankie Montas tossed a 2-hit shutout at them. McKay was the tough luck loser, allowing 3 runs in 6 2/3 in the 3-0 loss. Merrifield was 0-4 in his Rays debut (no waiting for guys to travel around the country to show up in this game).

Game 2: Now that's the Max Fried I thought I was trading for in the offseason as he went 6 2/3, allowing 0 runs, 0 walks, 4 hits, and striking out 10. Unfortunately he didn't get the win as he left in the 7th with the game still scoreless but Kiermaier launched a 2-run shot off Chris Bassitt in bottom half to give the Rays a 2-1 win which was tense at the end after Hand allowed a 9th inning run but he held on for save #10 with Anderson nabbing the win. Taylor Walls had his first MLB hit, a double, and Merrifield was 2-4.

Game 3: Yarbrough got his chance to start again, and well let's just leave it at that as he was torched for 8 runs in 1 1/3 innings as Oakland stomped the Rays 11-3. The only bright spots were longballs from Margot and Renfroe and Trevor Richards' 5 1/3 innings of one-run relief.

Team record: 33-17. No WanderWatch until he comes off the DL.

May 19: Optioned P Ryan Yarbrough to AAA Durham, recalled P Jacob Nix.

After Yarbrough's immolation by Oakland, it was time to add another arm to the pen, at least on a temporary basis.

May 20-23 vs Toronto (4)

It's the Jays once again (and we go to Toronto the weekend following), making it seem like 2/3 of the schedule to date has been Toronto or Boston. With Wander on the DL, the Jays were at least sporting about it as they put Vlad Jr on the DL themselves.

Game 1: When Snell and Nate Pearson hook up, you expect a pitcher's duel. But this one exceeded expectations as Snell tossed a 1-hitter (!) with Randal Grichuk's 2nd-inning single the only safety against him. Pearson was undone by the still red-hot Renfroe who clubbed #20, a 2-run shot that was the offense in a 2-0 win. Snell walked 3 and struck out 11 in the masterpiece, lowering his league-leading ERA to 1.60.

Game 2: Tight and tense was the watchword again as Glasnow was great, going 6 2/3 allowing 2 runs and striking out 12 while Yamaguchi matched him for the Jays. It ended up being a Jose Martinez (who has been in a massive slump) RBI single in the 8th to break the deadlock and give the Rays a 3-2 win. Once again Anderson got the win in relief and Hand got save #11. Kiermaier hit #9 earlier in the game, continuing his red-hot start to the season.

Game 3: Here we went again. McKay was great (7 3 1 1 3 9) but the Rays could only muster 1 run and 4 hits in 6 innings off the mediocre Tanner Roark. Kiermaier played hero again this time with a 7th-inning RBI double to break the 1-1 tie and Rays eked out another one, 2-1. McKay hung around long enough for the win and Anderson got save #3.

Game 4: The Rays went for the 4-game sweep with Fried on the mound, and what they'd get was anyone's guess based on his season so far. But Max was at max efficiency with a 6 3 2 2 3 5 line, getting the win, and Whit Merrifield socked a 3-run homer that was the difference in a 5-2 win. With the matchups favoring use of Hand in the 8th, Austin Adams came on in the 9th for his first Rays save.

Team record: 37-17.

May 25: Optioned IF Taylor Walls to AAA Durham, recalled 1B/3B Alec Bohm. Sent Yonny Chirinos to AAA Durham on a rehab assignment.

Time for the Alec Bohm era to begin for the Rays at 3B, as Yandy was the hot corner equivalent of B.Lowe, going 2-16-.230 in everyday play while obviously offering little defensively. OOTP was apparently never going to buy his 2019 power surge. Diaz stays up and on the bench for the moment. Walls didn't really hit much in his week filling in for Wander and Wendle will get a couple starts at SS until he comes off the DL. Meanwhile, here's hoping Yonny can get back on track and to something resembling his April form soon.

May 25-27 at New York Yankees (3)

The Rays made their statement last month with a 3-game drubbing of the Yanks at the Stadium but otherwise the Bronx Bombers remained red-hot and despite the Rays sitting at 37-17, the Yankees were 39-17 themselves and holding a 1-game lead going into this big series.

Game 1: Well Alex Bohm made an impact, but it wasn't quite the impact he or the Rays wanted. With an off-day the day before, I decided to skip the fifth starter and go with the big 3 and Snell struggled to get out of the first and would have been out with one run scored but Bohm made a key error allowing the Yankees to score twice. Bohm partially made up for it by getting a sac fly in the 3rd to make it 2-1 but that's where the final score ended up as the Rays couldn't solve Luis Severino and Aroldis Chapman. Snell kept his league-leading ERA at 1.60 but only lasted 5 1/3 due to a high pitch count.

Game 2: Glasnow struggled mightily early, and was nearly out of a bases-loaded jam in the 3rd at 0-0 but Gio Urshela of all people smacked a grand slam. The Rays got back within 4-3 when Meadows launched a 2-run shot off Gerrit Cole, but they could get no closer and insult was added to injury when Trey Amburgey (who?) hit a 3-run HR in the 8th off Diego Castillo and the Yanks opened up a 3-game lead with a 9-3 win.

May 27: Activated Wander Franco from the 10-day DL, optioned 3B Yandy Diaz to Durham.

This was the other shoe to drop with Yandy, and Wander will be sorely needed to revive the moribund offense.

Game 3: It was up to Brendan McKay to stop the bleeding, and he was great, going 6 3 1 1 2 7. But as the story has gone often this month, the Rays offense made the other pitcher (this time Yankee fifth starter Jose Urena) look just as good with only Meadows' 15th jack of the year keeping it 1-1 as the game went to extras, and Gary Sanchez's 10th-inning walk-off HR off Nick Anderson almost seemed an inevitability as the Rays fall 4 games behind the Yanks (but still up 7 games over the 2nd wild card). Wander was 0-4 in his return.

Team record: 37-20.
WanderWatch: .352-8-33-16.

May 28: Optioned P Jacob Nix to AAA Durham, recalled P Joe Ryan.

Ryan has earned a shot to get a start, with an otherworldy 5/67 K/BB ratio in 44 innings at Durham. His ERA is 3.69 but that's more bad luck as he had only allowed 3 HR in that span. Of course, the longball is the potential bugaboo with him, having given up 7 HR in 19 IP in some long relief stints in my 2020 sim with the big club. Luckily for him starting tonight in Toronto, at least Vlad Jr is still on the DL for the Jays.

May 28-30 at Toronto (3).

Game 1: Joe Ryan, ladies and gentlemen. In his season debut he struck out 8 of the first 10 hitters (it felt like I was playing with a cheat code) and ended up with a 7 2 0 0 2 12 line (90 pitches) as the Rays won 5-0. I think I need a cigarette. Wander got back in the swing (literally), going 3-for-3 including a triple and then scoring on a wild pitch, and Renfroe kept up his ridiculous May with a pair of solo shots. Yonny Pipp anyone?

Game 2: It was Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Fried time again and today Mr. Fried showed up, allowing 3 HR in the first 5 innings to put the Rays in a 5-0 hole from which they couldn't climb out. Maybe he's the one to lose a rotation spot to Joe Ryan if Yonny comes back healthy and effective. The only bright spot on the day was the resurgent Jose Martinez as Cafecito seems to be breaking out of his lengthy slump with a 3-4 day including a 2-run shot for the only Rays offense in the 5-2 loss.

Game 3: It was Snell vs Pearson again, and this time it was Pearson's turn to throw a 1-hitter, albeit over 7 innings. In fact the Rays didn't get their hit until two out in the 6th when Jason Castro went deep. By then, Snell had given up 6 runs (on 4 HR) including 4 in the first highlighted by a Boba Shett, er Bo Bichette 2-run blast and saw his ERA climb half a run to 2.13 in the 7-1 loss. Pearson struck out 10 over the 7 and the Rays didn't manage another hit off Jacob Waguespack in the 8th and 9th. The offensive rot shows now sign of abating, and the team has lost 5 of 6. Ji-Man has gone ice cold, without a HR in weeks and his BA has plummeted to .246, and Kiermaier has regressed from his hot start. Just gonna have to ride it out.

Team record: 38-22 (now 4 1/2 behind the Yankees as Torres and Stanton went deep bottom 9 to give them a 3-2 win over Milwaukee)
WanderWatch: .349-8-33-16.

This concludes the May post as the next series overlaps into June.