The 2024 (and beyond) Tampa Bay Rays

[Art Deco]

June 19: Off-Day.

June 20: vs Toronto 6-0 W. WP-Gasser (6-5, 7 3 0 0 1 8). HR-Isaac (22). The friendly confines of Tropicana Field were just what the Rays needed as Gasser pitched his best game of the year with his rotation spot hanging by a thread and a 3-run first keyed by a 2-run Mead double was all they'd need.

June 21: vs Toronto 2-3 L. LP-H.Smith (4-7, 6 7 3 3 0 4). HR-Cermak (15). The gravitational pull of .500 has the Rays at the break-even mark after tonight's loss.

June 22: vs Toronto 11-0 W. WP-Bradley (9-4, 6 4 0 0 3 7). HR-J.Lowe 2 (11), Westburg (8). Tampa Bay played its most complete game in a long while as they took 2 of 3 from the Jays, their first series win in the last seven. JLowe had 2 HR and 4 RBI while Westburg was 4-5 with a homer and 3 RBI to back a fine Taj outing.

June 23: vs Washington 2-1 W. WP-Pepiot (8-4, 7 1 0 0 2 9). S-Bautista (12). The Rays won consecutive games for the first time since a 7-game win streak which wrapped up May 26 as Pepiot was utterly dominant and Oneil Cruz got the RBI hit that proved the difference.

June 24: vs Washington 10-4 W. WP-Horton (5-4, 6 7 4 4 0 5). HR-Morel (13). The good times are rolling again for the Rays as they won their third straight, turning a 4-1 deficit into a 10-4 romp. Morel doubled, homered and drove in 3 while Cruz continued to cruise with 2 hits and 2 ribbies.

June 25: vs Washington 2-1 W (10). WP-McMillon (1-1). Starter-Gasser (5 3 1 1 3 6). The team that couldn't win recently suddenly has become the team that can't lose as they swept the Nats with a walk-off win on Westburg's 3rd hit of the day, an RBI single in the 10th. The hit capped a week where Westburg was 12 for 26. Gasser meanwhile turned in his second straight stellar start.

Team record: 42-38. They've improved their wild card standing a bit, 1 1/2 games out of WC3 in fifth position. Next week: A day off then they head to the northeast for 2 in Philly followed by 4 in New York against the Yankees.

Players of the Week:

AL: Luis Baez (HOU), 10-19, 3 HR, 8 RBI
NL: Noelvi Marte (CIN), 10-20, 3 HR, 6 RBI

MLB News: The Dodgers' Mookie Betts hit career homer #400 and oft-injured starter Jacob deGrom's first season with Houston is done thanks to a stretched elbow ligament.

I'll have the midseason report up next.

[Art Deco]

What a difference a year makes - 12 months ago the Rays had the best record in baseball at 55-29 while this year they're barely above .500 after dropping to the mark with a true June swoon. They've possibly righted the ship with a 5-1 week to close out the first half of the year but they've got a lot of work to do to make it back to the playoffs.



Instead it's the Red Sox who are this year's Rays with a double-digit division lead. We're playing for a wild card now and as mentioned in the previous post we're 1 1/2 behind Detroit and Cleveland but with Oakland 1/2 game ahead of us. And as you can see on the left, Junior is having a huge season but right now it's not enough.

A look at what's going on under the hood:



There's a lot that's revealing here. First of all we're 3 below out Pythagorean record, the difference between being in a wild card slot and not, and the shaky bullpen has something to do with that. Also of note is our ludicrous home/road disparity: at the Trop we're the 1927 Yankees and away from the dome we're the 1962 Mets. We were 32-23 at one point and have been 10-15 since and below .500 since the end of April as well. Winning 5 of the last 6 was nice but of course those were all at home; if they can't start winning on the road something in the neighborhood of .500 is where they're gonna stay.

Meanwhile the offense has been really good, only the team's allergy to drawing walks while striking out a lot is a negative but it isn't keeping them off the board. No it's the traditional strength of the team, pitching, that's this year's real problem. The 109 homers, 12th in the league, is the real eye-catcher over on the right as Gasser and Smith have been ridiculously gopher-prone this year. They're striking out a lot of people but not doing so well when they don't, and the team defense has left a lot to be desired as well. Losing Williams at SS didn't help, but even his D numbers were way down this year and actually Cruz's were better. But Westburg and Caminero at 2B and 3B have been brutal.

The offensive numbers:



This is the fun part of the recap, with Junior on pace for a 7+ WAR season, Isaac having another monster power year and Campusano and Heim (combined 3.1 WAR so far) making us forget about Adley Rutschman. Cermak has forced his way into the everyday lineup and acquitted himself well. The only disappointments are Westburg (and those numbers are after a hot last week) and the CF combo of Meadows and Taveras as Meadows hasn't been able to get going at all.

Now, the ugly side:



No complaints about Taj and Pepiot who have been brilliant, but when your third highest pitcher by WAR is a journeyman middle reliever like Lovelady you know things have gone terribly wrong. And especially when your young star pitcher counted on to be the ace and your shutdown closer have combined for -1.0 WAR. Oh, those homers as Smith's 24 in 85.2 innings and Bautista's 9 in 24.2 are just unacceptable with many of the latter's game-losers. And the other two starters Gasser and Horton have given up 15 longballs apiece. I'm not sure where all this is coming from and hopefully it will positively regress in the second half, but it needs to change if the Rays are going to go anywhere.

I was thisclose to bringing up either veteran Freddy Peralta (not exactly tearing it up at Durham) or rookie Jessie McGee (our 1st-round pick last year who's 9-2, 3.05 with 111 Ks in 88 IP at Montgomery) to take Gasser's spot before he had two excellent starts this past week but neither Smith (despite his dazzling 2027) or Horton are on the most solid of ground either.

Speaking of prospects this is how the system looks:



Not what you'd call an elite farm system for sure. Our top prospect according to this list is Schoolcraft, our #1 pick back in 2025 and he continues to show his two-way ability even after a promotion to AA Montgomery. He had a 2.67 ERA with 89 Ks in 60.2 IP for High-A Bowling Green along with 26 homers in only 185 AB, hitting 276/369/730. Since joining the Biscuits early this month he's struggled a bit on the mound (really his initial bad start) but still has fanned 19 in 15 IP, and is hitting 231/302/615 with 5 homers in only 39 AB as he's been the Ohtani of the minors. McGee of course I would have rated way, way higher than the #417 prospect overall given his pedigree and numbers at Montgomery with he and (maybe) Santiago Suarez the only ones who could provide some help to the staff.

[Art Deco]

June 26: Off-Day.

June 27: at Philadelphia 2-4 L. LP-Maldonado (2-4). Starter-H.Smith (1.1 1 0 0 0 1). HR-Caminero (21). A tough loss as Caminero's 2-run homer in the 8th to tie was answered by Philly in the bottom of the 9th when Mickey Moniak hit a 2-run walk-off shot off Maldonado. Smith strained his back in the 2nd inning and will miss 3 weeks.

Transaction: Hagen Smith goes on the IL and Jacob Misiorowski is recalled from Durham, we're looking at promoting Jessie McGee when we need a starter on Sunday when Smith's turn comes up.

June 28: at Philadelphia 2-0 W. WP-McMillon (2-1). S-Bautista (13). Starter-Bradley (6.1 5 0 0 1 5). Rays turned the tables on Philly by scoring twice in the 9th to win. Morel walked with the sacks full and the red-hot Westburg added an RBI single to ensure a great start from Taj didn't go for naught.

June 29: at NY Yankees 7-0 W. WP-Pepiot (9-4, 5 1 0 0 5 7). S-Baumeister (1). HR-Westburg (9), Isaac (23), P.Meadows (4). Rays got their second straight shutout as Pepiot and Baumeister (4 3 0 0 0 5) combined on a 4-hitter. Westburg remained blazing, going 3-5 with a homer and 2 RBI.

June 30: at NY Yankees 8-1 W. WP-Horton (6-4, 6 3 1 1 3 5). S-Misiorowski (1). Another romp over the hapless Yankees, now 33-50 and the subject of back-page laments by the New York press. Cermak led the way, going 3-4 with 3 RBI while Horton was excellent and Misiorowski got the team's second straight 3+ inning save.

July 1: at NY Yankees 4-3 W (11). WP-Bautista (4-2). S-McMillon (1). Starter-Gasser (4.2 6 2 2 3 5). HR-Westburg (10). Westburg's solo homer with two out in the 9th tied it and Mead's 4th hit of the game, an RBI single in the 11th, won it. Westburg was on all six times today with a single, homer, HBP and 3 walks.

