Record: 29-21 (17-11 in May)
3rd place AL East, 3 1/2 behind Baltimore; 2nd Wild Card
A decent month for Tampa Bay but one in which they suffered a crippling blow at a position they couldn't afford to suffer one as ace
Shane McClanahan tore his UCL and will be out until mid-2030. The starters have been inconsistent to put it kindly and without Mac it will be even more of an adventure.
Ryan Pepiot was moved into the rotation to take McClanahan's place and we'll definitely be on the lookout for upgrades via trade over the next couple of months. Meanwhile the offense perked up as it usually does after the first month and they're in decent playoff position but the AL East looks very tough this year and division may be a heavy lift. Also going down to injury was lefty reliever
Magdiel Cotto with an elbow strain but he'll be back in mid-June.
The other big news of the month was a shakeup at 2B with Junior Caminero dealt:
Caminero was only hitting 241/323/293 and providing lousy defense at the position and although he's still only 25 he seemed to be regressing and has apparently maxed out at 55 contact/50 power so it looks like he'll never be the stud he once appeared he'd be as a prospect. In return we got another 2B in Micheu, who didn't get need to go on the 40-man and has hit over .300 at every level of the minors since being drafted in the 3rd round by Boston in 2027, including .329-20-95 at 3 stops last season and was hitting 333/373/638 with 11 HR in 36 games at AAA El Paso. He's 55/50 contact power right now with 60/55 potential and is rated a 55 at the position. For now he's in the minors and that's because we've called up last year's 1st-round pick
Ethan Holliday, brother of Orioles superstar Jackson and son of near-HOFer Matt. Holliday was a decent 296/369/488 at Durham and is rated 70 contact (75 potential) with 45 power (50 potential). He's not a dazzling fielder so he'll fit right in with the rest of our defense.
Almost managed shutouts on every Sunday this month.
The Orioles had a big month and it didn't help matters for the Rays that they were swept in Charm City late in the month. As you can see
Fernando Tatis Jr leads MLB in homers and RBI and
Elly de la Cruz had a huge month. Look out for the Pirates over in the NL.
Some things to like here, but a lot of warts. On offense the team doesn't get on base enough but they somewhat make up for it with the longball and despite being 8th in AL they'll 11th in MLB in scoring. They can steal bases like crazy but also have been making a lot of outs on the bases. Meanwhile although the starting pitching has a poor ERA a lot of it is the result of the horrid defense as the staff as a whole is 1st in WAR. The bullpen has been great by any measure though.
Kind of surprised Elly wasn't named Hitter of the Month as he was massive in May while guys like Chourio and Marsh bounced back from miserable Aprils. Tatis cooled down from his insane first month but still remained productive and Holliday hit the ground hitting after being called up mid-month.
Teodo has really saved the staff (or at least the rotation), following up his brilliant April with a just-as-good May. Pepiot had 2 excellent starts after replacing McClanahan before getting bombed in Toronto in his last one. That's lefty rookie reliever
Geudis Ramos at the top of the list with a couple of scoreless outings after being called up to replace Cotto. He has a future as a bullpen arm.
Joel Diaz also got a callup when
Santiago Suarez had to go on the IL with back stiffness.
Nobody really distinguishing himself among our prospects in the minors (except for the recalled Holliday) but someone who isn't eligible for this list since he has 35 too many ABs to qualify as a rookie is this guy:
Rosa has put up insane HR numbers at Durham (and perhaps he should, with 70-rated MLB power) with 22 in only 170 AB.
Kevin Alcantara hasn't been terrible but has been inconsistent, losing some ABs to
Bayron Lora as we have a bit of a glut at LF/DH so Rosa could be up to help soon, especially if we swing a deal.