The 2021 (and only 2021) Tampa Bay Rays

[Art Deco]

CHAMPIONS!



They did it! And with all the drama anyone could stand. It started out shaping up a lot like last night with an early lead (primarily coming from a 2-run Adley Rutschman single after a Brujan/Franco double steal) they couldn't hold as Mike Clevinger ran out of gas. But Vidal Brujan, not known for his power, drilled a Chris Paddack pitch out of the park in the top of the 7th to put them ahead 4-3 and Justin Dunn held serve in the bottom of the inning. They loaded the bases in the 8th but pinch-hitter Hunter Bishop whiffed, and things really got bad for Devin Williams in the bottom of the frame as singles from Fernando Tatis Jr (glad I won't have to see him again until at least next October) and Manny Machado put men on 1st and 3rd with nobody out. But Williams fanned Jake Bauers, got Luis Campusano to ground out at the drawn-in infield, and then retired Jurickson Profar on a grounder. And the 9th wasn't much easier either when pinch-hitter Starling Marte singled with one out, stole second, but was left there when Victor Caratini flew out and Trent Grisham grounded to third to end the game and set off a raucous celebration, seen below:



Interestingly they won Game 5 3-2 to go up 3-2 and Game 7 4-3 to win the series 4-3. Incidentally Devin Williams was injured on the final pitch of the game as the PxP above notes, but it was just a 2-week sore elbow which he can ice with champagne. We also unlocked these achievements:



The Moneyball award was for winning it all with an $84M payroll, 23rd in the league.

[Art Deco]

Time to celebrate with a parade down Central Avenue in St. Petersburg as the Rays are World Champions for the first time in franchise history after coming so close the previous 3 seasons. Here's a look at the trophy:



Goals for the offseason? There's not that much tinkering to be done as we wheeled and dealed throughout last year to get us to a championship-caliber level. Owner Stu Sternberg has allowed us to up the payroll to $130M. Keeping everyone from last year projects us at $107M but there are a couple of players I'm looking to deal, more for baseball reasons than salary considerations but depending on the deals it could free up about $11-12M.

That would be Randy Arozarena and Joey Bart. Arozarena still has 3 years of team control left, but is due for an award of roughly $9M and we have a glut of OFers, especially if we move Austin Meadows back there with Lewin Diaz back at 1B. Hunter Bishop and Heston Kjerstad were so good down the stretch and in the postseason that both deserve to start, and we also have Jarren Duran and Vidal Brujan for center.

Bart meanwhile was supposed to be our cornerstone catcher and played well, but when acquiring him we had no idea Adley Rustchman would become available and Bart is too good of an asset to be wasted as a backup catcher. He too is due for about $3.5-4M in arbitration and some of that money could you used on a Rustchman extension, although Rustchman isn't even due for arbitration until 2025. (Wander Franco is in the same boat). So I'm going to see what the market will bear for each of them (or both together) with an eye toward prospects unless we can find a good young controllable starting pitcher.

Right now, the back of the napkin projection for the 2024 roster looks like this:

C-Rutschman, veteran backup in trade or free agency
1B-L.Diaz (or Meadows)
2B-B.Lowe
SS-Franco
3B-Kieboom
IF-Walls
OF-Bishop, Kjerstad, Duran, Brujan (Meadows?), maybe Heliot Ramos or Orlando Martinez.
Brujan may slot as the full-time DH

Other bats of interest: Jorge Ona, Mike Brosseau, Moises Gomez, Heriberto Hernandez

SP-Glasnow, Sale, Skubal, Peacock, Canning
MR-Patino, Vesia, Dunn, McClanahan
SU-Fletcher, D.Williams, Fairbanks
CL-N.Anderson

This doesn't account for Nick Sandlin, Joe Ryan, Taj Bradley, Jack Little, Reggie Lawson or Brent Honeywell (who is out of options) plus Andrew Perez and Landon Knack, who both are knocking on the door.

MLB Retirements: Max Scherzer, Josh Donaldson, Buster Posey, Garrett Richards, Brett Gardner, David Robertson, Khris Davis, Trevor Bauer, Kyle Hendricks,

Famous Rays retiring: Evan Longoria, David Price.

November 9: Tarik Skubal won the AL Gold Glove for pitchers.

November 11: Adley Rutschman won the Silver Slugger at catcher for the AL.

November 12: Jake Burger, who went .303-26-65 in only 349 AB for the White Sox, and David Zorilla, who was 11-8, 3.28 with 204 whiffs in 181 IP for Philly, won their respective leagues' Rookie of the Year Awards unanimously.

November 14: The Cy Young Award was handed out today, and there was no clear-cut favorite in the AL. Jhoan Duran of the Twins wound up with it, having gone 10-5, 3.26 in 32 starts with 173 whiffs in 179.2 IP, a fine season but subpar by Cy Young standards. No such trepidation in the NL where Walker Buehler won it unanimously with an incredible season, winning the pitching triple crown, leading the NL in wins (15), whiffs (256 in 206 IP) and ERA (2.14) and an impressive 7.1 WAR.

November 15: Mike Trout won his 5th MVP award after leading the Angels to the best record in baseball and an ALCS berth (before we knocked him out), hitting 43 homers and accumulating 7.4 WAR. Juan Soto was a near-unanimous winner in the NL (1 vote went to Walker Buehler) after a 342/468/648 season with 35 HR and 119 RBI and an MLB-best 9.1 WAR.

[Art Deco]

We have a blockbuster trade:



It wasn't popular with the fans, but we free up some OF at-bats, save a few $, and get a premier young starting pitcher who's under contract for 4 more seasons and the Dodgers are picking up 25% of the tab. This means we're paying him $5.4M in 2024, $7.9 in 2025 and $10.3 the final two years. Battenfield was the inducement to get LA to pick up salary here, and he's 26 and coming off elbow surgery, so not a big loss.

December 2: First of the big free agents sign as Texas looks to accelerate their rebuild by signing SS Adalberto Mondesi to a big 8/173 deal.

December 4: 2B/SS Amed Rosario stays in Ohio by agreeing with the Reds on a 7/139.8 pact.

December 9: The hot stove is heating up. Kolten Wong goes for 5/92 to Seattle, starter Luis Castillo joins the Mets on a 6/88 deal, and we had a few trades. The D-backs shipped C Carson Kelly to the Memphis Spirit for SS Stephen Alamais, the Dodgers sent 5 minor leaguers to Detroit for Casey Mize, and the Phillies sent Rhys Hoskins to Minnesota for OF Travis Blankenhorn and a prospect.

December 11: The Winter Meetings got underway, and the Mets signed closer Liam Hendricks to a 2/13 deal while the Padres dealt C Victor Caratani to Mets for former Ray SP Alex Wood.

December 13: The free agency of Shohei Ohtani was eagerly anticipated and watched and today he signed a 6/124 deal with the.............Memphis Spirit. How about them apples? Also the Mets and Cards hooked up on a deal which sent Dominic Smith to St. Louis for Trevor Rosenthal.

December 19: Added OF Orlando Martinez, P Franklin Dacosta, P Neraldo Catalina and P Andrew Perez to the 40-man roster; designated OF Moises Gomez and P Josh Fleming for assignment and placed them on waivers.

Rule 5 maneuvering. The four added were obviously guys I didn't want to lose. None of them are sure-fire prospects but all are decent, and better than Gomez (60 power but no other value) and Fleming (who can't break a pane of glass).

Rule 5 Draft Update: 12 guys were taken but nobody from us.

December 21: Traded OF Josh Lowe to the San Antonio Alamos for P Braden Forsyth.

Time to pull the plug on Lowe, who just couldn't develop a decent enough hit tool to play. Last year at AA Montgomery he hit 233/336/418, and perhaps a change of scenery and a chance to play with the Alamos will rejuvenate his career. We needed to make the deal to open a 40-man spot for Joe Ryan who came off the 60-day IL. Meanwhile Forsyth is a reliever with 75 stuff but 45 movement and 35 control so he's a bit of a lottery ticket.

December 27: The Red Sox signed one-time Rays farmhand and Colorado "ace" German Marquez to a 5/54.3 deal even though he's still recovering from a ruptured bicep tendon.

December 28: The Mets signed all-star reliever Josh Hader to a 3/20 deal, he too is coming off an injury - surgery for bone chips in his elbow. They also signed Yasunari Uehara, a Japanese import who sports 80 stuff as a power reliever to a 2/11.6 pact as they are spending lavishly to upgrade their pen.

December 29: A couple of big pitcher signings today with Yankee mainstay Luis Severino going for 6/110 to Arizona after coming off two excellent season, while the oft-injured Dodger Julio Urias signed for 2/11.7 with Washington.

A note on Joey Bart: I haven't found suitable trade offers yet for him so for now he's staying a Ray.

A trade:



The Mets were basically giving away Tyler Rogers, and who was I to say no? Encarnacion is not a prospect, and the Mets are picking up 100% of his salary, so I'm not sure what's going on here. I discovered this when I saw Rogers on the trading block. We'll have to make room on the 40-man and the active roster, and we probably have too many guys, but whatever.

[Art Deco]

January 10: The Red Sox signed SS Nick Ahmed to a 5/84 deal to bring the 3-time Gold Glover to Beantown, while the Phillies signed P (and sometimes OF) Michael Lorenzen to a 6/93.6 pact. Lorenzen had an excellent 11-8, 3.11 in the Angels rotation last season.

January 13: Jack Flaherty, who struggled with us early last season before we shipped him to Detroit where he didn't fare much better in his contract year, went to Arizona for 5/42.4.

January 17: The Hall of Fame voting is in:



Congrats to Adrian Beltre, who just barely got over the 75% mark but they don't put that on your plaque. Carlos Beltran was close again but only improved slightly over last year's 65.7%. Joe Mauer made a decent first showing but otherwise nobody else had cause to get too excited.

January 22: The Giants signed starter Taijuan Walker to a 4/26.7 deal.

January 30: The Rockies signed veteran closer Will Smith to a 2/4.9 pact and the Braves traded OF Drew Waters to the Reds for P Sal Romano.

RULE CHANGE: I have decided that active MLB rosters will now have 27 players.

February 2: Former Ray Chris Archer surfaced in San Francisco on a 1/6.4 deal.

A minor trade:



Ona was a disappointment last year and really doesn't fit into our roster plans, and 40-man space was needed with Griffin Canning coming off the 60-day IL. And we got Velasquez in the deal, a RHB OF with 65 power, kind of Ona lite who will play at Durham or Montgomery. He's nothing special otherwise.

February 6: Closer Jordan Hicks joins a loaded Mets bullpen on a 3/22.2 deal.

February 7: Some interesting happenings today. Cleveland inked slugger Miguel Sano to a 1/7.1 deal and traded Triston McKenzie to the Braves for catcher William Contreras.

February 9: A couple of veteran starters found new homes with Kenta Maeda off to Boston for 2/19 and Sonny Gray to Memphis for 2/21.2.

Spring training now underway, Luis Patino strained an oblique and is out 7 weeks, which isn't the worst thing in the world since we have a glut of pitchers for our roster spots, even with a 27th man added. We also have a big prospect trade:



These names may not mean a lot, but Abbott was our #1 pick last year while Walton was a guy who got the deal done but isn't that much of a prospect. OSA sees Abbott as a future #2 starter but my scout Rob Metzler sees him as a #5 so we were able to leverage that disparity to pick up Greckel, currently rated as the #3 prospect in baseball. Here are his particulars:



Yes we continue to collect promising young OFs like baseball cards but Greckel looks to be just a fine all-around hitter with no weaknesses. And don't sleep on DeSpigna, a 2nd-round pick who has massive (65) power and hit 24 HR in AA last year.

March 8: More free agent signings: Carlos Carrasco, coming off surgery which kept him out of 2022, signed a 1/3.4 deal with San Francisco, former Ray Travis d'Arnaud goes to Houston for 1/3.2, and Jurickson Profar, last seen playing against us in the World Series, went for 1/3.5 to Colorado. Also the Orioles got a steal of sorts by signing Yasmani Grandal to a minor league deal.

Another deal:



Another trade necessitated by the glut of pitchers we have as Honeywell is out of options and Strotman came off the 60-day IL and had to go on the 40-man, so we dealt them to LA (along with a 1/2-star non-prospect) for a couple of somewhat interesting arms. Martinez is a starter with average stuff and probably a long shot to make the big club, but he'll go to Montgomery and we'll see what he can do as he is somewhat polished. Zuniga is the antithesis of Martinez, a power reliever with 80 stuff who made his way to the majors last September but has 40 movement and 40 control. Depending upon injuries and how things shake out, he could see action with us later this year.

March 17: Mike Clevinger, whom we rented last year, signed for a year and $5.3M with the Cubs.

March 24: Former Rays mainstay Kevin Kiermaier, who had a nice bounceback year with Miami last season, signed for 1/3.9 with San Francisco.

April 1: The exhibition season is over, and we came through pretty much injury-free, except for the setback with Luis Patino, which wasn't a big one.

[Art Deco]

To get down to 27 and open a spot in the rotation, I've finally given up on the sunk cost of Chris Sale, a mistake signing last winter. Now Sale did pitch decently last year when healthy, including the playoffs, but he's been aging faster than the guy at the end of the first Indiana Jones movie, with his stuff downgraded to 35. Thirty-Five! Now we're paying him $15M/year for this year and next, but I was able to save $6M per by getting the Mets to take him while retaining $9M. Also optioned to Durham was a full-season regular on the staff last year, Nick Sandlin.

The Opening Day roster:

C-Rutschman, Bart
1B-L.Diaz (Meadows)
2B-B.Lowe
SS-W.Franco
3B-Kieboom
IF-Walls
LF-Meadows (H.Ramos)
CF-Duran (Brujan)
RF-Bishop (Kjerstad)
OF-H.Ramos, Kjerstad
DH-Brujan (Bishop)

SP-Glasnow, D.May, Skubal, Ryan, Canning
LR-Dunn, Peacock
MR-McClanahan, Vesia, Rogers
SU-Fletcher, Fairbanks, D.Williams
CL-N.Anderson

Incidentally Anderson's stuff has diminished from 80 to 70, still pretty good but we'll see what kind of effect it has.

Once again the preseason predictions do not like us. We defied them last year and won a World Series so we're not too down about it. Here they are (chuckled at the bounceback season from Brendan McKay predicted):

[Art Deco]

The Rays had kind of a three true outcomes opening series as they walked a bunch, struck out a lot (36 times) and hit a slew of homers to take 2 of 3 from the Rangers.

Here's the traditional Opening Day box. Aside from Austin Meadows nobody hit, they whiffed 14 times, and Tyler Glasnow had a brutal first inning that doomed them:



Things were much better in the second game as Adley Rustchman took over and the Rays pounded the Rangers 10-5. The young superstar catcher went deep twice with a 3-run homer in the 3rd and a solo shot in the 5th as part of a 5-RBI day, Hunter Bishop was 3-5 with a solo homer, Carter Kieboom had a 3-hit day and Heston Kjerstad drove in a 3 including a 2-run double. Dustin May in his Rays debut wasn't convincing in getting the win (5.1 8 4 4 2 3).

Tarik Skubal was excellent and 3 homers accounted for all the Tampa Bay scoring in a 7-1 win to take the season-opening series from Texas. The lefty went 6 5 0 0 3 6 for the win and he was supported by Adley Rustchman (his third in 2 games) with a 2-run first inning blast, a 3-run 2nd inning shot from Heston Kjerstad, and a 2-run homer from Jarren Duran in the 7th.

Team record: 2-1. Next up: Our home-opening series vs Seattle.

[Art Deco]

2024 is off to a much better start than 2023 as the Rays opened their home slate by sweeping the Mariners to make it 5 straight wins after falling on Opening Day. They're tied for first with the surprising Orioles at 5-1.

The home opener saw a dominant performance from Joe Ryan. The righty, who had fallen somewhat out of favor last season, had a big spring and earned his way back into the rotation. After today's 7.2 3 0 0 2 12 performance in an 8-0 win he won't be leaving it anytime soon. Despite the scoreline it was 0-0 until the 5th when Taylor Walls had an RBI single in his first action of the year and Austin Meadows drilled a 2-run double. A Joey Bart RBI triple keyed a 4-run 6th which blew it open. Walls drove in a pair and Heliot Ramos (also seeing his first action) was 3-4 with 2 doubles and an RBI.

The second game looked it would be a Rays loss after Griffin Canning struggled in his season debut, allowing a couple of homers and putting Tampa Bay in a 4-0 hole in the 5th. But the offense fought back, starting with a 2-run Wander Franco homer (#1) to cut the lead in half, Adley Rutschman homered for the 4th time in 5 games to make it 4-3, and a 3-run 7th featuring a Jarren Duran RBI triple gave the Rays a 6-4 win. Shane McClanahan was brilliant in relief with 5 whiffs in 2 1/3 innings and deservedly picked up the win and Nick Anderson got into his first game of the year and struck out the side for save #1.

The series finale saw the Rays complete the sweep with a tense 4-1 win as aces Tyler Glasnow and Logan Gilbert went head-to-head. Glasnow blinked first in the 5th allowing a run but the Rays got a Hunter Bishop homer (#2) leading off the bottom of the frame for their first hit to tie it up. And in the 6th Gilbert put two on in front of the insanely hot Adley Rutschman, and he blasted his 5th homer in the season's first 6 games to make it 4-1. Glasnow evened his record at 1-1 after a 6.1 3 1 1 4 9 outing, Aaron Fletcher got 5 big outs against his old team and Nick Anderson notched his second save in as many days.

Team record: 5-1. Next up: 3 at home vs Toronto.

[Art Deco]

Whatever good feelings were engendered by the sweep of Seattle are long gone now after the Rays were swept at home by the Blue Jays. The offense went from scoring 18 runs against the Mariners to only 7 against Toronto in the three games.

Dustin May did not impress at all in his Tropicana Field debut as a Ray, getting lit up for 4 runs in the first and allowing 5 in 3 innings as Tampa Bay dropped the opener 6-3. They did respond in the bottom of the first with those three runs with a 2-run Brandon Lowe double the big hit but that was it for the day. The only bright spot was 4 shutout innings in long relief for Matt Peacock.

Tarik Skubal pitched well in the second game, going 6 4 2 2 2 6, but a Jarren Duran homer (#2) was the sum total of the offense in a 3-1 loss. Duran ended up with 2 of the team's measly 4 hits on the day.

The Rays couldn't salvage the series finale either, losing again by a 6-3 scoreline. Joe Ryan wasn't quite as dominating as he was in his season debut although he wasn't that bad either at 5 8 3 3 0 6. He left the game only down 3-2 after Jarren Duran homered for the second straight day (#3) and Brandon Lowe hit his first of the year. But maybe now we're seeing why the Mets practically gave away Tyler Rogers as he let Toronto break the game open with 3 runs in the 6th, including Lourdes Gurriel Jr's 2nd homer of the game. The Rays loaded the bases in the 9th and pushed across a run on a Heston Kjerstad single but couldn't get any more.

Team record: 5-4, in 4th one game behind Toronto, Boston and Baltimore who all sit at 6-3. We'll have a chance to do something about that with respect to the Red Sox as we head to Fenway for 3.

[Art Deco]

The Rays and Red Sox played a hard-fought series with all 3 games being decided by a run, and unfortunately Tampa Bay came out on the short end, dropping 2 of 3.

In the opener Griffin Canning put the Rays in a 4-0 hole after the first inning, but settled in after that to finish 6 6 4 4 2 6. But the offense couldn't quite make up the deficit and Boston won 4-3. Brandon Lowe had a 2-run homer in the 2nd to immediately halve the Boston lead but the bats were largely silent after that.

The middle match saw a dominant performance from Tyler Glasnow which helped the Rays take a 3-2 win in 10 innings. The Rays' ace went 7 4 1 1 2 9 to take over the AL strikeout lead with 25 as Tampa Bay snapped its 4-game losing streak. It wasn't without some difficulty though as Nick Anderson blew a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the 9th when he allowed a 2-out infield single. But Adley Rutschman came to Anderson's and the team's rescue with a solo shot (#6) in the 10th to win it, and Anderson saved his own vultured win.

While the first two games were somewhat acceptable to stomach, the third was pretty galling as the Rays lost early leads of 3-0 and 4-1 and fell 8-7 despite outhitting Boston 16-10. For the third time in three starts since joining the Rays in big deal for Randy Arozarena last winter, Dustin May couldn't get the job done. He loaded the bases with nobody out in the 2nd up 4-1, got two whiffs and would have been out of it but Lewin Diaz dropped a line drive, keeping the inning alive and May went to pieces, allowing 4 more runs to score and putting Boston ahead. The bats kept fighting back, but May loaded the bases again with nobody out in the 5th and this time two more scored after he left as he finished 4 7 8 3 1 8 with only the whiffs encouraging. Heston Kjerstad was 2-5 with a pair of RBI doubles, Joey Bart 2-4 with 2 RBI and Wander Franco was 3-5 with an RBI double to pace the offense.

Team record: 6-6, 4th in the AL East behind the Orioles and Blue Jays (winners of 8 straight) at 9-3 and the Red Sox at 8-4. Next up: An off-day then the Angels come to town in a rematch of the last 2 ALCSes.

[Art Deco]

All three games saw the Rays' starter get into trouble with the homerun ball early but all three saw the Rays prevail in the end as they swept the Angels and picked up where they left off in last year's ALCS.

In the opener the Angels found the seats three times against Tarik Skubal and led the Rays 4-2 after 4. But Tampa Bay fought back and a 3-run 8th saw them take a 6-4 win. Skubal finished 5.2 5 4 4 2 11, getting his whiffs, while Justin Dunn got the win with 2 1/3 scoreless in relief after Wander Franco tied it with a double and Austin Meadows doubled in two more to set it up for Nick Anderson to pick up save #3. Hunter Bishop earlier had a 2-run homer, his 3rd.

Joe Ryan pitched the middle game, and he too gave up a couple of homers to allow LA to take a 3-1 lead in the 4th. But again the Rays fought back, starting with Lewin Diaz's 1st homer of the year in the bottom of the 4th to tie it, and yesterday's heroes came through again as Austin Meadows had an RBI triple to re-tie it and Wander Franco broke the deadlock with a 2-run double in the 7th, followed by a Brandon Lowe 2-run double to make the final 8-4 Rays. Pete Fairbanks picked up the win with 2 innings of 4-whiff ball.

The finale didn't require much of a comeback as a first-inning Mike Trout blast off former teammate Griffin Canning was all the Angels would get off him while the Rays built a 7-1 lead and held on to triumph 7-4. Canning had his best start of the year, going 5.2 6 1 1 2 7 for his first win of 2024. Vidal Brujan's RBI triple put them ahead to stay in the 2nd, Austin Meadows hit another RBI triple, Jarren Duran had an RBI single and solo homer (#4) and Wander Franco delivered a 2-run single.

Team record: 9-6, two games back of Baltimore which just happens to be next up on the schedule with 3 at Camden Yards.

[Art Deco]

A big early season series as the Rays came in chasing the Orioles in the AL East, and after a sweep thanks in large part to their 2018 trade bounty with Pittsburgh for Chris Archer (Austin Meadows and Tyler Glasnow), the Orioles are now chasing the Rays.

Tyler Glasnow was the man in the opener, dominating Baltimore to the tune of 7 3 0 0 2 9 and lowering his ERA to 1.80 in the process in a 6-0 Rays win. The 6-0 scoreline flattered the Orioles some as the Rays left 12 men on base and should have scored in double digits. Thanks to Glasnow it didn't matter but Austin Meadows was 3-5 with 3 RBI, including an inside-the-park homer (#3) to lead the bats. Jarren Duran had a 4-hit game and Wander Franco added a big 2-run single to give the Rays a bit of breathing room.

The middle game saw the Rays prevail 6-4, with Dustin May pitching decently if not great to even his record at 2-2. The big offseason acquisition has struggled this year but today went 6 6 3 3 1 8 with a couple of homers allowed as he lowered his ERA to a still-awful 7.36. Wander Franco was 2-4 with 2 RBI and 2 steals to lead the attack and Carter Kieboom snapped out of his early-season funk to double and hit his first homer of the year in the 9th, some insurance after the Orioles had pulled within 5-4. Austin Meadows also drove in a couple with a pair of sac flies and Nick Anderson notched save #4.

A sweep looked like a tall order with the way the Rays were dominated by Baltimore righty Grayson Rodriguez today. He went 7 4 1 1 2 11 against us with the only damage a Lewin Diaz solo homer (#2). Fortunately Tarik Skubal pitched well after a rough first inning which saw him allow two runs, and kept the Rays in it with a 6 4 2 2 2 4 outing. Once Rodriguez left in the 8th the Rays then pounced on Hunter Harvey with Jarren Duran doubling, Wander Franco reaching on a dropped fly ball, and then the red-hot Austin Meadows went deep for a 3-run shot (#4) to suddenly make it 4-2 Rays and that was the final. Meadows finished the series with 8 RBI in the 3 games. Tyler Rogers picked up his first Rays win in relief and Nick Anderson pitched around a couple of baserunners to nail down save #5.

Team record: 12-6, now tied for first with Boston. Next up: 3 games at home vs Kansas City.

[Art Deco]

The Rays continue to roll, sweeping their third straight series and making it 9 straight wins overall after taking care of the Royals at the Trop.

The opener was the most difficult of the three as Joe Ryan struggled mightily and twice put the Rays in 3-run holes before Tampa Bay rallied to take a 7-6 win. Homers were of course his bugaboo again as Ryan allowed a pair of 2-run shots and finished 4.1 7 6 6 1 4. But Jarren Duran came to the rescue, with his 2-run double in the 6th part of a 3-run inning to tie it, and in the 8th he brought home the winning run with another double. Carter Kieboom had a 2-run homer (#2) earlier while Vidal Brujan contributed an RBI triple. Aaron Fletcher picked up the win in relief while Devin Williams got the final out for save #2.

In the second game Griffin Canning was excellent and Austin Meadows came through with a 2-run single in a 5-run 8th to break a 2-2 tie and send the Rays home 7-2 winners. Canning went 7 4 2 1 1 5 in his best start of the year and Shane McClanahan struck out 5 in 2 perfect innings to nab his 2nd win of the year. Meadows, who had a 2-run double in the 3rd, came through again with the bases loaded in the 8th and later in the inning Heston Kjerstad added a 2-run single for insurance.

A pitchers' duel in the finale turned into a Rays rout when they scored 6 times in the 6th to erase a 1-0 deficit to send them on to an 8-1 win and series sweep. Tyler Glasnow and Kris Bubic were locked in the duel but the Rays got to Bubic when he loaded the bases and walked Carter Kieboom to force in the tying run and then Hunter Bishop lowered the boom with a grand slam. Bishop then added a second homer with a man on in the 7th for good measure, giving him 5 longballs on the year. Glasnow meanwhile dominated again at 6 2 1 1 3 9 and now leads the AL in ERA (1.74), strikeouts (43) and pitcher WAR (1.3) to go with a 3-1 record. Heston Kjerstad and Vidal Brujan each had 3 hits as well.

Team record: 15-6, now with a 2-game lead on Boston and Baltimore. Next up: 3 games in Chicago against the White Sox.

[Art Deco]

The Big Ray Machine keeps on keepin' on as they swept their ALCS foes of last year the White Sox to make it 12 straight wins.

The opener was a nailbiter, as it looked like Dustin May's woes would continue when he surrendered a 2-run Eloy Jimenez homer in the 1st to put the Rays behind. But in the fourth Lewin Diaz hit one out with two aboard (#2) to give Tampa Bay a 3-2 lead and that scoreline held up the rest of the way. May finished 5 6 2 2 1 5 and went to 3-2 while four relievers got the job done with Nick Anderson finishing things for save #6.

The second game featured little suspense as the Rays jumped out to a 7-0 lead after 2 innings and Tarik Skubal pitched well in a 9-4 win. Brandon Lowe's 3-run homer (#3) highlighted a 5-run 1st and Adley Rutschman took Michael Kopech deep with a man on in the 2nd for #7 and the Rays didn't look back. Carter Kieboom also knocked in a pair with a single and a double. Skubal went 6 6 3 3 1 4 to improve to 2-1, 3.34.

The finale was basically a carbon copy of the second game as the Rays were up 8-0 by the third and took a 10-4 victory. Heliot Ramos was the hitting star, going 3-5 with an RBI single in a 4-run 2nd and a 3-run homer (#1) in a 4-run 3rd. Wander Franco was 2-4 with 2 RBI while Jarren Duran was on base 4 times with 2 hits and 2 walks. The beneficiary of the early run support was Joe Ryan, who pitched his best game since his first start of the year, going 6.1 6 2 2 0 6 with the 2 runs coming in the 7th as he's now 2-1, 4.60.

Team record: 18-6, 3 games up on Baltimore. Next up: A day off then San Antonio, now featuring former Rays like Ji-Man Choi, Joey Gallo, Josh Lowe and Manuel Margot, visits the Trop.

[Art Deco]

The Rays saw their 12-game winning streak snapped by the Alamos but still took 2 out of 3 and expanded their lead in the AL East.

Tampa Bay was dominated in the opener by San Antonio's Joey Lucchesi as the lefty held them to 1 run and 4 hits in 6 1/3 as the Alamos took a 3-1 win to end the Rays' win streak. Meanwhile a couple of former Rays gave Griffin Canning some trouble as Joey Gallo homered in the 2nd inning and Ji-Man Choi singled in a run in the 3rd as Canning finished 5 6 3 3 2 6 and took the loss to drop to 1-2, 4.13.

Austin Meadows had a career game in the middle tilt as the Rays walloped San Antonio 9-1. He had a 2-run homer in the 1st, a bases-clearing triple in the 2nd, a double in the 4th and he came to bat in the 5th needing a single for the cycle but decided to homer again instead, his 6th. Meadows finished the night 4-5 with 2 HR, 6 RBI and 13 total bases. The 6 ribbies gave him 28 and put him in the AL lead (the MLB lead is a ridiculous 40 from Pete Alonso in 25 games). Wander Franco homered as well, his 3rd, and Tyler Glasnow was as dominant on the mound as his fellow Pirates refugee was at the plate. The righty went 6 2 1 1 1 12 and improved to 4-1, 1.70 and had he done this a day earlier he probably would have been AL Pitcher of the Month for April. Matt Peacock went the final 3 scoreless and struck out 5 himself to pick up his first save as a Ray.

MLB note: Although Meadows fell short of the cycle (of course he bettered the cycle by homering again rather than singling), San Diego's Fernando Tatis Jr. did in fact hit for the cycle tonight. In other notable developments, Austin Hays' 26-game hitting streak was snapped by the Yankees in the same game which saw Aaron Judge hit 3 taters.

All winter long Rays fans eagerly awaited their big offseason acquistion, Dustin May, but "Gingergaard" was a disappointment after a rough April despite the team's excellent start. That changed tonight in the rubber game of the series when May excelled in what was far and away his best game in Tampa Bay colors, hurling 8 shutout innings in a 3-0 win. May allowed only 3 hits, walked none and fanned 7 as he went to 4-2 and lowered his ERA to 4.88. Nick Anderson completed the shutout and earned save #7 with a 1-2-3 9th. Meanwhile Devin Smeltzer was dominating the Rays much as Joey Lucchesi did two nights before, striking out 10 in total but they got to him in the 6th, loading the bases before Joey Bart drew a walk to force in the go-ahead run and Heliot Ramos delivered a 2-run single to triple the lead.

Team record: 20-7, 4 games up on Boston. Next up: The homestand continues with 3 games against Detroit.

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Not the best series for the Rays as they dropped 2 of 3 at home to the struggling Tigers while the Red Sox swept the Rangers to cut the Tampa Bay division lead in half to 2.

Tarik Skubal did not have it in the opener, allowing 3 homers and 5 runs in total as the Rays dropped a 7-3 decision. Skubal ended 4 5 5 5 1 5 and Alex Vesia allowed a couple of runs later after the Rays pulled within two. Adley Rutschman's 2-run single in the 4th was the offensive highlight.

The second game was a frustrating one for the Rays as they trailed 5-4 after 3 innings and had numerous chances to tie or go ahead in the innings to follow but couldn't break through and Detroit prevailed 6-4. Joe Ryan got knocked around early but stayed in and settled down a bit as we didn't want to go to the bullpen too early; he finished 5 7 5 4 0 6 and surprisingly he didn't allow any homers, but a 2-run Spencer Torkelson (who killed us these first two games) triple in the first was the big hit against. Adley Rutschman and Austin Meadows brought home runs in the 1st and Brandon Lowe launched a 2-run homer (#4) in the bottom of the 3rd but they couldn't get runners home from 3rd with one out in the 4th and 5th.

The Rays salvaged the series finale despite being held to 5 hits thanks to a brilliant performance from Griffin Canning in a 4-1 win. The righty went 6 4 1 1 0 9 to even his record at 2-2, 3.67 and Nick Anderson notched save #8 with a clean 9th. The offense wasn't plentiful but it was efficient with Wander Franco hitting a 1st-inning 2-run HR (#4) and Brandon Lowe brought home Joey Bart with a sac fly after Bart had tripled to make it 3-0 after 1. Lowe later added HR #5 in the 4th to make it 4-1.

Team record: 21-9. Next up: We head to Oakland for 3.

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A decent series for the Rays as they Meat Loafed Oakland, winning a nailbiter while the teams traded routs in the other two games. One semi-serious injury out of all this, though.

Tyler Glasnow took the ball in the opener and after being touched for an unearned run in the 1st thanks to a Heston Kjerstad error, he gave up nothing after that and continued his torrid start to the season with an 8 5 1 0 0 10 gem, lowering his ERA to 1.40. But until Jarren Duran hit a 6th-inning homer (#5) it looked like Glas would be a hard-luck loser. It stayed 1-1 after Aaron Fletcher got through the 9th, and he became the winning pitcher when Brandon Lowe delivered a clutch RBI single in the 10th after Vidal Brujan led off with a double. Nick Anderson had a 2-whiff 1-2-3 bottom of the inning to preserve the 2-1 win and get save #9.

The less said about the second game the better. Dustin May looked like he had turned a corner with a couple of solid outings but got hit for a 3-run Ramon Laureano homer in the 1st, and after settling in, lost it again in the 6th with two more homers allowed and finished a brutal 5.1 9 7 7 1 4. Matt Peacock was tattooed for 4 more runs in 2 1/3 and Oakland had an 11-1 win.

The Rays returned the favor in the finale with their own blowout win, prevailing 8-1 behind another fine start from Tarik Skubal. The lefty went 6 4 1 1 1 7 to improve to 3-2, 3.86. Tampa Bay didn't waste any time getting on the board, equaling their run total from the first two games in the 1st inning alone on an Adley Rutschman RBI triple and a 2-run homer from Brandon Lowe (#6). Jarren Duran's 2-run double highlighted a 4-run 2nd that made it 7-0. It wasn't all good news though, as Rutschman injured his knee beating out an infield single in the 3rd and strained his PCL which will put him out about 4 weeks. Good thing we didn't trade Joey Bart.

Team record: 23-10, 3 up on Boston (which lost 2 of 3 to Seattle) and Baltimore (which swept its series with Minnesota and scored 30 runs in the process). Next up: The Guardians visit the Trop for 3 games.

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The Rays had their way with the Guardians, sweeping the series and outscoring them 20-3 in the process.

The first game saw Joe Ryan turn in his best start since his season debut, as he went 6 2 0 0 3 8 in a 5-0 Rays win and improved to 3-2, 4.24 with an impressive 6/47 BB/K ratio in 40.1 IP. Somewhat surprisingly he's only allowed 5 homers in that span, almost half the rate he gave them up last season. A .327 BABIP has been his bigger problem. Supplying the offense Ryan needed was Austin Meadows, continuing his torrid start to the season with a pair of homers (#s 7 & 8) and 3 RBI, with the first coming with a man on in the 1st. Heston Kjerstad chipped in with his 2nd HR.

The second game was a laugher as the Rays crushed Cleveland 12-2. Griffin Canning was dominant going 6 3 1 1 2 11 and has allowed only 7 runs in his last 5 starts. As a result he's now 3-2, 3.35. Leading the hit parade was Jarren Duran, 2-5 with HR #6 and 3 RBI while new everyday catcher Joey Bart launched his first of the year with a man on. Brandon Lowe and Wander Franco each drove in a pair as well.

The sweep didn't come as easy as the first two games as we had a premier pitching matchup of Tyler Glasnow against Shane Bieber. And the game lived up to the hype as it went scoreless into the bottom of the 5th before Vidal Brujan, a surprising source of power last year with 12 in part-time play, finally hit his first of 2024. Jarren Duran followed Brujan with a double and Wander Franco took Bieber deep for #4 to make it 3-0 and the Rays went on to win 3-1. Glasnow meanwhile continued to deal and went 7 4 0 0 2 7 to move to 5-1 and lower his MLB-leading ERA to a microscopic 1.21. He now leads the AL in wins, whiffs, ERA and pitcher WAR (2.3 already!). Nick Anderson surrendered a Miguel Sano homer in the 9th, the first he's allowed this year, but still managed save #10.

Team record: 26-10, tops in MLB. The only problem is that the team tied for 2nd in MLB with the Cubs is Boston, which stayed 3 back by sweeping Toronto. Next up: An off-day followed by a trip to Yankee Stadium for 3.

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Forgot to mention this move since he didn't play in the previous series, but when we put Adley Rutschman on the IL, we purchased the contract of C Gary Sanchez from Durham. The former Yankee had not played since 2022 and after his contract expired, he sat home last year. We signed him to a minor league contract at the beginning of the season and he went 279/333/541 with 5 HR in 61 AB for the Bulls.

As for the series with Sanchez's old team the Rays took 2 out of 3, a good outcome on the road.

Dustin May got the ball for the opener, and based on his up-and-down performance so far, we didn't know what to expect. And a Maddux was the last thing we expected but that's what we got from him in a 7-0 win. May went 9 3 0 0 0 6 on only 99 pitches and improved to 5-3, 4.73. Austin Meadows got the Rays on the board as usual with a 2-run HR (#9) in the 3rd and then Gary Sanchez, in his old home park and in his Rays debut, drilled a 468-foot 3-run homer to dead center to break the game open in the 7th.

The second game did not start off at all well for the Rays as Tarik Skubal was touched for 3 runs by the 2nd inning and was forced to leave with a mild hamstring strain, which may cause his next start to be pushed back a day. Meanwhile, Jonathan Loaisiga was turning the Rays' bats into splinters, retiring the first 12 and allowing only 1 hit through 5 with 9 whiffs. But he ran out of gas in the 6th. First, Wander Franco singled in a pair, and then Brandon Lowe blasted a 3-run homer (#7) to put Tampa Bay on top. Lewin Diaz later added a 2-run shot (#4) and it was 8-3 Rays when the half-inning finished. Hunter Bishop tacked on a 2-run HR (#6) later to make it a 10-4 win. Rescuing the Rays as well was Matt Peacock, who took over for Skubal in the 2nd and pitched through the 8th, going 6.1 4 1 1 1 1 on 73 pitches for the win. He may get a start if Skubal isn't ready for his next turn.

