The 2020 (and beyond) Tampa Bay Rays

[Art Deco]

October 7: The AL Wild Card Game



Welp, we're getting a Rays-Orioles ALDS, so buckle yourselves in. Gunnar Henderson homered to lead off the game for the Orioles igniting a 3-run 1st inning rally and Baltimore never looked back in a WC game rout. Bryar Johnson pitched like the ace he is going 7.1 4 0 0 2 6 and the good news is the Rays will only see him once in the series. Meanwhile an epic collapse from the Twins who only needed to beat Chicago either once in their final weekend series or in the one-game playoff and did neither.

October 8, The NL Wild Card Game:



Rarely does a game ever turn on a wild pitch strikeout, but that's what happened in Washington. San Diego and MacKenzie Gore were seemingly in complete control, up 5-0 going to the bottom of the 5th. David Garcia led off the inning for the Nats and struck out but reached on a wild pitch. Gore then struck out the next batter before he couldn't get another out. Single, double, single, single and it was 5-3, then Juan Soto drilled a 3-run HR to make it 6-5 Washington and they never looked back. They'll go on to face the Dodgers in the NLDS.

Also some deserved good news for Jhon Diaz:

[Art Deco]

October 9:



A performance for the ages by Tyler Glasnow, completely shutting down the high-powered Orioles offense to give the Rays a 1-0 lead in their ALDS. The Rays ace went 8 2 0 0 2 12 on 121 pitches and looked as dominant at the end as he did in the beginning. The question for most of the game, though, was whether the Rays could score some runs for him as Grayson Rodriguez had held them in check for 6 innings. But Spencer Torkelson led off the 7th with a homer, and then the Rays loaded the bases in the 8th with one out and Judson Fabian came through with a 2-run double. With lefties due, Jose Alvarado came on for the 9th and walked the leadoff man, gave up another single, but got two out. With righty Druw Jones representing the tying run at the plate, Jasseel De La Cruz came in and struck him out to end the game and get the save.



The White Sox continue their magical run, making it 10 straight overall with a Game 1 win in Anaheim. Patrick Sandoval dominated his former team to the tune of 7 4 0 0 4 5 and Collin Montez's HR (yes him again) off Shohei Ohtani spoiled a great game from the Angel righty (7.1 6 1 1 1 10) and was all the Sox would need to win. 2021 redux?

October 10:



Well whaddya know, the Rays are up 2-0 in a Division Series. In previous years at this point they were lucky to be 1-1, but a decisive 7-3 win puts them one win away from the ALCS. Shane McClanahan was outstanding, even if he did give up a couple of homers. A 2-run shot by Druw Jones put him behind, but outside of that and a Gunnar Henderson solo shot in the 6th after the Rays had already built a 7-2 lead, he kept Baltimore in check going 7 5 3 3 1 8 and that 5th hit came leading off the 8th. Ben Bowden got out of that inning, retired Austin Meadows to start the 9th, and Liam Hendriks whiffed Austin Hays and Jones to end the game. The Rays turned the game around with a 5-run 4th that saw Anthony Rizzo draw a bases-loaded walk, Triston Casas single to tie it, a wild pitch which gave them the lead and then a 2-run single from Vidal Brujan to cap it off. They added 2 more in the 5th on another wild pitch and a Spencer Torkelson RBI single. Judson Fabian scored in both innings as part of a 3-4 night. Now the series shifts to Baltimore where the real fun begins in the bandbox known as Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Matt Manning will get the call in Game 3.

The rest of today's games:



The White Sox showed they were human as the Angels bashed 4 HRs to even up the series. Jack Flaherty, the best pitcher in baseball (sorry Tyler Glasnow) was dominant again in a tight 2-1 win over Atlanta, going 7 3 1 1 1 6, and the Dodgers broke open a close game to romp over the Nationals.

October 11:



The Braves got a grand slam from Ozzie Albies in the 10th to even up their series with St. Louis, and the Dodgers romped again behind Jack Little, taking a 2-0 lead and outscoring Washington 17-1 in the process. The Dodgers have won the series in the even-numbered years in this save (2020, 2022, 2024) - are they on track to do it again?

[Art Deco]

October 12:



How sweep it is! The series I feared the most, having to play the team with the 3rd-best record in baseball and coming off a dreadful run to end the regular season, turned out to be a 3-0 sweep thanks to tonight's 8-4 win over Baltimore and their ace Bryar Johnson. The Rays got to Johnson right off the bat in the 1st, with a double from Wander Franco, a single from Keibert Ruiz, and then an RBI single from Series MVP Judson Fabian, who was 3-4 today. They added 3 more in the 3rd after it looked like they might not score at all. They loaded the bases with nobody out, but Johnson whiffed Spencer Torkelson and Anthony Rizzo. But Keston Hiura worked a walk to force in a run, and then Triston Casas singled in 2 runs to make it 4-0, chasing the Baltimore righty who ended with a schizophrenic 2.2 8 4 4 1 7 line. They tacked on a run in the 4th on a Fabian sac fly, another in the 5th on a Triston Casas homer, and 2 more in the 7th on a 2-run shot from Tork. Sam Delaplane came in for Baltimore after that homer and immediately plunked Rizzo, sparking a benches-clearing brawl that saw both ejected. While all this run-scoring was going on, the much-maligned-of-late Matt Manning pitched one of his best games of the season, allowing only one run on a couple of doubles in the 5th and shutting down the high-powered Oriole offense in their own park to the tune of 6 5 1 1 2 6. With it 8-1, Steven Casey and Evan Godwin made a mess, allowing 3 Baltimore runs but Liam Hendriks got them out of it and went on to retire all 4 men he faced through the 8th, 3 of them on whiffs. Ben Bowden capped it off with a 1-2-3 9th and the celebrations started, have a look:





Meanwhile, in Chicago the Angels took a 2-1 lead on the White Sox with an 8-3 drubbing thanks to a 6-run 5th inning keyed by a Mike Trout grand slam. The Angels are the nation's sentimental favorite right now as most want to see the 35-year-old future HOFer finally win a World Series.

October 13:



Well for the third time in four years, it will be the Rays and Angels in the ALCS. The Rays won the first two, in 6 and in dramatic fashion on Alec Bohm's walkoff in 2023, and they swept the Angels last season, both times on the way to a World Series win. It was a strange game for the Angels in which all the runs were scored in the 3rd and 4th, and their 5-4 lead held up for the rest of the game. Meanwhile Fernando Tatis Jr.'s 2-run double tied it and Will Smith's RBI single won it for the Dodgers as they rallied in the 9th to pull out a win in Washington and sweep their NLDS. And not only did St. Louis' Davis Sharpe 1-hit the Braves over 6 2/3 innings, he homered as well as the Cards romped in Atlanta to take a 2-1 lead there.

October 14:



Mookie Betts' RBI single in the 8th gave the Braves a 4-3 win over St. Louis to even their NLDS at 2 and send the series back to St. Louis for a decisive Game 5.

October 16:



Ian Happ's walk-off single in the bottom of the 9th capped an epic NLDS Game 5 and sent the Cardinals to the NLCS to face the Dodgers. It was a great game that started out as an Efrain Polanco vs Jack Flaherty duel with the Cards ahead 1-0 after 6 when both left. Pinch-hitters Drew Waters and Ramon Urias had RBI hits to give the Braves a 2-1 lead in the 7th, then Josh Stowers homered in the bottom of the 7th to tie and Anderson Tejada homered in the 8th to put St. Louis up 3-2. But Cal Raleigh homered off Edwin Diaz in the top of the 9th and it was tied again at 3, before St. Louis rallied off Luke Jackson and AJ Minter in the bottom of the 9th to win it.

[Art Deco]

October 17: Activated OF Hunter Bishop from the 10-day IL, removed Alec Bohm from the playoff roster.

Welcome back, Hunter. He'll be an upgrade over Rizzo in the lineup with the hot Casas staying at 1B.



The Rays lost a tough one to open the ALCS against the Angels. Tyler Glasnow was excellent as usual, but the offense couldn't get a whole lot going against Shohei Ohtani so it came down to 2-2 in the 8th and that's when Mike Trout homered off Glasnow for the decisive run. Glasnow ended a still-fine 8 5 3 3 1 9, having given up a 2-run HR to old friend Ji-Man Choi in the 2nd to put LA on top before a Keston Hiura sac fly in the 5th and a Judson Fabian RBI single in the 6th tied it up. The Rays had a great chance to tie or go ahead in the 8th after they put the first two men on and after they moved to up to 2nd and 3rd with one out, Keibert Ruiz grounded out at the drawn-in SS and then Fabian grounded to 3rd to end the inning. Shane McClanahan will try and even up the series tomorrow.

