The 2020 (and beyond) Tampa Bay Rays

[Art Deco]

April 17: Purchased the contract of C Victor Caratini from AAA Durham, optioned C Carlos Perez to AA Montgomery, designated P Jimmy Lewis for assignment and placed him on waivers.

Caratini looked good in his 3 games at Durham so he's ready; he'll be the primary catcher until Keibert Ruiz comes back. Had to make room on the 40-man for him so I'm rolling the dice that nobody claims Lewis. It was down to him or Dean Christidis and Lewis's ratings weren't as good so I'm hoping that's what the AI looks at. If he does get claimed, he deserves a shot in someone's rotation or staff in the bigs.

Game 1: Smoke, mirrors and a good bullpen. That seems to be the best explanation for why the Rays keep winning games they seem like they should lose or be losing. Tonight they were outhit by the White Sox 10-4 but managed to win 4-1. Matt Manning seemed to have at least 2 baserunners on every inning and left in the 6th with a 5.2 9 1 1 2 5 line. He obviously got the big outs when he needed them but it's not a sustainable way of pitching. Aaron Ashby got him out of the 6th with a whiff and then fanned 2 more in a perfect 7th, Liam Hendriks had a scoreless 8th and retired the leadoff righty in the 9th, and with two lefties due up and Evan Godwin and Jose Alvarado in need of rest, say hello to Asa Lacy, closer. That's what he did, whiffing Zac Veen and Collin Montez to close out the game and pick up his first non 3-inning save. As they've done recently the Rays made the few hits they got count. They didn't get one until the 4th when Alec Bohm singled after Spencer Torkelson walked, and Keston Hiura singled up the middle with 2 out to score Tork and make it 1-0. Vidal Brujan walked in the 5th, stole second, and scored on Wander's 5th HR of the year to make it 3-0, and Torkelson got an insurance run in the 8th with his 2nd HR of the season. Victor Caratini was 0-2 with a walk in his Rays debut. So they now go to 10-1 and we'll just have to see what ugly way they're gonna win next.

Game 2: Keston Hiura supplied the offense and a team effort supplied the pitching in a 3-2 win over the White Sox as the Rays improve to 11-1. Hiura took Alex Faedo deep in the 4th with Spencer Torkelson on, and went yard again in the 6th with a solo shot. Tyler Glasnow started and was excellent (4.2 3 0 0 2 6), but had to leave with 2 out in the 5th with back spasms which shouldn't cause him to miss his next start. Asa Lacy, who picked up the win, took over and went 1 2/3 scoreless before Dustin May came on. May had his ups and downs but would have been out of the 8th except Vidal Brujan's two-out throwing error allowed 2 White Sox runs to score. Jasseel De La Cruz got save #3 with a perfect 9th as they hung on for the victory. (An earlier version of this game had the Rays scoring 4 times in the 9th to walk-off a 4-3 win but the program crashed before the current day was saved, in case you had read that recap)

Game 3: This time around they didn't need any late-game heroics or to eke out a nail-biter as they thumped the White Sox 13-2 to improve to 12-1 in a game that should do wonders for our Pythagorean record. Before we get into the hitting, we'll start with the pitching as Shane McClanahan once again dominated the team he pitched a complete-game shutout against last season. Mac went 7 6 2 2 0 11 to go 1-0, as yes Mr. No-Decision had a pair of those in his first two starts. Liam Hendriks pitched two perfect innings with 3 whiffs to close it out. The offense got started early as Spencer Torkelson hit a 2-run blast (#3) in the first, and tacked on 3 more in the 2nd on an RBI single from Patrick Bailey, an RBI double from Heston Kjerstad and an RBI single from Wander Franco, who had 4 hits today and extended his hitting streak to 13 (mentioning now means it ends next game). And in the 4th Triston Casas launched an opposite-field grand slam to left to truly blow it open. Yesterday's hero Keston Hiura had a pair of doubles, one of which drove in a run and Judson Fabian kept hitting, going 2-3 with an RBI.

Team record: 12-1. Next up: An off-day, followed by a 3-game set in Fenway Park.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: The Rays' ridiculous start to the season continues as they improve to 13-1 by outlasting the Red Sox 3-2 in 13 innings. After loading the bases in the 11th and 12th and failing to score it looked like it might not be their night but they took advantage of an error by Boston C Maverick Handley (what a name) with 2 out in the 13th when he threw Nick Gonzales' squibber in front of the plate into RF to send Gonzales to 2nd. Patrick Bailey, who came on after Victor Caratini was pinch-run for in the 10th, delivered his second hit of extra innings with an RBI single up the middle to put the Rays ahead for the first time all night. With 3 of the 4 batters due in the bottom of the 13th lefties, Aaron Ashby came on and picked up his first save of the season to cap 6 1-hit shutout innings from the bullpen. Lost in all the extra-inning drama was another dominant start from Christian Little, who went 7 5 2 2 2 11 in a tough place to pitch. The Rays had to tie the game twice, first on a Spencer Torkelson RBI single in the 6th and then on a Caratini single in the 7th, his first Rays ribbie. Evan Godwin (2 innings), Nick Anderson, Jose Alvarado and Liam Hendriks (getting win #2) shut down the Sox to keep the game alive for the Rays. (And yes Wander had 2 hits to extend his hitting streak to 14, so I haven't jinxed it yet.)

Game 2: The Rays continue to roll, improving to 14-1 with a 13-3 thrashing of Boston. It started early, as the first 3 batters reached for the Rays and Spencer Torkelson brought them all home with a double and then scored himself on an Alec Bohm single. Vidal Brujan's RBI double in the 3rd made it 5-0, and he brought Brandon Marsh home in the 5th with a sac fly after Marsh tripled. And in the 7th, Wander Franco (#6, hitting streak at 15) and Tork (#4) homered. Chris Paddack said thanks for all the run support and pitched a Chris Paddack game, going 6 7 3 3 1 4 and giving up a couple of homers. Asa Lacy went 2 1/3 and Dustin May got the last 2 outs to finish the game off. Tork ended up 3-4, with the HR and 3 RBI, scored 3 times and also walked twice. I noticed I haven't mentioned how the division stands but with the 14-1 start, you'd think the Rays would have a sizable lead and you'd be right as the Yankees are currently in 2nd place at 7-7, 6 1/2 games back.

Game 3: Well they finally lost in what was a mirror image of the first game of the series, falling 3-2 in 13 innings. George Arias singled in Abraham Toro with two out in the 13th off Aaron Ashby after Toro had doubled to lead off the inning. Matt Manning started and pitched pretty well, going 6 5 2 2 1 5 and left down 2-1. The Rays were actually down 2-0 before evening things up on an RBI single from Judson Fabian in the 6th and an RBI double from Brandon Marsh in the 7th. Patrick Bailey tried to score on Marsh's double but was thrown out at the plate, which was part of a TOOTBLAN day for the Rays as they were 0-3 in steal attempts. They also had the bases loaded in the 8th but couldn't get a man home. Red Sox C Pierson Gibis had himself a day, with the 3 thrown out and going 3-5, driving in one of the Red Sox regulation runs and scoring the other. The bullpen went 6 more shutout innings before Ashby was dinged, with Evan Godwin, Nick Anderson, Jasseel De La Cruz, Jose Alvarado (1.2), and Liam Hendriks (1.1) getting it done. Of course now the bullpen will be pretty burned for at least the first game of the next series in New York. Wander did have 2 hits to extend his hitting streak to 16, meaning he's hit safely in every game so far this season.

Team record: 14-2. Next up: a 3-game weekend set at Yankee Stadium.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: Last year the Yankees were by far the worst team in MLB yet the Rays lost the season series to them 10-9. This year they look a little better and while the Rays struggled tonight (they struck out 14 times), they ended up taking a 4-2 win at Yankee Stadium. They jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead in the 2nd on Alec Bohm's 2nd HR of the season and a Brandon Marsh RBI single but the Yankees fought back against Tyler Glasnow, getting a run in the 4th and then tying it in the 7th with an Andrew Knizner homer. Another couple of baserunners and Glasnow had to leave, going 6.2 7 2 2 2 7 and Evan Godwin finished the 7th. But the Rays restored the lead in the top of the 8th on Spencer Torkelson's 5th HR of the year, and added an insurance run in the 9th on Vidal Brujan's RBI double. After Godwin got the first out of the 8th, Nick Anderson made it until two out in the 9th and with lefties up Aaron Ashby came in and although he gave up a hit, he got the final out on a liner that Tork dove for and picked up save #2 while Godwin got win #2.

