Record: 17-9
First place AL East, 1 1/2 ahead of Boston
A very good - if streaky - opening month for the Rays. They started off 10-3, only to lose 5 straight games then turned it around and reeled off 7 consecutive wins before losing on April's final day.
Nothing complain about here - the offense is kicking butt across the board, and the pitching has been quite good, especially the bullpen. Even the defense has been middle-of-the-pack, which is good for this franchise. Only quibble are all the walks, which I'll get to in the pitching section.
Subaru and Tatis picking up where they left off last season and perhaps even doing better, especially the former. After a slow start through the first week or so Basallo has bashed the ball like we'd hoped/expected and Satiro has lived up to billing as well so the new guys are definitely working out. Poor
Brailer Guerrero, though - can't get any ABs.
Duran was our big pitching acquisition this past winter and it's doubtful he could have had a better month than he did. Ellis was been brilliant in middle/long relief and is ready to step into the rotation should we need him. There have been some issues though - Kim has been hit hard at time but is the victim of a .363 BABIP while Lambert has really struggled. The .382 BABIP hasn't done him any favors but 12 walks and 5 homers in 22 IP are on him. The good news is that he was very good in his last start so hopefully it's a blip. Crochet has also been rough in relief but a lot of that was in his first several appearances as well and he was better late in the month.
No can't-miss guys here, but #17 Moss is off to a ridiculous start (he is 26 after all):
Moss has 65 MLB HR power with 50 contact and a 55 eye so he's more than capable of playing in the bigs but if Brailer can't even get ABs where would I find them for Moss? Meanwhile we've got another guy raking on the farm:
Schwartz came over last winter from the Cubs for Matthew Peguero and has lit things up. He's potential 65 power and 50 contact at 2B and I have no idea why he isn't even ranked in our top 100 prospects. I'd have him top 10 at least.