The 2022 (and beyond) Tampa Bay Rays

[Art Deco]

Texas ace Robert Ahlstrom, the best pitcher in the game, won the pitching Triple Crown, adding 291 strikeouts. The MVPs in both leagues appear pretty clear as well. And that's old friend Luis Patino of the Dodgers with a shot at the NL Cy.



In the end this turned out to be a pretty good team once it got out of its own way around the first of August. The offense found its stride, nobody ran the bases better, and pitching was always pretty good. The defense stunk, but that's true for about 95% of the teams in my saves.



Ozzie Albies had a nice bounceback season and it would have been even better had he not missed about a quarter of the season, although Kolten Wong filled in for him admirably. Santana had a massive power year and Elijah Green was a revelation in limited playing time and might not just start against lefties in the playoffs. One of these years James Wood will live up to his ratings but this was not that year.



It was a weird year for the staff as we had a fair number of injuries and ten different guys started games. While nobody had a real standout season, we still led the league in ERA (albeit at a high 4.01) and fewest runs allowed. It turned out our best run came when guys we were looking at as relievers turned out to be solid starters (German, Evans, Sears) while the guys we looked at as staff anchors (Swanda, Eldridge, Bradley) either had down years or got hurt. The bullpen was pretty good although Edwin Diaz had an off-year allowing too many homers and blowing a few too many saves.



Now that elite prospect Nelson Haro has graduated the farm system is bereft of help for 2030 and our top 3 prospects all came from this year's draft. It's not pretty.

[Art Deco]

[Art Deco]

Let's roll...



John Swanda had a mediocre regular season - especially by his lofty standards - but when the bright lights came on he responded, pitching 6 dominant innings and leading the Rays to a 5-0 win in Game 1 of their best-of-3 Wild Card series with Boston. Angel Rivera and Nelson Haro delivered big 2-run hits and now the Rays came advance to the ALDS against Toronto with one more win. Luis German will get the ball tomorrow to try and make that happen.

Elsewhere the NL Wild Card Round is over already:



Joey Gallo hit 2 homers in both games of the series to lead St. Louis to a date with Atlanta in the NLDS while the other one will feature the Phillies and Dodgers.

[Art Deco]

Let's play three...



For a while there it was looking like a replay of Game 1 with Luis German picking up where John Swanda left off, striking out Red Sox left and right and the Rays had an early 2-0 lead. But it all went wrong in the 6th when German came out on 83 pitches and walked the leadoff man and then Walt Khattak came on in relief and despite his 75 movement gave up back-to-back homers to turn the game around in Boston's favor. Tampa Bay bats went limp after that and now it's down to an all-or-nothing Game 3. Donye Evans will get the start with Bryce Eldridge poised to relieve him early if necessary.

This will be the only series in this round still going, as while the Twins lost out on the AL Central to Cleveland on the final weekend they won what mattered, their wild card series:

[Art Deco]

Movin' on...



The Rays went up 6-0 after 2 and coasted to a 6-1 win in the decisive wild card Game 3 and advance to the ALDS to face their nemesis of the past two seasons, the Toronto Blue Jays. Donye Evans was the latest Rays starter to dominate the Red Sox as Rays pitching accumulated 46 strikeouts over the 3 games and Anthony Rendon made that deadline trade worth it with a 2-out, 2-run single in the 1st to break the ice before adding another RBI knock in the 2nd. Bryce Eldridge will be tasked with a tough assignment in Toronto in Game 1 but it's better than sitting at home.

[Art Deco]

[Art Deco]

A good start...



The Rays visited their recent personal house of horrors the Rogers Centre and came away with an 11-8 Game 1 win over the Jays to get a leg up in the best-of-5 series. They jumped on Jays ace Luis Medina by going double-double-triple to start their game on their way to 3 quick runs and although Bryce Eldridge gave them right back on a 3-run Bo Bichette homer the offense kept piling on runs, helped by 8 Jays walks as they broke it open with a 4-run 8th. That should have been enough to win comfortably as they took an 11-4 lead into the 8th but Jake Cousins and Aldry Acosta (who couldn't get anyone out) made quite the mess, allowing 4 and bringing the tying run to the plate. Edwin Diaz, whom we had hoped to not use, put an end to the nonsense with a whiff and a ground out and Tampa Bay hung on. John Swanda will go tomorrow to try and really play with more house money.

Elsewhere former Ray Curtis Mead hit a walk-off single to win one for Houston to start their ALDS, and the Cards and Dodgers take commanding leads in the NL:

[Art Deco]

Heading back to St. Pete all even...



