The 2022 (and beyond) Tampa Bay Rays

[Art Deco]

Game 1: 1-2 L. LP-Bradley (4-4, 5.2 2 2 1 1 10). Taj was brilliant outside of a two-run homer allowed in the first which turned out to be enough to send a punchless Rays squad to defeat.

Game 2: 1-4 L. LP-Castillo (4-5, 5 4 3 2 2 8). Rays were dominated by Corbin Burnes and another fine start was wasted.

Transaction: Diego Cartaya was activated from his rehab assignment and Rene Pinto was optioned to Durham.

Game 3: 0-2 L. LP-Rasmussen (2-6, 6 6 2 2 2 5). Same s**t, different day as it's hard to win games no matter how good your pitching if you can't score any runs. Freddy Peralta shackled them today and showed why Milwaukee is now 42-15.

Team record: 28-30, now 4th in the AL East but mercifully only 2 games behind division-leading Boston. One of those teams in between is next up as the Yankees visit the Trop for 4 games.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: 5-2 W. WP-Gau (4-0). S-Fairbanks (10). Starter-Swanda (4.2 4 2 2 3 3). HR-Mead (11), Mears (6). Rays' scoring came on a pair of homers: Mead's 3-run jack in the 1st and Mears' 2-run shot in the 5th. Chris Gau continues to be a good-luck charm in the middle innings after winning 13 last season.

Trade time!



As hinted at previously Vaughn was going to be the odd man out when Josh Lowe came back, but Tork's injury kicked that can down the road until now as Tork was ready to come off the IL. In return for him (along with Colby White, a useful middle reliever but not much more) we get a power lefty in Ashby who can start as well as relieve. For now he'll go to the pen where he has an impressive 3/33 BB/K ratio in 16 IP.

Game 2: 4-8 L. LP-Ashby (0-1). Starter-McClanahan (4 7 3 2 2 6). Rays fought back to tie the game at 4 in the 7th only for brand new acquisition Aaron Ashby to crap the bed in his Tampa Bay debut, allowing 4 runs in the 8th. Wander was 2-4 with a double and 2 RBI.

Game 3: 6-0 W. WP-Bradley (5-4, 5 4 0 0 1 6). HR-Torkelson (12/16), Mead (12). Rays got the better of Jacob deGrom for once with Tork hitting a 2-run homer in the 2nd and Mead going deep with two men on in the 3rd. Taj was great and Aaron Ashby partially atoned for his debut by throwing 2 scoreless innings.

Game 4: 0-3 L. LP-Castillo (4-6, 6 9 3 3 0 5). Just when it seemed the Rays were scoring runs again with the lineup at full strength they go and lay an egg against Tyler Wells, who came into the game with a 7.84 ERA but threw 5 1/3 scoreless. They did have some opportunities to score but came up small with men on base, including a situation where they had the bases loaded with one out only for Diego Cartaya and Josh Mears to look at called third strikes. Cartaya struck out all four times up and the guy we thought was going to give us a big offensive upgrade at catcher and was our big offseason acquisition is currently hitting .167.

Team record: 30-32. Next up: We head out west for three against the Giants, who have a similar 29-32 record.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: 6-0 W. WP-Rasmussen (3-6, 7 3 0 0 1 1). HR-L.White (2). Ras was solid, Wander had a big RBI triple and Lonnie White put the game away with a late 3-run shot.

Game 2: 9-0 W. WP-Swanda (5-5, 7 7 0 0 0 6). HR-Albies (8). Albies' 3-run homered key a 4-run 3rd and Rays pitching was stingy again as the offense banged out 14 hits. Albies drove in 4 and Zach DeLoach was 2-4 with a double and 2 RBI.

Game 3: 2-3 L (11). LP-Scott (0-2). Starter-McClanahan (5.2 6 1 1 2 6). HR-Cartaya (4). Rays should have had the sweep but Fairbanks blew the save in the 9th with help from a Wander error. Former Rays stalwart Yandy Diaz singled in the tying run and then the Giants walked it off in the 11th.