Transaction: Last year's 1st-round pick Jessie McGee completes his rapid ascension to the bigs as he gets the call to start the series finale at Yankee Stadium. Misiorowski is optioned back to Durham.

July 2: at NY Yankees 4-3 W (10). WP-Maldonado (3-4). S-Bautista (14). Starter-McGee (5 7 3 3 1 5). HR-Mead (4), Heim (6). In the previous post I noted the Rays' horrendous road record and stated they'd need to improve on it to get back into playoff contention, and sure enough they went 5-1 this week on their travels culminating in a 4-game sweep at Yankee Stadium. McGee had a mixed bag in his MLB debut, fanning the first two men he faced before getting a dose of reality when Aaron Judge took him deep. He gave up a couple more in the 4th but acquitted himself decently. As for the rest of the game, solo homers by Mead and Heim in the 7th tied the game up and then Heim drove home the ghost runner in the 10th to win it.

Team record: 47-39. Seemingly yesterday they were stuck at .500 and now after a couple of good weeks they're now 8 above and in the third wild card, 1/2 game up on Oakland. Next week: A day off then a return home to play 3 against the Cubs and 3 vs Baltimore.

Players of the Week:

AL: Tyrone Taylor (TEX), 10-22, 2 HR, 6 RBI
NL: Mookie Betts (LA), 11-22, 2 HR, 6 RBI

Players of the Month (June):

AL Batter: Colton Cowser (BAL), .379-6-18
NL Batter: Josh Naylor (SF), .321-10-21
AL Pitcher: Matt Brash (SEA), 5-0, 0.83, 45 K in 32.2 IP
NL Pitcher: Xzavion Curry (ARI), 4-0, 3.31, 34 K in 32.2 IP
AL Rookie: Kisuke Sugiyama (HOU), .298-7-12 (.474 OBP)
NL Rookie: Jansel Luis (ARI), .307-4-17

[Art Deco]

July 3: Off-Day.

July 4: vs Chicago Cubs 4-1 W. WP-Bradley (10-4, 7 5 0 0 0 8). S-McMillon (2). HR-Isaac (24). Taj went scoreless for the third straight start covering 19 1/3 innings and Isaac drove in 3 of the 4 runs including a 2-run homer.

July 5: vs Chicago Cubs 3-5 L. LP-Pepiot (9-5, 5.1 6 3 3 3 9). Rays saw their 6-game win streak snapped, falling behind 5-0 after Chicago scored 4 in the 6th off Pepiot and the pen.

July 6: vs Chicago Cubs 2-1 W. WP-Horton (7-4, 6 5 1 1 4 5). S-Bautista (15). HR-J.Lowe 2 (13). Horton beat his old team and JLowe homered for both Rays runs with his second breaking a 1-1 tie in the 5th.

July 7: vs Baltimore 10-1 W. WP-Gasser (7-5, 6 8 1 1 1 5). S-Baumeister (3). HR-Tavares (1), Morel (14), O.Cruz (1/11), Isaac (25). Rays were up 8-1 by the 3rd and cruised from there with Cruz and Tavares each getting their first Rays homers as part of 3-hit days which also included doubles. Isaac was also 3-5 with a homer and 2 RBI.

July 8: vs Baltimore 5-2 W. WP-McGee (1-0, 6 7 2 2 0 4). S-Bautista (16). Rays won this with 4 in the 6th with a 2-run Cruz triple the big hit and Jessie McGee earned his first MLB win in his second appearance thanks to a fine start.

July 9: vs Baltimore 8-1 W. WP-Bradley (11-4, 7 4 1 1 0 8). HR-Isaac (26), O.Cruz (2/12), Kjerstad (6). Taj saw his scoreless streak end with a first-inning run but was untouchable after that as he makes a bid for a Cy Young (11-4, 2.48, 3.3 WAR to date). A 6-run 6th broke this open and gave them the sweep with Isaac belting a 3-run homer, Oneil going back-to-back with him and Kjerstad following later in the inning. After bottoming out at 38-38 the Rays have gone 14-2 over their last 16 games.

Team record: 52-40. Once looking a double-digit deficit in the division the Rays are now only 6 back of Boston and have moved into the WC1 spot. Next week: A day off, the Amateur Draft, then a road trip which takes them into Fenway for 3 big games to cut into the division lead followed by 3 in Toronto.

Players of the Week:

AL: Bobby Witt Jr (KC), 11-24, 4 HR, 8 RBI
NL: Jordan Walker (STL), 11-23, 3 HR, 10 RBI

Rays News: Hagen Smith had a slight setback in his recovery from a back strain and now will be out 10 days, or through the All-Star break.

[Art Deco]

We had 3 picks in the top 38 thanks to the compensatory selections we received when Adley Rutschman and Shane McClanahan signed elsewhere last winter, and as a result I think we had a really good draft.

Parquet: He looks like the real deal, a slugging 1B out of Oregon State who's already at 45/40 contact/power with the potential for 75/60 as well as a 55 eye. Looking like a proto-Freddie Freeman there and he can potentially be a 60 fielding the position as well.

Geiger: Ohio high-school starter who's potentially a 65/50/80 guy with a curveball and cutter which are both 80-potential pitches. A long way to go but very enticing.

Murphy: A college catcher from UCF who checks all the potential boxes - contact (60), power (55), avoid Ks (75), defense (55). Hopefully he's ready in a couple of years.

Bazelais: We went for a power bullpen lefty out of college (Portland) with catcher, starter and slugger accounted for already and he's another guy we hope will help soon with his 80/70/65 potential.

Terry: A high-school CF out of New York who's just shy of 18 and has some broad-based skills including ceilings of 65/75 contact/power and 60 in center defensively.

Sephus: Another hard-throwing college reliever (Oklahoma State), this time from the right side. 80/50/65 potential.

Brown: A high-school righty from Plantation, FL, he's a soft-tosser (high 80s) with good movement and control - potentially a 40/70/60 guy who could profile at the back end of a rotation.

So all in all a lot to dream on - a college middle-of-the-order bat, an all-around college catcher, two high-potential college relievers, a five-tool HS CF and a couple of high-school starters, one with ace potential.

[Art Deco]

July 10: Off-Day.

July 11: at Boston 5-9 L. LP-McMillon (0-2). Starter-Pepiot (4 7 4 4 2 3). A tough one as the Rays battled all the way back from a 5-1 deficit only to give up 4 runs in the 8th and lose it with McMillon having his first meltdown in a Rays uniform. Westburg was 4-5 with 3 doubles and 2 RBI in the losing cause.

July 12: at Boston 3-9 L. LP-Horton (7-5, 3.1 9 6 6 1 7). Another brutal night of pitching as Horton was lit up despite piling up the strikeouts and the Rays' long-shot division hopes take a critical blow.

July 13: at Boston 4-5 L. LP-Scott (0-2). Starter-McGee (6 5 2 2 2 10). And the road woes continue as the Rays are swept in Boston. This one was a shame as the rookie McGee was brilliant and left with a 3-2 lead. But Scott, who had been brutal but on a good roll of late, was rocked in the 7th for 3 runs.

July 14: at Toronto 5-12 L. LP-Gasser (7-6, 2.1 8 6 5 2 4). HR-Morel (15), Cermak (16). Crap pitching does them in again as their good recent run now has turned into four straight losses.

July 15: at Toronto 6-4 W. WP-Bradley (12-4, 6 3 3 3 2 7). S-Bautista (17). HR-Isaac 2 (28), Morel (16). Finally a win thanks to a good outing from Taj and a pair of Isaac homers which drove in 3.

July 16: at Toronto 9-3 W. WP-Pepiot (10-5, 6 4 2 2 3 3). HR-Caminero 2 (23), Campusano (9), Morel (17). A massive game from Junior, who hit a 3-run homer in the first and a slam in the 4th to give him 7 RBI as the Rays took the series from Toronto, salvaged the week and headed into the All-Star break on a winning note.

Team record: 54-44. Rays are right now in WC2, 1/2 game behind WC1, 1/2 up on WC3 and 2 1/2 ahead of Oakland in the 4th spot. Next week: The All-Star break and then play resumes with 3 at home against Boston (part of a 4-game wraparound series).

Players of the Week:

AL: This guy:



NL: Bryce Harper (PHI), 11-24, 4 HR, 10 RBI

MLB News: The Rangers' Marcus Semien hit career homer #300.