In the polar opposite of yesterday's high-scoring Game 1, the Jays got a pinch-hit 3-run homer from Gabriel Moreno off Adrian Morejon and a great game from Kyle Muller to beat the Rays 3-1 and even up the series. Rays batters just couldn't get anything going off Muller and it wasn't until the 9th when they got a rally going against Toronto's closer that they looked like scoring. They did, and had men on first and third with one out but Natanael Santana grounded into a game-ending double play. So Luis German will try to keep the ball inside Tropicana Field in two days' time in a game the Rays will really need.

It's all even in the other ALDS as well:

[Art Deco]

The Cardinals were one out away from the NLCS when Austin Riley hit a dramatic 3-run homer for Atlanta to keep them alive in their NLDS. They would have joined the Dodgers, who swept the Phillies thanks in part to former Rays catcher Diego Cartaya who homered in each of the three games.

[Art Deco]

Not ready for prime time...



I ended my recap of Game 2 by stating that Luis German would need to keep the ball in the park in Game 3, and that's precisely what he didn't do. German has top-shelf stuff but is a bit homer-prone and today it cost him as did a couple of extremely poorly-timed errors. The first came from Wander Franco in the opening frame as his error prevented a 1-2-3 inning, saw German walk a guy with 2 out and then give up a 3-run shot to former Rays star Austin Meadows. And in the 4th Anthony Rendon's error kept alive an inning that saw Wander fail to make a play with two out on an infield hit, setting the stage for a Vlad Jr. slam which put the game out of reach. And really it was out of reach after the first as the Rays could only manage 3 hits on the day including a pair of meaningless solo homers. So it's up to Donye Evans tomorrow to help keep the season alive and force a Game 5 in Toronto.

The Rays can only hope to emulate Atlanta, which has come off the mat and forced a Game 5 in their NLDS while Minnesota has grabbed the advantage in the other ALDS:

[Art Deco]

We're going to Canada...



Anthony Rendon was acquired at the trade deadline for this express purpose, to come through with the big hits at the big times, and today he most certainly did and a result the Rays' 2029 season will continue in two days in Toronto for an all-or-nothing Game 5. Rendon's 2-run double made it 4-1 in the decisive 3-run 5th, and he added an RBI two-bagger in the 7th to give them some breathing room. Coupled with an outstanding start from Donye Evans, perhaps the waiver wire pickup of the years, and suddenly hope remains. Once again Aldry Acosta turn in a sizable lead into a tentative one and once again Edwin Diaz had to come on to save but aside from that the only negative is that Rendon strained his quadriceps on that second double, and is a question mark for Game 5. If he's anything but "out" he'll play obviously since it's a deciding game. Bryce Eldridge will get the ball for that deciding game and while I don't like the matchup against Toronto ace Luis Medina, it's a matchup the Rays took in Game 1.

Also forcing a Game 5 were the Houston Astros, thanks in large part to a huge game from Ray-for-a-season Kyle Tucker, and they get to go home for it:

[Art Deco]

High drama in the ATL:



Jordan Walker dramatically tied the game for the Cardinals in the 9th with a one-out, 2-run homer to send it to extras but he only delayed Atlanta's celebration instead of denying it as Matt Olson took Kyle Nicolas deep in the bottom of the 12th to walk it off and set up an NLCS date with the Dodgers.

[Art Deco]

There is no jay in Rayville...



This one hurts. The Rays got out of the blocks fast thanks to another big Anthony Rendon hit, a 3-run homer, got another shot from Ozzie Albies and the story was going to be about how the grizzled vets with WS rings were leading them to the ALCS. And Bryce Eldridge outdueled Luis Medina once again. But it all fell apart in the 7th. After JP Sears breezed through the 6th, he came out for the 7th and put a couple of men on, giving up a run and then setup man Trey Riley poured gasoline on the fire, giving up a tying homer and then two more runs. The offense was demoralized after this and they couldn't do anything until with two out in the 9th Rendon and Santana were hit by pitches and then wild-pitched into scoring position. But alas the Mighty Mitsuyoshi (Arakawa) struck out and the season was over.

Who will Toronto face in the ALCS?



That would be the Houston Astros, who rode another huge game from Series MVP Kyle Tucker to victory.

[Art Deco]

Before we get into the LCS roundups, there were a host of retirements among players who finished their careers in the minors this year.