Team record: 32-33, but only 1 1/2 back in AL East. Next up: Pitchers beware as we head to Coors Field for 3 games.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: 10-2 W. WP-Bradley (6-4, 6 3 1 1 1 7). HR-Franco 2 (15), Mears (7). Monster game from Wander, 4-5 with the two homers and 5 RBI, Mears drove in 3 and Marcell Ozuna was 4-5 with an RBI. Taj, who had been a bit homer-prone, handled Coors Field with alacrity.

Game 2: 6-3 W. WP-Castillo (5-6, 7 8 2 2 0 4). S-Fairbanks (11). Ozzie Albies was the star today, driving in 4 with a 2-run single and 2-run triple, the latter coming in the 9th when Colorado had pulled within 4-3. Once again Fairbanks loaded the bases in the 9th but still got the save (he sports a 1.94 WHIP).

Game 3: 9-10 L. LP-Ashby (0-2). Starter-Rasmussen (1.2 2 1 1 0 2). HR-Torkelson 2 (14/18), DeLoach (7). A remarkable game which saw the Rays once again blow a game late to keep them from sweeping, just as they did in San Fran the last series. They were up 8-2 in the 6th despite having to go with a bullpen game since Ras left in the 2nd with a mild oblique strain (he'll make his next start), and were still ahead 9-8 going into the 9th when Ashby faltered again since joining the club, giving up a 2-run walk-off homer to Zac Veen who completed the cycle with it. And not only did Veen cycle but so did our Zach DeLoach, the first time in MLB history two players had cycled in the same game. This was so notable that I made a detailed post to the main forum complete with the box score.

Team record: 34-34, 2 1/2 behind New York which swept their series with Washington. Next up: An off-day then we return home for 3 vs Minnesota.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: 2-3 L. LP-Fairbanks (1-3). Starter-McClanahan (7.1 4 1 1 0 7). Here we go again. Rays held a 2-1 lead from the 3rd until the 9th, when Fairbanks blew yet another save, his 4th of the year, and Minnesota scored twice in the 9th to steal the game. This marks the third time in five games the Rays have a lost a game with a blown lead in the 9th and they wasted Mac's best start of the season.

Game 2: 10-1 W. WP-Swanda (6-5, 8.1 4 1 1 3 7). HR-Schmitt (7), Mears (8). They bullpen-proofed this one by scoring 4 in the first and continuing to tack on while Swanda pitched his best game of the season. Schmitt and Mears had 3-run homers while Mead was 2-4 with 2 RBI.

Game 3: 1-3 L. LP-Hendriks (1-4). Starter-Bradley (6 4 0 0 4 4). This is truly getting absurd. It was a scoreless game until Marcell Ozuna singled in a run in the bottom of the 8th and this time we gave the ball to Liam Hendriks in the 9th. He got the first two out, gave up a double, a single to let Minnesota tie it and then served up a 2-run gopher ball to Byron Buxton and the Rays suffered another gut-punch defeat. If games ended after 8 innings the Rays would be on a 9-game win streak right now. To encapsulate how bad the bullpen has been when it matters (they actually have a 2.60 ERA overall) the Rays' Pythagorean record is 44-27 yet they're 35-36. A 9-game discrepancy is almost unheard of after only 71 games and they're 7-15 in one-run games. Not sure what to do here - Fairbanks and Hendriks are both highly-rated relievers; I suppose every so often you roll snake eyes five straight times.

Team record: 35-36, 2 1/2 back of New York which also dropped 2 of 3 but 4th in the division. Next up: We go to one of the other teams ahead of us, Toronto, for 3 games.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: 0-4 L. LP-Castillo (5-7, 5.2 7 4 4 2 6). Getting only five hits, none for extra bases, is not a recipe to win games.

Game 2: 6-3 W (12). WP-Moran (1-3). Starter-Rasmussen (5 4 0 0 4 3). HR-Mead 2 (14), Schmitt (8). Would you be surprised to hear that Pete Fairbanks blew another save, giving up a run in the 9th to send us to extras? No, no you wouldn't. Anyway they still won when Mead hit his 2nd homer of the game with a man on in the 12th and Schmitt followed with one as well. Mead finished with 4 RBI and is having a whale of a season at 320/371/545.