[Art Deco]

The rosters:

Scheduled to play for the American League All-Stars are:

SP Taj Bradley (TB) - 12-4, 2.59 ERA, 114.2 IP, 1.12 WHIP, 10.1 K/9, 3.4 WAR
SP Matt Brash (SEA) - 10-2, 2.33 ERA, 108.1 IP, 1.08 WHIP, 12.0 K/9, 2.8 WAR
SP Jairo Iriarte (CWS) - 9-3, 3.57 ERA, 108.1 IP, 1.21 WHIP, 10.9 K/9, 2.0 WAR
SP Troy Melton (DET) - 8-2, 2.35 ERA, 99.2 IP, 0.97 WHIP, 9.1 K/9, 1.9 WAR (Injured)
SP Luis Orta (BAL)* - 9-2, 3.18 ERA, 93.1 IP, 1.28 WHIP, 10.0 K/9, 3.3 WAR (Injured)
SP Ryan Pepiot (TB) - 9-5, 3.01 ERA, 107.2 IP, 1.11 WHIP, 9.5 K/9, 2.1 WAR
SP Noah Schultz (CWS) - 6-7, 3.50 ERA, 118.1 IP, 1.13 WHIP, 11.8 K/9, 2.5 WAR
SP Ricky Tiedemann (TOR) - 5-2, 2.40 ERA, 78.2 IP, 1.21 WHIP, 10.3 K/9, 1.9 WAR
SP Jose Urquidy (SEA) - 6-8, 2.91 ERA, 114.1 IP, 1.12 WHIP, 7.6 K/9, 2.0 WAR
SP Josh Walker (CLE) - 6-0, 2.25 ERA, 80.0 IP, 1.25 WHIP, 9.8 K/9, 1.1 WAR
RP Jackson Baumeister (TB) - 0-1, 2.77 ERA, 65.0 IP, 1.15 WHIP, 10.4 K/9, 0.6 WAR
RP Michael Fulmer (CLE) - 2-0, 2.65 ERA, 51.0 IP, 1.41 WHIP, 7.2 K/9, -0.3 WAR
RP Andres Munoz (NYY) - 3-2, 2.85 ERA, 53.2 IP, 1.21 WHIP, 8.6 K/9, 0.7 WAR
CL Jhoan Duran (MIN)* - 0-4, 22 SV, 1.40 ERA, 38.2 IP, 1.14 WHIP, 8.8 K/9, 1.5 WAR
CL Gregory Santos (SEA) - 7-2, 27 SV, 1.73 ERA, 41.2 IP, 0.86 WHIP, 9.1 K/9, 1.3 WAR
C Samuel Basallo (BAL)* - .265/.326/.566, 309 AB, 23 HR, 13 SB, 130 wRC+, 2.6 WAR
C Harry Ford (SEA) - .274/.369/.523, 281 AB, 19 HR, 12 SB, 151 wRC+, 3.5 WAR
C Sam Huff (TEX) - .259/.333/.566, 274 AB, 25 HR, 131 wRC+, 2.3 WAR
C Logan O'Hoppe (LAA) - .256/.314/.519, 285 AB, 21 HR, 1 SB, 115 wRC+, 2.1 WAR
1B Yordan Alvarez (HOU)* - .314/.405/.617, 261 AB, 22 HR, 172 wRC+, 2.7 WAR (Injured)
1B Rafael Devers (BOS) - .334/.414/.550, 338 AB, 13 HR, 2 SB, 147 wRC+, 3.1 WAR
1B Xavier Isaac (TB) - .286/.347/.572, 367 AB, 28 HR, 2 SB, 148 wRC+, 2.9 WAR
2B Junior Caminero (TB)* - .305/.375/.530, 347 AB, 21 HR, 3 SB, 154 wRC+, 3.5 WAR (Injured)
2B Jackson Holliday (BAL)* - .284/.375/.497, 338 AB, 16 HR, 25 SB, 130 wRC+, 3.7 WAR
3B Maximo Acosta (OAK) - .299/.331/.456, 355 AB, 10 HR, 11 SB, 124 wRC+, 2.9 WAR
3B Gunnar Henderson (BAL) - .276/.365/.496, 341 AB, 18 HR, 21 SB, 125 wRC+, 2.2 WAR
3B Colson Montgomery (CWS) - .270/.386/.469, 307 AB, 14 HR, 2 SB, 134 wRC+, 3.0 WAR
SS Corey Seager (TEX) - .278/.344/.512, 299 AB, 17 HR, 122 wRC+, 1.5 WAR
SS Bobby Witt Jr. (KC)* - .251/.336/.434, 327 AB, 15 HR, 10 SB, 108 wRC+, 2.7 WAR
LF Jasson Dominguez (NYY) - .289/.362/.483, 350 AB, 14 HR, 14 SB, 121 wRC+, 2.5 WAR
LF Wyatt Langford (TEX) - .287/.346/.572, 348 AB, 20 HR, 7 SB, 134 wRC+, 3.0 WAR
LF Christopher Morel (TB) - .278/.358/.482, 342 AB, 16 HR, 27 SB, 135 wRC+, 2.6 WAR
LF Tyler O'Neill (BOS)* - .277/.347/.531, 350 AB, 23 HR, 2 SB, 120 wRC+, 1.8 WAR
LF Kyle Tucker (HOU)* - .267/.365/.468, 333 AB, 15 HR, 13 SB, 127 wRC+, 1.8 WAR
CF Jazz Chisholm Jr. (CWS) - .291/.341/.472, 320 AB, 12 HR, 15 SB, 116 wRC+, 2.8 WAR
CF Max Clark (DET)* - .305/.404/.576, 311 AB, 20 HR, 1 SB, 177 wRC+, 5.6 WAR
CF Jonny DeLuca (CLE) - .301/.362/.520, 329 AB, 17 HR, 7 SB, 145 wRC+, 2.3 WAR
CF Ceddanne Rafaela (BOS) - .282/.329/.525, 358 AB, 16 HR, 7 SB, 111 wRC+, 3.0 WAR
RF Mike Trout (LAA)* - .285/.376/.556, 144 AB, 10 HR, 3 SB, 146 wRC+, 1.5 WAR (Injured)

The National League All-Stars will feature these players:

SP Aaron Ashby (MIL) - 11-4, 3.03 ERA, 104.0 IP, 1.12 WHIP, 9.0 K/9, 1.8 WAR
SP Chase Dollander (COL) - 9-2, 3.47 ERA, 111.2 IP, 1.19 WHIP, 10.3 K/9, 3.5 WAR
SP Dylan Lesko (SD) - 10-4, 3.11 ERA, 113.0 IP, 1.12 WHIP, 8.8 K/9, 2.7 WAR
SP Shane McClanahan (LAD) - 4-11, 4.67 ERA, 113.2 IP, 1.34 WHIP, 8.9 K/9, 2.6 WAR
SP Eury Perez (MIA)* - 3-5, 3.15 ERA, 97.0 IP, 1.06 WHIP, 10.9 K/9, 1.9 WAR
SP Justin Steele (CHC) - 7-4, 2.90 ERA, 118.0 IP, 1.14 WHIP, 8.5 K/9, 3.1 WAR
SP Taijuan Walker (CIN) - 9-4, 2.90 ERA, 124.0 IP, 1.06 WHIP, 7.3 K/9, 3.3 WAR
RP Woo-suk Go (SD) - 1-3, 3.54 ERA, 28.0 IP, 1.04 WHIP, 12.2 K/9, 0.2 WAR
RP Liam Hendriks (STL)* - 3-0, 2.48 ERA, 40.0 IP, 0.97 WHIP, 9.0 K/9, 0.6 WAR
RP Joe LaSorsa (WSH) - 5-4, 3.57 ERA, 53.0 IP, 1.13 WHIP, 6.6 K/9, 0.4 WAR
RP Nick Margevicius (CHC) - 3-5, 2.40 ERA, 56.1 IP, 1.07 WHIP, 8.0 K/9, 0.8 WAR
RP Kenny Rosenberg (SD) - 4-2, 2.20 ERA, 65.1 IP, 1.10 WHIP, 9.1 K/9, 1.6 WAR
CL George Kirby (SD) - 6-10, 23 SV, 2.62 ERA, 48.0 IP, 1.19 WHIP, 9.0 K/9, 1.2 WAR
C Gabriel Moreno (AZ)* - .372/.423/.589, 304 AB, 10 HR, 10 SB, 175 wRC+, 5.6 WAR
C Dalton Rushing (LAD) - .278/.359/.529, 259 AB, 16 HR, 125 wRC+, 1.9 WAR
C Adley Rutschman (STL) - .285/.334/.493, 274 AB, 13 HR, 126 wRC+, 2.4 WAR
1B Bryce Harper (PHI) - .296/.393/.573, 321 AB, 21 HR, 5 SB, 151 wRC+, 2.1 WAR
1B Termarr Johnson (PIT) - .283/.386/.441, 329 AB, 11 HR, 6 SB, 137 wRC+, 3.0 WAR
1B Andy Pages (NYM)* - .288/.373/.580, 333 AB, 23 HR, 8 SB, 165 wRC+, 3.2 WAR
1B Graham Pauley (SD) - .278/.370/.492, 327 AB, 15 HR, 16 SB, 142 wRC+, 2.5 WAR
2B Adael Amador (COL) - .300/.395/.500, 350 AB, 11 HR, 12 SB, 118 wRC+, 1.9 WAR
2B Noelvi Marte (CIN)* - .300/.362/.462, 370 AB, 12 HR, 18 SB, 103 wRC+, 2.3 WAR
2B Ezequiel Tovar (COL) - .304/.363/.540, 322 AB, 14 HR, 7 SB, 115 wRC+, 2.3 WAR
3B Elly De La Cruz (CIN)* - .341/.404/.624, 343 AB, 22 HR, 28 SB, 150 wRC+, 4.6 WAR
3B Manny Machado (SD) - .285/.326/.521, 330 AB, 21 HR, 11 SB, 136 wRC+, 2.9 WAR
SS Edwin Arroyo (CIN) - .297/.331/.504, 357 AB, 20 HR, 12 SB, 101 wRC+, 3.1 WAR
SS Tsung-Che Cheng (PIT) - .246/.312/.369, 309 AB, 3 HR, 6 SB, 97 wRC+, 1.3 WAR
SS Noah Miller (SF) - .226/.309/.323, 288 AB, 6 HR, 4 SB, 84 wRC+, 1.8 WAR
LF Juan Soto (NYM)* - .267/.385/.528, 337 AB, 23 HR, 9 SB, 153 wRC+, 3.3 WAR
LF James Wood (WSH) - .267/.354/.541, 329 AB, 22 HR, 7 SB, 128 wRC+, 2.5 WAR
CF Michael Harris II (ATL)* - .327/.361/.618, 346 AB, 24 HR, 2 SB, 153 wRC+, 3.7 WAR
CF Benny Montgomery (COL)* - .303/.388/.597, 300 AB, 19 HR, 16 SB, 138 wRC+, 3.8 WAR
RF Josh Naylor (SF) - .274/.342/.580, 274 AB, 20 HR, 3 SB, 153 wRC+, 2.4 WAR
RF Jordan Walker (STL)* - .359/.424/.688, 359 AB, 31 HR, 11 SB, 198 wRC+, 6.6 WAR

The Rays placed an impressive 6 players on the AL roster, 3 pitchers and 3 position players. It was Bradley's 3rd ASG in four seasons, and the first for Pepiot and Baumeister, the latter being one of OOTP's famous out-of-left-field reliever selections. Meanwhile Caminero led all of MLB in All-Star votes in his first-ever section (the injury is a mild rib cage muscle strain he's been playing through), Isaac is also a debutant, and Morel makes it two seasons in a row.

The Derby:

Isaac got to participate and here's how it went:



Oh so close for Xavier.

The game:



Not a lot of excitement for the participating Rays - Caminero was held out due to his injury and Pepiot because he pitched over the weekend. That left Isaac and Morel to go hitless in their only at-bats while Baumeister delivered an impressive 1-2-3 inning and Taj came on in the 10th to give up the winning sac fly for the NL.

[Art Deco]

July 17-20: All-Star Break.

July 21: vs Boston 8-5 W. WP-McGee (2-0, 6 6 3 2 2 6). HR-O.Cruz (3/13), Caminero (24). Another impressive start for the rookie McGee and Cruz was 3-4 with a 3-run homer in the first that helped them to an early 5-1 lead. Morel was 2-3 with a double and 2 RBI.

July 22: vs Boston 3-1 W. WP-Pepiot (11-5, 6 3 0 0 1 8). S-Bautista (19). Pepiot continued his brilliant run with today's outing and Cruz stayed hot, going 2-3 with an RBI double as the Rays took down the Red Sox again.

Transaction: Hagen Smith comes off the IL and with Jessie McGee pitching so well it was decided that Cade Horton is the odd man out and with an option he's the one to go to Durham.

July 23: vs Boston 7-4 W. WP-M.Rodriguez (2-0). S-Maldanado (4). Starter-H.Smith (4.1 6 4 4 3 6). HR-Isaac 2 (30), Campusano (10), Cermak (17). Smith was just as bad today as he looked before going on the IL and put the Rays in a 4-1 hole but the offense fought back thanks a 2-run Campusano shot that tied it, and Isaac's 2nd of the game in the 7th, a solo shot that broke the tie in the Rays' favor before Cermak added a 2-run jack of his own for breathing room.

Team record: 57-44. The division looked a lost cause after being swept in Fenway the week before, but these three wins now have them back within 5 of Boston and they've moved into the WC1 slot. Next week: Still one more game to play at home against Boston to conclude a wraparound series, the Phillies come into town to play a pair and then after an off-day we've got 3 in Baltimore which will take us almost to the trade deadline. Another bullpen arm would be nice.

Players of the (abbreviated) Week:

AL: Jasson Dominguez (NY), 6-16, 4 HR, 6 RBI
NL: Ezequiel Tovar (COL), 8-15, 2 HR, 5 RBI

Rays News: Our 2028 draft crop has hit the ground running at Low-A Charleston. 1st-round pick Jabari Parquet is 7-9 with 2 walks, 2 homers and 9 RBI in his professional debut and was named the Carolina League player of the week while supplemental 1st-round C Jeff Murphy is 4-11 with a homer and college closer Shamar Sephus fanned two men in 2/3 of an inning in his first appearance.

[Art Deco]

Transaction: The decision was made to pull the plug on Leody Taveras. Not only was he hitting 174/220/256, the good defense he had historically displayed wasn't evident with a -4.2 ZR in only 36 games in center, giving him -0.6 WAR. His replacement ain't gonna hit much either but at least Wilderd Patino can play CF with plus ZRs across the outfield at Durham. Taveras did clear waivers and accepted an assignment to the Bulls.

July 24: vs Boston 5-4 W. WP-T.Scott (1-2). S-Maldonado (5). Starter-Bradley (6 5 2 2 2 7). HR-Morel (18), Caminero (25). The Rays completed the 4-game sweep of Boston and pulled within 4 games of the Sox for the division lead. Scott gave up 2 runs in the 7th to lose a 3-2 lead but vultured the win when Isaac delivered a 2-run single in the bottom of the inning to restore the lead.

July 25: vs Philadelphia 1-3 L. LP-Gasser (7-7, 6 5 2 2 2 7). HR-J.Lowe (14). JLowe homered to lead off the game for the Rays but that would be all they'd get on the night as Philly's Hayden Juenger held them to 1 hit over 5 2/3 IP.

July 26: vs Philadelphia 1-0 W. WP-Lovelady (2-1). S-Bautista (20). Starter-McGee (6.2 3 0 0 1 7). HR-Mead (5). Mead's pinch-homer to center in the bottom of the 8th was the game's only run and made sure a brilliant outing by the rookie McGee did not go to waste. It was a thrilling duel between McGee and Andrew Painter, who inked a 5/165 extension with the Phillies before the game.

July 27: Off-Day.

July 28: at Baltimore 8-0 W. WP-Pepiot (12-5, 6.1 5 0 0 1 8). HR-J.Lowe (15), Isaac 2 (32). Rays got their second straight shutout and Isaac was 4-5 with 2 HR and 3 RBI as Tampa Bay unloaded on former Ray Shane Baz and the Orioles.

Time for a significant trade:



We beefed up the rotation with Guan, a Taiwanese starter who came over in the winter of 24/25 as a professional IFA and has a career 3.60 ERA in 110 starts for Arizona and Minnesota over his 3 2/3 years in the bigs, including 8-5, 3.55 with 2.5 WAR so far this season. He's a finesse guy rated 45/55/70. The Twins made him available due to his high salary (projected $27M next year in arbitration) and were willing to take a couple of mid-level prospects for him. Although Gasser has pitched well of late it's his spot that Guan will take, giving us another lefty in the pen. Nick Robertson, who has an option, will go to Durham when Guan is activated on the 31st.