Former Rays: Brett Phillips, Luke Raley, Christian Arroyo, Francisco Mejia, Yonny Chirinos, J.P. Feyereisen
Other notables: Noah Syndergaard, Anthony Santander, Framber Valdez, Cody Bellinger, Devin Williams

As far as the LCSes go, we're going to be partying like it was 1992 in the World Series:




Houston took an early 2-0 lead in Toronto but the Jays fought all the way back to return to the World Series for the first time since Joe Carter walked it off against Mitch Williams in 1993.



Atlanta had an easier time of it, are back in the Series after losing to the Rays in 2026 and looking for their first title since 2021.

[Art Deco]

Just like 1992...





Sotelo was 9-22 with 1 HR and 6 RBI as at least the Rays lost in the playoffs to the eventual champs, who won their first World Series in 36 years.

[Art Deco]

2029 was a weird season as the team struggled to break the gravitational pull of .500 for the first four months before getting red hot and finishing with 92 wins and the first AL wild card. A tough loss in the ALDS to Toronto ended the season, and now we face a challenging offseason with some key players entering free agency and little to no help forthcoming from the farm system.

We lose our starting CF of the past few years (Zach DeLoach), both our 3B (Anthony Rendon, Marco Luciano), our top starter (John Swanda), our closer (Edwin Diaz) and our top lefty setup man (Jovani Moran). So yeah, it's going to be a challenge. The good news is that we'll have some money to spend. We've been given a $160M payroll by Stu Sternberg and here are the salary commitments for 2030:



There are also going to be some non-tenders in this group (Espino, Jeffers, Cousins, Ruegger) which will save almost $10M, leaving commitments of about $104M and therefore up to $56M to spend. I have reached out to Luciano about an extension to fill 3B, offering 3/16.5.

So here's where things stand position-by-position:

Catcher: Angel Rivera wasn't bad, hitting for power, drawing walks, and playing decent defense, although he did hit about .210. With Jeffers getting the axe we'll need a backup. 2025 first-round pick Easton Carmichael could be that guy. He's hit well at Durham despite a 45 contact tool and he doesn't have a lot of power but is a decent catcher.

First Base: Junior Caminero returns, no issues there.

Second Base: Ditto for Ozzie Albies.

Shortstop: And the same for Wander Franco.

Third Base: Luciano seems receptive to our offer, so I'm penciling him in there. If not we'll need to find one as Freili Encarnacion has been OK as a fill-in but I'm not sure I want to make him the man.

Infield: We'll need a backup infielder. Max Viera who's been up before could work as might 2022 first-round pick RJ Austin who's never lived up to billing.

Left Field: Natanael Santana is coming off a 45-homer season.

Center Field: DeLoach leaving deprives us of our CF and leadoff hitter. He did drop off in 29 and is now 31, so we're not going to pay him what he'd get on the open market. Elijah Green did a tremendous job filling in last year, hitting for power (17 HR in 224 AB) and playing 70-grade defense so he has the inside track for now but he only hit .228 overall.

Right Field: This has been the domain of James Wood and he can be back, but I've few players underachieve their ratings like him. We're talking 60 contact and 65 power and that only translated to 194/285/371 last season. And to make matters worse he tore his labrum and will be out through at least some time in April, meaning he won't be with the big club until May after missing Spring Training. So help might be needed here. Mitsuyoski Arakawa could fill in as he did late in the season after Wood got hurt, but he too underachieved his ratings at 188/305/406 although he has a great power/speed/defense combo but 45 contact. Arakawa can also fill in some at CF.

Outfield: Arakawa is the nominal 4th OF for now if we count Wood and there isn't much help in the minors as Hendry Mendez is probably our best option on the 40-man but he's bat-only with a mediocre glove.

DH: Nelson Haro hit as hoped as a rookie and we're looking for him to improve a little bit on his 310/333/478 with some more power.

Rotation: Swanda will be missed although he had a mediocre 2029 after being our ace the previous two years. We still have several options though: Bryce Eldridge, Walt Khattak, Luis German, Donye Evans (a revelation), and Taj Bradley who returns from a torn meniscus that cost him the second half of the season. JP Sears also was very effective filling in and Eric Orze is a possibility although he flopped last year.