Game 3: 4-1 W. WP-McClanahan (6-2, 6.2 5 1 1 0 5). S-Fairbanks (12). HR-Albies (9). Mac is on quite the roll and now leads the AL in ERA at 2.83. Fairbanks actually saved this one despite putting two more men on to keep his ~2 WHIP intact.

Game 4: 4-10 L. LP-Swanda (6-6, 6 8 4 2 1 9). HR-J.Lowe (2), Torkelson (15/19). It was too much to ask of this team determined to hover around .500 to take 3 of 4 in this series and a 4-3 Jays lead in the 6th exploded into a 10-3 lead after Chris Gau couldn't get anyone out (5 runs in 1/3 inning) and Feyereisen gave up a slam with Gau's runners aboard.

Team record: 37-38, but still only 1 1/2 out of the division lead and the third wild card as parity reigns this year. Next up: Home for 3 against another team hovering around .500 as St. Louis is 38-37.

MLB News: Toronto starter Alek Manoah, who pitched against the Rays in the series opener, fractured his elbow in that game and is done for the season. Also Mets slugger Pete Alonso hit his 300th career homer.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: 5-6 L (13). LP-Ashby (0-3). Starter-Bradley (5 8 4 4 2 6). The Rays came back to tie this game in the 8th and the 9th, only to succumb in the 13th as if it's going to be a close game you know they're gonna lose. Wander had 4 hits and a steal in the loss.

Game 2: 1-4 L. LP-Castillo (5-8, 7.1 5 3 3 1 6). This was a 1-1 game until the 8th when Castillo put a couple of men on and Liam Hendriks gave up a 2-run triple with 2 out to former Ray Lars Nootbaar and a single to score him. The bats were stifled by another former Ray, Blake Snell who went 8 6 1 1 2 8 against them.

Game 3: 8-5 W. WP-Moran (2-2). S-Fairbanks (13). Starter-Rasmussen (2.1 3 4 4 5 3). HR-Mead (15), L.White (3). Looked like they'd be swept when Ras's terrible start helped put them down 5-3 but Mead's 2-run homer in the 6th (after his 2-run double in the 1st) tied it, and Lonnie White won it with a 3-run homer in the 8th. Fairbanks actually had a 1-2-3 inning:



Team record: 38-40, 2 1/2 back as usual. Next up: An off-day to travel to San Diego where we'll play 3 games.

[Art Deco]

Transaction: Casey Schmitt was involved in a bean-brawl in the last game against St. Louis and was suspended for 3 games. To take his place Brooks Lee will be called up from Durham. The former 13th overall pick in 2022 by the Angels will get the call for the first time; he hit .328 with 3.8 WAR last year at Durham but is only hitting .237 this year although he had gotten off to a miserable start.

Game 1: 6-1 W. WP-McClanahan (7-2, 6 2 1 1 2 7). HR-Torkelson (16/20). What a year Mac is having, he's only allowed more than three earned runs once in his 17 starts and exactly one run in each of his last four. Tork's 3-run homer in the 6th capped a 4-run inning that put them ahead to say and Wander banged out four hits while Mead was 3-4 with a ribbie.

Game 2: 6-2 W. WP-Swanda (7-6, 7 4 1 1 2 4). HR-J.Lowe (3), Cartaya (5), Torkelson (17/21). Speaking of pitchers on a roll, Swanda has only allowed 6 earned runs over his last 6 starts and a 4-run first capped by Lowe's 3-run blast sent them on their way as the Rays got back to .500.

Game 3: 12-1 W. WP-Bradley (7-4, 7 5 1 1 0 3). The Rays were circling the bases all day as they banged out 14 hits and drew 4 walks in scoring 12 and sweeping the Padres, their first series sweep since beating the White Sox April 13-15 and only their second this season as they moved above .500. Wander capped a ridiculous series, going 4-5 with 4 RBI and going 11-16 overall. Diego Cartaya has finally heated up with a 3-5, 2-RBI game and Brooks Lee had a 2-run double in his MLB debut before he goes back to Durham tomorrow.

Team record: 41-40, now only 1/2 game out of first (and 1/2 out of a wild card). Next up: We return home, continuing interleague play with 3 against the Cubs, who are 39-40. If it seems like everyone in MLB is hovering around .500 it's because they are - 18 teams are within 2 games of .500.