July 29: at Baltimore 5-1 W. WP-H.Smith (5-7, 5 4 1 1 3 8). HR-Isaac (33). Smith pitched his best game in what seems like forever as the Rays rolled again. And once again Isaac was the man at the plate, going 3-4 with an RBI single in the 1st and a 2-run homer in the 3rd.

July 30: at Baltimore 7-2 W (10). WP-McMillon (3-2). Starter-Bradley (6 4 2 2 2 6). HR-Morel (19), Cermak (18). Morel, whose 2-run homer in the 2nd accounted for the Rays' runs in regulation, singled home the winner in the 10th ahead of Cermak, whose grand slam put the matter to rest as the Rays swept the O's in Baltimore and remained boiling lava hot with 10 wins in their last 11 games.

Team record: 62-45. We're 3 1/2 behind Boston in the division and 4 games up on the pack as WC1. Next week: 3 in Miami, a day off, and then 3 at home against the Yankees.

Players of the Week:

AL: Jasson Dominguez (NY), 11-24, 3 HR, 7 RBI
NL: Brady House (WAS), 10-25, 3 HR, 11 RBI

MLB News: There have been several trades, but almost all of them have been minor involving relief pitchers. The Reds did lose star SS Edwin Arroyo for the year with a broken bone in his elbow.

Rays News: It wasn't all wine and roses this week despite the 5-1 record as starting RF Josh Lowe strained his quadriceps. The injury is considered "minimal" but it's supposed to last for four weeks so for now we play him but give him more rest.

[Art Deco]

July 31: at Miami 4-0 W. WP-Guan (1-0, 5.1 3 0 0 2 3). S-Maldonado (6). HR-Caminero (26). Guan was outstanding in his Rays debut although he is stamina-challenged (40) which is why he departed after 85 pitches.

August 1: at Miami 3-4 L. LP-Bautista (4-3). Starter-McGee (5 11 2 2 0 6). HR-Caminero (27). Just when we thought Bautista had turned the corner on his HR problems he gave up a 2-run shot in the bottom of the 9th to lose it for Tampa Bay, his 10th surrendered in 35 IP although it was the first he'd allowed since mid-June. Miami had left 12 men on base beforehand so they probably felt they should have won anyway.

August 2: at Miami 7-5 W. WP-Pepiot (13-5, 5 6 4 4 1 6). S-Bautista (21). HR-J.Lowe (16), Cermak (19), Isaac (34). Rays were up 5-0 after 2 and then had to hold on, with Bautista bouncing back after last night's blown game. JLowe was 3-5 with a 2-run homer and Cermak had a 2-run single in the first and a solo shot in the 5th.

August 3: Off-Day.

August 4: vs NY Yankees 2-10 L. LP-H.Smith (5-8, 3.2 7 4 3 1 5). HR-O.Cruz (4/14). Rays were smoked by a lousy Yankee team, only avoiding the shutout on Cruz's 2-run homer in the 9th as Smith struggled again.

August 5: vs NY Yankees 1-6 L. LP-Bradley (12-5, 6 5 4 4 2 8). HR-Isaac (35). Tampa Bay got its lunch handed to them again by New York with Taj giving up 4 in the 2nd and the offense toothless.

August 6: vs NY Yankees 8-2 W. WP-Guan (2-0, 6.1 3 1 1 2 6). HR-Mead (6). Rays salvaged the finale behind a second win in as many starts from Guan while Mead was 3-3 with a walk, homer and 2 RBI. Wilderd Patino made his first hit for Tampa Bay count, a 2-run single which got a 6-run 4th going.

Team record: 65-48. 4 behind Boston in the division, 4 up in WC1. Next week: The homestand continues with an off-day then 3 against Houston and 3 vs Oakland.

Players of the Week:

AL: Daulton Varsho (OAK), 10-20, 2 HR, 9 RBI
NL: Nolan Jones (COL), 9-18, 3 HR, 9 RBI

Players of the Month (July):

AL Batter: Jasson Dominguez (NY), .426-10-21
NL Batter: Jordan Walker (STL), .392-10-32
AL Pitcher: Jhoan Duran (MIN), 11 SV, 0.00 ERA, 19K in 13IP
NL Pitcher: Keider Montero (COL), 5-0, 1.69, 29K in 32IP
AL Rookie: Kisuke Sugiyama (HOU), .239-10-19
NL Rookie: Victor Mesa Jr (CHI), .325-3-11

Also getting PotM honors was one of our top prospects:



Moreno is the #54 prospect in baseball.

MLB News: Things have gone from bad to worse for Washington's James Wood, who will miss another 7 weeks with his badly sprained ankle. As the Nats are sitting at 42-71 this essentially ends his season. Meanwhile there were mostly minor deals at the deadline with the biggest seeing Pittsburgh ship their young 24-year old regular Termarr Johnson to Padres for a couple of prospects.

[Art Deco]

August 7: Off-Day.

August 8: vs Houston 6-3 W. WP-Bautista (5-3). Starter-McGee (4.1 4 3 1 4 7). HR-Campusano (11), O.Cruz (5/15). If he hadn't already endeared himself to the Tampa Bay faithful Cruz certainly did today as his 3-run homer walked off a win in the bottom of the 9th. Solid work from the bullpen (5 2/3 scoreless) helped as well.

August 9: vs Houston 8-6 W (10). WP-Bautista (6-3). Starter-Pepiot (5.1 3 2 2 1 7). HR-O.Cruz (6/16), Campusano (12). For the second straight night the Rays got a walk-off win via the longball with Campusano's slam overturning a 6-4 Astros lead taken in the top of the 10th. The homer capped a massive 3-5, 5-RBI night for the catcher, who's kept us from missing Adley Rutschman with a great season. Cruz meanwhile stayed hot, going 3-4 with a 2-run single and solo homer.

August 10: vs Houston 7-6 W. WP-H.Smith (6-8, 6 2 2 2 3 8). S-Maldonado (7). HR-J.Lowe (17). The final scoreline implied another thrilling win but instead it was a nail-biter for the wrong reasons as the bullpen nearly lost a 7-2 lead heading into the 8th by giving up a pair of runs in each of the final two frames but they held on. J.Lowe's 3-run homer was the big hit with Morel going 2-3 with 2 RBI to back a quality outing from Smith, who might be getting back into form.

August 11: vs Oakland 8-1 W. WP-Gasser (8-7). Starter-Bradley (4.2 5 1 1 4 6). HR-J.Lowe 2 (19). Rays blew this one open with a 6-run 5th that saw them score consecutive runs on consecutive bases-loaded walks, an error and an infield single with JLowe leading the charge with a pair of solo homers. Campusano had a 2-run single in the 5th as well.

August 12: vs Oakland 1-0 W. WP-Guan (3-0, 6 3 0 0 0 7). S-McMillon (3). HR-Isaac (36). Isaac's solo shot in the 2nd held up for the duration as Guan improved to 3-0, 0.51 in 3 starts since joining the Rays in an inspired pickup and McMillon struck out the side to complete a 3-hit shutout in a game which saw the teams combine for only 5 hits.

August 13: vs Oakland 5-2 W. WP-T.Scott (2-2). S-Bautista (22). Starter-McGee (6 5 1 1 1 5). HR-Westburg (11), O.Cruz (7/17). The Rays made it consecutive series sweeps and capped off a perfect week with today's win. RBI singles from J.Lowe and Westburg broke a 1-1 tie in the 7th and the rookie McGee lowered his ERA to 2.60 over his 8 starts.

Team record: 71-48. The Rays would be in first place in every division but the own and the NL Central where St. Louis has an MLB-best 79-40 record, and they may do something about that soon as they're now only a game behind Boston (albeit two in the loss column). Next week: It gets tougher as they go on the road for 3 in Minnesota and 3 in KC with a day off in between, although both of those teams have losing records.

Players of the Week:

AL: Anthony Volpe (NY), 9-21, 3 HR, 12 RBI
NL: Yosy Galan (ARI), 9-24, 3 HR, 6 RBI

MLB News: Future Hall-of-Famer Mike Trout joined the 2000-hit club.

[Art Deco]

August 14: at Minnesota 1-2 L. LP-Pepiot (13-6, 5 5 2 2 2 3). Offense was at a premium in this game and the Rays could only scratch out four hits on the day, saddling Pepiot with a tough-luck loss.

August 15: at Minnesota 5-6 L. LP-H.Smith (6-9, 3.2 6 6 6 5 3). HR-Westburg (12). Just when it looked like Smith had turned the corner, he puts up a stinker like today and last year's rookie sensation who put up 4.3 WAR is this year's sophomore slumper with 0.2. Curtis Mead strained an ab muscle and will be out 4 weeks.