Bullpen: A lot of work needed here. There's no true closer with Diaz gone. Trey Riley was the setup man but he seemed to falter in big moments (including Game 5 of the ALDS) and Aldry Acosta had a nice year (110 Ks in 95 IP over 68 games as we worked him hard). Ryan Okuda rebounded from his disastrous first half to give us a lefty in the pen but I'm not sure I trust him like I did Moran, Tanner Dodson was a good waiver pickup, and Sears and Orze may figure in as might veteran lefty Adrian Morejon (although with 40 movement he won't be used in high-leverage situations).

So here are the goals for the 29-30 offseason as we'll realistically have about $40M to play with, leaving $10M available in-season:

1) Find 1 or 2 impact OFs, preferably one who can play CF.
2) Beef up the bench at all positions (C, IF, OF)
3) Find a power reliever who can close

I also wouldn't turn down a good starter but that's not a desperate need.

[Art Deco]

Another huge batch of retirements were announced after the World Series.

Notables: Aaron Nola, Ian Happ, Gary Sanchez, JT Realmuto, Jacob deGrom (Mets retired his #38), Marcus Semien, Javier Baez, Max Fried, Zach Eflin, Kris Bryant, Lourdes Gurriel Jr., Brandon Woodruff, Austin Hays, Eric Hosmer, Andrew Benintendi, Raisel Iglesias.

Only one former Ray of note retired and it was a big one: Blake Snell, who won the 2018 Cy Young with Tampa Bay.

November 7: Signed 3B Marco Luciano to a 3/16.5 extension.

As expected. We now have a 3B for next season.

Awards season:

Gold Gloves: No Tampa Bay winners.

Reliever of the Year: Well this is a shock:



OOTP's Reliever of the Year awards always seem to be the goofiest and this one was no exception. Riley had a nice year as a setup guy (1.9 WAR) but Reliever of the Year? C'mon. I voted for Hernandez, who earned 2.9 WAR and had 50 saves. In the NL the winner was Atlanta's Will Vest with 21 first-place votes to Josh Hader's 9 and while Vest was excellent with 46 saves, a microscopic 0.49 ERA and 3.6 WAR, Hader earned the first 5.0 WAR season from a reliever I've noticed in my saves, sporting an 0.51 ERA, 32 saves, 125 whiffs and 0(!) HR allowed in 70 IP and got my vote.

Silver Sluggers: Wander's excellent season got him the AL award at SS.

Rookie of the Year: Texas C Mike Montoya, who spent most of the year at DH, was a unanimous AL winner after an impressive .296-36-102 season. Our Nelson Haro finished 4th. In the NL Miami 1B Nate McCollum took the honors thanks to a .273-33-85 maiden year.

Cy Young: There was never any doubt here as Texas hurler Robert Ahlstrom, considered the best pitcher in baseball and winner of the pitching Triple Crown in the AL, was a unanimous winner. He was 19-6, 2.23 with 291 whiffs in 230 IP. The Dodgers' Trevor Rogers won in the NL with 21 first-place votes after a 16-7, 3.17 year with 234 Ks in 210 IP. Rogers' teammate and former Ray Luis Patino (18-4, 3.19) finished second and picked up 3 first-place votes.

MVP: It was a photo finish between two Toronto teammates for the AL MVP with Bo Bichette (16 first-place votes, 349 points) edging out Vlad Guerrero Jr (14,339). Bo had a huge .340-45-120 year culminating in a World Series title and led MLB in WAR with 9.8. Wander Franco finished 4th. In the NL the winner was San Diego's Fernando Tatis Jr., his 2nd MVP having won in 2023. Tatis garnered 29 of the 30 first-place votes with a .299-42-131, 8.5-WAR season.

November 25: We lost our only arbitration case with Taj Bradley getting $4.6M instead of the $4.2M we proposed but it will hardly make a dent in the $ we have to spend this winter. Also Zach DeLoach and John Swanda both turned down qualifying offers so we'll net a couple of high draft picks next year.

November 30: We have a trade!



We have our closer as Rodriguez boasts 80 stuff and 60 movement. (And 35 control, but we won't talk about that). He fanned an astounding 123 men in 61 IP last season, giving him Edwin Diaz-like strikeout numbers without as good control. But as long as we don't bring him into a bases-loaded situation we should be OK and he's only making $1.6M. Lumas was our #1 pick in 2027 but has seen his ratings slashed to the point where he looks like a marginal big leaguer.

December 4: First big free-agent signing as Joey Gallo joins (re-joins) the Dodgers on a 2/42 deal. In this universe Gallo has been a consistent 35-40 HR guy and has managed to keep his BA on the right side of the Mendoza line.

December 5: 33-year-old C Tyler Stephenson got a 5/108 deal from the White Sox. While Stephenson is good this seems pricey and lengthy for a catcher well past 30.

December 11: Veteran OF Bryan Reynolds joins Atlanta for 4/81 while 3B Bobby Witt Jr. signs a massive 7/182 deal with the Phillies, leaving the only team he knew in Kansas City. Witt won't be available until mid-season as he's recovering from a torn PCL.

December 12: Old friend Pete Fairbanks inked a 1/3.5 contract with the Cubs.

December 13: Jake Cousins, who spent most of 2029 in our pen, joined the Phillies for 1/3. Meanwhile Baltimore won the draft lottery, moving up from the 5th spot.

December 15: Corbin Carroll, who had to settle for a 1-year-deal with the Dodgers last year and had a bounceback season, inked a 3/47 pact with Atlanta.

December 20: A free agent signing for us!



We get the lefty reliever we were looking for - Gonzalez is rated 55/65/60 and has earned 3.3 WAR combined over the previous two seasons with Miami.

December 21: Our closer of the past two seasons Edwin Diaz is now a Brewer on a 2/22 deal.

December 22: And there goes our CF of the last several years as Zach DeLoach joins the San Antonio Seagulls (formerly the Pirates) on a 6/106 deal. He's 31 now and slipped last year so I'm not optimistic about that contract. We net a supplemental 1st-round pick out of it.

December 23: The Phillies have been spending on their bullpen and they signed one of the best today, longtime Cardinal closer Keith Ginkel, to a 2/28 contract. Ginkel saved 249 games in his last 6 full season with St. Louis. Speaking of star closers, Milwaukee sent 35-year-old Josh Hader to the Angels for a prospect as Hader enters the final year of his contract.

December 26: It says something about the sad state of our farm system that there really wasn't anyone exciting worth adding to the 40-man to protect from the Rule 5 draft. We did add 3B Cam Collier and Jose Marsh, mainly because we had a ton of spots (and still only have 34 on the roster which tells you a lot). Collier, once a touted prospect, was a minor league signing last year and Marsh was a draft pick a while back and both are viewed as depth only. Of course if there's someone worth taking in Rule 5 we have more than enough room.

December 27: 22 players went in the Rule 5 draft, none of which were ours. There was one reliever I would have taken but Seattle snapped him up at #6. A few once-big names changed teams: Gavin Lux, Dylan Cease and Steven Kwan are were taken but are obviously not who they once were.

The international free agent class always provides some bargains and we inked two of these guys to minor league deals today:



The veteran Kurokawa has a broad-based skill set and is a RH bat, so he has some short-side platoon potential with us.



The Cuban Mesa has a similar skill set to Max Viera, a guy who's been up and down for us in recent seasons (and who's still at Durham), but with a much better eye albeit the same somewhat suspect D at 2B. Ozzie of course is set there for now and 1B/DH are spoken for as well so Mesa will be a depth guy for now.

December 28: Former Rays starter Luis Castillo has joined the Mets on a 2/20 deal. He's lost some stuff since getting hurt with Cleveland after he left us and had a 4.61 ERA last year.

December 29: And there goes Josh Swanda as our former ace signed a big 6/140 deal with Detroit. We net another compensatory first-rounder, giving us 3 high picks next year as we need to rebuild our lousy farm system.

[Art Deco]

January 1: Aaron Judge, a bit of a vagabond of late and now 37, parlayed a big bounceback year with Arizona (37 HR, 96 RBI) into a 1-year, $8.7 deal with St. Louis.

January 7: Well we kicked off the next year with a huge trade:



We had $45M burning a hole in our pocket and desperately needed an outfielder with only 3 on the active roster and not much help forthcoming in the minors, so we grabbed a 1-year rental in Yordan Alvarez for mainly the salary cost as neither Contreras nor Santana are significant prospects. Alvarez's production has suffered the last couple of years with injuries but his ratings remain elite and I'm crossing my fingers he stays relatively healthy and productive, giving us a middle-of-the-order force. For what it's worth the fan interest increased significantly.

January 9: The Hall-of-Fame balloting is in and we have two new inductees.

SP Max Scherzer 96.6 (1st year) Inducted HOF
2B Robinson Cano 81.2 (2nd year) Inducted HOF
C Joe Mauer 60.9 (7th year)
SP Adam Wainwright 56.2 (1st year)
1B Joey Votto 55.0 (2nd year)
C Yadier Molina 54.4 (3rd year)
SP David Price 30.0 (1st year)
SP Felix Hernandez 22.2 (6th year)

Scherzer sailed to Cooperstown in his first year of eligibility and Robinson Cano only had to wait one extra year himself. It's a tough road for Joe Mauer as he still needs 14-15% more with three more tries left. Adam Wainwright has some hope as well with his strong first-year showing.