October 18:



What. A. Comeback! The Rays entered the bottom of the 9th down 4-1 and staring at an 0-2 deficit in the ALCS, and then pulled off a comeback for the ages. Keibert Ruiz and Judson Fabian singled to start the inning, and after Spencer Torkelson whiffed, Hunter Bishop launched a 3-run HR off Melvin Adon into the RF stands to tie it. Keston Hiura then walked on four pitches and Triston Casas followed in Bishop's footsteps with a 2-run blast into almost the same spot to give the Rays a 6-4 win and even the series. The hole had been dug in large part due to some shaky bullpen work. Down 2-1, Steven Casey pitched a scoreless 7th but stayed on for righty Anthony Rendon in the 8th and gave up a HR to the Angel 3B, and then Ben Bowden came in and walked the bases loaded. Christian Little did his best, getting a couple of strikeouts, but the Angels managed a fly ball to score the 4th run. Little pitched a scoreless 9th and nabbed the win, however. Shane McClanahan started and pitched well again, but allowed Kyren Paris to score on a wild pitch after he doubled to lead off the game, and then gave up a 2-out triple to Alex Verdugo in the 4th who scored on a Yasmani Grandal single. Still he was effective overall, going 6 7 2 2 1 6. Tork got the Rays on the board with his 3rd HR of the postseason leading off the 7th off Ryan Helsley, who was effective but mainly because he got the Rays to ground into 3 double plays (and they grounded into a 4th in the 8th inning). So off to California we go with Matt Manning slated to start Game 3.

In the NLCS:



There was another big-time 9th-inning comeback on the other side of the country as well as the Cardinals got a shock 7-5 win over the Dodgers thanks to 6 runs in the 9th off one-time Ray Taylor Rogers with the big blow being a Dylan Carlson grand slam to put St. Louis on top. The Dodgers wasted a great outing from Kyle Whitten, who went 6 3 1 1 2 7.

October 19:



Turnabout is fair play and this time it was the Dodgers who came back on the Cardinals late, courtesy of a 2-run HR from Cody Bellinger in the bottom of the 8th to secure a 4-3 win and tie the NLCS at a game apiece. Last night's goat Taylor Rogers turned out to be the winning pitcher.

[Art Deco]

October 20:



The Rays took a 2-1 lead in the ALCS with a convincing 8-2 win over the Angels in Anaheim. Brandon Marsh's 3-run HR in the 2nd inning off Garrett Williams and against his old organization proved to be all the runs they'd need, and Matt Manning continued to shake off his subpar regular season with another outstanding postseason effort. Manning retired the first 11 Angels before Mike Trout singled off him in the 4th, and took a shutout into the 6th until Luis Renfigo homered off him. For the night he was a very good 7 3 2 2 2 7 and Mitchell White and Aaron Ashby each pitched a scoreless inning to give the main bullpen a night off. Of course the offense didn't stop with the Marsh homer as they added a run in the 3rd on Keston Hiura's RBI single and 3 more in the 5th on a Hunter Bishop RBI single and a 2-run HR from Nick Gonzales, getting his first start of the postseason with the lefty Williams on the mound. Judson Fabian, hitting a cool .522 so far this postseason, drove in a run in the 8th to cap the scoring. The Rays will try to take a 3-1 lead tomorrow night with rookie Mack Anglin getting the start.

October 21:



The Rays are one win away from becoming the first team since the 1998-2001 Yankees to go to their 4th straight World Series after a 10-4 drubbing of the Angels in Game 4 of the ALCS. They wasted no time jumping on LA as Vidal Brujan doubled to lead off the game, Wander Franco reached on a 2-base error scoring Brujan, Keibert Ruiz singled in Wander, and after Judson Fabian hit into a double play, Spencer Torkelson hit his 4th HR of the playoffs to make it 3-0. After the Angels got back to 3-2 after a 2-run Yasmani Grandal homer off Mack Anglin, Hunter Bishop went to work. In the 4th he doubled and scored on Keston Hiura's double (Hiura then scored on a Brujan single), he led off the 6th with a homer (Brujan's sac fly got them another run in that inning) and then hit a 2-run HR in the 7th, giving him a 4-5, 2 HR, 3 RBI day. Brandon Marsh hit a solo HR in the 8th to cap the scoring. Meanwhile Anglin had an impressive postseason debut as a rookie. He did run into trouble in the 2nd as after he gave up that Grandal homer he put two more men on, but got a double play to get out of it and settled down from there, going 7 5 2 2 2 6 making Rays starters 7 for 7 in quality starts this postseason. Steven Casey gave up a couple of late runs, including a Mike Trout homer, but it didn't matter. They'll now look to close it out tomorrow with Tyler Glasnow on the mound.

In the NLCS:



The Cards took the series lead courtesy of a 3-2 thriller over the Dodgers. Their ace Jack Flaherty staked them to a 2-1 lead through 7 on a typically great 7 5 1 1 0 8 outing, but closer Seranthony Dominguez, who's had a rough postseason, gave up a Cody Bellinger RBI single to tie it in the 8th. But Josh Stowers homered off Dodger closer Joe Jimenez in the 8th and Edwin Diaz struck out the side in the 9th to preserve a 3-2 win.

October 22:



Well we're going to back to St. Pete, but to play Game 6 instead of getting ready for Game 1 of the World Series. The Angels came out swinging and kept coming back on the Rays until they finally overtook them in the 6th to go on to a 7-6 win. Early it looked like it would be another Rays romp, especially after they went up 3-0 and 5-2 with Tyler Glasnow on the mound. But Glasnow didn't quite have it tonight, giving up 3 homers and then in the 6th after giving up an Alex Verdugo homer to lead off the inning he walked the next two men. Christian Little came in and although he whiffed Luis Gonzalez, he surrendered a 3-run HR to light-hitting Marco Negron (.203/.245/.318 for the season) and the Angels were up 7-6 and they made that lead stand up the rest of the way. Glasnow turned in the first poor start of the postseason for the Rays, going 5 5 6 6 4 4 with the high # of walks and the low # of whiffs notable. The Rays hit 3 homers of their own, including back-to-back shots from Keston Hiura and Triston Casas in the 4th to almost the same LCF spot on the rock sculpture, and Spencer Torkelson went deep once again. Shane McClanahan will be on the mound at the Trop with the team's 2nd chance to close it out.

In the NLCS:



It was a good day for the LA teams as the Dodgers broke open another nail-biter with 5 runs in the 10th inning to win 7-2 and even the NLCS at 2 games each. Kevin Smith's 3-run HR off Jose Quijada broke the deadlock as the pivotal Game 5 in St. Louis will take place tomorrow.

October 23:



The Cardinals scored 4 times in the first off Dodger ace Kyle Whitten and held on behind their bullpen for a 5-4 win to put them one win away from their first World Series in 10 years as the teams head back to Dodger Stadium. Jurickson Profar's 2-run single and Anderson Tejada's 2-run double were the key blows for the Cards, and after starter Noah Syndergaard left allowing 4 runs in 5 innings they got 4 shutout innings from their pen including 2 from former Ray Diego Castillo.

[Art Deco]

October 24:



It was tight, it was tense, but in the end the Rays hung on to win 2-1 and advance to their fourth straight World Series, the first team since the 1998-2001 Yankees to do so. They'll be hoping WS #4 goes better for them than it did the 2001 Yankees but for now they're celebrating their Game 6 win over the Angels. Shane McClanahan started and bent early but didn't break, loading the bases in the 1st and getting out of it, putting 2 men on in the 2nd and doing likewise, and throwing 68 pitches over the first 3 innings. He calmed down and finished with a flourish, striking out the side in his final inning in the 6th. He ended 6 4 0 0 3 9 on 108 pitches. Meanwhile the offense, which had all kinds of trouble with Ryan Helsley in Game 2, managed to eke out a couple of runs. In the 2nd Spencer Torkelson walked for the first of three times today, went to third on a Keston Hiura double and scored on Triston Casas's groundout. And in the 6th Vidal Brujan doubled, went to third on a Wander Franco grounder, and scored on a Keibert Ruiz sac fly. The Hiura and Brujan doubles were the only hits the Rays managed off Helsley but as you can see they made them count. Wander's single off the bullpen in the 8th was the only other hit the team had. After McClanahan left it was up to the bullpen and Ben Bowden pitched a fine 7th, getting around a Ji-Man Choi HBP. But in the 8th Liam Hendriks was greeted with a Kyren Paris homer to cut the lead to 2-1; however, he got the next 2 batters and Jose Alvarado got Shohei Ohtani to ground to 1st. Jasseel De La Cruz came in for the 9th and as he often does he made it interesting. He retired Anthony Rendon on a fly ball but walked Alex Verdugo, struck out Yasmani Grandal but then gave up a single to Choi, sending Verdugo to 3rd with the tying run. But he got pinch-hitter Nick Solak on strikes to end the game and start the celebrations, which once again I've captured here:



Now we wait to see if the Cardinals or the Dodgers are coming to town in 4 days' time.

October 25:



Bring on the Cardinals! St. Louis jumped on LA's 20-game winner Jack Little for 5 runs in the first on their way to a 7-1 rout of the Dodgers at Dodger Stadium. They rapped out 5 hits for the 5 runs and Davis Sharpe was just that, going 6.2 3 0 0 1 9 against a Dodger lineup that's as fearsome as about any in baseball. Like their rivals to the north in San Francisco during the 2010s, the Dodgers' run of championships in consecutive even-numbered years stopped at 3. This will also mark the 4th straight different opponent for the Rays in the Fall Classic, after defeating the Padres in 2023, losing to the Dodgers in 2024 and besting the Braves in 2025.

[Art Deco]

October 28, Game 1:





Another game at the Trop, another dramatic ending. The Rays overcame deficits of 1-0 in the 6th and 2-1 in the 11th to pull out a walkoff 3-2 win in Game 1 of the 2026 World Series. Keibert Ruiz's 2-out, 2-run single with the bases loaded and two out off Cardinals rookie Leo Ortega was the difference in a pitching matchup between the expected Cy Young Award winners in each league, Tyler Glasnow and Jack Flaherty. The pairing lived to up to billing as Glasnow went 7 5 1 1 0 8 with the only run against him scoring thanks to Adam Oviedo reaching on a wild pitch strikeout in the 1st, while Flaherty gave the Rays nothing through 2 out in the 6th before being pulled. The Rays were thankful to see him go, and they tied the score off former teammate Diego Castillo in the 7th on a Vidal Brujan RBI single. Off we went from there, with the dueling bullpens getting it done through 10, as Liam Hendriks, Jose Alvarado and Jasseel De La Cruz (in his first inning of work) were spotless and Cardinal closer Seranthony Dominguez turned in 3 shutout innings. But De La Cruz gave up a long and loud homer to dead center by Josh Stowers in the top of the 11th and it looked like the Cards were on their way to a Game 1 victory. Their rookie pitching sensation Leo Ortega, ranked among the top prospects in baseball coming into this year and who mainly pitched in middle/setup relief this season, ran into trouble however after entering in the bottom of the frame. He got Keston Hiura to ground out to start the inning, but hit Anthony Rizzo (in the game after Triston Casas was pinch-run for in a rally that didn't materialize in the 9th), and gave up singles to Brandon Marsh and Brujan to load the bases. Wander Franco hit into a force at the plate, but beat the relay to 1st to keep the inning alive, and Ruiz delivered his game-winning hit as Brujan got in under the tag on Dylan Carlson's throw to the plate. Shane McClanahan will try to put the Rays up 2-0 tomorrow night.

(By the way, the "J.Martinez" who was the St. Louis DH tonight is in fact the same Jose "Cafecito" Martinez who won the AL batting title in 2020 for the Rays back when I started this save. He's bounced around from team to team [Cubs, Red Sox, 2 stints with the Pirates] before returning to his original club this season at age 38.)

October 29, Game 2:





Well we know now that we'll be playing 3 games in St. Louis instead of possibly only 2 as the Cardinals evened up the series with a thorough beating of the Rays 7-1. Things went south from get-go when Shane McClanahan walked Adam Oviedo to lead off the game, and ended up allowing 2 runs and 4 hits in the first, and then 2 more in the second. Wander Franco's error in the 2nd helped contribute to that rally and he also grounded into a double play in the first after Brujan reached via HBP to start the game as overlooked in all the Rays success so far this postseason is that Franco has been miserable, hitting .234 without even an RBI. In any event they stunk tonight in all phases of the game as Noah Syndergaard, who was pitching in a Rays uniform 3 years ago on their first Series run, shut them down wearing Cardinals colors tonight. Only Spencer Torkelson's 6th HR of the postseason kept the Rays from being shut out tonight. So we head to the Midwest in two days for Game 3, with Matt Manning looking to build on his two excellent postseason starts this year.

[Art Deco]

October 31, Game 3:





The Rays now find themselves down 2-1 in the World Series thanks to a 5-2 loss in St. Louis. Adam Oviedo, 3-4 with a HR in Game 2, killed them again going 4-for-4 with 2 RBI today and in the middle of both St. Louis rallies. The Rays actually grabbed a 2-0 lead in the 2nd on a Hunter Bishop sac fly and a Brandon Marsh RBI single but the Cards answered right back against Manning, then added 2 more in the 4th as he couldn't channel the form of his previous 2 postseason starts going 5.2 9 4 4 2 5. Christian Little relieved him in the 6th and gave up a Dylan Carson homer in the 7th. After those runs in the 2nd the offense couldn't do anything against Davis Sharpe, who came into the postseason with a regular season ERA north of 5 but has been lights-out in October. Not only that, he rapped out a couple of base hits and an RBI against Manning. Wander Franco wore the collar again as his miserable postseason continues. So the stakes are very high for rookie Mack Anglin in Game 4. He came through against the Angels in the ALCS but the Rays were up 2-1 then, not down 1-2.

November 1, Game 4:






To quote the legendary Cardinals announcer Jack Buck, "I don't believe what I just saw". The Rays' offense, moribund for the first 37 innings of this World Series with the team fortunate to only be down 2-1 as a result, exploded for 6 runs in the 9th inning to turn a 3-0 loss into a 6-3 win and evened the World Series at 2-2. The Cards got to Mack Anglin early and although he was getting his strikeouts (7) he gave up 3 walks and 4 hits leading to 3 runs. But credit to the bullpen for keeping the Rays at least within striking distance as Christian Little was electric again (5 whiffs in 2 scoreless innings), Ben Bowden got Liam Hendriks out of a mini-jam, and Jose Alvarado (looking much better in the postseason) struck out the side in the 8th to keep it at 3-0. And then the offense went to work - finally. Spencer Torkelson led off with a single and went to 2nd when it was misplayed, but Keston Hiura struck out. Hunter Bishop singled, chasing Seranthony Dominguez and bringing on Leo Ortega, who was the victim of the Rays' Game 1 comeback but pitched well in Game 2. Well he was victimized again as Brandon Marsh singled in Tork, pinch-hitter Triston Casas walked, an Ortega wild pitch scored Bishop to make it 3-2, and Vidal Brujan walked to re-load the bases. Wander Franco, 0-4 on the night, having hit into a double play the inning before and in the throes of a horrible slump, finally came through with a single to tie the game, and then Keibert Ruiz delivered the dagger, a double up the gap that cleared the bases and made it 6-3. Jasseel De La Cruz then entered in the bottom of the 9th and had a drama-free 1-2-3 inning and thanks to two miracle comebacks the Rays have made sure of a Game 6 in St. Pete. Tyler Glasnow will toe the rubber tomorrow in what is likely his last start as a Ray to try to get them back ahead in the series.

November 2, Game 5:





Well this wasn't the way Tyler Glasnow wanted to go out as a Ray, but in what was 99% likely to be his final outing with the team before becoming a free agent this coming winter, he was hit hard in a 6-0 loss to St. Louis that saw the Cardinals go up 3-2 in the series. Glasnow gave up a 3-run HR to Ian Happ in the 2nd and a 2-run shot to one-time teammate Joey Gallo in the 3rd to dig a hole the Rays had no chance climbing out of against Jack Flaherty. The Cardinal ace mowed down the Rays much as he did in Game 1, except this time he had more run support and stayed in the game longer, going 8 5 0 0 0 10 against a Rays offense that except for a couple of big innings hasn't hit at all in this series. The 6th Cardinal run scored on a Wander Franco error as Glasnow went 3 7 6 5 3 5 and had to be pulled after loading the bases with nobody out in the 4th. Mitchell White got out of it and was brilliant in relief: 4 0 0 0 0 7 on only 47 pitches, but his efforts went for naught. Franco, meanwhile, took another 0-4 and is hitting .203 with 1 RBI this postseason. The joke around Tampa Bay has been "we won the World Series without Wander last year, we'll do it again this year", but they're going to have to take Game 6 and force and win a Game 7 in St. Pete to do so. Right now they're lucky to even be in that position given the two miracle comebacks as outside of the two comeback innings (the 11th in Game 1 and the 9th in Game 4), they've scored a grand total of 4 runs in the other 45 innings they've played in this series.

[Art Deco]

November 4, Game 6:





It's time to give it up for Wander Franco. One of the best players in the game, he's suffered through a miserable postseason that coming into tonight saw his Rays on the verge of losing the World Series. And down 2-1 in the 7th inning with 2 on and 2 out in the highest-leverage situation he's found himself in for a while, he came through, drilling a 3-run HR into the RF stands off Edwin Diaz to give the Rays a 4-2 lead and send them on the way to a 5-3 win to even the World Series at 3 games apiece and force a Game 7 tomorrow night. The atmosphere at the Trop grew funereal as the ace who helped lead the Rays to the first title in 2023 was mowing them down as the offense continued in its funk. Noah Syndergaard retired the first 10 batters before Franco singled in the 4th. They started getting to Thor in the 5th. Although a leadoff single was erased by a double play, Triston Casas doubled and scored on a Brandon Marsh single, and they had their first run since the 6-run comeback outburst in Game 4 and were only down 2-1. Shane McClanahan had pitched well, but was still on the wrong end of the score, and Steven Casey and Evan Godwin got them through the 7th after Mac left with 2 out in the 6th. This set up the decisive 7th inning rally. Keston Hiura grounded out to start the inning but Casas (a revelation this postseason, and also through September) ripped another double. Brandon Marsh flew out for out #2, and the Cards brought in Diaz. Vidal Brujan beat out an infield single to put men on first and third, and Franco delivered. Liam Hendriks came out for the 8th and gave up a Dylan Carlson homer to make it 4-3, but Hiura got that back in the bottom of the 8th with another blast off Diaz, and Jasseel De La Cruz got the Cards in order in the 9th and onto Game 7 we go with Matt Manning starting but all hands on deck.

November 5, Game 7:





WORLD CHAMPIONS AGAIN! The Rays won their 3rd World Series in 4 years thanks to a 4-2 win in Game 7 over the Cardinals behind a dominating performance from Matt Manning and a couple of big home runs. Manning had the Cards at his mercy through 7 innings allowing only 3 hits and striking out 10. After getting the first out in the 8th, he gave up a single and then a 2-run HR to Josh Stowers as I obviously left him in a bit too long. But Jose Alvarado came in and got a couple of whiffs, and Jasseel De La Cruz found himself at the bottom of a dogpile after retiring the Cards 1-2-3 in the 9th with 2 strikeouts, including Ryan Jeffers looking to end the game. The bats managed a little more success against Davis Sharpe this time around, with Hunter Bishop going yard in the 2nd and Wander Franco writing his own redemption story by going deep with Vidal Brujan on in the 3rd to make it 3-0. Brandon Marsh led off the 7th with a triple and it looked like he might be stranded after a strikeout and popup, but Brujan came through with a 2-out single to get a big insurance run, especially in light of Stowers' HR. Speaking of Stowers, he was named Series MVP despite being on the losing end, becoming only the 2nd player in MLB history after Bobby Richardson for the 1960 Yankees to achieve that distinction (also in a 7-game series). He was 11-31 with 3 HR and 7 RBI in the series. It helped that there was no clear-cut candidate from the Rays; Franco's heroics in Games 6 & 7 warranted consideration but he was terrible in the first 5 games, and none of the Rays starting pitchers were clearly dominant in both their starts. So now it's time to throw the "d-word" around as 4 straight World Series trips and 3 straight World Series wins qualifies these days for it. As always there will be turnover next year, as Tyler Glasnow is as good as gone on the heels of Austin Meadows the previous year (just hope the Orioles don't sign him!). I'll get into that more tomorrow with a look at the roster and what our offseason goals are. But for now it's time to party!



Also I see this thread has passed 10,000 views so thanks to all of those who have been following along!

[Art Deco]

(Refresh for updates throughout the day)

First off, it never gets old looking at that shiny trophy:



Word from the bossman:



Our contract/payroll situation:




Outside of Glasnow, 2027 is going to be the final year we're going to be able to keep the band together. Wander (whom I will see if I can extend of course), Brandon Marsh, Keston Hiura, Matt Manning, Jose Alvarado, and Jasseel De La Cruz will all become free agents after the season. Thanks to the payroll increase, I'll have at least $20M to play with. Alec Bohm gets non-tendered or traded so there's about $3M freed up and Mitchell White is a bit of a question mark, which would free up $6M. Right now the rotation is McClanahan/Manning/Anglin/Little/5th starter. Asa Lacy has the inside track but Jack Leiter is probably ready and Andy Aparicio is knocking on the door.

As for the 8 bullpen spots, De La Cruz, Alvarado, Hendriks, Casey, Ashby, Godwin have 6 of them nailed down. I like Hayden Johns as #7, leaving either an acquisition or someone from the Austin Vernon/Luke Little/DL Hall/Nick Frasso group. Might also try and re-sign Ben Bowden.

As the bats go, all the current starters (counting Casas at 1B) + Patrick Bailey + Nick Gonzales look set, so that's 12 spots. Jhon Diaz is ready but Bramdon Perez certainly has earned the right to the backup OF spot as well. There could be a trade in here somewhere.

November 9: Traded 26-year-old minor league reliever Jimmy Lewis to the Houston Astros, getting 23-year-old minor league closer Mike Hamlin in return.

Lewis was eligible to be a minor league free agent and didn't want to re-sign, so off to Houston he goes for 2025 draftee Hamlin who's an interesting guy, a heavy groundballer with great movement. If he get his control from his current 40 to his potential 50 he could be useful. I wouldn't be shocked to see Lewis in Houston's rotation next year, they had a terrible year this past season.

Some big news:



Mac joins Keibert Ruiz and Vidal Brujan as key pieces extended through 2029. It's only buying out one free agent year but I don't like giving contracts longer than 3 years to pitchers.

In the least-surprising news of the offseason:



What a way to go out as a Ray, winning the pitching triple crown, the Cy Young and his 3rd World Series. It's been a great ride, Tyler Glasnow, and best of luck to you with your new team (unless it's in the AL East).

November 29: Non-tendered P Mitchell White and 1B Alec Bohm; added P Jack Leiter and OF Julio Cedillo to the 40-man roster.

White was going to get $6M in arbitration, which is way too much to pay a long reliever. Bohm lost his job last year so no surprise there. Brandon Marsh showed no interest in a contract extension beyond this season, so Cedillo should be our CF of the future. He hit 348/404/466 as a 21-year-old at Durham last year and has more power than the 2 HR he hit. He'll make an ideal #9 hitter to slot in for Marsh and he's a 70 CF.

December 8:

Texas Rangers: Signed free agent RF Dylan Carlson to a 4-year contract worth a total of $93,200,000.
Milwaukee Brewers: Signed free agent 3B Nolan Arenado to a 3-year contract worth a total of $56,400,000.

The first two big free agents sign. I remember a few years ago the Cards offered me Carlson for Ronaldo Hernandez and I turned them down because Carlson was coming off a down year and he hadn't hit lefties well. Probably a mistake in retrospect but I did end up getting Jack Leiter as part of a Hernandez deal and could use the pitching more than another OF bat these days. I tried trading for Arenado near the deadline last year as a rental but he exercised his 10/5 rights, I was going to put him at 3B (and for once have great D there), move Tork to 1B and make Hiura the DH. Turned out we won the WS anyway so no regrets there.

December 9:

Well I really didn't want to see this:



Shades of David Price, although he was traded first. So we're going to face him up to 6 times next season, yipee! It'll be interesting to see how long he maintains this level given that he's already 33 and has a little bit of an injury history which is why I was never going to extend him long-term this time. At least he didn't go to Baltimore. And we do get a 1st round comp pick of course.

December 14: Traded LHP Luke Little to the Arizona Diamondbacks for LHP Mike Bayley; activated P Dean Christidis from the 60-day IL, designated P Austin Vernon for assignment and placed him on waivers.

Some moves around the fringes of the pitching staff but I'm excited to get Bayley, who pitched briefly for the D-backs last year and was the 14th overall pick in 2024. Here are his details, and he stands a very good chance of making the team next year:



Opted for Christidis over Vernon on the 40-man, especially considering how horrible Vernon was in his September callup.

December 15: Cubs sign Austin Hays to a 6/78 deal. Glad he's gone off Baltimore.

December 16: Kansas City claimed Auston Vernon on waivers. Good luck with him, they had brief success with claiming Drew Strotman a couple of years back before he fell off a cliff.

[Art Deco]

December 17: The Red Sox signed Chris Paddack to a 2/21 deal, so they're trying to bring back the 2022-2023 Rays rotation.

Also, the Mets acquired Rafael Devers from the Reds for a couple of prospects as Cincinnati offloads that big contract. Devers dropped from 4.8 to 3.3 WAR last season.prui

December 18: The Cubs continue to be aggressive in signing free agents by inking C Cal Raleigh, he of the 61 HR and 200 RBI over the last 2 years with Atlanta, to a 7/159 deal.

December 19: Meet our new scouting discovery, the oldest-looking 15-year-old I've ever seen:



The Greg Oden of baseball, I guess. I sense some kind of #AgeGate scandal brewing here.

December 22:

Traded 27-year-old minor league starting pitcher Dean Christidis to the Los Angeles Dodgers, getting 24-year-old minor league reliever Magdiel Cotto in return.
Placed SP Cole Patten on the 40-man roster.

Traded 26-year-old minor league left fielder Stanley Rosario to the Los Angeles Dodgers, getting 25-year-old minor league closer Travis Luensmann in return.
Placed RP Tyler Gough on the 40-man roster.

Lost C Noah Cardenas in the Rule 5 Draft to the Boston Red Sox.

The Rule 5 shuffle, I wanted to protect Gough and Patten, the latter of whom was rated the top available player in the Rule 5 pool. So I saw Christidis and Rosario as the two weakest links and made a couple of deals with the Dodgers. Cotto will be a middle reliever in the bigs if he's lucky, while Luensmann is more intriguing but they're both longshots. Gough has 70 current/75 potential stuff and is too good an arm to lose while Patten is extremely polished and should be pitching in the bigs right now. Sadly Noah Cardenas is gone, his versatility will be missed at Durham as he was a solid C and 3B but didn't have a real path to MLB. He joins the parade of ex-Rays in Beantown this winter.

December 31: The Angels sign a couple of former Rays, last year's flop 1B Lewin Diaz for 1-year, $8.2M and Anthony Banda for 1-year, $6.7M. Former Cub 2B Nico Hoerner inked a 6/36.7 deal with St. Louis.

January 13: The Miami Roughnecks signed Ben Bowden to a 1-year deal for $3M. Was considering re-signing him, but saw that his stuff dropped to 50 and he's in his 30s so yeah, thanks for the 2nd half of last season, enjoy your ring and good luck in Miami.

Also, Miguel Cabrera was elected to the Hall of Fame with 96.6% of the vote in his first year of eligibility, the only player enshrined this year. Robinson Cano, also in his first year, received a nice 69% of the vote so look for him to be inducted next year.

January 14: After trading away one big contract for a 3B (Rafael Devers) the Reds went out and signed Nolan Jones to a 5/94 deal to replace him. SMH.

January 17: In what can only be viewed as a science experiment, the Rockies signed Griffin Canning and his 30 movement to pitch in Coors Field. They're going to have to double the budget for baseballs.

January 24: Mitchell White signed a 1-year, $3.6M deal with the Cubs.

January 31: Mitch Keller, remember him? Blew his arm out late in the 2025 season, was non-tendered, signed to a 2-year deal by the Cubs even though he missed 2026? Anyway, the Cubs dealt him to Kansas City so a good chance we see him this year.

Feburary 2: Psst...hey guys, I think we solved our 1B problem:



So in the biggest trade I've made since 2024's Walker Buehler for Chris Paddack & Max Fried deal, we have acquired the best 1B in baseball, a guy coming off seasons of 43, 50 and 60 HRs. It all started when I shopped some guys around, including the two who figured into this deal, Nick Frasso and Bramdon Perez, and I saw that rebuilding Houston was shopping Alvarez and his $23.6M contract. So one thing led to another, and not only did I pick up Alvarez, but Houston is picking up $7.1M of his contract per season which means we're only paying him $16.5M a season. He's signed through 2030 and he's only 29, so I don't think there's much risk here. We had $25M burning a hole in our pockets this offseason, so it was quite affordable for us and with all the contracts coming off the board after this season we'll have plenty of room to pay him. In a way this is kind of Wander Franco insurance. The way I look at it is this: we've won 3 World Series with a SS who hits like a 1B and a 1B who hits like a SS, so we can win one with a 1B who hits like a 1B and a SS who hits like a SS. I'm still not ruling out signing Wander but there's no doubt he's looking at the one of the largest contracts in the history of baseball as a free agent of his ability at age 26 next season so I have to be realistic, too. And for one glorious year at least we'll have Alvarez driving in Wander in what should be a record-setting offense. I mean look at this lineup: 2B Brujan, SS Franco, 1B Alvarez, DH Torkelson, RF Fabian, LF Bishop, C Ruiz, 3B Hiura, CF Marsh. Yes, Keibert will drop out of the 3-hole where in retrospect he was a bit miscast (hit into too many DPs with Wander and Brujan on ahead of him) and hopefully he doesn't pout about it. As for the departed, Frasso has big-league stuff but dropped off a bit last year and was way down the pecking order. Bramdon deserves a shot at playing every day after being one of the best backup OFs in MLB last season and should hit 280 with 25-30 HR playing regularly for Houston. Jhon Diaz will slide into his role this season without much dropoff. And Powell is nobody special, 45 potential across the board as a starter. Now look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair:



Update: Looking at Houston's team page with their expected/projected lineup and rotation, they have Frasso as a starter where he'll join Jimmy Lewis in their rotation from that earlier deal, and Bramdon is penciled in as the DH hitting cleanup. Gonna be fun to watch how these guys do next season.

February 12: Hello, Columbus:



The logo:



Spring Training update: Nothing too exciting to report. The only injury of significance was Aaron Ashby going on the IL with a 2-week dead arm injury. He should only miss a week of the regular season.

[Art Deco]

Not really any surprises, here's the OD roster:

C: K.Ruiz, Bailey
1B: Y.Alvarez
2B: Brujan
SS: Franco
3B: Hiura
IF: Casas, N.Gonzales
LF: Bishop
CF: Marsh
RF: Fabian
OF: J.Diaz
DH: Torkelson

SP: McClanahan, Manning, Anglin, C.Little, Lacy
MR: Bayley, Patten, Johns, Casey, Godwin

SU: Alvarado, Hendriks
CL: De La Cruz

Cole Patten made the roster with Ashby on the IL, so it's 5 RHP/3 LHP in the pen. The pen is kind of inexperienced and Bayley was wild in ST, so we'll see how that goes.

BNN's preseason predictions have us at 96-66, winning the division by 3 over Baltimore. Christian Little and Mack Anglin are projected to be among the top 10 pitchers.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: Opening day at the Trop and the Rays offense took a while to get going in 2027 but they got going just enough to pull out a 4-3 come-from-behind walkoff win against the Pirates. Shane McClanahan got the nod for his first OD start and pitched decently but left trailing 3-0, going 6 7 3 2 1 7. Hayden Johns pitched a 1-2-3 7th, Liam Hendriks looked good in the 8th with a pair of Ks and Jasseel De La Cruz struck out the side in a perfect 9th and ended up with the win. Brennan Malone shut them out through 6 but in the 7th Judson Fabian reached on an error, Spencer Torkelson walked, and Hunter Bishop delivered with a majestic 3-run shot to the back of the RF stands to tie the game. And in the 9th the Fabian/Tork combo got on base again with a walk and a single to lead off. Bishop whiffed and Keibert Ruiz hit into a fielder's choice sending Fabian to 3rd, bringing up Keston Hiura who beat out an infield single to score Fabian and let the Rays walk it off. Yordan Alvarez had a debut to forget, going 0-4 with 2 strikeouts.

Elsewhere Tyler Glasnow made his Red Sox debut and went 6 8 4 4 1 8 but got the win when Boston held on to beat Toronto 8-7. And Milwaukee's Jose Urquidy pitched an opening day no-hitter against the Cubs, with 1 walk, 9 Ks and on only 98 pitches, so a Maddux to boot. It was the second opening day no-hitter in history, only Bob Feller in 1940 had achieved the feat. Meanwhile it wasn't a good look for this winter's biggest spenders, who added Cal Raleigh, Austin Riley, Franklin Barreto and their starter today, Kenta Maeda (who did pitch well in the loss).

Game 2: The Pirates literally handed the Rays a 6-2 win today as they rode 3-run innings in the 4th and 6th to the victory thanks to sloppy Pirate fielding and wild Pirate pitching. Logan Gilbert was keeping the Rays in check until the 4th when with 1 out Spencer Torkelson reached on an Ivan Johnson error, went to third on a Hunter Bishop single, and after Keibert Ruiz popped out, Xander Bogaerts threw away Keston Hiura's grounder for the 2nd error of the inning allowing Tork to score, and then Brandon Marsh hit a 2-run single to make it 3-1. And the Rays scored 3 more runs in the 6th after there were two out and nobody on. Gilbert walked Ruiz, former Ray Ryne Stanek came on and walked Hiura, Marsh and Vidal Brujan, forcing in a run, and then Wander Franco singled in a pair. Matt Manning started and pitched well, if a bit wild, going 6 4 1 1 4 6 on 103 pitches. With a 6-1 lead, Cole Patten got to make his MLB debut and it did not go well, allowing hits to all 3 batters he faced but getting one out when a runner was thrown out at the plate. Evan Godwin relieved him and wasn't much better, getting only one out and putting two more on to load the bases with 2 out for 2025 Rays flop Renato Nunez. Steven Casey came in and whiffed Nunez on 3 pitches and then followed that by striking out the side in a 1-2-3 8th. Liam Hendriks had a scoreless 9th to finish it off. Yordan Alvarez remains in search of his first Rays hit, taking the collar again at 0-4 and leaving 5 on base including 2 on in the 3rd. The offense only had 5 hits today, but it was enough to go to 2-0.

Former Rays note: Nick Frasso was excellent today in his Astros debut, going 7 3 0 0 3 5 and picking up the win over the Angels. Bramdon Perez backed him with 2-4 and an RBI and is 5-12 so far as an Astro.

Game 3: The bats came out to play today as the Rays swept the opening series from the Pirates with a 7-2 win. Vidal Brujan set the tone by leading off the game with a triple, scored on a Wander single, Wander scored on a Hunter Bishop single and Keibert Ruiz hit a sac fly to make it 3-0 in the 1st. They then tacked on 3 more in the 3rd thanks to a Judson Fabian RBI double and Spencer Torkelson's 1st homer of the year, a 2-run shot. All these runs made life simpler for Mack Anglin, who wasn't at his best but was good enough to pitch into the 7th going 6.1 8 2 2 2 5. Evan Godwin got him out of the 7th with a scoreless inning and Hayden Johns retired the final 5 batters with 3 whiffs. Wander added a solo homer in the 7th, his 1st of the year as well. Yordan Alvarez is still looking for his first Rays hit but did walk and score twice in his first two trips.

Team record: 3-0. Next up: 3 at home vs the Yankees.

Former Rays note: Jimmy Lewis pitched alright in his Houston debut, going 5.1 2 1 1 4 4 in a game Houston would in 14 innings 4-3 over the Angels.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: It was a rough season debut for Christian Little, while the rough Rays debut continues for Yordan Alvarez as the Rays fell 6-3 to the Yankees for their first loss of 2027. Little struggled mightily, and although he got out of the 1st with a couple men on he had no such luck in the 2nd, yielding a 3-run HR to Sammy Siani as part of a 4-run Yankee inning. He loaded the bases again in the 3rd, got out of that, but had to be relieved with 2 out in the 4th. He ended up throwing 98 pitches going 3.2 7 4 4 3 5. Mike Bayley made his Rays debut relieving Little, and looked good with 5 whiffs (and 0 walks) in 2 1/3 but he gave up a solo homer to the same-handed Chase Davis after the Rays had pulled to within 4-3. Steven Casey allowed a run in his inning while Jose Alvarado made his season debut with a 1-2-3 2K 8th and Jasseel De La Cruz had a 1-2-3 9th. Speaking of the 9th, this is where Alvarez's woes continued as he came to the plate with the bases loaded and 2 out with a chance to win it or at least cut the lead, but he grounded to 1st, capping an 0-5 day and an 0-15 start to the season. Wander Franco was the offensive star, going 3-5 with 2 RBI triples but in both cases nobody drove him in, and Spencer Torkelson had an RBI groundout. With the win, the Yankees now match the Rays' 3-1 start.

The Yankees just signed Anthony Rizzo to a 1-year, $7.3M contract. We'll see if he's in the lineup tonight.

Game 2: Well it was virtually an identical game to last night's as the Yankees beat the Rays 6-2. Just like yesterday the Yankees scored 4 in the 2nd with Sammy Siani delivering the big blow (a 2-run double), they tacked on a couple of single runs later, and Yordan Alvarez made the final out with men on in the 9th (only 2 though this time). Asa Lacy was hit hard in the 2nd, but settled down to at least give them 6 innings going 6 8 5 5 3 4. Cole Patten pitched the final three, allowing a run with 2 out in the 9th on a wild pitch. The offense could never get much going with the only runs coming on Hunter Bishop's 2nd HR of the year in the 4th and a Spencer Torkelson RBI single in the 8th. Vidal Brujan had 3 hits tonight, including 2 doubles which gives him 4 of those and triple on the year but his 5 0 3 0 line in the box score shows that the offense couldn't get him home. Alvarez finally did get his first Rays hit in the 6th, a single to right, after hearing some boos earlier in the game. He also reached on an HBP. Anthony Rizzo did in fact make his Yankee debut and came through with an RBI single for the 4th run in that decisive 2nd inning. The Yankees now move ahead of the Rays by a game in the standings.

Game 3: Shane McClanahan was dominant and Triston Casas had a monster game in his first action of 2027 as the Rays salvaged the 3rd game of this series with a 6-1 win. Mac had a little early trouble, allowing a 1st inning run, but found his groove after that and ended up 7 4 1 1 2 9 in picking up his 1st win of the year. And the offense came through in a big way in the 4th, scoring 5 times and chasing Gerrit Cole. Hunter Bishop's RBI double kicked off the scoring and tied the game, then Jhon Diaz (also making his first 2027 appearance) singled in a run and Casas followed with a 3-run blast into the RF stands to break it open. Casas added an RBI double in the 8th to cap a 3-4, 4 RBI game. Evan Godwin had a quick 9-pitch 1-2-3 8th, and after he stayed on and put two men on with one out, Jasseel De La Cruz got the final two outs to finish the game. In the Yordan Alvarez watch, he was 0-4 again today and is 1-23 for the season. But they're 4-2 despite his struggles now.

Team record: 4-2. Next up: An off-day followed by a road trip beginning in Texas with 3 against the Rangers.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: It was not a great performance in any of the phases of the game by the Rays tonight as they dropped their 2027 road opener to Texas 5-1. Matt Manning gave up a 1st inning HR to Adrian Ramos (whom the Rays never did retire tonight) and then was dinged for 4 runs in the 4th with the big hit coming from former teammate Heston Kjerstad, a 2-run double. Manning powered through and ended up 6 7 5 4 1 4 and we got a couple of scoreless innings from Hayden Johns against his old team. The offense was fairly feeble tonight as Hans Crouse was mowing them down, including striking out the side in the 1st. Crouse ended up 6.1 5 1 1 0 7 with the only run scoring after Yordan Alvarez and Spencer Torkelson singled and Keibert Ruiz had an RBI fielder's choice. At least Alvarez showed some signs of life with 2 singles and an HBP in 4 plate appearances but the rest of the team didn't.

April 3: Activated P Aaron Ashby from the 15-day IL, optioned P Cole Patten to AAA Durham.

Back to balance in the bullpen with 4 lefties and 4 righties with the return of Ashby. With Durham not playing for almost 2 more weeks, he's coming right back to the MLB roster.

Game 2: After dropping 3 of 4 the Rays got back in the win column with a thorough 9-0 thrashing of the Rangers in which they banged out 19 hits. Judson Fabian, Hunter Bishop and Triston Casas had RBI singles in a 3-run 1st inning and they never looked back. Bishop later added HR #3, a 2-run shot in the 5th as part of a 3-run inning that put the game away and Brandon Marsh tied the AL single-game record by hitting 4 doubles. Spencer Torkelson drove in a pair, and Wander and Yordan Alvarez each drove in a run, Alvarez's first as a Ray. Mack Anglin battled baserunners at times (including the bases loaded in the 2nd) but powered through it and went 6 5 0 0 2 8 on 105 pitches to go to 2-0. Steven Casey, Mike Bayley and Aaron Ashby each pitched a scoreless inning in relief.

Game 3: In a matchup of two of the best young pitchers in baseball, Christian Little got the better of Wil Diaz in a 4-1 Rays win. Little was outstanding, even though it wasn't his usual strikeout fest, going 7 4 1 1 0 6. The business end of the bullpen was excellent with Jose Alvarado whiffing 2 in a scoreless inning and Jasseel De La Cruz striking out 3 in his for save #1 this season. He has 9 whiffs in 3 2/3 innings so far this year. Diaz held the Rays' bats in check until the 4th, retiring the first 11, until Yordan Alvarez singled, scored on Judson Fabian's triple, and then Fabian scored on Spencer Torkelson's double. And in the 8th it finally happened. With Vidal Brujan on base, Alvarez went the opposite way and took Diaz into the LF seats for his first Rays HR in game #9.

Team record: 6-3. Next up: 3 games in Boston, including a date tomorrow night with Mr. Tyler Glasnow.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: Hugs and handshakes were all around as the Rays reunited with their longtime ace Tyler Glasnow, now wearing the uniform of the enemy, and he treated his old teammates rudely in the beginning by not allowing a hit until the 5th inning. But in the end he was outdueled by the Rays' 5th starter Asa Lacy in what ended up a 6-1 Tampa Bay victory. While Glasnow was piling up the strikeouts (he ended up with 10 in 7 innings), Lacy was getting the ground balls - 10, in total - and went 6 4 1 1 1 2 but left trailing 1-0 after 6 as he tweaked a hamstring (diagnosis is a mild strain, DtD for a week) and had to leave. But the Rays had his back in the 7th, finally breaking through against Glasnow. Judson Fabian and Hunter Bishop doubled to tie the game, and then Boston C Pierson Gibis threw away a squibber in front of the plate hit by Keibert Ruiz, allowing Bishop to score. And later in the inning Glasnow uncorked a wild pitch which brought Ruiz home. Evan Godwin pitched a scoreless 7th, and then the Rays broke it open off Keone Kela in the 9th on a 3-run shot from Triston Casas (#2), getting the start over Hiura against a tough righty. Casas has picked up where left off from the postseason and has been extremely productive in his 3 starts, going 5-12 with 2 HR and 8 RBI, second on the team only to Bishop's 3 HR and 10 RBI. Godwin got the first out in the 8th and Liam Hendriks the last two. With the big lead, Mike Bayley came on and made things interesting, loading the bases with 2 out before Jasseel De La Cruz had to come in and induce a grounder from Abraham Toro to end the game and get save #2, with Lacy picking up the win. Although they moved past Boston with the win, they still trail the red-hot Yankees, who are now 8-2 with a win over Baltimore. The Orioles are off to a brutal start at 2-8 and lost Druw Jones to injury for a month.