Transaction: Mead goes on the IL and IF Brayden Taylor is up from Durham to take his place.

August 16: at Minnesota 3-2 W (7 1/2). WP-Bradley (13-5, 6 3 2 2 2 8). S-Maldonado (8). HR-O.Cruz (8/18), Cermak (20), Isaac (37). Perhaps for the first time in all my saves I had the Rays winning a rain-shortened game (all the ones before I remember were losses). And it came just in time with them nursing a slender one-run lead in the 8th. Bradley was brilliant as usual and all three runs came via solo homers with Isaac's breaking a 2-2 tie in the 6th.

August 17: Off-Day.

August 18: at Kansas City 11-5 W. WP-M.Rodriguez (3-0). Starter-Guan (5 4 2 0 1 4). HR-Caminero (28), Westburg (13), O.Cruz (9/19). A weird game that saw the Rays up 4-2 in the 6th before Lovelady gave up 3 runs to put them behind before they regained the lead in the 7th on a Cruz triple. Meanwhile they should have been up by 4-5 runs but kept leaving men on base with Westburg in particular the biggest culprit leaving 11(!) men on himself before coming to bat with - you guessed it - two more on in the 9th. This time he didn't fail, hitting a 3-run homer to ice the game. Cruz meanwhile on base all six times, going 4-4 with 2 walks, a triple, a homer and 3 RBI as he's been red-hot. The Rays had a whopping 26 baserunners on 18 hits and 8 walks.

August 19: at Kansas City 8-7 W (10). WP-Bautista (7-3). Starter-McGee (5.2 4 3 3 2 4). HR-Isaac (38), P.Meadows (5). Another wild one which saw the Rays go up 5-0 and later 7-3 before giving up 4 runs in the 8th to let KC tie only for Cermak's sac fly in the 10th to pull it out for Tampa Bay. Isaac drove in 3 including a 2-run homer and Meadows had a 2-run blast to stake them to the early lead but Scott and Maldonado combined to allow those 4 runs in the 8th. Thankfully Bautista was immaculate in the 9th and 10th while they managed to bring home the ghost runner in the top of the 10th.

August 20: at Kansas City 5-2 W. WP-McMillon (4-2). S-Bautista (23). Starter-Pepiot (6.1 4 0 0 2 4). Another weird one in KC as it was a 0-0 game until the bottom of the 8th when the hapless Scott and McMillon combined to allow two runs. But the bats came to the rescue in the 9th with Taylor (only in the game because Cruz was ejected for arguing a third strike call) delivering a game-tying 2-run single and a couple of batters later Morel drove in 2 more to win it and complete the sweep. They still had to survive the 9th where McMillon and Bautista loaded the bases but Felix got a whiff to secure the win.

Team record: 75-50. The Rays matched the Red Sox this week so they remain one game (two in the loss column) back of Boston in the AL East. Next week: We start with Monday off then we're at home for 3 against the White Sox and the Diamondbacks.

Players of the Week:

AL: Jake Fraley (DET), 11-21, 2 HR, 6 RBI
NL: Ezequiel Tovar (COL), 13-22, 2 HR, 6 RBI

MLB News: Atlanta's Ozzie Albies hit for the cycle in a game against the Phillies and it wasn't a quiet cycle either as he drove in 6 runs in a 12-6 win.

[Art Deco]

August 21: Off-Day.

August 22: vs Chicago White Sox 5-2 W. WP-Bradley (14-5, 8.2 3 2 2 3 10). HR-Morel (20). Taj was one out away from a CGSO but he gave up a 2-run homer on his 129th pitch and came out. Caminero knocked in 3 including a big 2-run double in the first.

August 23: vs Chicago White Sox 6-4 W. WP-Gasser (9-7). S-Bautista (24). Starter-H.Smith (3 3 4 4 4 5). HR-Campusano (13), P.Meadows (6). O.Cruz had a 2-run double and Meadows' solo homer in the 4th put the Rays ahead to stay at 5-4 as the bullpen did a great job after another poor Smith start.

August 24: vs Chicago White Sox 6-3 W. WP-Guan (4-0, 6 5 2 2 2 5). S-Maldonado (9). HR-W.Patino (1), Cermak (21). Guan was actually touched for some runs as a Ray (his ERA with us is still 0.94) while Cermak had a monster 5-RBI game with a 2-run double and 3-run homer. The sweep also made it 7 straight wins for Tampa Bay.

August 25: vs Arizona 9-2 W. WP-Baumeister (1-1). Starter-McGee (5 3 2 2 4 8). HR-Campusano (14), J.Lowe (20). Campusano drove in 4 including a 3-run homer in the 6th which broke a 2-2 tie as the Rays went out to rout Arizona and make it 8 straight wins. Isaac also plated 3 including a 2-run double in the first and Baumeister was credited with his first MLB win which he earned with 3 hitless innings in relief.

August 26: vs Arizona 4-5 L. LP-Bautista (7-4). Starter-Pepiot (7 6 2 2 1 6). Bautista's first-half penchant for allowing homers had largely subsided but reared its ugly head today as he gave up a solo shot in the 9th to let Arizona snap a 4-4 tie and snap the Rays' 8-game win streak. All 5 of the D-backs' runs came via a quartet of homers.

August 27: vs Arizona 4-3 W. WP-Maldonado (4-4). Starter-Bradley (4 4 3 3 4 5). HR-Kjerstad (7), Cermak (22). Rays returned the favor of winning with a 9th-inning homer as Cermak's solo shot leading off the bottom of the frame gave the Rays a walk-off win. Kjerstad's solo blast in the 7th tied it up as Tampa Bay got back in the win column.

Team record: 80-51. Ladies and Gentlemen, your first-place Tampa Bay Rays. They finally took over the top spot in the AL East this week after Boston went into a skid, losing 5 of 7 on a west coast road trip and are up by 2 1/2 games. A remarkable turnaround to the season that saw them 38-38 on June 21 and going 42-13 since then. Next week: Interleague play with 3 in New York against the Mets and after an off-day back home for 3 against Milwaukee.

Players of the Week:

AL: Edward Olivares (SEA), 7-9, 2 HR, 6 RBI
NL: Jackson Chourio (MIL), 11-24, 6 HR, 15 RBI

Rays News: Down on the farm our top two picks are raking and C Jeff Murphy was the SAL PotW for High-A Bowling Green, going 7-18 with 4 HR and 12 RBI. Between Low-A Charleston and the Hot Rods, Murphy is 30-98 with 8 HR and 23 RBI in 27 games. Meanwhile our first pick Jabari Parquet is mashing as well as the 1B is 37-99 with 8 HR and 34 RBI in 32 games at the same two stops. Parquet has also drawn 27 walks for an OBP over .500. Both are college guys who should be at AA Montgomery to start next season and could be knocking on the door of the bigs this time next season or by 2030 at the latest.

[Art Deco]

August 28: at NY Mets 3-2 W. WP-H.Smith (7-9, 6 3 1 1 1 5). S-Bautista (25). HR-Morel (21). Smith bounced back from a couple of bad outings with a gem and Morel's 2-run homer in the 7th proved to be the winning margin.

August 29: at NY Mets 0-5 L. LP-Guan (4-1, 6 5 3 3 1 5). The offense was dominated by Mike Vasil (8.1 3 0 0 1 11) and Guan suffered his first defeat as a Ray although he provided a quality start.

August 30: at NY Mets 9-0 W. WP-McGee (3-0, 6 5 0 0 2 5). HR-O.Cruz (10/20), Cermak (23), Caminero (29). A romp at CitiField with the rookie McGee lowering his ERA to 2.63 and Cruz going 3-4 with the homer and 4 RBI to lead the attack.

August 31: Off-Day.

Transactions: Time for September roster expansion and we're bringing up a couple of new faces. Spencer Schwellenbach gets the nod as the extra pitcher; he's been a solid innings-eater at Durham and will give us some long relief outings. On the hitting side catcher Dominic Keegan finally gets the call after toiling in our farm system since 2022; he's a bat-first catcher who will get some DH starts against lefties and pinch-hitting opportunities. He hit a robust 293/404/500 with 22 homers for the Bulls.

September 1: vs Milwaukee 2-4 L. LP-Bradley (14-6, 6.1 7 4 4 2 6). HR-Westburg (14). Westburg's 2-run shot in the first put Tampa Bay ahead but they were shut down after that by (brief) former Ray Kodai Senga as the Brewers chipped away off Taj.