The finale was frustrating for the Rays as Joe Ryan struggled and despite numerous chances to come back they couldn't and dropped a 4-2 decision. Heston Kjerstad gave them a 1-0 lead with HR #3 in the top of the 2nd but Ryan struggled from there, finishing 4 6 4 4 4 4 with the walks unusual for him. A Carter Kieboom triple got them within 4-2, but he was stranded, and another golden opportunity with the bases loaded and 1 out was cut short when Austin Meadows hit into a 5-2-3 double play. Justin Dunn was impressive in long relief, fanning 5 over 3 shutout innings.

Team record: 28-11. Boston took 2 of 3 as well and they were joined in second by Baltimore, which swept their series so the Rays lead both by 3 games. Next up: Houston comes to the Trop for 3 games.

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None of the three games were easy, but the Rays managed to sweep Houston at Tropicana Field, and with Boston winning 2 of 3 and Baltimore dropping 2 of 3, the division lead is back up to four games. First, a trade:

May 16: Traded P Luis Patino and OF Nate Swarts to Washington for C Blake Hunt.

Patino's rehab was just about up at Durham, and the injury sapped him of what little control he had and diminished his stuff some. He was horrendous in his outings at Durham (15 hits, 9 walks and 16 runs allowed in 8 1/3 innings) and he was out of options with no way he was coming back to our roster. So I packaged him with Swarts, a minor league free agent we signed and re-acquired Hunt, whom ironically we originally acquired with Patino from San Diego in the Blake Snell deal. Hunt was shipped to the Nats last year as part of the Carter Kieboom deal, and gives us some depth at catcher, especially since Gary Sanchez can't be sent back down once Adley Rutschman comes back unless he accepts the assignment. Hunt has power and is an excellent receiver, but doesn't make a lot of contact.

As for the series with Houston, the opener was a wild back-and-forth affair which saw the Rays prevail 10-8. The Rays jumped out to a 5-0 2nd-inning lead on an Austin Meadows grand slam (#10) but Griffin Canning gave those 5 runs back in the 3rd with Francisco Lindor answering with his own slam. But the Rays got 3 more in the 3rd to make it 8-5 with a Heliot Ramos RBI double the big hit and the Rays extended the lead to 9-5 but Canning couldn't make it through the 5th and allowed Houston back within 9-8. The bullpen held from there with Shane McClanahan going 2 1/3 scoreless (and 18 IP scoreless on the year with a 2/26 BB/K ratio) for his 3rd win and Nick Anderson picking up save #11. Vidal Brujan was also 3-5 with 2 RBI.

Tyler Glasnow got the start in the second game but struggled with his control and his pitch count, throwing 40 pitches in the 1st and 60 through the 2nd but he only allowed 1 run. He took a 2-1 lead into the 5th, but gave up a run and finished 4.2 3 2 2 5 8 as his pitch count reached 108. Houston added a run in the 6th off Justin Dunn to take a 3-2 lead but the Rays struck back in the bottom of the inning with a 3-run Carter Kieboom homer (#3) to make it 5-3. Austin Meadows had a 2-run double in the 8th for insurance as he keeps on driving in runs, and Dunn picked up win #2 in relief.

The Rays built a 4-0 lead for Dustin May in the finale in the first two innings with a 2-run Wander Franco single the big hit, but Houston chipped away at May and finally tied in the 6th thanks to some sloppy Rays fielding and a couple of infield hits. May finished 6 7 4 4 0 8 but deserved better. The Rays re-took the lead in the 7th when Jarren Duran walked, went to third on a Franco single and scored when (who else?) Austin Meadows hit a sac fly and the Rays held on to win 5-4. With several relievers tired, the "B" bullpen came through as Alex Vesia got the win and Tyler Rogers held the 8th before Nick Anderson closed it out for save #12.

Team record: 31-11. Next up: 3 games in Minnesota.

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Target Field has never been a great place for the Rays, and sure enough they dropped 2 of 3 to the Twins. Boston and Baltimore, our two closest pursuers, played each other with the Sox taking 2 of 3 so they cut our division lead to 3.

The Rays took a brief 1-0 lead in the opener, but that was the highlight of the game as they were trounced by the Twins 9-1. Tarik Skubal started coughing up homers again, surrendering 3 including a pair of 2-run shots to Rhys Hoskins and finished 4.1 7 6 6 2 7. The bats were held to a mere 6 hits and 0 walks.

Game 2 looked like a rerun of Game 1 at the outset when Joe Ryan also resumed his gopher-prone ways, allowing back-to-back jacks to Jesse Winker and Teoscar Hernandez in a 4-run, 7-hit first. He did settle down after that with 5 1-hit shutout innings to finish 6 8 4 4 2 4, but the damage was done in a 5-3 loss. A 2-run Brandon Lowe homer (#8) got them within 4-3 in the 6th but Shane McClanahan picked a bad time to allow his first run of the season in the 7th and the Rays got no closer.

The Rays did salvage the final game of the series behind an excellent performance from Griffin Canning, who went 7 4 0 0 3 4 in a 3-1 win. Canning improved to 4-2, 3.98 as he rebounded nicely from his rough start against Houston last time out. A Taylor Walls sac fly broke the ice in the 5th and they tacked on 2 more in the 6th on a Lewin Diaz RBI double and a Carter Kieboom RBI single. They had numerous chances in the late innings to expand the lead, including a bases-loaded, nobody-out situation, but failed miserably, leaving 11 on base (Gary Sanchez was the worst offender with 8 individual LOB). That almost cost them when Nick Anderson ran into trouble in the 9th allowing a run, but Vidal Brujan made a nice play on a grounder to 2nd with men on 2nd and 3rd for the final out and preserved Anderson's 13th save.

Team record: 32-13. Next up: Texas visits the Trop.