Game 2: Well it turned out the former Rays pitcher they needed to worry about was Chris Paddack, not Tyler Glasnow. The righty no-hit them for 7 innings before losing it on a Judson Fabian infield single leading off the 8th as the Red Sox beat the Rays 3-1. Paddack was extremely efficient, or the Rays extremely impatient, or both as he went 8 1 1 1 2 4 on only 87 pitches. After Fabian's single, Spencer Torkeson walked and Fabian moved up to 3rd on a fly ball and scored on Keibert Ruiz's ground ball for the lone run. Boston got all 3 of its runs with 2 out in the 5th off Shane McClanhan, who was going well until he gave up a 2-run triple to Rodolfo Fernandez followed by a Yoan Moncada RBI single and he ended up 6 5 3 3 1 7, not bad but not nearly good enough tonight. Hayden Johns had 2 scoreless innings with 3 whiffs in relief. The Rays had a chance to tie in the 9th when Vidal Brujan singled with one out, but Wander grounded into a force and Yordan Alvarez, who could have tied it with one swing of the bat didn't with a popup to 2nd.

Game 3: The Rays jumped all over Boston pitching for 8 runs in the first 3 innings on their way to a 12-6 win over the Red Sox. That man again, Triston Casas, took advantage of another start to club a 2-run HR in the 2nd that put the Rays up 3-2 to stay as he now has 3 HR and 10 RBI in only 16 AB. He's earning his way into the heavy side of a platoon with Keston Hiura (who hasn't hit at all this season) at 3B. Also having a nice day was Yordan Alvarez, 2-3 with 3 RBI and a pair of walks. He had a key RBI double in the 2nd as well. In fact everyone in the lineup had at least one hit, including Nick Gonzales who pinch-hit in the 9th. Spencer Torkelson added a 3-run HR onto Lansdowne Street, #2 for him. Matt Manning started and gave up 2 runs in the 1st but settled down from there until the 6th, when he gave up a couple more after the game was out of hand. He improves to 2-1 off a 6 7 4 4 2 6 outing. Steven Casey pitched a perfect 2K 7th and Aaron Ashby pitched the final 2 innings allowing a 2-run Ryan Mountcastle homer and although he was only recently back off the DL I didn't think I was pushing him too much considering he threw a total of 21 pitches but as the game ended he was found to have biceps tendinitis and will miss 2 months.

Team record: 8-4. Next up: 4 games in Cleveland.

[Art Deco]

April 8: Placed P Aaron Ashby on the 60-day IL with biceps tendinitis, recalled P Christian Chamberlain from AAA Durham.

This move gives us 2 open spots on the 40-man, not sure when or if we'll need them but good to have flexibility-wise. Unlike last time when Patten was up, I'm going with the lefty Chamberlain to give us 4/4 L/R balance in the pen.

Game 1: It was a tense and tight pitchers' duel between Mack Anglin and Cleveland's Matt Thompson that went 1-1 into the 9th before the Rays came away with a 2-1 win. The only damage against Anglin was a 2-out run which scored on a wild pitch in the first, and he shut Cleveland down for the next 7 after that, ending 7.2 7 1 1 0 4 as they swung quite a bit early in the count. Meanwhile, Wander Franco's 2nd HR of the year (the second of his 3 hits) in the 3rd accounted for lone Rays run going into the 9th. Jose Alvarado got the final out for Anglin after he gave up a 2-out double and the Rays made him a winner in the 9th when Spencer Torkelson led off with his 2nd double of the game and scored on a Keibert Ruiz single. With lefties due up in the 9th Alvarado stayed on and pitched around a 1-out Tyreque Reed double to preserve the win. Anglin, meanwhile, has been excellent in his first 3 starts and now sports a 1.35 ERA through 20 innings with a 4/17 BB/K ratio.

Game 2: Power was the word of the day in the Rays' 10-3 win over Cleveland. Power as in 5 Rays HRs and power as in the power pitching of Christian Little, who whiffed 11 Cleveland batters in 5 2/3 innings. Little gave up a Gerardo Perdomo homer in the first to give Cleveland a brief 1-0 lead but the hitters had other ideas in the top of the 2nd. Spencer Torkelson went deep to tie it, Keibert Ruiz blasted a 2-run shot, and - you guessed it - Triston Casas went back-to-back with Keibert with his 4th of the year and it was quickly 4-1. And in the 3rd Tork went yard again with a man on to make it 6-1, giving him 4 on the year. They kept pouring it on as Keibert went deep again, giving him his first 2 homers of the year and a 4-RBI night. The 10th run came on a Yordan Alvarez sac fly but he was 0-4 on the night and continues to struggle, down to 148/226/222 in 54 AB this year. Our 1B jinx is approaching drummer-in-Spinal-Tap or Defense-Against-The-Dark-Arts-professor levels if we've even broken Yordan Alvarez. Anyway on the mound Little ended up 5.2 7 2 2 0 11 and did make it briefly interesting in the 6th when he left with the bases loaded, 2 out and the score at 8-2. Evan Godwin got Bobby Bradley on a foul pop to end that threat and departed the game when the lead was extended to 10-2. Christian Chamberlain made his season debut and looked much better than in his brief appearances last year, with 2 perfect innings and 3 Ks. Hayden Johns allowed a run in the 9th but it was unearned due to a 2-out Casas error. Speaking of Casas, he's now 10-23 with 4 HR and 12 RBI and most impressively has only struck out 3 times, this being a guy who's whiffed 280 times in 854 ABs in his career.

Game 3: The Rays beat Cleveland by the absurd score of 24-9 today, with Hunter Bishop's grand slam in the 1st and Spencer Torkelson's in the 5th the big blows. The Rays got 5 in the first off Cleveland ace Kantaro Yokoyama, then exploded for 10 in the 5th and scored 9 more runs after that. I'm just going to append the Rays hitting section of the box score rather than go into any more detail. You might think from that score that Asa Lacy pitched poorly but he didn't, going 6.1 7 3 3 0 4 with the final run of his allowed to score by Mike Bayley. No, it was Bayley, Hayden Johns and Christian Chamberlain that let Cleveland score 6 more runs in the late innings with none of them pitching well. Anyway, here are the details of the offensive damage:



What I want to know is how do the Rays score 24 runs, Vidal Brujan plays the whole game with 3 hits, and he doesn't score a run? (He was picked off in the first and Wander did erase him on a force play in another inning, but still)

Game 4: It's never easy to sweep a 4-game series, let alone one on the road, but that's what the Rays did in a 7-5 win over Cleveland today. Trailing 3-0 in the 5th against Luis Castillo they rallied for 3 to tie it and then 4 more in the 6th after a Cleveland error with two out and nobody on, before withstanding a Cleveland rally in the 9th. Triston Casas (who else?) kick-started the comeback with his 5th HR and later in the 5th Vidal Brujan's 2-run single tied it up. And in the 6th former Ray Jake Bauers booted Patrick Bailey's grounder with two out and nobody on and they went single-double-single-single-single to score 4 times with Brandon Marsh's 2-run double and RBI singles from Brujan and Yordan Alvarez. Shane McClanahan started and put them in an early hole with a couple of HRs allowed but settled down to go 6 6 3 3 2 7 and go to 2-1. Steven Casey pitched a 1-2-3 7th but Evan Godwin gave up a HR to cut it to 7-4 in the 8th. Jose Alvarado came in for the save with lefties due up but struggled, allowing a hit and 2 walks and another run to make it 7-5 but got the final out with the tying runs on base for his first save of the season. But despite winning 5 straight and going to 12-4 the Yankees swept their series in Oakland and they're still a game behind the 13-3 boys from the Bronx.

Team record: 12-4. Next up: 3 at home vs Houston with old friend Nick Frasso scheduled to start the third game.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: The Rays shut out Houston in what was the probably the most ridiculous and ugliest shutout I've seen. The Astros had 12 hits and 4 walks but couldn't score a run against Matt Manning and 3 Rays relievers. Four of those baserunners were erased on the bases with 3 double plays and Hunter Bishop gunning down a runner at home, but still it was crazy. Fittingly the game ended with Eloy Jimenez looking at a called third strike with the bases loaded. By then it was 7-0 Rays, although for most of the duration they nursed a 1-0 lead before getting 3 each in the 7th and 8th. Manning went 6 8 0 0 2 6 and seemed to either get the DP or key strikeout when he needed it while Evan Godwin, Steven Casey and Mike Bayley went 3 4 0 0 2 3 combined. Vidal Brujan led off the game with his 1st HR of the year but the offense dried up from there until the 7th. After Keibert Ruiz and Triston Casas singled, Brujan's fielder's choice scored Ruiz and then singles from Wander Franco and Yordan Alvarez made it 4-0. In the 8th Bishop doubled and scored on two wild pitches and a few batters later Casas continued his unconscious hot streak with a 2-run HR, #6 in 31 AB and his 3 hits raised his average to .452. Alvarez finally made it over the Mendoza Line with 2 hits and a walk, he's been getting on base lately but still stuck on 1 HR. And on a night where everything went their way, the Yankees lost in Texas so they're now tied atop the division at 13-4.

April 13: Optioned OF Jhon Diaz to AAA Durham, recalled IF Nick Loftin from AAA Durham.

This is just a one-day thing as Wander left last night's game with a sore knee that will only nag him for one more day, and Vidal Brujan is listed as tired, so rather than risk either we'll let Nick Gonzales and Loftin man the keystone tonight.

Game 2: The offense was quiet but the pitching kept them in it and Brandon Marsh's 3-run walk-off HR in the bottom of the 10th ultimately gave the Rays a 5-2 win over Houston extending their win streak to 7 games. It didn't look like the offense would be quiet after scoring in the 1st (on a Judson Fabian RBI single) and in the 3rd (on Yordan Alvarez's 1st HR as a Ray at the Trop and 2nd of the season, a mammoth blast that reached the back of the rays tank), but they sat on 2 runs and 3 hits all the way until the 10th inning. Mack Anglin started and looked very good for the 4th start out of 4 this year, going 7 6 2 2 0 7 and only getting dinged for solo HRs by Will Benson in the 5th and Eloy Jimenez in the 6th. Jose Alvarado pitched a scoreless 8th and Jasseel De La Cruz quickly got through the 9th so he pitched the 10th as well and got his second win of the year thanks to Marsh. With one out in the bottom of the 10th, Triston Casas (surprisingly held hitless, a phrase I never thought I'd use) walked, Nick Loftin singled and then Marsh went the other way into the LF seats off Junior Fernandez and sent the Trop into a frenzy. And Texas beat the Yankees again so the Rays are now in sole possession of first in the AL East.

April 14: Optioned IF Nick Loftin to AAA Durham, recalled OF Jhon Diaz from AAA Durham.

Loftin doesn't come up often, but when he does he hits as he had a key hit in front of Brandon Marsh's walk-off HR last night. Durham's season finally starts tomorrow.

Game 3: Another low-scoring game, another walk-off HR in extras to beat Houston, this time 2-1 in 12 innings on Vidal Brujan's 2nd HR in 3 days leading off the inning. Christian Little was electric as he often is, not allowing an Astros hit until the 5th and ending up 6 2 0 0 1 9. The expected matchup with traded Ray Nick Frasso didn't really materialize as Frasso had to leave after two batters in the 1st with a blister. Frasso did walk Brujan to lead off the game, and he scored on a Yordan Alvarez double off another one-time Ray farmhand, Taj Braldey. Bradley was a Rays prospect back in the early part of the decade and was dealt to Minnesota in December 2021 as part of the Hunter Renfroe-for-Max Kepler deal. 1-0 is where we stayed most of the game, with Liam Hendriks and Jose Alvarado pitching scoreless innings to bring it to the 9th and for Jasseel De La Cruz to close out. But with one out, yet another Ray who was part of the Alvarez deal, Bramdon Perez, tripled and scored on Alex Bregman's sac fly. So off to extras we went. The Rays had a golden chance to win in the 10th with runners on first and third and 1 out, but Spencer Torkelson and Triston Casas (0-5 with 4 whiffs, welcome back to Earth) struck out. Mike Bayley stymied the Astros in the 10th and 11th, but Hayden Johns gave up a single and a double with nobody out but managed to get out of that jam with a short grounder and two strikeouts (of lefties, who he's had some trouble with). This set the stage for Brujan and his leadoff walk-off HR to make it 8 straight for the Rays. Texas completed the sweep of the Yankees with 8 shutout innings from Hans Crouse, so the lead is now 2 games.

Team record: 15-4. Next up: An off-day followed by a weekend home series against Toronto.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: The Rays were due for a bad game, and a bad game is what they had as the 8-game winning streak was snapped in a 7-4 loss to Toronto. The scoreline is deceiving as the Jays battered Asa Lacy for 6 runs in 2 1/3 innings and held a 6-0 lead until the 6th, when the Rays finally started chipping away at Spencer Schwellenbach. Judson Fabian (still looking for his first HR of the season) had a 2-run double, Wander Franco singled in a run in the 8th, and against the bullpen Brandon Marsh singled home a run in the 9th. They did have the tying run at the plate with 2 out in the 9th but Vidal Brujan flied to left. Lacy was horrible (2.1 7 6 6 1 0) and it would have been worse had Fabian not thrown a runner out at the plate. Hayden Johns and Christian Chamberlain were impressive in long relief, combining for 5 2/3 shutout innings, although Mike Bayley gave up a run in the 9th. Lacy's hold on the 5th starter job is tenuous with Jack Leiter lurking, although Leiter did not pitch that great in Durham's season opener last night so Lacy's safe for now.

Game 2: A frustrating night for the Rays as they had several men on in scoring position but couldn't get them home in a 3-2 loss to Toronto. Shane McClanahan wasn't at his best tonight, getting dinged for runs in the 1st, 3rd and 5th. The one in the 5th proved to be the winning run and it was the result of a batter reaching on Wander Franco's error and coming around to score on a Jorge Polanco double. Mac ended 5.2 7 3 2 3 8 and drops to 2-2, 3.23. The 2 Rays runs came courtesy of Spencer Torkelson's 6th HR of the year with a man aboard in the 4th but otherwise they left 9 on base with Vidal Brujan the biggest culprit going 0-5 with 5 LOB. Steven Casey, Evan Godwin and Liam Hendriks combined for 3 1/3 scoreless relief innings for what it was worth. The Yankees got a 3-run walkoff HR from Anthony Rizzo (remember him?) to beat Cincinnati again so we're back into a tie atop the AL East.

Game 3: A back-and-forth affair ended up in the Rays' favor but the 6-5 win over Toronto was somewhat costly. Jasseel De La Cruz took the ball for the 9th to preserve the lead but after getting an out, he walked Vlad Jr. on 4 pitches and had to leave the game with what turned out to be biceps tendinitis and he'll be out 4 weeks. Jose Alvarado came in and got the final two outs for save #2, and going forward it's going to be closer by committee. Brandon Marsh singled to lead off the 8th, stole second and scored on Vidal Brujan's single to break a 5-5 tie and give them the win. It was 5-2 Rays going into the 7th behind Matt Manning but he ran into a bit of trouble and was relieved by Liam Hendriks, who might have had his worst outing as a Ray, allowing 2 hits and 2 walks to allow Toronto to tie, and it could have been worse but Brandon Marsh threw out Jorge Polanco at home during the rally. Before that the Rays had broken a 2-2 tie on a solo HR from Triston Casas (maybe heating back up after a day off yesterday), #7, and a 2-run single from Yordan Alvarez who had a 3 RBI day with an earlier RBI groundout. Patrick Bailey's infield single scored the Rays' first run in the 2nd. Manning went 6.1 9 4 4 1 6 in not his greatest outing but Hendriks allowed the last 2 runs of his to score. Evan Godwin cleaned up Hendriks' mess in the 7th and pitched through the 8th in impressive fashion to pick up the win. The Yankees aren't going away, they won to stay tied with the Rays for the division lead.

Team record: 16-6. Next up: 4 games in Houston as we get the season series with the Astros out of the way early and Yordan Alvarez returns home (maybe that will inspire him to get going).

[Art Deco]

A pretty significant trade:



I love the headline, but we didn't sell Patrick Bailey to Seattle; instead we got Blake Money as part of a massive pitching haul. Bailey was a bit of a wasted asset as a backup catcher, he could be starting for 2/3 of the league and Keibert Ruiz is signed through 2029. So I started shopping him and I was intrigued by what he could bring. And he brought a lot. Sachais is the #59 prospect in baseball and Money #75, and Money's already been part of Seattle's rotation this year and has been successful. And Filby is their closer right now and he'll probably step right in for Jasseel De La Cruz. I'm leaning toward making Money the 5th starter and moving Asa Lacy to long relief, although I could go with Money there. Sachais will go to Durham and Nick Bitsko, whom the real-life Rays drafted in 2020, finally comes "home". Bitsko was kind of a just-for-kicks throw-in and he'll go to Montgomery. He's a minor league free agent at year's end. But yeah Money right now is 3-0 with a 2.96 ERA and 28 Ks in 24 innings for Seattle and has 75 stuff. His control is the question mark, making him the somewhat less rich man's Christian Little. Sachais has great stuff and fine control and our head scout Rob Metzler views him as a potential #2 starter. The only ding on Sachais is he's a bit longball-prone but pitching in the Trop should offset some of that. Filby had 9 saves and a 1.72 ERA in 47 innings with Minnesota and was acquired by Seattle in the Julio Rodriguez deal. He was getting the job done for the Mariners with 3 saves in 8 2/3 innings this year.

Money pitched yesterday so we won't activate him til later in the week. Filby goes in for De La Cruz and Carlos Perez is recalled from AAA Durham to back up Keibert. Our organizational catching depth is getting very thin so we'll have to do something about that (trade a pitcher?) in the near future. Catcher of the future Will Quintana is at A+ Charlotte this year and hopefully is ready by 2030.