September 2: vs Milwaukee 6-3 W. WP-Baumeister (2-1). S-Bautista (26). Starter-Pepiot (4.1 3 1 0 3 6). Going into the bottom of the 6th 37-year-old Gerrit Cole had turned back the clock, shutting down Tampa Bay with a 2-1 lead. But the Rays and Father Time came for him in that inning, as they put 4 up on the board with Cermak's 2-run double (as part of a 3-4 day) the big knock while Campusano was 2-4 with 2 RBI himself.

September 3: vs Milwaukee 2-0 W. WP-H.Smith (2-0, 6 2 0 0 0 4). S-Bautista (27). HR-Morel (22). Has Smith turned the corner? He no-hit Milwaukee for 6 innings in his second excellent start of the week before giving up a single and double to start the inning with Maldonado miraculously escaping that jam. And Gasser followed in the 8th, getting out of a mess he created by loading the bases with one out. The game was 1-0 at that point on Morel's 5th-inning solo shot and they added insurance in the 8th to take the series. Keegan made his MLB debut as the DH and was 2-3 with a walk.

Team record: 84-53, still 2 1/2 up on Boston, which actually crept to within 1/2 game after the loss on the 1st. Next week: A cross-country road trip for 3 in Oakland then back halfway after an off-day for 3 more in St. Louis where the currently 88-49 Cardinals await.

Players of the Week:

AL: Jonny DeLuca (CLE), 11-23, 2 HR, 8 RBI. Did we make a mistake trading him the winter before last for Sam Hentges? Quite possibly:



Had no idea he'd start doing that.

NL: Xander Bogaerts (SD), 7-12, 3 HR, 6 RBI

Players of the Month (August):

AL Batter: Royce Lewis (MIN), .368-7-15
NL Batter: Brady House (WAS), .356-12-29
AL Pitcher: Tobias Myers (LA), 4-0, 1.57, 20 K in 23 IP
NL Pitcher: David Peterson (STL), 5-0, 1.36, 31 K in 33 IP
AL Rookie: Kisuke Sugiyama (HOU), .226-10-21
NL Rookie: Jansel Luis (ARI), .240-4-15

MLB News: The Yankees lost start OF Jasson Dominguez for the rest of the season with a torn meniscus.

[Art Deco]

September 4: at Oakland 2-5 L. LP-McGee (3-1, 4.2 8 5 5 0 7). HR-O.Cruz (11/21). The rookie McGee tasted defeat for the first time and the Rays couldn't get much going against Joey Estes and the Oakland bullpen.

September 5: at Oakland 4-5 L. LP-Bautista (7-5). Starter-Guan (4.2 9 4 3 2 2). A bitter defeat for the Rays as they scored twice to tie it in the top of the 9th on a Westburg (who had 3 hits) triple only for Bautista to load the bases with a couple of walks and give up the losing hit.

September 6: at Oakland 0-3 L. LP-Bradley (14-7, 6.1 3 3 3 3 5). The Rays capped a miserable series in the "other" Bay Area with the shutout loss and as a result fell back out of first place as Boston won three games at the same time.

September 7: Off-Day. Boston lost so the Rays are tied with Boston and the teams have identical records.

Transaction: Spencer Schwellenbach had to go on the IL with recurring back spasms and won't return this season. Cade Horton was recalled from Durham to take Schwellenbach's spot in the bullpen.

September 8: at St. Louis 5-2 W. WP-Pepiot (14-6, 5.1 3 0 0 1 7). S-Bautista (28). HR-Cermak (24). Cermak's 3-run homer in the first was the decisive hit as Pepiot was excellent again and took over the MLB ERA lead at 2.63.

September 9: at St. Louis 8-6 W. WP-McGee (4-1, 5 6 4 4 0 8). S-Bautista (29). HR-Morel (23). Morel was 4-4 with 4 runs scored, a steal and a solo homer while Caminero was 3-5 with a double and 3 RBI to lead the Rays to another win over the Cardinals which they led 6-0 and 8-4 before hanging on. St. Louis got 2-run homers from former Rays Adley Rutschman and Brock Jones.

September 10: at St. Louis 3-5 L. LP-Maldonado (4-5). Starter-H.Smith (5 4 2 2 3 5). The Rays were four outs away from a sweep and sole possession of first place in the AL East but Maldonado gave up a bases-clearing double to Masyn Winn to lose a 3-2 lead in the 8th. Cruz's 2-run double against his former team was the big hit for Tampa Bay early.

Team record: 86-57. As implied above, the Rays are tied with Boston for the AL East lead with 19 games to go. In case the teams end the season even the Rays would be division winners thanks to their 7-6 record against the Red Sox in the season series. Next week: 7 games at home with 3 against Cleveland and 4 vs Baltimore.

Players of the Week:

AL: Wyatt Langford (TEX), 14-23, 2 HR, 4 RBI
NL: Bryce Harper (PHI), 12-19, 1 HR, 6 RBI

MLB News: Devastating news for former Cy Young Award winner Sandy Alcantara as the Padres hurler tore his UCL badly enough for the injury to be career-ending. He ends his career 76-89 but with a 3.48 ERA and 35.1 WAR. Also on the injury front Cincinnati's star 2B JJ Wetherholt's season is over after a fractured collarbone while Atlanta lost SP Spencer Strider for the year with a herniated disc.

[Art Deco]

September 11: vs Cleveland 2-1 W. WP-Bradley (15-7, 5 2 0 0 4 7). S-McMillon (4). HR-J.Lowe (21). Pitching was the name of the game tonight as both teams combined for only seven hits, the biggest of which was J.Lowe's 2-run homer in the 3rd.

September 12: vs Cleveland 5-4 W. WP-Lovelady (3-1). S-Bautista (30). Starter-Guan (4 7 4 4 2 2). Heim was 2-2 with 2 RBI, including an RBI single in the 5th which broke a 4-4 tie and held up the rest of the way. JLowe was 1-3 with a run scored and three steals.

September 13: vs Cleveland 11-10 W (11). WP-Horton (8-5). Starter-Pepiot (4 7 5 5 3 4). HR-Caminero (30), Isaac (39), Cermak (25), Campusano (15). We went 180 degrees from the opener in one of those games that saw Cermak go 4-6 with a homer and 3 RBI including a walk-off winning RBI single in the 11th. Campusano and J.Lowe each had 3 hits and 2 RBI as well and the Rays pulled off a big September sweep.

September 14: vs Baltimore 3-8 L. LP-McGee (4-2, 4.1 6 5 3 1 7). HR-Isaac (40), O.Cruz (12/22). McGee and the bullpen had a rough night as the Rays were dominated by the Orioles.

September 15: vs Baltimore 2-5 L (10). LP-Gasser (9-8). Starter-H.Smith (5.2 3 1 1 3 10). HR-O.Cruz (13/23), Caminero (31). This was a tough one as Bautista blew the save against his old team in the 9th, giving up a 2-out homer to Samuel Basallo to let the Orioles tie, and then Baltimore got 3 off Gasser in the 10th to win as they wasted one of Smith's best starts of the year.

September 16: vs Baltimore 4-1 W. WP-Baumeister (3-1). S-Maldonado (10). Starter-Bradley (5 5 1 1 2 3). HR-P.Meadows (7), J.Lowe (22). Rays bounced back to win this one with 3 runs in the 7th as Meadows' homer snapped a 1-1 tie. Westburg was 3-4 with 2 runs scored against his former team.

Transaction: Lefty reliever Richard Lovelady has a sore shoulder and is done for the year. He was replaced by another lefty reliever who's been up in previous years, Jacob Lopez.

September 17: vs Baltimore 6-8 L (11). LP-Maldonado (4-6). Starter-Guan (6 4 3 3 1 10). Another tough loss as a 5-3 lead going into the 8th vanished when Gasser gave up a homer to Jackson Holliday in the 8th and then Bautista blew his second straight save in the last three games against his old teammates, and like on Friday Baltimore went on to win in the 11th. Caminero was 3-4 with 2 RBI.

Team record: 90-60. Fortunately Boston had a mixed week and the Rays find themselves one game up in the division as we head into the final two weeks of the season. Remember the Rays have the tiebreaker edge so it's essentially a 2-game lead. Next week: An off-day then we head west for 3 in Texas followed by 3 in Anaheim.

Players of the Week:

AL: This guy:



NL: Matt Olson (ATL), 12-24, 3 HR, 6 RBI

[Art Deco]

September 18: Off-Day.

September 19: at Texas 2-4 L. LP-Scott (2-3). Starter-McGee (6 4 0 0 1 6). A heartbreaker for the Rays as they took a 2-0 lead into the bottom of the 8th before Baumeister and Scott combined to give up 4 runs with the killer blow a 3-run Wyatt Langford homer off Scott.