January 10: Philly's bullpen binge continued with a 3/29 deal for former Ray Camilo Doval.

January 12: Anthony Rendon, who was Anthony Rental for us last season, signed a 2/37 contract with Oakland.

January 17: Charlie Ruegger, in our bullpen parts of the last few years before being non-tendered, signed a 1-year, $2M deal with who else? - the Phillies.

February 6: Signed free agent SP Erovis Alcantara to a 1-year contract worth a total of $1,040,000<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:OfficeDocumentSettings> <o:AllowPNG/> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings> </xml><![endif]-->.

Alcantara, who spent his career-to-date with the White Sox, is an interesting dude - 80 stuff as a starter and struck out 135 in 94 IP with Chicago last year as a swingman. So why so cheap? 35 movement and 45 control, that's why. He was still good for 2.2 WAR in those innings and since we needed another pitcher why not? He's ticketed for long relief right now.

So with that signing all that's left on our "to-do" list is to find a backup catcher. 2027 3rd round pick Cade Arrambide is the nominal backup at the moment. He has 45 contact, 50 power, and 55 defense (with 65 potential) and he doesn't look any worse that than the usual free agent suspects so he could be the man unless an unexpected trade opportunity arises.

March 4: I forgot we needed a legit backup MI, so I remedied that:

Despite his solid numbers, some fans questioned the value of the Amed Rosario signing even as Tampa Bay officials paraded him before the media this afternoon.

Rosario will surely bring a lot to the club, but he comes at a price of $2,200,000 over 1 year.

Rosario is hitting at a .259 rate over his 1373-game career. Lifetime he has 234 doubles, 56 triples and 88 home runs with 466 RBIs and 603 runs scored.

Rosario can also play the outfield corners, giving us real positional flexibility.

[Art Deco]

Made it through Spring Training injury-free.

The Opening Day Roster:

C-A.Rivera, Arrambide
1B-Caminero
2B-Albies
SS-W.Franco
3B-Luciano
IF-A.Rosario, Viera
LF-Y.Alvarez
CF-E.Green
RF-N.Santana
OF-Arakawa
DH-Haro

SP-German, Bradley, Evans, Eldridge, Khattak
LR-E.Alcantara, Sears
MR-V.Gonzalez, Orze, Dodson, Okuda
SU-Acosta, Riley
CL-R.Rodriguez

Max Viera made the team over Robby Castillo due to being out of options. RJ Austin and Lonnie White, who were out of options, were put on waivers.

A look at the team:



The preseason predictions, which don't like us at all:



Not sure why they think Aldry Acosta is going to be a 21st-century Mike Marshall (103 appearances, 146 IP!).

[Art Deco]

Opening Day:



The Rays got 2030 off on a losing note as the bullpen blew a lead in regulation and then lost it in extras. Luis German pitched great and they took a 3-2 lead into the 7th before Aldry Acosta gave up a 2-run homer. After coming back to tie in the bottom of the frame Tampa Bay then lost when new closer Randy Rodriguez struggled in his second inning of work, giving up a pair of runs that gave Boston the win. The loss overshadowed fine offensive games from Ozzie Albies (2 doubles and a homer) and Yordan Alvarez in his Rays debut (on base 4 times, drove in a run).

Game 2: 2-6 L. LP-Bradley (0-1, 4.2 9 5 5 0 4). HR-Arakawa (1). Taj was hit hard and the Rays were never really in this one.

Game 3: 1-4 L. LP-Evans (0-1, 4.2 3 2 2 2 9). Maybe that 77-85 preseason prediction was on to something - heck, maybe it was optimistic the way the Rays have started the year. Today the bats were silent until a too-little, too-late rally in the 9th which saw a run in and the bases loaded before Marco Luciano grounded into a game-ending double play.

Game 4: 4-0 W. WP-Eldridge (1-0, 6 2 0 0 0 10). The Rays finally got into the win column for 2030 thanks to a dominant effort from Eldridge and a 2-run Haro double in the 4th was the game's big hit. Ozzie Albies continued his torrid start to the season by going 3-3 with an RBI double and two steals.

Team record: 1-3. Next up: Off to Texas for 3 games.