[Art Deco]

Say hello to...



We've signed Vazquez at the ripe old age of 15, although he'll turn 16 in about 10 days. The potential is mouth-watering but it's a long, long time from coming to fruition, should it ever.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: 5-4 W (11). WP-Fairbanks (2-3). Starter-Castillo (4.1 7 2 2 3 4). HR-Albies (10), Torkelson (18/22). Maybe the worm is turning for the Rays as this is the kind of game they would have lost up until recently. Liam Hendriks gave up a 2-run homer to Will Smith in the 7th to let Chicago tie, and normally they'd lose after that. But Josh Mears walked it off with an RBI single and Fairbanks actually pitched two perfect innings. Tork homered for the third time in four games as they made it 5 straight wins and took over first place in the AL East.

Game 2: 4-1 W. WP-Rasmussen (4-6, 5.1 5 1 1 3 5). S-Fairbanks (14). HR-Torkelson (19/23). Tork continues to carry the team as his 3-run homer in the 4th was the big hit while the pitching was sterling again, a recipe for 6 consecutive wins.

Game 3: 7-0 W. WP-McClanahan (8-2, 7 3 0 0 3 7). HR-Torkelson (20/24), Mead (15). There's no hotter pitcher in MLB than Mac and there's no hotter hitter than Tork, whose 3-run homer broke open a 3-0 game and has homered in three straight and five of six as the Rays made it 7 in a row. He also added an RBI single to give him a 4-ribbie day.

Team record: 44-40, 1/2 game up on Boston and 1 1/2 up on the Yankees. Next up: Baltimore comes to town for 4 games.

[Art Deco]

Until this current 7-game win streak it had been an extremely frustrating season with the Rays losing game after game they should have been winning, primarily thanks to a bullpen that statistically is pretty good but has been about as un-clutch as imaginable and that's reflected in the major negative discrepancy in our actual record vs our expected (Pythagorean) record. Fortunately the AL East collectively spun its wheels and despite the mediocre start they still find themselves in first place, hopefully auguring well when we get some positive regression.



As I mentioned a couple of posts back, parity reigns supreme in MLB this year with only the Brewers separating themselves from the pack as the majors' top team. As the Rays have shown all it takes is a hot streak to make a move in the standings.



A look at the underlying numbers shows this isn't a ~.500 team; in fact it should be the dominant team in the AL right now. But our well-chronicled woes and bad luck have kept the record down so we'll just have to keep up these numbers and let the wins flow from them. This is a really bad defensive club, though with the primary culprits being our keystone combo of Wander Franco and Ozzie Albies, who sport ZRs of -4.3 and -4.5 respectively. Wander at least makes up for it (and then some) with the bat, but Albies has not hit well this year and is barely above replacement value. Also, after holding his own last year with a neutral fielding numbers, Casey Schmitt is a defensive liability at 3B too (-3.3 WAR). Pete Fairbanks has been much-maligned this year with the blown saves - and his 16 walks in 27 IP has a lot to do with it - but you can also see why he has a .411 BABIP.



We've really been a 4-man offense this year with Wander, Tork, Mead and DeLoach carrying things with Albies and Schmitt dropping off significantly from last year. And the bottom third of the order has been a black hole with Cartaya not hitting like we'd hoped (although he's picked it up a bit lately after being down to around .167) and Mears (RF) and Ozuna (DH) have largely been worthless. Changes could be in the offing with those two. Ozuna has already been relegated to platooning against lefties with Josh Lowe back, but Lowe has been anemic with the bat as well. By the way Andrew Vaughn has been raking for Milwaukee since we traded him, which figures.



With the exception of the back end of the pen (Fairbanks and Hendriks), the pitching has been sterling this year. The rotation has been extremely consistent with only our #2 guy, Luis Castillo, having some struggles this year, and Mac is a Cy Young contender. Our long guys (Whitley & Sears) have been exceptional although it's been a struggle for Aaron Ashby since coming over but his stuff is still great with control the issue.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: 6-7 L (11). LP-Ashby (0-4). Starter-Swanda (5 10 5 5 0 5). The Rays scored 5 in the first and looked on their way to an 8th straight win but Swanda couldn't hold it and the offense didn't tack on after that. Mead was 3-5 with 2 RBI.

Game 2: 4-3 W. WP-Scott (1-2). S-Fairbanks (15). Starter-Bradley (5.2 4 2 2 4 3). HR-Albies (11). Albies' 2-run homer in the 8th erased a 3-2 deficit and Tanner Scott got the win despite allowing a go-ahead run in the top of the innings. Fairbanks had a rare 1-2-3 9th.

Game 3: 3-11 L. LP-Castillo (5-9, 3.1 9 7 7 2 4). Luis Castillo was horrible and the Rays were blown out for the first time in a long time as all their recent losses seemed to be heartbreakers.

Time for a trade!



In an effort to beef up the bottom of the order, we acquired the Japanese vet who has had a bit of an up-and-down career with the Cubs and Pirates. As you can see from the numbers above he wasn't exactly setting the NL on fire, but the price was cheap. Schultz is a minor-league vet we won't miss and with the Cubs already picking up most of Suzuki's salary when they dealt him to the Pittsburgh and the Pirates picking up the rest he's a free player essentially. Joshua Mears is the odd man out as he and his 194/284/359 line were sent packing to Durham. Mears was 0 for his last 18, 3 for his last 35, saw his contact rating downgraded to 40 and his above-average power was only showing up sporadically.

Game 4: 0-4 L. LP-Rasmussen (4-7, 5.1 7 4 4 2 3). Diego Cartaya's double in the 3rd was the only hit the Rays managed until Albies singled in the 9th in a forgettable day at the Trop which saw the Rays drop 3 of 4 to the Orioles after seemingly turning things around. Seiya Suzuki was 0-3 in his Rays debut.

Team record: 45-43, 1/2 game behind the Yankees in the AL East. Next up: 3 games in Detroit before we hit the All-Star Break, and the Amateur Draft is Saturday.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: 3-4 L. LP-Hendriks (1-5). Starter-McClanahan (6 7 2 2 1 6). HR-Torkelson (21/25). Rays took a 2-1 lead in the 6th, Tigers tied in the bottom of the inning off Mac and then won it with a pair off Liam Hendriks, who's been more Lame Hendriks this season as they suffered another one-run loss.

Game 2: 1-8 L. LP-Swanda (7-7, 2.2 8 6 4 0 6). A good old-fashioned butt-kicking as it's now five losses in six games and we drop back to .500. The only bright spot was that Seiya Suzuki got his first two hits as a Ray, a pair of doubles.

Game 3: 3-6 L. LP-Bradley (7-5, 3.2 6 4 4 1 4). HR-Franco (16). A miserable weekend in Detroit sees the Rays losers of six of seven going into the All-Star Break and falling back below .500. A week ago it had seemed they'd turned the corner but they ran right into an oncoming truck. The bats were especially anemic today, fanning 17 times against Detroit pitching.

Team record: 45-46. Remarkably in the division nobody wants the Rays are still only 1 1/2 games out of first, albeit in fourth place. Next up is the All-Star break of course and when we come out of that we'll play three the following weekend in Kansas City, no easy task.

[Art Deco]

Khattak:



A college righty - but from a Canadian college (Ryerson in Toronto) - Khattak is a nasty sidearmer with groundball tendencies who's very tough to square up. Perhaps by the time he's ready we'll have improved the infield defense.

Covarrubius:



Aside from sharing a last name with a disliked X-Files character, Covarrubius is a high-schooler from Louisiana with a bat we can really dream on. His pick was a supplemental one courtesy of losing Kyle Tucker to free agency.

Napier:



Wright State's Napier is another OF with a big bat but one who's closer to the bigs, and with the way our OF is hitting this year we could use him sooner rather than later. He also looks like an above-average corner OF who can play CF in a pinch.

Gutierrez:



A bit of an older high-schooler (19), Bob looks like a potential mid-to-back end starter with a potentially nasty slider. A lottery ticket to be sure.

Marsh:



A pick I like as Marsh is a college bat who can play all across the infield as well as an outstanding baserunner and could end up a Ben Zobrist-type.

Chambers:



Speaking of lottery tickets, Chambers certainly is one but could hit really big if he lives up to that potential 70 stuff and manages to get the control into the 40s.

[Art Deco]

The rosters:





Wander, Tork and McClanahan were not surprises but Forrest Whitley was, although he merited it with his fine pitching this year even if little of it was high-leverage.

The Home Run Derby:



At least Tork won a round.

The game:



The Rays representatives acquitted themselves well with Whitley and Mac pitching scoreless innings and Whitley earning the win while Wander clubbed a 2-run homer in the first. Only Tork's 0-1 wasn't notable.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: 4-2 W (11). WP-Gau (5-0). S-Fairbanks (16). Starter-Castillo (6 2 0 0 5 6). Tork was 3-5 with 2 RBI including a single to score the go-ahead run in the 11th after Jovani Moran blew a 2-0 lead in the 8th by giving up a Bobby Witt Jr 2-run shot.

Game 2: 6-9 L. LP-Scott (1-3). Starter-Rasmussen (2.1 5 3 3 4 0). Rays took a 5-0 lead in the 3rd before Ras gave 3 back and departed early, then Tanner Scott gave up a grand slam to former Ray Brandon Lowe in the 6th to complete the collapse. Tork and Mead drove in a pair in a losing cause.

Game 3: 3-2 W (10). WP-Moran (3-2). S-Fairbanks (17). Starter-McClanahan (5 3 2 2 2 5). Wander singled in Josh Lowe, who had singled and stolen second, in the 10th to win it and take the series.

Team record: 47-47, still 1 1/2 back in the AL East, and 1 out of a wild card. Next up: We travel to LA to play 3 against the Dodgers, with ex-Ray Luis Patino scheduled to pitch the second game.

MLB News: 2-way star Shohei Ohtani of the Angels will miss 6 weeks with a herniated disc.

Down on the farm: Jose Contreras, an OF on one of our DSL squads, had a remarkable week. He did this in one game:



then he did this the next day:



I don't care what level of pro ball we're talking about here - 7 homers in 2 games is extraordinary and a feat I'm not sure has even been done in pro ball (certainly not in the majors). Contreras is a middling prospect with only potential 40 contact and 45 power so this will likely be the highlight of his professional career, but still - wow.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: 3-4 L. LP-Swanda (7-8, 4.2 5 3 3 4 4). HR-Franco (17), Torkelson (22/26). Rays could never quite catch up in this one, getting within 3-2 and 4-3 before succumbing.

We made a big trade that necessitated a lot of lineup and roster shuffling:



So who is Jose Rodriguez and why did he bring us three players from the Giants? He was our July 2 signing in 2024, a potential power-hitting catcher with great potential. But after a year and a half playing in the DSL, in early July his potential ratings were downgraded to 50 contact and 45 power and the bloom was off for us. Still BNN had him ranked as the #70 prospect. Rather than see him further deteriorate (as so often happens with these guys) I figured I'd shop him and the Giants offered up 3 pretty decent players who can help us now but are still cheap with years of team control left. Here's the lowdown.

Luciano:



He was having a down year with SF at 231/291/368 but was much better the previous two years.

Santana:



Santana is in his rookie season and was hitting 245/314/427 with 14 homers for the Giants and is an above-average fielder in left.

German:



The stuff rating is as a reliever, as a starter it's 65/70. He'd been in the Giants rotation of late after starting the year as a reliever - in 31 appearances including 7 starts he was 3-2, 3.47 with 92 whiffs and 29 walks in 72.2 IP. We'll use him in long relief for now.

What does this mean to the lineup and roster? We had to open 3 spots on both the active and 40-man rosters. And it's a surprise demotion to Durham for Casey Schmitt, who was so good last year as a rookie but like fellow 2025 rookie Joshua Mears, the sophomore jinx hit him hard and Schmitt was only hitting 236/291/377. I know those numbers are similar to Luciano's this year but the difference is Schmitt's defense has also fallen off (-4.3 ZR) while Luciano is +3.2. Also going down was perpetual yo-yo guy Josh Lowe, just miserable this year at 157/239/298 since coming back from injury and on the pitching side Aaron Ashby was optioned to Durham as well thanks to 11 walks in 15 IP and a 4.80 ERA despite 23 whiffs. We also didn't need 4 lefties in the pen. So Luciano takes over Schmitt at 3B, Santana takes over LF from Lowe and German takes Ashby's spot in the pen.

On the 40-man Alika Williams, Kyle Manzardo and JJ Goss were all DFA'd as none had shown anything outstanding this year and have plateaued as prospects. They all cleared waivers though, and are staying at Durham.

And one more move:

Traded 35-year old LF Marcell Ozuna to the Toronto Blue Jays, getting 23-year old 1B Blaze Jordan in return.

Ozuna had played his way out of the lineup at 218/300/368 with only 9 homers and we did pretty good getting Jordan for him, who has 45/50 contact and 60/65 power. He'll go to Durham. To fill Ozuna's slot we called up OF James Wood, who started the year with us and has 65 power while playing a decent LF. He was 3-30 with 1 homer before he was sent down and didn't exactly tear the cover off the ball at Durham but I like his potential as a 4th OF.

Now back to the baseball:

Game 2: 3-4 L (13). LP-Sears (0-1). Starter-Bradley (4.1 6 2 2 3 2). HR-Albies (12). Rays were up again old friend Luis Patino, put the first two men on to start the game and then Albies clubbed a 3-run homer. And that would be the only offense they'd get as the lead slipped away and they finally succumbed in extras. Luciano (1-6) and Santana (0-6) made undistinguished Rays debuts.

Game 3: 5-6 L. LP-German (0-1). Starter-Castillo (6 6 2 2 1 7). HR-Cartaya (6), Wood (2). Well this one hurt - they led 5-2 going into the bottom of the 8th and Luis German had a disastrous Rays debut, allowing 4 runs in the inning to let LA win. German was pushed into this spot as the pen had been burned out from last night's extra-inning game. Luciano singled in his first Rays run and James Wood homered in his return but those were small consolations as the team has now dropped 8 of its last 10 games and is starting to fall out of the race.

Team record: 47-50, now 3 1/2 out of first, the farthest they've been back in a long time. Next up: An off-day to fly cross-country back home where the Mets will await for 3 games. New York is another fellow struggler at 48-49. Winning soon and often is going to be a priority.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: 0-2 L. LP-Rasmussen (4-8, 5 6 2 2 1 4). Yet another frustrating loss as the Rays kept getting baserunners and kept hitting into double plays, 4 of them in all and 3 coming off the bat of Curtis Mead.

Game 2: 18-1 W. WP-McClanahan (9-2, 6 5 1 1 0 5). S-German (1). HR-Luciano 2 (2/11), Torkelson (23/27), DeLoach (8). One of the reasons our Pythageorean record is so much better than our actual is that we've had 3-4 routs like this and today they were scoring so many runs that I was actively angry that they weren't coming in other games. Marco Luciano was 3-4 with 2 HR and 5 RBI and Zach DeLoach was 4-5 with 2 doubles, the homer and 3 RBI. Luis German went 3 perfect innings fanning 7 for the save.

Game 3: 5-6 L. LP-Hendriks (1-6). Starter-Swanda (4.1 5 2 2 4 1). HR-Cartaya (7), Santana (1/15), Luciano (3/12). Rays led this 5-2 after 6 with homers from the new acquisitions before it all went wrong, culminating in Liam Hendriks giving up a 3-run homer to Ronny Mauricio in the 8th for the winner, a game that just encapsulated this incredibly annoying season. Hendriks might be the least clutch pitcher I've ever had in a save, taking his 6th loss and 4th blown save despite having numbers that are superficially good (a 3.20 ERA, 12/46 BB/K ratio in 39 IP) but every one of the six homers he's allowed has been a back-breaker. Not sure I can trust him in any kind of high-leverage role again.

Team record: 48-52. Still 3 1/2 back in the division and 3 in the wild card but it's getting late in the season and there are some years when your luck just doesn't even out in the end. Next up: Seattle visits for 3.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: 7-2 W. WP-Bradley (8-5, 7 6 2 2 0 5). HR-Santana (2/16), Torkelson (24/28). Nathaniel Santana's 3-run homer in the 5th broke open a 3-2 game and the Rays rolled. Santana also had an RBI triple in the 2nd as he and Marco Luciano have hit since coming over in the big trade.

