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Art Deco · 06-05-2023, 03:46 PM

Record: 76-54 (20-8 for the month)
1st place AL East, 6 up on the Yankees

What. A. Month. After playing .500 ball the first two months of the season it looked like the Rays would be lucky to get a wild card as the offense was struggling despite great pitching. Fast forward three months, and they're raking like your local grounds crew, the pitching is still pretty good, and they're in a commanding position to win the AL East. They put 158 runs on the board this month or 5.64/game, and that includes a rough stretch to begin the month when they lost consecutive series to the Yankees and Jays and only scored 20 runs in the 6 games. But after that New York went into a nosedive while the Rays got hot, losing 12 of 13 games at one point (although they did win their final 6). We also went into Toronto on the final weekend of the month and got revenge by sweeping them.

It wasn't all sunshine and rainbows though for Tampa Bay as they suffered the worst loss they could on the pitching staff with ace Shane McClanahan going down in his final start of the month with a sprained AC joint, putting him out for the season. He had bit of a down year at 9-8, 3.92 but still had 147 whiffs in 149 IP and was good for 2.6 WAR. Also closer Pete Fairbanks went down again, this time for the season with shoulder inflammation. And Matt Canterino, called up in late July, herniated a disc and will be out until mid-September.

To deal with all those pitching injuries we picked up a couple of veteran relievers unwanted by the Dodgers. LA waived Seranthony Dominguez, who is still solid with 65 stuff, 70 movement and 50 control, we claimed him, and he paid immediate dividends getting the final two outs in a game when Jason Adam had to leave with a minor injury and picking up a save in his debut. Additionally they DFA'd one-time (and I mean one time as he only made one appearance in 2021 for us) Ray Evan Phillips despite saving 74 games for them the last two seasons. He had lost the closer's job but still had 6 wins and a 3.05 ERA. He cleared waivers and we inked him to a minor league deal, adding him to the 40-man just before 9/1 so he'd be playoff-eligible.

Finally Masyn Winn, who took over at SS last month with Wander Franco moving to 2B, strained an ab muscle mid-month and will be sidelined to mid-September and suddenly that deal for Jose Devers didn't look so superfluous as he came up to take Winn's place and merely hit 349/431/460 in his stead.

What you don't see here is the insane race for the AL wild cards, where the Angels are 1/2 back of the White Sox and the A's and Royals are only 1 game back. Over in the NL Colorado is 3 back of the pack. The Rays meanwhile are closer to Minnesota for the #2 seed and wild card round bye (4 games) than the Yankees are to them (6). And they open September with a 3-game series in Minneapolis before the Twins visit the Trop a week later for 3.

Our record is no fluke as it matches Pythagoreas. Just look at how far those offensive numbers have come since early in the season, and the pitching - while not as stellar as early season - is still among the game's best. Two things we remain bad at: base running, despite all the steals, and defense, despite the changes made last month to try and improve it.

Check out the crazy numbers we got from the bench with Jung, Bailey and Doughty! Wander and Vargas were lethal middle-of-the-order forces and as mentioned Devers really picked it up in place of Winn, who wasn't hitting when healthy early in the month. Bethancourt cooled off unsurprisingly and Auer was a bit of disappointment this month.

Rasmussen and Pepiot struggled some but overall the pitching was pretty good, especially the bullpen and especially the long men in Springs and Baz. Baz for the year is 10-0, 1.80 in 85 innings with only 57 hits allowed and 99 whiffs, good for 1.7 WAR. He's even doing a great job of keeping the ball in the park (only 6 HR). Therefore he's my choice to take McClanahan's spot in the rotation and we'll see how that goes. Isaiah Campbell, acquired in 2023 for Harold Ramirez, finally made it to The Show and has been impressive.

Brock Jones has crept up the prospect rankings from 237 overall a month ago to 200 today on the strength of an MVP season for Durham: 40 HR, 115 RBI, 335/416/672, 15 SB, and a 4.1 ZR in LF. Thought about rewarding him with a September callup but the 40-man is full and he's not on it, so instead the nod goes to the guy at #5 for us, Carson Williams, who is on the 40-man and gives us a good defensive MI to back up Devers and Wander. Reliever Trevor Bridgen, not a prospect but a useful arm, was the other September call-up.

So on to September and a likely division title!

06-05-2023, 03:46 PM	#29
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 6,930	August 2023 Record: 76-54 (20-8 for the month) 1st place AL East, 6 up on the Yankees What. A. Month. After playing .500 ball the first two months of the season it looked like the Rays would be lucky to get a wild card as the offense was struggling despite great pitching. Fast forward three months, and they're raking like your local grounds crew, the pitching is still pretty good, and they're in a commanding position to win the AL East. They put 158 runs on the board this month or 5.64/game, and that includes a rough stretch to begin the month when they lost consecutive series to the Yankees and Jays and only scored 20 runs in the 6 games. But after that New York went into a nosedive while the Rays got hot, losing 12 of 13 games at one point (although they did win their final 6). We also went into Toronto on the final weekend of the month and got revenge by sweeping them. It wasn't all sunshine and rainbows though for Tampa Bay as they suffered the worst loss they could on the pitching staff with ace Shane McClanahan going down in his final start of the month with a sprained AC joint, putting him out for the season. He had bit of a down year at 9-8, 3.92 but still had 147 whiffs in 149 IP and was good for 2.6 WAR. Also closer Pete Fairbanks went down again, this time for the season with shoulder inflammation. And Matt Canterino, called up in late July, herniated a disc and will be out until mid-September. To deal with all those pitching injuries we picked up a couple of veteran relievers unwanted by the Dodgers. LA waived Seranthony Dominguez, who is still solid with 65 stuff, 70 movement and 50 control, we claimed him, and he paid immediate dividends getting the final two outs in a game when Jason Adam had to leave with a minor injury and picking up a save in his debut. Additionally they DFA'd one-time (and I mean one time as he only made one appearance in 2021 for us) Ray Evan Phillips despite saving 74 games for them the last two seasons. He had lost the closer's job but still had 6 wins and a 3.05 ERA. He cleared waivers and we inked him to a minor league deal, adding him to the 40-man just before 9/1 so he'd be playoff-eligible. Finally Masyn Winn, who took over at SS last month with Wander Franco moving to 2B, strained an ab muscle mid-month and will be sidelined to mid-September and suddenly that deal for Jose Devers didn't look so superfluous as he came up to take Winn's place and merely hit 349/431/460 in his stead. What you don't see here is the insane race for the AL wild cards, where the Angels are 1/2 back of the White Sox and the A's and Royals are only 1 game back. Over in the NL Colorado is 3 back of the pack. The Rays meanwhile are closer to Minnesota for the #2 seed and wild card round bye (4 games) than the Yankees are to them (6). And they open September with a 3-game series in Minneapolis before the Twins visit the Trop a week later for 3. Our record is no fluke as it matches Pythagoreas. Just look at how far those offensive numbers have come since early in the season, and the pitching - while not as stellar as early season - is still among the game's best. Two things we remain bad at: base running, despite all the steals, and defense, despite the changes made last month to try and improve it. Check out the crazy numbers we got from the bench with Jung, Bailey and Doughty! Wander and Vargas were lethal middle-of-the-order forces and as mentioned Devers really picked it up in place of Winn, who wasn't hitting when healthy early in the month. Bethancourt cooled off unsurprisingly and Auer was a bit of disappointment this month. Rasmussen and Pepiot struggled some but overall the pitching was pretty good, especially the bullpen and especially the long men in Springs and Baz. Baz for the year is 10-0, 1.80 in 85 innings with only 57 hits allowed and 99 whiffs, good for 1.7 WAR. He's even doing a great job of keeping the ball in the park (only 6 HR). Therefore he's my choice to take McClanahan's spot in the rotation and we'll see how that goes. Isaiah Campbell, acquired in 2023 for Harold Ramirez, finally made it to The Show and has been impressive. Brock Jones has crept up the prospect rankings from 237 overall a month ago to 200 today on the strength of an MVP season for Durham: 40 HR, 115 RBI, 335/416/672, 15 SB, and a 4.1 ZR in LF. Thought about rewarding him with a September callup but the 40-man is full and he's not on it, so instead the nod goes to the guy at #5 for us, Carson Williams, who is on the 40-man and gives us a good defensive MI to back up Devers and Wander. Reliever Trevor Bridgen, not a prospect but a useful arm, was the other September call-up. So on to September and a likely division title!