The 2025 (and beyond) Tampa Bay Rays

[Art Deco]

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Wow, a 4-game sweep of the high-flying (but now slumping) Orioles as the Rays have not only gone a long way toward cementing WC2 but they only trail the Yankees by 1 1/2 games for WC1 and opening the postseason at home. They've ascended to #1 in the power rankings (for what that's worth) and were quite stingy in the sweep, allowing Baltimore only five runs total in the four games.



Players of the Week:

AL: Julio Rodriguez (SEA), 11-24, 3 HR, 9 RBI
NL: Shohei Ohtani (LA), 10-23, 3 HR, 9 RBI

[Art Deco]

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Chandler Simpson was recalled in September roster expansion; the speedster will be given a shot in CF against righties.

Another successful series for the Rays who saw their win streak snapped but still took two of three from the Mets and are now only 1/2 game behind the Yankees for the first wild card. It would be much better to play them at the Trop than at Yankee Stadium.

Next up: Minnesota comes to the Trop for 4 games.

Players of the Month (August):

AL Batter: Julio Rodriguez (SEA), .366-11-26
NL Batter: Jackson Chourio (MIL), .366-5-23
AL Pitcher: Garrett Whitlock (BOS), 3-0, 0.00, 4 SV, 14 K in 12 IP
NL Pitcher: Brandon Pfaadt (ARI), 4-0, 1.04, 42 K in 34.2 IP (and only 1 BB!)
AL Rookie: Alan Roden (TOR), .328-2-8
NL Rookie: Cam Collier (CIN), .282-10-24

MLB News: Yes, he's hurt again. Houston's Yordan Alvarez is done for the year with a fractured tibia.

[Art Deco]

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The Rays got a split of the 4-game series in Minnesota but it could have been more had they not blown a 5-0 lead in the first game. As it is with the Yankees sweeping Pittsburgh the Rays now trail New York by 2 games for WC1.



Players of the Week:

AL: Aaron Judge (NY), 10-19, 1 HR, 4 RBI
NL: Cam Collier (CIN), 11-26, 6 HR, 11 RBI

MLB News: A big blow to NL East-leading Atlanta as their superstar OF Ronald Acuna Jr. strained a hamstring and will be out six weeks, meaning he'll at least miss the NLDS.

[Art Deco]

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The Rays were sweepers in Seattle as they moved into a tie for WC1 with the Yankees. It was quite an accomplishment as this ballpark is a tough place to play (and score) and the staff held the Mariners to only three runs over the three games. And with another brilliant performance from McClanahan has me wondering if he can win the Cy Young despite missing half the season. His 3.7 pitcher WAR is 1.0 behind AL leader George Kirby and he's now 10-0, 1.59.

Next up: A huge 3-game series at the Trop against those same Yankees.

MLB News: Dodger phenom Roki Sasaki tore his UCL and will undergo Tommy John surgery, putting him out for the 2027 season as well. And Houston's Jose Altuve banged out his 2500th career hit.

[Art Deco]

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In an epic late-season series between teams tied for WC1 going in, the Rays used late-game magic in the finale to take two out of three and move into sole possession of the first wild card. In fact with Baltimore being swept this weekend the Rays are withing 4 1/2 of the Orioles, just saying (only 19 games left though). After a bullpen meltdown in extras cost them the opener the Rays bounced back with a brilliant performance from Drew Rasmussen, who no-hit the New Yorkers through 7 innings before giving up a leadoff single in the 8th. And then came Sunday's game which saw the Rays down 4-1 going into the bottom of the 8th before a pair of runs in both the 8th and 9th innings pulled out a thrilling win.



Players of the Week:

AL: Nolan Schanuel (LA), 14-25, 2 HR, 6 RBI
NL: Juan Soto (NY), 11-23, 3 HR, 5 RBI

MLB News: Texas may be running away with the AL West but they won't have Nathan Eovaldi for the playoffs as the starter tore his UCL and will miss most of 2027 as well.

[Art Deco]

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The Rays' September to remember continued with a sweep of the hapless Royals at Tropicana Field. They picked up a game on New York and lead them by 2 games for WC1 and are now within 3 1/2 of the first-place Orioles. And that's who they'll play next as they go to Baltimore for 3 games. Given how late in the season we are they'll almost need to sweep to have a realistic shot at the division.

MLB News: The Dodgers are 4 1/2 up in the NL West and a lock for the playoffs but they'll have to play the rest of the way without two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani, who is suffering from a shoulder impingement and is done for the season.

[Art Deco]

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Whatever faint hopes the Rays had of winning the division are all but gone after dropping this series to Baltimore and falling 4 1/2 games behind the Orioles. And at the same time the Yankees were sweeping Toronto to move back into a tie with Tampa Bay for WC1. The good news in that department is that the Rays won the season series from New York 8-5 so the Yankees will have to move ahead outright to gain home field advantage. Next up for Tampa Bay is a visit to Detroit for 3 games.

Players of the Week:

AL: Zach Neto (LA), 9-22, 3 HR, 6 RBI
NL: Tommy Edman (LA), 9-18, 1 HR, 4 RBI

MLB News: Yankee slugger Aaron Judge hit career homer #400.

[Art Deco]

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The Rays continue to play well, taking 2 of 3 in Motown and are a game ahead of the Yankees for WC1 with 10 games left to play. Shane McClanahan continues to be incredible, now 12-0, 1.48 in 16 starts covering 97 innings and he's earned a whopping 4.4 WAR which is now 3rd in the AL and he trails leader Kumar Rocker by only 0.3. Can a guy make 18-19 starts, pitch barely over 100 innings and win the Cy Young? We'll find out.

Next up we head to Toronto for a 4-game set which will close out the road portion of our schedule.

[Art Deco]

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Well it was a nice win but Brandon Lowe is hurt again, this time suffering an intercostal strain. Thankfully it's not too serious but it will end his regular season; however, he should be OK for the wild card playoff round. To take his spot, Brayden Taylor is once again summoned from Durham.

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A strange, feast-or-famine series for the Rays who won two games scoring a total of 27 runs and lost the other two scoring a grand total of 1. They remain a game ahead of the Yankees for WC1 and hold the tiebreaker so it's an effective 2-game lead. Sunday's finale win also officially clinched a playoff spot for Tampa Bay, an amazing turnaround after a mid-season fire sale was initially undertaken only to reverse course when the team got hot, and they've stayed hot throughout the second half of the season. Baltimore also officially clinched the division so the Rays will be playing the Yankees in the wild card round, the only question is will be at the Trop or in the Bronx.

Next week: After getting Monday off the Rays will host Minnesota and Toronto for 3 games each to close out the regular season.

Standings going into the final week:



Not shown here are the extent of the wild card races. In the AL Cleveland is 2 games up on Boston while in the NL the Giants are 2 up on Miami (and 4 on Arizona).

Players of the Week:

AL: Luke Raley (TOR), 10-22, 4 HR, 7 RBI
NL: Jordan Walker (STL), 11-28, 3 HR, 9 RBI