Game 2: The Rays rode a dominant Shane McClanahan performance and busted open a 3-0 game in the 6th on the way to a 12-4 rout of the Yankees. Mac had 9 whiffs through 4 innings and ended up 6 4 0 0 1 11 as he improves to 2-0, 2.66 with a 6/34 BB/K ratio in 23.2 innings this season. The Rays jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the 2nd on a run-scoring passed ball and RBI singles from Bramdon Perez and Victor Caratini, and then added 4 more in the 6th on 2-run HRs from Spencer Torkelson (#6) and Perez (#2). Judson Fabian hit a 3-run blast (#7) as part of a 5-run 8th as well. The down notes for the game were Wander Franco, the only Ray not to get a hit as he went 0-6 and lost his 17-game hitting streak, and Dustin May, who had a rough 9th inning, giving up 3 hits, 3 walks and 4 runs on a Mike Tauchman grand slam. Asa Lacy had two scoreless innings in between Mac and May as the Rays improve to 16-2.

Game 3: Christian Little was electric again and the Rays withstood a late Yankees rally to sweep the series with a 7-5 win and improve to an eye-popping 17-2. Little was 7 5 2 2 0 12 and is now 3-0, 2.08 with a 9/42 BB/K ratio in 26 innings. It's looking more and more that when Mitchell White is ready to return either he or Chris Paddack is going to become a long reliever (or trade bait). The only damage against Little was a pair of solo HRs in the 4th from Joe Allen and Wilmer Flores (who spent 2025 at Durham). Those erased a 2-0 Rays lead built in the 2nd on an RBI double from Triston Casas and an RBI single from Nick Gonzales. But the Rays regained the lead in the 6th on a 2-run HR from Patrick Bailey, his first of the year, and padded it in the 7th with a 2-run HR from the red-hot Spencer Torkelson (#7). Aaron Ashby took over in the 8th for Little and after getting two out, ran into all kinds of trouble. First he gave up a 2-run HR to the dangerous Allen to make it 6-4 and then stayed in to allow a solo shot to Gleyber Torres to cut it to 6-5. Jasseel De La Cruz came on to face Flores and nearly allowed the tying run but Flores' drive was caught at the wall by Judson Fabian. The Rays added an insurance run in the top of the 9th on a Keston Hiura RBI single, and De La Cruz had much less trouble in the 9th to grab save #4. Bramdon Perez got another start and continued to hit, going 2-4 with a walk and a double, scoring that 9th inning insurance run. He's 375/444/708 in 24 at-bats but might be Durham-bound when Hunter Bishop comes back. Depth, this team has.

Team record: 17-2. Next up: 3 home games vs Baltimore.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: Another lengthy extra-inning affair, another bravura performance by the Rays pen, and another win as the Rays edged Baltimore 5-4 in 15 innings. They picked up 8 more shutout innings from the bullpen with Evan Godwin (1 IP), Nick Anderson (1.2), Jose Alvarado (1.1), Liam Hendriks (2) and Jasseel De La Cruz (2) going a combined 8 2 0 0 0 10 to put the Rays in position to win once the offense finally did something. And in the 15th, they did when Alec Bohm doubled in Keston Hiura for yet another one-run, walk-off win to improve to 18-2. In regulation, Chris Paddack got the start going 7 5 4 4 0 7 with the 4 runs naturally coming on a pair of 2-run HRs. The first from Austin Riley put Baltimore up 2-0 in the 2nd and the second was from Adley Rustchman to tie the game at 4 in the 6th. In between, the Rays got some homers of their own. Hiura hit #3 in the bottom of the 2nd and Brandon Marsh hit his first of the year with a man on to give the Rays the lead in the 3rd. Vidal Brujan added an RBI double in the 5th. De La Cruz got the win, his first of the season.

Game 2: They finally had a bit of stinker tonight as the Rays fell 5-2 to the Orioles. Matt Manning got the start and while he had great stuff (11 whiffs in 6 innings) he was serving up gopher balls, 3 in total and left down 4-1. Dustin May pitched the final 3 and gave up Anthony Santander's 2nd HR of the night, while the offense could hardly touch Baltimore starter Dean Kremer. They scored their only run against him on a double play groundout and were kept off the board until Judson Fabian led off the 9th with HR #8. Spencer Torkelson then hit his second double of the game and it looked for a moment like another miracle comeback might be in the cards, but that was all they could manage so their mini 4-game win streak is over and they drop to 18-3.

April 29: Sent P Mitchell White and OF Hunter Bishop to AAA Durham on rehab assignments.

As alluded to earlier, Christian Little's performance has put White's spot in the rotation in jeopardy. White actually has an option and the only pitcher maybe deserving of demotion right now is Dustin May, who doesn't, so it's going to be a bit of a crunch there. Bishop will slot back into LF once he's ready and Tork will go back to DH, meaning Nick Gonzales loses at-bats and either Bramdon Perez (who's done nothing but hit in his opportunities to play) or Heston Kjerstad (who hasn't but can play CF and switch-hits) goes back to Durham. Given the circumstances neither of the rehabbers will be rushed back.

Game 3: The Rays got back on the winning track with a strange 5-4 win over the Orioles that saw them go up 5-0 in the 3rd, let the Orioles back into it at 5-4 in the 5th, and then nobody scored again. All 5 Rays runs came via the longball, with Judson Fabian hitting #9 in the 1st off Grayson Rodriguez to make it 1-0, and Spencer Torkelson hitting a 3rd inning grand slam (#8) after the Rays loaded the bases after the first two batters made outs. Tyler Glasnow, meanwhile, was perfect through the first 3 innings with 5 Ks but once the Rays went up 5-0 he apparently decided to pitch to the score as the O's got 3 back in the 4th and 1 more in the 5th. But he settled down to get them in order in the 6th and 7th and ended 7 5 4 3 2 9 to pick up (believe it or not) his first win of the season. Jose Alvarado got off a to a dicey start in the 8th by hitting and walking a man but got a strikeout and a double play to get out of it and he got the leadoff lefty in the 9th as well. With Jasseel unavailable, Nick Anderson retired the final 2 righty hitters on a whiff and a groundout to get his 1st save of the season. Fabian was 3-3 with a walk as he continues to make the Trop faithful forget Austin Meadows (who's doing well with Milwaukee, 329/402/658 with 7 HRs although the same can't be said of his new team at 8-13).

Team record: 19-3. Next up: An off-day followed by 3 games in Toronto.

[Art Deco]

First some monthly honors:



Also winning monthly Southern League honors were a pair of Montgomery Biscuits, which makes sense since they're off to a 17-4 start. Collin Bosley-Smith, acquired a few years ago from Houston for Max Kepler, went 3-0 with a 2.20 ERA and 30 whiffs in 28 innings to be named pitched of the month, and Luis Berdin, the key player acquired in the offseason Nick Schnell deal, hit .338/438/537 with 3 HR and 19 runs scored to be named batter of the month.

Game 1: A wild game that was 7-7 after 5 innings ended up a walk-off 8-7 win over the Blue Jays once the Rays bullpen took over to buy some time for the offense to get another run. Shane McClanahan didn't have it today, going 2.2 8 6 6 3 3 and squandering an early 3-1 lead. Asa Lacy took over and pitched through the middle innings, going 3.1 4 1 1 1 4, only giving up a mammoth blast to dead CF by Vlad Jr while Liam Hendriks, Nick Anderson and Jose Alvarado pitched the 7th, 8th and 9th to hold the fort before the Rays loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the 9th. Judson Fabian struck out, but Spencer Torkelson beat out a slow grounder to short to score the winning run and provide yet another walk-off win this season at the Trop. Earlier, Alec Bohm (#3), Vidal Brujan (#2) and Patrick Bailey (#2) homered, with Bailey having a big game, going 3-4 with a triple as well. Tork was 3-4 with 2 RBI and Brujan managed 3 hits and a steal to go with his dinger as the team knocked out 16 hits in picking up win #20.

Game 2: Christian Little kept on keepin' on in a 4-2 Rays win with a 6 4 1 1 3 8 performance to go to 4-0, 1.97 with 50 whiffs in 32 innings. He keeps this up and he could be looking at Rookie of the Year and Cy Young. On the hitting side, Bramdon Perez got another start at DH and drilled a 2-run HR to put the Rays up 2-1 in the 2nd, his 3rd in 35 AB. Perez is hitting 371/421/714 which is going to make it very tough to send him down when Hunter Bishop comes back. Brandon Marsh singled, stole second and scored on a Vidal Brujan single in the 5th to make it 3-1 before the Jays made it close with a run in the 8th. After Liam Hendriks pitched a perfect 2K 7th, he walked Vlad Jr to start the 8th and he came around to score on a sac fly off Evan Godwin. Judson Fabian drove in an insurance run in the 8th, and then Jasseel De La Cruz pitched a perfect 9th with 2 whiffs to get save #5 as he's been lights out this season going 9.2 1 0 0 1 11 in his 9 outings. The win also makes the Rays 6-0 vs Toronto this season after sweeping the opening 4-game series of the season. By the way Minnesota won again today and their record is almost as good as the Rays' at 20-4.

Game 3: Several regulars got the day off (Wander, Marsh, Torkelson) and it showed as the Rays only managed 4 hits in a 3-1 loss to Toronto. In the bottom of the 2nd Alec Bohm answered Sheldon Neuse's HR in the top of the frame with #4 to tie it at 1, but that was the last time a Ray would cross home plate. Alejandro Kirk's RBI groundout off Chris Paddack in the 6th turned out to the be the winner, and Dustin May gave up a run in his lone inning in a relatively high-leverage situation to give the Jays some insurance. Paddack was excellent, going 6 3 2 2 1 7 but took his first loss of the season while Nick Anderson and Aaron Ashby had scoreless innings. The Rays had the makings of a rally in the 9th when Bramdon Perez and Bohm singled to lead it off, but Triston Casas hit into a double play to kill off those hopes.

Team record: 21-4. Next up: An off-day, followed by the LA Dodgers coming to town for 2 games.

[Art Deco]

May 5: Optioned OF Heston Kjerstad to AAA Durham, activated OF Hunter Bishop from his rehab assignment.

Bramdon Perez gets to stay up on merit, although it's going to be a lot tougher for him to get at-bats with Bishop back.

Game 1: A hard-fought game between two teams who last saw each other in the 2024 World Series resulted in another walk-off Rays win as they scored single runs in the 8th and 9th to prevail 5-4. The Rays loaded the bases off one-time teammate Taylor Rogers with one out and Wander Franco's sac fly brought home pinch-runner Nick Gonzales with the winning run. Tonight's game followed their 2026 blueprint: most of the scoring done in the early innings while the bullpen holds the other team to allow for a comeback. After Will Smith and Joc Pederson both doubled in the 3rd to put LA ahead, the Rays came back on a Wander RBI single and a wild pitch to take the lead in the bottom of the inning. But Matt Manning ran into real trouble in the 4th, giving up a Fernando Tatis Jr triple which was followed by a Cody Bellinger homer, and old friend Seth Beer (getting a rare Dodgers start with the DH) went deep as well and it was 4-2 Dodgers. But Victor Caratini singled home Keston Hiura, who had reached on an error to cut it back to 4-3 after 4. And that's where we stood until the 8th. Manning settled down after his bad inning(s) to go 6.2 7 4 4 1 8 but his ERA remains an unsightly 5.24. Aaron Ashby got 4 outs to get through the 8th and Hiura's RBI single in the bottom tied it before the 9th inning heroics. Jose Alvarado struck out 3 in the 9th and picked up win #2.

Game 2: Keston Hiura had a monster game as the Rays swept the 2-game series from the Dodgers with an 8-4 win. Hiura homered in the 4th to tie the game at 1, hit a bases-clearing double in the 5th to break the game open and make it 5-1, and then homered again with a man on (#5) in the 7th off former Ray Max Fried (relegated to long relief these days) to give him a 2-HR, 6-RBI night. Judson Fabian supplied the rest of the offense with an RBI single in the 5th which preceded Hiura's double and then a solo HR off Fried (#10) in the 7th. Tyler Glasnow went 7 5 2 2 4 5 in a strong (albeit wild) effort. The key sequence for him came in the 3rd when he loaded the bases ahead of Fernando Tatis Jr., Cody Bellinger and Josh Bell, but he ended up striking out all 3, although a wild pitch in there allowed a run to score. Glasnow improves to 2-1, 3.29 with 46 Ks in 38 innings. Evan Godwin was roughed up a bit in relief, allowing a 2-run HR to Bellinger, but Liam Hendriks got the final four outs to quash any Dodger thoughts of a comeback. And I'll take this moment to talk about how well Hendriks has pitched this year, with his season line being 15 11 2 2 3 21, with 0 HRs allowed and already 1.0 WAR, a big number for a reliever a month into the season.

Team record: 23-4. Next up: An off-day, then a west coast swing begins with 3 games in Anaheim against the other LA team.

Minor League Update: While everyone in Tampa Bay is excited about Christian Little, there's another pitcher who's more than ready to pitch in the bigs and pitch well. That would be Mack Anglin, who's the #28 prospect in baseball and went 7 3 0 0 1 10 last night against Norfolk for Durham in the AL. Anglin's video-game numbers for the season are 38.2 innings, 7 walks and 58 whiffs with only 2 HR allowed and a 1.86 ERA. He has 70 stuff, 55 movement and control, a 70 fastball and an 80 slider. And those are "now" numbers, not potential. Tyler Glasnow is a free agent at season's end and there's no question than Anglin is his replacement but I need to find a way to get him up this year.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: Shane McClanahan was in control and the Rays supplied just enough offense to nab a 3-1 win over the Angels. Mac won his third straight start and improved to 3-0 on a 7 3 1 1 0 3 effort which was notable for the lack of walks and the lack of strikeouts. He probably could have pitched into the 8th as he left on 92 pitches, but a well-rested bullpen finished it off with Jose Alvarado throwing a perfect 8th and Jasseel De La Cruz a perfect 9th for save #6. Spencer Torkelson supplied all the offense they'd need with a 2-run triple in the 1st but Vidal Brujan made it a bit more comfortable with a solo HR (#3) in the 7th. The game also featured a very rare sight: Wander Franco, notoriously tough to strike out, fanned all 4 times up tonight, which has to be a career-high. Also for the Angels former Rays favorite Ji-Man Choi had 2 of their 3 hits, including a HR for their only run.

Game 2: Never count this team out. After the wheels fell off the Christian Little bandwagon as the rookie RHP was bombed in a 4 7 7 7 2 1 performance (only 1 K?) the Rays found themselves down 7-2 in the 7th inning with their only offense coming on a pair of solo HRs from Hunter Bishop (#1) and Wander Franco (#7). And although Brandon Marsh singled in a run to cut it to 7-3 in the top of the 7th, there were two out and Wander hit a simple ground ball to Luis Renfigo at 2B that should have ended the inning. But Renfigo threw the ball away, allowing Wander to reach, Judson Fabian walked to load the bases, and Spencer Torkelson deposited Edwar Colina's 3-1 pitch into the LF stands for a game-tying slam, his 9th HR of the season. And in the 8th after Bishop led off with a double, Marsh drilled another RBI single to make it 8-7 Rays and the bullpen did its thing again, with Evan Godwin getting through the 8th and Jasseel De La Cruz erasing a leadoff single with a double play grounder to get save #7. Nick Anderson picked up the win with a scoreless 7th after Dustin May mopped up for Little with a couple of scoreless innings (although he did allow the two inherited runners from Little to score).

Game 3: The normal Rays script got flipped today as they lost a 1-run game and the bullpen blew the lead in a 7-6 loss on a walk-off wild pitch from Nick Anderson. Chris Paddack got the start and was great through 5 innings with a 3-0 lead but his pitch count went over 100 in 6th and he ran out of gas, giving up a 2-run Alex Verdugo HR followed by a solo blast by Nick Solak to allow LA to tie. But Brandon Marsh hit a 2-run single in the top of the 7th to give the Rays a 5-3 lead. After the Angels got an unearned run off Aaron Ashby thanks to a Patrick Bailey throwing error on a stolen base attempt, Keston Hiura hit HR #6 to put the Rays back up 6-4. But in the bottom of the 8th I let Liam Hendriks pitch to the lefty Verdugo with a man on and Verdugo hit his 2nd 2-run HR of the game to tie it. And in the bottom of the 9th, Jose Alvarado walked Kyren Paris to lead off the inning. Paris stole 2nd and Luis Renfigo was intentionallly walked and Nick Anderson came in to face Anthony Rendon and got him to hit into a double play. The strategy looked great until Anderson uncorked a wild pitch with Mike Trout at-bat, allowing Paris to score the winning run. The Rays had built an early 3-0 lead on Spencer Torkelson's 10th HR of the year, a 2-run shot, and a Wander Franco RBI single.

Team record: 25-5. Next up: 3 games in Seattle.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: The Rays went homer-happy and turned a 3-2 deficit in the 5th into a 10-3 rout at T-Mobile Park in Seattle to improve to 26-5. Hunter Bishop's massive shot to dead center (#2) tied the game at 3 in the 6th, and then Spencer Torkelson stayed torrid with a 2-run blast (#11) off George Kirby to put the Rays ahead 5-3 with Keston Hiura going back-to-back with him with #7. They added 4 more in the 8th on Brandon Marsh's RBI single, Judson Fabian's 2nd RBI single of the night and a 2-run double by Tork to give him a 4-RBI night (Tork is now tied for MLB lead in RBI with 36). Earlier, Wander Franco hit HR #8 as part of a 3-hit night, Vidal Brujan collected 3 more hits and everyone in the lineup had at least one. The offensive outburst papered over another mediocre start from Matt Manning, who went 4.1 7 3 3 3 6 as his ERA remains in the mid-5s. Asa Lacy took over for him the 5th and ended up going the rest of the way in a fine performance (4.2 1 0 0 2 2) to nab his 3rd win of the year.

May 12: Traded P Dustin May to the Washington Nationals for P Jacob Patterson. Designated P Jacob Patterson for assignment and placed him on waivers.

May 12: Traded P Chris Paddack and minor-league P Justin Bursey to the Texas Rangers for 1B Lewin Diaz. Texas retains 35% of Diaz's salary.

May 12: Optioned 1B Alec Bohm to AAA Durham, recalled P Mack Anglin from AAA Durham and purchased the contract of P Steven Casey from AAA Durham. Placed P Dean Christidis on the 60-day IL.

26-5 teams need roster shakeups, right? I'll start with the May deal. There was no market for him, so all I got was a 30-year-old lefty reliever out of options, whom I put on waivers so I could assign him to the minors. May hasn't been any good since 2024, and there is still some potential there, but he ain't getting any younger and he was out of options. The second deal of course is the biggie. Paddack's performance was middling this year, not in the class of his 2022-2024 tenure with us, and HRs being up considerably this year means his Achilles heel is a lot more painful. Diaz, who like Paddack is a FA at year's end, gives us a true all-around slugger at 1B, which has been the weakest link in the lineup. Bohm has averaged about 1-1.5 WAR/season since we made him our regular 1B and although he hits HRs and is very good defensively, he doesn't hit for average or get on base. He had an option left so he's off to Durham as there wasn't much of a trade market for him either. The point of moving Paddack of course was to make room for Anglin in the rotation as he's more than overdue as detailed a few days back. Yes, it's a bit risky to go with 2 rookies in the rotation, but we still have Mitchell White and Asa Lacy can start if needed. Plus moving May out gives us a look at Casey, acquired in the DL Hall deal a couple of years ago. Casey has surpassed Hall with eye-popping #s in AAA to go with his 70 stuff, 55 movement and 60 control. This year at Durham he has a 14 6 0 0 1 20 total line, and he had an 18/70 BB/K ratio in 50 innings last season combined at Montgomery and Durham with only 4 HR allowed. He's a sidearmer so he's death to righties but he's not horrible against lefties either. He'll of course be used primarily against RHB.

Game 2: So how do you win over a fanbase when you replace their beloved 1B who was ALCS MVP in 2023 and World Series MVP in 2025? You hit two homers in your debut, that's what you do. Taking over for Alec Bohm, Lewin Diaz went deep twice against Seattle, including a big 3-run HR in the 3rd which put the Rays up 4-0 on their way to an 8-2 thumping of the Mariners. After Hunter Bishop's RBI double put them ahead in the 2nd, Judson Fabian got one of his 4 hits on the day, Spencer Torkelson singled, and Diaz stepped up and drilled a Marcos Diplan offering into the RF stands to give the Rays all the runs they'd need today. Then he and Fabian (#11) each hit solo homers in the 6th off Nathan Witt, giving Diaz 8 total for the season. Tyler Glasnow meanwhile was dealing today, going 7 5 2 2 1 8 to improve to 3-1, 3.18. And another Ray made an impressive and memorable debut: Steven Casey came on for the 8th, struck out the side (including a lefty) and then stayed in to start the 9th and whiffed Julio Rodriguez before giving way to Aaron Ashby. Can't do much better for a relief appearance than 4 batters, 4 whiffs. Ashby, who has been a bit shaky of late, gave up 3 singles to load the bases but got out of it to end the game.

Game 3: Shane McClanahan shackled Seattle's hitters today as the Rays swept the series with a 5-1 win. Mac went 7 5 1 1 1 4 to improve to 4-0 with the 4 wins coming in his last 4 starts and got some early offense to keep him in command. After Vidal Brujan and Wander Franco went 1st and 3rd to start the game, Brujan scored on Judson Fabian's double play ball, and then in the 2nd Hunter Bishop went the opposite way with a man on for HR #3 in 35 AB since coming back to make it 3-0. Wander added an RBI double and Lewin Diaz an RBI single in the 5th to cap the scoring. Evan Godwin and Liam Hendriks each pitched a scoreless inning to finish out the game.

Team record: 28-5. Up next: An off-day followed by a 3-game set at home against Oakland and Mack Anglin's MLB debut in Game 1.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: Mack Anglin's debut was a mixed bag, but he still should have picked up the win as the Rays led 7-4 after 6. But some bad bullpen work and a key error led to a sloppy 8-7 loss to the A's. Anglin looked great in the first with a pair of whiffs, but Matt Chapman welcomed him to MLB with a line-drive homer leading off the 2nd. It may have been Anglin's night to remember but it most certainly turned out to be Chapman's as the veteran A's 3B ended up hitting for the cycle. Anglin ended up 5.1 8 4 4 3 8 on 97 pitches so while he was whiffing people he was a bit hittable, even if a few of the hits were of the infield variety. Still as mentioned the Rays were up 7-4 thanks to a HR and 4 RBI from Wander Franco (#9) and a mammoth solo shot from Brandon Marsh (#2). But Steven Casey, who got the final two out in the 6th relieving Anglin, stayed on for the leadoff righty in the 7th and gave up a double, and then Jose Alvarado stunk up the joint with a pair of hits allowed and a couple of walks and by the time he was done the game was tied at 7. Nick Anderson and Evan Godwin had an adventurous 8th with Godwin appearing to get out of the inning only for Lewin Diaz to mishandle the throw on Andrew Benintendi's grounder to allow the go-ahead run to score. The offense could do nothing against Kevin Ginkel (shades of his Toronto days) and Corey Knebel and they fell to their 6th loss of the season. Diaz had a rough game in his home Rays debut; in addition to the error, he was 0-5 at the plate.

Oh, and Dustin May went 8 2 1 1 1 11 in his Washington debut vs Miami (shakes head).

Game 2: Well it finally happened - the Rays lost consecutive games in 2026. The one-run worm is possibly turning as after last night's 8-7 loss tonight they fell 3-2 as the offense couldn't do enough with its opportunities and Christian Little gave up one HR too many. Little was dazzling as usual at times, walking 1 and whiffing 10 in 6 2/3 innings, but he gave up 3 solo homers for Oakland's runs including another one from Matt Chapman. Meanwhile the offense wasted several chances. Keston Hiura tripled with one out in the 2nd but couldn't get home, they loaded the bases in the 5th but Judson Fabian grounded into a double play to score a run but kill the threat, and in the 8th Wander Franco singled with one out but Fabian hit into another twin killing. Lewin Diaz's sac fly in the 4th accounted for the other run but although they had 11 baserunners against Oakland starter Thomas Szapucki, they only managed the two runs. And once again Kevin Ginkel and Corey Knebel shut them down in the 8th and 9th.

Elsewhere, Chris Paddack left his first Rangers start after 1 1/3 innings with a tender elbow that will keep him out 1-2 weeks. I swear we didn't know!

Game 3: Well the Rays have gone from losing 5 times all year to losing 3 straight as they were swept by Oakland today 4-1. The offense was listless when they weren't squandering opportunities like a Wander Franco triple with one out in 1st or men on 2nd and 3rd in the 2nd. Judson Fabian's 3rd inning sac fly was it, as they hit lazy fly ball after lazy fly ball (11 in total) off A's follower Jesus Camargo, who went 6.2 5 1 1 0 2. And when they weren't hitting lazy fly balls, they grounded into double plays in the 6th and 7th. Matt Manning pitched one of his better games this season in vain and was victimized by a Leody Tavares HR in the 7th which broke a 1-1 tie as he ended up 7 4 2 2 2 6. After a perfect 2K inning from Evan Godwin, Liam Hendriks served up a 2-run HR to Franklin Barreto in the 9th to effectively end the game. In more not-great news, Hunter Bishop had to leave the game early with back tightness which will keep him out the next couple of days.

Team record: 28-8. Next up: 3 games in Toronto.

[Joshrapley]

Just wanted to comment to say really enjoyed reading this, great format, easy to read and an exciting team. Will keep checking in to see how your Rays are getting on

[Art Deco]

Originally Posted by Joshrapley

Just wanted to comment to say really enjoyed reading this, great format, easy to read and an exciting team. Will keep checking in to see how your Rays are getting on

Appreciate it. Glad to be reminded I'm not just shouting (or typing) into the void.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: Tyler Glasnow looked like he was going to be jobbed out of a well-deserved win in the 7th. He was cruising with a 4-1 lead and had struck out Cavan Biggio to apparently end the inning, leaving a man on. But Victor Caratini's passed ball on strike 3 allowed Biggio to reach, and sure enough Gabriel Moreno, the next man up, homered to tie the game. Caratini made up for it in the top of the 8th by drilling a 2-run single to kick off an 8-run outburst and the Rays added 4 more in the 9th to turn a tie game after 7 into a 16-4 rout. Before the dam burst in the 8th the Rays had built that 4-1 lead on homers from Judson Fabian (#12), Spencer Torkelson (#12) and Wander Franco (#10) to go with a Bramdon Perez sac fly. And after the dust settled, Fabian had gone deep again for #13, a 3-run shot to give him 4 RBI for the day, Wander drove in two more as did Brandon Marsh and Vidal Brujan. Lewin Diaz was the skunk at the party going 0-5 as he's slumped since his 2-HR debut. Glasnow got the deserved win to improve to 4-1, 2.92 with a 7 5 4 1 1 10 line and Steven Casey and Asa Lacy each had a scoreless inning to finish.

Game 2: The Rays scored single runs in each inning from the 3rd through 7th, 3 of which came on solo HRs, and rode another fine outing from Shane McClanahan to a 5-3 win over Toronto. Spencer Torkelson (#13) in the 3rd, Keston Hiura (#8) in the 6th and Judson Fabian (#14) in the 7th went deep, while Vidal Brujan had a 3rd inning RBI double and Fabian had one in the 5th to account for the Rays' runs. Mac was sailing with a shutout until the 6th, when he gave up a pair of homers to score 3 and cut it to 4-3, and then with 2 out he gave up a single and balked the runner to 2nd as it looked like he was about to melt down. But he got a fly ball to get out of it and pitched into the 7th before Nick Anderson got the final out of the inning. Anderson stayed on through the 8th and with a pair of lefties due up Jose Alvarado got the 9th and picked up his first save of the season. McClanahan won his 5th straight start to go to 5-0, 3.45 thanks to his 6.2 6 3 3 1 5 performance tonight.

Game 3: Once again a complete and utter breakdown from the bullpen cost Mack Anglin his first MLB win, and this time around he pitched much better and left with a bigger lead. The Rays were coasting in this one, and Anglin was excellent, going 7 5 1 1 1 7 in a ballpark where the ball flies out as he was soon to witness when his relievers took the mound with a 5-1 lead. First, Liam Hendriks pitched the 8th and for the second straight outing and third in five gave up a homer, albeit a solo shot and he got the next 3 batters so the Rays still led 5-2 going into the bottom of the 9th. But Jasseel De La Cruz had his first terrible outing of the season, and although he didn't allow a longball he gave up 4 hits (including a pair of doubles) and 3 runs to allow Toronto to tie it up. However in the top of the 10th the Rays retook the lead on an RBI double from Hunter Bishop but the runner on 1st was held so only one run scored. That proved to be the difference as in the bottom of the 10th I made the call to go to rookie Steven Casey, who had looked good but hadn't been in a true high-leverage situation yet. With righty Vlad Jr leading off and Casey the only righty I eschewed the lefty options. Well Vlad Jr led off with a double and went to third on a wild pitch. Casey then walked the next batter and with the infield in, got a comebacker that he turned into a double play to keep the tying at 3rd now with 2 out. But Alejandro Kirk, a righty, came up next and took Casey deep to LF to give the Jays a walk-off 7-6 win. Earlier the Rays had built a 5-0 lead with single runs in 5 of the first 6 innings, 3 of which came on HRs from Lewin Diaz (#9, #3 with the Rays), Patrick Bailey (#3) and Spencer Torkelson again (#14). But despite the loss the fact that Anglin was much more impressive in start #2 on the road was something the Rays could at least take away from the game.

Team record: 30-9. Next up: An off day followed by a 3-game weekend series in Detroit.

Also, Dustin May went 7 5 0 0 2 4 in his 2nd start for Washington. What have I done?

[Art Deco]

Personal note: After playing OOTP on my slow as hell, 3-year-old, mid-range 15" laptop for the last 6 months, I upgraded to a 17.3" i7 fully SSD new laptop and man, what a difference. At times it took minutes to load the day or a new game and now it takes seconds.

Also, the Friday night game scheduled in this series was rained out and we're playing a Saturday doubleheader. Mitchell White had to go back on the DL at Durham so Asa Lacy will get a start later next week against Miami in 4 days.

Game 1: It was Christian Little vs Kumar Rocker in a battle of hard-throwing young righties, and the rookie Little came up big as the Rays routed the Tigers in the first game of a doubleheader 12-2. Little was dominant, not giving up a hit until the 4th inning and ended up 7 3 1 1 1 13 on a career-high 110 pitches. Despite the final score, it was a close game for quite a while until the Rays broke a 1-1 tie in the 6th. Hunter Bishop had an RBI single to put the Rays in front, then a wild Rocker loaded the bases and walked Brandon Marsh to force in a run before a Vidal Brujan fielder's choice made it 4-1. They really broke it open in the 7th on a Spencer Torkelson RBI double, a 2-run triple by Bishop and then the first of a pair of 2-run HRs from Victor Caratini, his first longballs as a Ray. Steven Casey mopped up over the last two innings, allowing a run. Bishop, however, had to come out of the game again with another nagging injury, his second in a week. This one's a pulled abdominal muscle that will keep him out 3 more days. Bramdon Perez will get most of his at-bats in that time.

Game 2: The Rays swept the doubleheader and did so by the identical 12-2 score they won by in Game 1. Unlike Game 1, the Rays busted this one open early with a 7-run third inning and didn't look back. The big hits in the third were a 2-run single from Spencer Torkelson and a 3-run HR from Nick Gonzales (#2), who hadn't played in 13 days. Talk about staying ready. Tork later added a 3-run HR (#15) for a 5-RBI day (actually 7 counting Game 1), while Wander (#11) and Keston Hiura (#9) went deep. Hiura and Bramdon Perez each had 3-hit days as the Rays pounded out 16 of 'em in Game 2. Matt Manning sat back in his rocking chair and went 7 6 2 2 1 9 against his old team to improve to 3-2 and his ERA is in the mid-4s now instead of the mid-5s. Aaron Ashby and Liam Hendriks each pitched a scoreless inning to round it out.

Game 3: What was looking like a laugher turned out to be a nail-biter but the Rays held on to win 8-5 and sweep the series from the Tigers. It was Tyler Glasnow vs former Ray hotshot prospect Shane Baz and the Rays got to Baz for 3 in the 2nd inning on a 2-run single from Victor Caratini and a Vidal Brujan grounder. Judson Fabian added an RBI double in the 5th and Lewin Diaz hit his 4th Rays HR in the 6th to make it 5-2 and then Fabian socked a 2-run HR (#15) in the 7th to make it 7-2. Tyler Glasnow left after going 7 8 2 2 3 6, not at his sharpest (and he got 3 outs on infield liners) although good enough, but Evan Godwin crapped the bed in the 8th putting two on and giving up a 3-run HR to Austin Martin to suddenly make it 7-5. Jose Alvarado had to bail him out in the 8th, and Vidal Brujan hit HR #4 to lead off the 9th to give them a little breathing room. Jasseel De La Cruz made it interesting in the 9th but didn't go full meltdown like his previous outing; instead he put 2 on to bring the tying run to the plate but got a flyball to end the game and pick up save #8. Glasnow improves to 5-1, 2.88 while Fabian ended with a 4-hit day.

Team record: 33-9. Next up: 2 games in Miami against the Roughnecks followed by 2 against them at the Trop.

[Art Deco]

We're just over 1/4 of the way into the season, so here's at look at where things stand with the Rays and MLB:



The Rays of course have a commanding lead and should win the division for the 5th straight year. And as you can see the 1-2 punch of Judson Fabian and Spencer Torkelson has wreaked havoc on AL pitching as they're 1-2 in WAR. And once again this team shows it has deep depth as the loss of a key player has barely been noticed. Just as they won the World Series without Wander Franco last season, they've survived the loss of Keibert Ruiz for most of the season so far. Speaking of Ruiz, he's only 5 days away from going on a rehab assignment so he should be back in 10-12 days.

Here's where they stand in the team statistical rankings:



As one might expect from a 33-9 team, they're first in quite a few categories. They've also been good and lucky, playing 3 games over the Pythagorean record and 13-5 in 1-run games as opposed to their historical record around .500 in these affairs. One improvement this year is the defense, which was pretty bad last season despite the success but is now in the upper half of the AL. Obviously Wander being back and Brujan returning to his natural position of 2B is a big reason, as well as the improved outfield defense with Fabian (a 65) and Hunter Bishop (also a 65, when healthy) patrolling the OF. Keston Hiura and his 45 D at 3B remains the weak link, but he's actually played decently this season so far. Here are the team offensive and pitching leaders:



Fill-ins like Bailey and Perez have been outstanding, to go with the impressive regulars. Not pictured here are Alec Bohm (-0.1 WAR and therefore now at Durham) and Triston Casas, who seems like he's never going to hit.



Pitcher WAR doesn't like HR allowed so Little is getting dinged here. Two relievers have been really bad lately, Liam Hendriks and Evan Godwin. While Hendriks sits at a still-good-for-a-reliever 0.5 WAR 1/4 into the season, he was actually at 1.0 WAR a couple of weeks ago. And Godwin of course, who was so good last year and during April, now sits at the bottom of the pile.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: Well, we had this happen:



Shane McClanahan took a no-hitter into the 9th inning, but the only problem was that the Rays couldn't score for him. Mac had walked 3 and whiffed 10 over 8 innings on 109 pitches. But Delvis Alegre was almost as good, holding the Rays to 8 4 0 0 1 7 and then ex-Ray Mitchell Verburg came on and struck out the side in the 9th, including the guy he was traded for, Judson Fabian. And Mac allowed a leadoff single to Roc Riggio on a 1-1 pitch and then came out in favor of Jose Alvarado. Alvarado walked Bryson Brigman, struck out David Dahl, but then gave up a walk-off 3-run HR to young Miami slugging sensation Cristian Rodriguez, who belted 34 HR as a rookie last year and this one was his 19th (!) of 2026 already. One of the four Rays hits came from McClanahan, who singled up the middle after Victor Caratini had walked with 2 out in the 5th, but Vidal Brujan grounded out to end that threat which was about the only one they mustered tonight. The Rays drop to 33-10 while Miami is now 13-31. That's baseball for you.

Game 2: Apparently the Rays left their bats in Detroit as Miami dispatched them again in a weak offensive showing 5-1. They only managed 6 hits against James Marvel and a couple of relievers and Patrick Bailey's RBI single in the 7th kept them from being shut out in consecutive games. Mack Anglin got the start and he didn't have his best stuff, going 6 8 4 4 1 4. Liam Hendriks put the leadoff man in the 8th after pitching a scoreless 7th and the runner came around to score when Aaron Ashby loaded the bases and then walked a Roughneck.

Team record: 33-11. Next up: 2 at home vs these same Roughnecks.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: The Rays simply cannot figure out Miami as they dropped a dismal 7-2 affair to the Roughnecks to make it 3 straight games dropped to their neighbors to the south. Things started off well enough when Vidal Brujan led off the game with HR #5 and Judson Fabian added an RBI single in the 3rd to put the Rays up 2-0 early. But Asa Lacy, getting a spot start thanks to the rainout in Detroit, couldn't hold the lead and left going 5 8 4 4 2 4. The bullpen, which looked untouchable earlier this season, was touched with 3 of the 4 relievers (Hendriks, Ashby, Casey) allowing a run and the only one who didn't was Evan Godwin who had to leave after allowing a hit to the only batter he faced with back stiffness, which might send him to the IL. And after the early spark, the offense couldn't solve Hunter Greene, who held them to 8 6 2 2 3 2 on 96 pitches as they hit into 4 double plays, including one to end the game.

Game 2: Just when we thought they couldn't play any worse against Miami, Matt Manning goes out and allows 7 straight batters to reach in the 1st inning, with all of them scoring as the Rays are swept in the season series by the Roughnecks by a not-anywhere-really-near-that-close score of 11-7. Only 5 runs in the 9th inning made the final score semi-respectable. Manning, who had appeared to turn the corner after a rough start to the season, turned the corner and got hit by a truck today. He got 2 groundouts to start the game and another grounder went for an infield single to keep the inning alive and it was capped by a Nasim Nunez grand slam to dead center. Manning stuck it out through 5, allowing another run. A tired Steven Casey came on in the 6th and gave up 2 solo homers, and very reluctantly I brought Jose Alvarado in for the 7th, where he pitched a perfect inning. But with the game out of hand I turned for the 2nd time in his career to Triston Casas, who allowed a David Dahl homer (more on him in a second) but then set down the next 6 Roughnecks in the 2nd best Rays pitching performance of the day. As for the Rays offense, it slept for another 8 innings with only Brandon Marsh's 3rd HR of the year making any noise. They put up 5 in the 9th including a 2-run shot from Wander for HR #12 and a 2-run double from Hunter Bishop, who managed to make it through the game without getting hurt. Meanwhile Lewin Diaz went 0-5 and is starting to look like this year's Renato Nunez. Getting back to Dahl, he killed them going 11 for 13 with 3 HR and 8 RBI (plus a walk) over the last 3 games. Thank goodness we won't be seeing him or his teammates the rest of the season.

Team record: 33-13. Next up: A weekend 3-game series at home vs the Yankees.

[Art Deco]

May 29: Optioned P Steven Casey to AAA Durham, recalled P Christian Chamberlain from AAA Durham.

The bullpen is a bit burned out right now, so I'm sending down Casey for a fresh arm. The lefty Chamberlain has been very good at AA/AAA this year, with a 3/31 BB/K ratio in 21 innings, and he was already on the 40-man.

Game 1: I probably shouldn't have run over the old gypsy woman while driving in a Native American graveyard as not only did we lose our fifth straight game 14-4 to the Yankees and I had to use a position player to pitch again, but we suffered 3 injuries in the game, 2 of which were fairly serious. Let's start with the injuries. Christian Little was today's starter and his line was 5.2 7 7 7 4 7 with 2 HRs allowed and 3 runs scoring on wild pitches. Then he suffered a herniated disc in his back and will be out two months. So Christian Chamberlain came on to relieve him and make his MLB debut, and he promptly served up Gleyber Torres' 2nd HR of the game (21 for him already, the ball is juiced this year), and then proceeded to get injured, too and he'll be out 6 weeks with an elbow strain. And in the first inning Spencer Torkelson tripled in a run, spraining his thumb which is a minimal DtD injury for 2 weeks, so I may just put him on the IL too. What a mess. And so was the game obviously as Tommy Edman joined Torres with 2 HRs tonight. I had to use Nick Anderson and Jasseel De La Cruz for an inning apiece since they were the only rested relievers in the pen after Chamberlain had to leave. And poor Patrick Bailey is no Triston Casas when it comes to position player pitching as he was bombed for 5 runs in 2/3 of an inning in the 9th and loaded the bases after that, I finally had to bring in Evan Godwin to whiff Torres as Godwin has a minimal back stiffness injury and I was trying to avoid him. Aside from Torkelson's triple the only other offensive highlight was a 2-run HR from Lewin Diaz, well after the game was in hand for New York. Oh, and Baltimore has gone on a tear to improve to 27-22 and pull within 7 games. Ugh.

May 30: Placed OF Spencer Torkelson on the 10-day IL with a sprained thumb, placed P Christian Little on the 60-day DL with a herniated disc, placed P Christian Chamberlain on the 15-day DL with an elbow strain. Recalled OF Jhon Diaz and Ps Nick Frasso and Steven Casey from AAA Durham. Sent C Keibert Ruiz to AAA Durham on a rehab assignment.

So here's the roster shuffle resulting from Black Friday. Casey comes back up in an obvious move and Nick Frasso gets another shot although he hadn't been as dominating for Durham so far this year despite 15 saves. Diaz is the interesting name here as he gets the call over Alec Bohm and Heston Kjerstad. Diaz was hitting 308/385/547 at Durham with 8 HR, plays a 65 RF and is our best OF prospect. Bramdon Perez will probably get the bulk of Tork's at-bats but Diaz will get a some too, as will Nick Gonzales. Asa Lacy will take Little's place in the rotation. In the good news department, Keibert will go to rehab for 3-5 games. There will be probably be further moves/trades to come; Victor Caratini will probably be dealt once Keibert comes back, for one.

Game 2: The tailspin continues, although they weren't blown out for a change as the Rays came up short 4-3 to the Yankees. All 4 Yankee runs scored in a nightmarish 2nd inning, which saw Keston Hiura make 2 errors at 3B, the first opening the door for Wilmer Flores' 3-run HR and the second opening the door for a 4th run. Of course had Tyler Glasnow pitched around those errors it wouldn't have been such a disaster but he didn't and ended up throwing 111 pitches over 5 innings with a 5 7 4 0 2 6 line that saw his ERA drop to 2.66 somewhat undeservedly. It was a frustrating day for Rays hitters, who kept chipping away but couldn't quite get there with at least 4 line-drive infield outs, including one that turned into an inning-ending double play with men on 1st and 2nd. Brandon Marsh had an RBI single in the 3rd, Patrick Bailey an RBI double in the 6th (but was thrown out at 3rd on the play to end that inning) and Wander Franco had a 2-out RBI double in the 9th. After that Franco double, Judson Fabian walked, but with the winning run on base, Lewin Diaz grounded out to 2nd to cap an 0-5 day while in Durham Alec Bohm shakes his head. Hiura was 0-3 to go with his 2 costly errors as well. On the bright side, Nick Frasso, Liam Hendriks and Evan Godwin combined for 4 innings of shutout relief and I didn't have to use a position player to pitch. And Baltimore continues to mirror their winning streak with our losing streak and has cut the once seemingly-insurmountable division lead to 6.

Game 3: Well it's 7 straight losses now, which I think may be a record for my save going back to 2020. And the losing streak has come full circle as it started with the game Shane McClanahan nearly pitched a no-hitter in but which they lost in the bottom of the 9th. Mac was back on the mound and pitched very well and deep but they still lost 3-1. He went 7.2 6 3 3 1 10 and left after giving up a 2-out triple in the 8th to Tommy Edman down 2-0. Nick Anderson came on to face Gleyber Torres and that didn't go well as Torres singled up the middle to score the third run. Anderson finished out the 9th and the Rays had a great chance to tie or win in the bottom of the 9th, loading the bases with 2 out but Wander Franco grounded out to 2nd to end the game. That rally included Jhon Diaz's first MLB hit, one of the infield variety. The lone Rays run came in the 8th on Brandon Marsh's 4th HR of the year and they put two men on after that to no avail as well, as they left 10 on base for the game. Lewin Diaz took another collar today (0-3) and is now hitting .155 as a Ray as 1B seems to be a cursed position. And yes, Baltimore won so the lead dwindles to 5.

Team record: 33-16. Next up: 3 games in Kansas City, not a friendly place to visit for the Rays recently as they were swept their last season as they hit their low point of 2025.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: Hallelujah, the losing streak is over. The Rays scored 6 times in the 3rd to go on to rout the Royals 9-3. Mack Anglin finally picked up his first MLB win, although it wasn't a Picasso on his part as he went 5 9 3 3 0 6. The BB/K was nice but he was way too hittable. Aaron Ashby (who had to leave after 1 2/3 with a dead arm and will be out 6 days) and Steven Casey (2 1/3 1-hit innings) finished it out in fine fashion. In the 3rd after Brandon Marsh singled with one out, Vidal Brujan tripled him home, scored on a Wander Franco single, and after a Judson Fabian groundout, Lewin Diaz finally came through with a double to score Wander, Nick Gonzales had an RBI single, and Victor Caratini capped things off with a 2-run single of his own. They tacked on 3 more in the 6th on a Fabian RBI double, a Diaz sac fly, and a Keston Hiura RBI double. Wander and Gonzales each had 3 hits on the night. The win was important because Baltimore stayed boiling lava hot with an 8-4 win over Boston.

June 2: The scheduled game tonight was rained out, and will be made up as part of a doubleheader tomorrow.

June 3: Traded C Victor Caratini to the Kansas City Royals for LHP Ben Bowden. Optioned P Mack Anglin to AAA Durham, activated C Keibert Ruiz from his rehab assignment at AAA Durham.

This is one of those trades where the players just walk over from one clubhouse to the other as of course we're in KC right now. Bowden is a lefty reliever I've always liked, he used to be Colorado's closer and has decent stuff. KC retained 100% of his salary so we come out $2M ahead to give us $10M to play with. Anglin going down is a paper move since OOTP doesn't give us an extra man for doubleheaders.

Game 2: The Rays ripped the Royals again 11-0 in the first game of their doubleheader, with Matt Manning utterly dominant in a 7 4 0 0 2 12 performance as his up-and-down season hits an up note today. Manning is now 4-3, 4.87. Brandon Marsh had a big day (or first half of a day) with 6 RBI. He had an RBI single in the 2nd, an RBI groundout in the 6th and a grand slam (#5) in the 9th. Hunter Bishop had the key hits with an RBI double in the 2nd and an RBI single in the 3rd as the Rays broke it open early. Ben Bowden made his Rays debut and had to leave after retiring one batter with a stiff neck which is a minimal DtD for 4 days so we may have him pitch through it if needed. Steven Casey and Nick Frasso completed the shutout. The Rays had 18 hits for the day as Marsh had 3 as did Keston Hiura (with 2 RBI) and Vidal Brujan with Bramdon Perez the only player not to pick up a hit.

Game 3: The second game of the doubleheader was looking good early as the Rays built a 5-2 lead in the 5th and took a 5-3 lead into the bottom of the 7th, but the once-untouchable duo of Nick Anderson and Jose Alvarado combined to allow 6 runs in their 2 innings as the Rays lost 9-5. Anderson is beginning to lose his stuff, he started the year at 80, was downgraded to 65, and was downgraded again to 60, and after putting the leadoff man on in the 7th he gave up a 2-run HR to Dustin Peterson to tie the game. He got through the inning (but needed a DP) and then Alvarado gave up a HR to the leadoff lefty, Juan Pablo Martinez, an imploded from there, giving up a 2-run double to Peterson as part of a 4-run meltdown. Asa Lacy had started, and he was pretty terrible, going 4.2 11 3 3 1 2 and from that line you can tell he was lucky to have only allowed 3 runs. Liam Hendriks got him out of a bases-loaded jam with a whiff, and pitched a scoreless 6th. The bullpen wasted a great game from Wander Franco, who hit a 2-run HR in the first (#13) and also doubled and tripled. Triston Casas also homered (#3), Nick Gonzales was 2-3 with an RBI double and Keston Hiura was 2-5 with his own RBI double. And yes of course Baltimore won (and they won last night) to make it 8 straight and 19-3 in their last 22 to pull within 4 games.

Team record: 35-17. Next up: Tomorrow is the amateur draft and the start of 4 games in Minnesota.

[Art Deco]

Our top 7 picks:



Batchelder is supposed to be an excellent defensive SS who should have good gap power, tough to whiff, and a great baserunner.

The scouting report on Baker says he has the potential to anchor a rotation and as a college guy he could move quickly. He's a power pitcher (96-98) out of USC and the kind of guy we've had good luck with in the past (Anglin, Tacuri). The only knock on him is that he's listed as "fragile", which undoubtedly dropped him into the supplemental 1st round.

Leininger is another high school SS, he's got more pop than Batchelder but isn't as good a contact guy, but is a disciplined hitter.

Miriles seems like a pure hitter type, good power, good hit tool, potential 55-60 across the board in the hitting categories.

Toy intrigues me, he's potential 70 stuff to go with a potential 80 slider and 80 changeup. He's a lefty from San Diego State and his ceiling is a #2 starter. Sounds like a good grab in the 4th round.

Burke is your typical power-hitting 3B type that could have contact issues.

And finally Becerra is a UF product (we love our Gators) who projects to be a mid-rotation starter, potential 70 stuff stuff with a potential 75 slider. He's 6'6", 215 and just needs to harness his control.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: The way our pitching and bullpen has been going lately, we're just going to have to outscore the other team (you know what I mean). And that was the case tonight as the Rays kept taking sizable leads and kept giving them back, but held on for a 9-8 win over the Twins. They had their way with Zach Gallen to start the game, putting up 5 in the first inning as they kept the carousel spinning with consecutive RBI doubles from Keibert Ruiz, Judson Fabian and Lewin Diaz. But Tyler Glasnow almost gave it all right back, allowing a Nick Gordon HR in the bottom of the inning and then a 2-run shot to Niko Hulsizer in the 2nd. Hulsizer was a Rays farmhand who got as far as Durham in 2024 whom I wrote off as a good-power, no-hit tool guy and became a MiLB free agent who signed with the Twins last year. He spent 2025 at AAA hitting .239 and 26 HR but Minnesota made him their starting RF and he now has 12 HR to go with a 276/327/524. Who knew? Anyway it was 5-4 and Glasnow went on to settle down but had to come out at 109 pitches going 6 8 4 4 2 7. The Rays tacked on a run in the 6th and then in the 7th Keston Hiura hit a 3-run shot (#10) to make it 9-4. Nick Frasso pitched the 7th, struggled, but got out of it allowing only a run, and then Evan Godwin in the 8th walked two guys getting only one out, and Liam Hendriks came in and immediately surrendered a 3-run HR to Royce Lewis to make it 9-8. Hendriks limped through the 8th, and Jasseel De La Cruz gave up a hit to Hulsizer but made it through the 9th for save #9 as they hung on for the win. Glasnow did get the win, improving to 6-2, 2.94. Baltimore won again, 9 in a row and on a 20-3 run to stay 4 back.

Injury update: Spencer Torkelson's thumb will keep him out another 2 weeks.

Game 2: The only thing worse than playing a 14-inning game and burning out the bullpen is losing said 14-inning game. Thankfully that did not happen today thanks to Hunter Bishop's 2-run HR (#4) in the top of the 14th off Devin Smeltzer to give the Rays a hard-fought 7-5 win. It was an odd game in that the Rays took an early 4-0 lead off Twins rookie phenom Jon Hayes (with some help from a key Twins error) on an RBI groundout from Nick Gonzales (that was booted), a fielder's choice from Bishop, an RBI single from Brandon Marsh and a Vidal Brujan sac fly. Shane McClanahan was cruising along with a 3-hit shutout through 5, with 7 whiffs but things went bad in the 6th. A couple of normal singles, an infield single, a walk and then a Mitch Garver grand slam and suddenly he was down 5-4. Mac ended up 6.1 8 5 5 1 10 before Steve Casey and Aaron Ashby got the Rays through the 7th and then in the 8th Keston Hiura doubled, and just when it looked like he'd be stranded Gonzales delivered a clutch 2-out RBI single to tie the game. So on and on we went. Nick Anderson and Jose Alvarado both bounced back from recent debacles with 2 scoreless innings each, and Jasseel De La Cruz pitched a scoreless 13th and stayed on to save his own win in the 14th, his 2nd win of the season. Gonzales was "man of the match", as he had also singled in front of Bishop's game-winning HR, and had 3 hits and a steal to go with the clutch game-tying RBI. And lo and behold, the Orioles finally lost and boy did they ever lose. They were waxed 18-2 by the Yankees in a game that saw Gleyber Torres hit 3 more HRs and drive in 8 as part of a 4-4 game. The Rays finally add to their lead, back up to 5.

June 6: Optioned Ps Steve Casey and Nick Frasso to AAA Durham, recalled Ps Mack Anglin and Jack Perkins from AAA Durham.

Anglin is back in that doubleheader workaround to start today, and making his MLB debut (at least on a roster) is Jack Perkins, an excellent prospect whom we acquired from the Dodgers back in 2024. Perkins has been great as a swingman in Durham the last 2 seasons, appearing in 32 games (13 starts) with 110 IP, 82 HA, 38 BB and 126 Ks with a sub-2 ERA in each season. He's up today because the bullpen is burned from yesterday's game and we needed with a righty with only lefties Bowden and Godwin (both with nagging injuries) and Ashby are not showing as tired.

Game 3: The best remedy for a burned-out bullpen (aside from a starter going very deep) is to build up a big enough lead that you don't have to worry about who's coming in to pitch. That's what the Rays did today, although they did get an excellent start (with length) from Mack Anglin today in a 13-3 thumping of the Twins. The Rays jumped on Griffin Jax for 6 runs in the first 2 innings, added 3 more in the 3rd, and never looked back. The big early blow was a 3-run HR from Lewin Diaz to put the Rays on the board, his 6th with the club and 12th overall. Bramdon Perez, who went 3-4 with 3 RBI, drove in another run in the 1st, and then Wander Franco hit the first of his 2 HRs in the 2nd, a 2-run shot as he's now up to 15 for the season. Perhaps having the biggest game of all was Hunter Bishop, was 4-5 with a better-than-the-cyle outing of 2 doubles, a triple and a HR (#5), scoring a team-season-high 5 runs. Vidal Brujan also had his 3rd 3-hit game in his last 4. Meanwhile Anglin pitched into the 7th, and was twirling a 2-hit, 1-run game through 6 before he ran into some trouble in the 7th with a walk, a double and an infield single leading to 2 runs. He ended 6.2 4 3 3 2 7 and picked up his 2nd win. Ben Bowden pitched a scoreless inning and Jack Perkins was impressive in MLB debut, retiring all 4 hitters he faced and whiffing 2 of them. Baltimore returned to the win column so the lead remains 5.

June 7: Optioned P Jack Perkins to AAA Durham, activated P Mitchell White from the 15-day IL.

Need White to start today due to the doubleheader 5 days ago, even though he hasn't pitched in a couple of weeks and had a setback on his rehab, so this is a real dice roll. Perkins was impressive in his debut and could be back at some point.

Game 4: It was always going to be tough to sweep a good team like Minnesota in a 4-game series at their own park, especially with a pitcher who's been hurt on and off the first two months before finally making his season debut. And so the Twins beat Mitchell White and the Rays 6-1, and you can blame the offense some too. White looked really good the first two innings, gave up a couple of runs with 2 out in the 3rd, and then got a 1-2-3 4th as Wander Franco singled in Brandon Marsh in the top of the 5th to make it 2-1 and maybe we'd have a game. But White ran out of gas in the 5th, allowing 3 runs and that was that as he went 5 4 5 5 3 5. The offense only managed 7 hits for the day, having a hard time with Franklyn Kilome and never really mounted a serious threat after scoring in the 5th. Ben Bowden had a scoreless inning in relief and Aaron Ashby went 2, allowing a run in the 8th. Fortunately Baltimore lost in extra innings to the Yankees so the lead remains 5.

Team record: 38-18. Next up: 3 games in Arizona against the 37-22 Diamondbacks, so that won't be easy. This will be the first time we've played in Arizona in this save.