Trade: Sent C Christian Vazquez to the Mets for 30-year-old LHP Brian Gonzalez. Vazquez made another trade demand and rather than let him poison the clubhouse with his discontent, he was shipped out for a song, although Gonzalez was pitching well at AAA Syracuse (1.93 ERA and 77 Ks in 79 IP). Rene Pinto was recalled to back up Diego Cartaya.

Game 2: 5-4 W. WP-Feyereisen (2-0). Starter-Castillo (2.1 4 2 2 0 3). HR-Suzuki (1/4). Seiya Suzuki had been a bust since coming over from Pittsburgh, going 3 for his first 36 with 16 strikeouts before a 2-hit game last night. And tonight he came through in the biggest of ways, hitting a walk-off grand slam in the bottom of the 9th to turn a 4-1 loss into a 5-4 win. Luis Castillo had to leave in the 3rd with a blister and will miss a couple of weeks.

Transaction: Castillo went on the 15-day IL and Aaron Ashby was called back up from Durham to take his place in the rotation after he went 8 innings with 1 run allowed in a start for the Bulls.

Game 3: 3-8 L. LP-Gau (5-1). Starter-Rasmussen (5 6 3 3 1 5). This one got away as the Rays were up 3-1 early on a couple of RBI from Albies, and it was 3-3 into the 7th when Gau put a couple on and Jovani Moran gave up an RBI single to Julio Rodriguez. Fairbanks then allowed 4 in the 9th in a non-save situation to put it out of reach.

Team record: 50-53. Next up: An off-day then we travel to Texas for 3 against the Rangers.

Rays news: We signed veteran hurler Frankie Montas to a minor league deal at Durham after he was released by the Yankees. Montas had a 4.05 ERA in 53 IP with a 17/47 BB/K ratio with New York and could be of some use.

MLB News: Former Rays reliever Diego Castillo, now with the White Sox, tore his rotator cuff and will be out 9-10 months. Also going on the shelf is Milwaukee's All-Star starter Corbin Burnes, who tore his UCL and will be out 10 months.

[Art Deco]

Made one last trade at the deadline:

Traded 37-year old RHP Liam Hendriks to the Boston Red Sox, getting 30-year old RHP Garrett Whitlock (retaining 100%) in return.

My frustration with Hendriks has been well-chronicled here and when the Red Sox were willing to offer a quality swingman like Whitlock and pick up 100% of his salary for this year and the rest of the next season I couldn't pass it up. Whitlock will go into the pen for now but could make some starts. He's earned 3+ WAR the last two full seasons and was 5-14, 4.15 this year in the Boston rotation but has had some bad luck.

Game 1: 11-9 W. WP-Sears (1-1). S-Moran (1). Starter-McClanahan (0.1 0 0 0 0 1). HR-Torkelson (25/29), Franco (18), Suzuki (2/5), N.Santana (3/17). A weird, wild game which saw Mac leave after one batter with hamstring soreness (a 2-day injury), meaning we'd have to piece together a bullpen game. Jumping out to early leads of 7-0 and 9-3 helped but it was an adventure til the end when Texas scored 4 times in the 9th, and Alex Verdugo was a remarkable 6-6 with a homer and 5 RBI for the Rangers. Nathaniel Santana continues to impress and he was 4-5 with a 2-run homer and 3 runs scored to pace the offense.

Game 2: 2-3 L (11). LP-Fairbanks (2-4). Starter-Ashby (5.2 4 0 0 0 9). HR-Torkelson (26/30). A brilliant spot start from Aaron Ashby was wasted as the bats couldn't get anything going outside of a 2-run Tork homer in the 8th which sent us to extras (which we didn't need after yesterday's bullpen game) where we lost. Alex Verdugo killed us again with a 2-run single in regulation.

Game 3: 1-6 L. LP-Bradley (8-6, 4 5 4 4 2 3). Just an ugly day all around as the slog of mediocrity continues.

Team record: 51-55, still only 2 1/2 back in the division somehow. Next up: 3 games in Cleveland.

Just to show how stuck around .500 most of the league is, here's a look at the latest standings:



Despite being 4 under .500 if the Rays go on a hot streak they can put themselves in good position. Of course that hot streak hasn't come and may very well never.