Transaction: A tough blow for the Rays as the loss was even costlier when Jordan Westburg separated his shoulder and will be out three weeks. This means he'll miss the rest of the regular season as well as the wild card round should we be playing in it. Brayden Taylor is up from Durham to take his place and Mead should become the regular 2B.

September 20: at Texas 3-2 W. WP-Maldonado (5-6). S-Bautista (31). Starter-Pepiot (6 5 2 2 1 7). HR-Mead (7), Kjerstad (8). It was the Rays' turn to administer the heartbreak as Kjerstad's pinch-homer in the 9th won it for Tampa Bay.

September 21: at Texas 1-2 L (11). LP-M.Rodriguez (3-1). Starter-Bradley (6.2 4 1 1 2 9). HR-O.Cruz (14/24). Rays starters gave up 3 runs over 18.2 IP in this series but thanks to an anemic offense and an inconsistent bullpen they lost 2 of those games although we'll hang today's loss on the bats as they managed only 4 hits over 11 innings and continue to lose their grip on the division.

September 22: at LA Angels 5-7 L. LP-Baumeister (3-2). Starter-H.Smith (4 5 3 3 4 4). HR-Isaac 2 (42). He may be 37 now and not the superstar he once was but you overlook Mike Trout at your peril as the future Hall-of-Famer belted 3 homers to send the Rays to defeat. Isaac tried to keep up with him, going over the 100-RBI mark again with a pair of 2-run homers of his own, but it wasn't enough and the Rays suffer another loss they can't afford if they want to win the division, now a game back of Boston.

September 23: at LA Angels 7-4 W (10). WP-McMillon (5-2). S-Maldonado (11). Starter-Guan (5 4 2 2 3 3). HR-Keegan 2 (2), Cermak (26). Dominic Keegan, ladies and gentlemen. The rookie C/DH picked a great time to hit his first two MLB homers, the second of which was a 3-run shot in the 9th to erase a 4-1 Angels lead. Cermak then followed with a 3-run blast of his own in the 10th to win it and keep the Rays one game behind Boston.

September 24: at LA Angels 1-2 L. LP-McGee (4-3, 5 5 2 2 2 6). HR-Morel (24). Once again the offense deserted the Rays at a critical time as they were dominated by former farmhand Tobias Myers, who went 7.1 2 1 1 0 9 against them. Of course they got Junior Caminero for Myers way back in 2021 so it was a steal of a deal but it haunted them today. And with Boston winning the Rays are now two games back in the division going into the final week of the season. They do hold the tiebreaker but it's still going to be a tough pull.

Team record: 92-64. Next week: After a day off we close out the regular season at home with 3 against Toronto and Cincinnati.

Players of the Week:

AL: Kyle Teel (BOS), 11-20, 0 HR, 8 RBI (first time I can remember someone winning this without homering)
NL: Nolan Gorman (STL), 11-25, 3 HR, 11 RBI

MLB News: Here's a look at the standings around the league going into the final week:



Not shown here due to space limitations are the wild card trailers. In the AL Baltimore is the only team with a shot, albeit a long one at 2 1/2 back. In the NL it's all over but the shouting as Atlanta is 4 1/2 back there.

[Art Deco]

September 25: Off-Day.

September 26: vs Toronto 3-0 W. WP-Bradley (16-7, 6.2 8 0 0 1 4). S-Bautista (32). Taj was terrific once again and the Rays kept their division hopes alive with a win.

September 27: vs Toronto 3-5 L. LP-Pepiot (14-7, 4.2 4 5 5 3 6). HR-Morel (25). Pepiot was roughed up and with Boston winning and extended their division lead to 3 games, WC1 appears to be the Rays' fate.

September 28: vs Toronto 3-5 L. LP-H.Smith (8-10, 4 4 3 3 5 3). HR-Caminero (32). Another loss and it's pretty much over with Boston's magic number to clinch the AL East down to one.

September 29: vs Cincinnati 3-4 L. LP-McGee (4-4, 4.2 7 4 3 1 5). HR-Morel (26). And that's all folks, Boston wins the division as the Rays limp their way to the playoffs.

September 30: vs Cincinnati 0-7 L. LP-Gasser (9-9, 5 7 7 7 2 4). With the game meaningless, Gasser got a chance to start and reminded us why he lost his rotation spot.

Transactions: To save arms for the playoffs Gasser and McGee were optioned to Durham and Jacob Lopez went on the 15-day IL with an oblique strain suffered yesterday and for the finale we brought up veteran Freddy Peralta, who had been with the Bulls all year, to start the finale as well as old friends Nick Robertson and Jacob Misiorowski.

October 1: vs Cincinnati 4-5 L. LP-McMillon (5-3). Starter-Peralta (4 5 2 2 4 4). It looked like the Rays might go into the postseason on a winning note after jumping out early 4-0, but Peralta lost it after 4 innings and the bullpen didn't get it done either with McMillon giving up a homer in the 9th to lose it.

Team record: 93-69. Next up: The AL Wild Card Series vs the Angels at the Trop. Taj, Pepiot and Guan are the scheduled starters.

Players of the Month (September):

AL Batter: Yordan Alvarez (HOU), .380-7-23
NL Batter: Bryan Ramos (MIL), .327-10-21
AL Pitcher: Bruce Zimmermann (BAL), 4-0, 3.52, 8 SV, 15 K in 15.1 IP
NL Pitcher: Dylan Lesko (SD), 5-1, 2.27, 43 K in 35.2 IP
AL Rookie: Walker Jenkins (MIN), .375-8-21
NL Rookie: Irvin Gonzalez (CIN), 2-0, 2.00, 5 SV, 8 K in 9 IP

For some reason OOTP did not hand out Player of the Week awards for the final week of the regular season.

Next post: A statistical look back at the Rays season with the final standings and playoff matchups.

[Art Deco]

Congrats to Taj on winning the MLB ERA crown!

The playoff tree:



Final Rays team stats:



A pretty good season overall, especially in July/August before a late swoon cost them a multi-game lead (with the tiebreaker in hand) in the AL East. Only minor complaints - the offense could have gotten on base a little better and the defensive efficiency could have been better, but this is still a good team but one that will have to jump an extra hurdle in the playoffs.



Some real pleasant surprises here, especially Campusano who broke out when given the chance to play every day after backing up Adley Rutschman the last couple of years. We didn't miss Rutschman at all thanks to him and quality backup work from Heim. Also it could be said our July/August run was down to the acquisition of Cruz - Williams' injury may have been a blessing in disguise forcing us to go out and deal for Cruz, who put up 3.5 WAR in half a season with us.



Bradley and Pepiot might have been the best 1-2 punch in baseball as they finished 1st and 3rd in the AL and backed it up with their peripherals, combining for nearly 9 WAR with Taj the AL Cy Young favorite. Guan was a solid deadline pickup to be the 3rd starter and the rookie McGee looks like the real deal as our 4th playoff starter. Of course we said that about Smith, who was brilliant in his rookie year last season, and he regressed badly in 28 while the likes of Gasser and Horton were pretty lousy in the 5th starter role. Thanks to all the homers he allowed Bautista was pretty much at replacement level despite 32 saves and a 2.83 ERA, but he's still our best bet to close and McMillon and Rule 5 draftee Baumeister were probably our best relievers overall. Unfortunately our main lefty Scott was largely dreadful.



The farm system isn't bad, especially thanks to our really good draft this year which brought in prospects 1, 3 and 6 among others, and our first-rounder Jabari Parquet is down at #22 for some reason despite big numbers in the minors after signing and plus contact and power potential. Murphy is our catcher of the future, Moreno is the shortstop and the 2-way Schoolcraft actually bopped 54 homers at 3 stops including Durham to go with his potential 70 starter stuff on the mound.

[Art Deco]

The season's already on the brink....




A tough start to the playoffs for the Rays as they couldn't get the big hit when they needed it while the Angels parlayed a couple of homers into a 3-1 win, meaning the Rays will have to win the next two days to advance. Taj was great for 5 innings before giving up a 2-run homer to Jakob Marsee and the legendary Mike Trout touched Baumeister for a solo shot in the 8th. The Rays had baserunners in seemingly every inning and had no greater opportunity than in the bottom of the 8th when Mead got his 3rd hit of the day and Caminero doubled him over to third with nobody out but Isaac and Cruz struck out and Morel flied to center. They went down meekly 1-2-3 in the 9th and now will need Pepiot (and some hitting) to save them tomorrow.

In the other ALWC: