The 2021 (and only 2021) Tampa Bay Rays

[Art Deco]

Not a good start...



The Rays played some lousy baseball tonight as their pitchers couldn't keep it in the park and their bats didn't wake up until the 6th inning, leading to a 7-4 loss in the ALCS opener at Anaheim. Tyler Glasnow was wild with 5 walks and gave up a pair of homers, and then JT Ginn and Guillermo Zuniga also let the Angels take them deep. Meanwhile Jaime Barria retired the first 15 Rays before Heston Kjerstad singled (just as Kjerstad broke up Aaron Civale's no-hit bid in the last game they played). And while Wander Franco's bases-clearing triple off Ken Giles in the 8th got them back within 6-4, Zuniga coughed up the homer and that was that. Dustin May will try to keep them from falling into an 0-2 hole tomorrow.

In the NLCS:

[Art Deco]

Rinse and repeat....



The Rays are in big trouble now as once again they struggled to get any offense going and to keep the ball in the park in a 4-0 loss to the Angels to fall behind 0-2 in the ALCS. Dustin May and Jack Leiter were hooked up in a scoreless duel into the 6th when May blinked first, giving up a 2-run homer to MLB HR champ Jorge Soler, who blasted 54 during the regular season and homered for the second straight game. Like yesterday the bullpen was no relief as Osvanni Gutierrez surrendered two more runs including an Anthony Rendon blast and that was the game. Once again the bats couldn't manage a hit the first time through the lineup and managed only 6 hits. They did have one great opportunity in the 5th when Leiter got wild and walked two men to load the bases with one out but Matt Chapman and Heston Kjerstad both whiffed. In the 7th they had two on and two out again for Chapman and he grounded out. We head back to St. Pete in two days with Joe Ryan, a pitcher who doesn't keep the ball in the park, facing a team like the Angels.

[Art Deco]

Atlanta out there trying to restore order to the NL Playoffs:

[Art Deco]

We're back in it...



As bad as the offense was in the first two games in Anaheim, it was that good tonight as the Rays pounded the Angels to claw their way back into the ALCS now down 2-1. Heston Kjerstad, who seems to be our offensive icebreaker these days, homered to lead off the 3rd, then drew a bases-loaded walk with two out in the 4th to make it 2-0. This opened the door for a 2-run single from Kody Hoese and a 2-run double by Heliot Ramos. This was more than enough for surprise starter Drew Rasmussen, who got the Game 3 nod over Joe Ryan with the idea we'd rather have Rasmussen go in a potential Game 7. And Rasmussen rewarded my faith by shutting out LA for 5 innings before running out of gas in the 6th. Ryan will try to get the series even tomorrow.

And things have gotten tighter in the NLCS as well:

[Art Deco]

Back to even!



The bats came to play once again today and the Rays evened up the ALCS at 2 with a 6-3 win at the Trop over the Angels. Wander Franco and Adley Rutschman each had 3 hits and combined to drive in 3 while Kody Hoese added a pair of doubles and an RBI. Even Matt Chapman homered. Joe Ryan was adequate, giving up his obligatory homer while JT Ginn was excellent with 2 2/3 scoreless innings of relief. Tyler Glasnow will hope to be sharper tomorrow than he was in Game 1 as the Rays don't want to go back to Anaheim having to win two games.

Meanwhile the Cardinals are one win away from being the first sub-.500 team to reach the World Series:

[Art Deco]

What a game, what a win...



I've played thousands (if not tens of thousands) of games in OOTP, but this has likely topped them all. Twice the Rays were one out away from losing the pivotal Game 5 of the ALCS to the Angels, and twice they pulled themselves off the mat to eventually take a 7-6 win in 11 innings. Tyler Glasnow started and wasn't sharp early, allowing 4 runs in the first 3 innings to put LA up 4-0. But the Rays chipped away with a 2-run Heliot Ramos single and an Angelo DiSpigna solo shot to cut it to 4-3. Premier closer (and former Ray) Ken Giles was on to close it out in the 9th, and he retired the first two batters. But with only one out to go Giles lost the plate, walking the bases loaded before walking DiSpigna to force in the tying run. But it looked like the comeback would be for naught when Anthony Rendon hit a 2-run homer off Aaron Fletcher in the top of the 11th to put LA up 6-4. LA's Erik Rivera struck out the side in the 10th and got the first man in the 11th before Wander Franco hit a solo shot to cut the lead to 6-5, but he fanned pinch-hitter Carter Kieboom to once again bring the Angels one out from victory. Then Adley Rutschman lived up to his nickname "Clutchman" by lining a Rivera offering to left field which just cleared the fence to tie the game once gain. This rattled Rivera, who like Giles before him walked the bases loaded (why Rivera wasn't pulled is a question you'll have to ask the AI Angels manager). So up stepped Kody Hoese and he drilled a single to center to score DiSpigna with the winning run and it was bedlam at the Trop. If the Angels go on to lose this series this will go down with their notorious playoff loss in the 1986 ALCS to Boston, the "Dave Henderson game". Dustin May will attempt to clinch things for the Rays in two days at Anaheim.

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If the Rays make the World Series, they're going to face the first team to ever make it there with a losing record as the St. Louis Cardinals shocked the baseball world with a 2-0 win to take the NLCS in 6 games from 103-win Atlanta. I guess technically the Cards are no longer a sub-.500 team as their 7-2 playoff record makes them 87-84 overall after an 80-82 regular season. Today's game was amazing as they used *7* pitchers to combine for the shutout after starter Patrick Corbin left after 2 innings with a blister. Dylan Carlson was named NLCS MVP after going 10-24 with 2 HR and 8 RBI.

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On an unusually inclement Southern California night the Tampa Bay Rays advanced to their second World Series in three years and third in six with a 6-2 win over the Angels to take the ALCS in 6 after dropping the first two games. For the longest time it was looking like a repeat of Game 2 with Dustin May and Jack Leiter trading zeroes until Jared Walsh homered off May in the 5th to put the Angels up 1-0. But for a change the bats gave May some support as they exploded for 6 in the 6th off Leiter and Raisel Iglesias. They loaded the bases with nobody out and once again Angelo DiSpigna, who does have one of the game's better batting eyes, drew a bases-loaded walk to tie the game. And then up stepped Matt Chapman. The All-Star third sacker was brought in this year as a defensive upgrade and was expected to contribute more with the bat, but struggled big-time at the plate since being acquired (223/278/369 in the regular season and 214/371/393 in the playoffs coming into tonight). But he made the acquisition worth it with one swing of the bat, a grand slam off Leiter which broke open the game and put Tampa Bay in the World Series. JT Ginn contributed two scoreless innings in relief of May and with Tyler Rogers fatigued, Osvanni Gutierrez got the surprise call to close out the 9th but the rookie showed his nerves by loading the bases with one out and bringing the tying run to the plate. LA sent up a lefty to pinch-hit, and veteran Aaron Fletcher came in, whiffed him and fanned former Ray Willy Adames to end the game and end up at the bottom of the dogpile. So it's on to the Series against the upstart Cardinals and it will be up to the Rays to stop their Cinderella run. This will likely be the World Series with the fewest combined regular-season wins between the participants, with the Rays' 92 and the Cards' 80 adding to 172, 5 fewer than the 2014 World Series which pitted the 88-win Giants against the 89-win Royals.

[Art Deco]

Another thrilling win...



In an affair that was reminiscent of Game 6 of the ALCS, the Rays overcame an early 4-0 deficit, got still another key bases-loaded walk, and took a 5-4 win in 12 innings over St. Louis on Angelo DiSpigna's walk-off RBI double to take Game 1 of the World Series. It was a wild game which saw the Rays use 9 pitchers after Drew Rasmussen had a brutal start which saw him allow 4 runs on 10 hits. They gave up 15 hits in all but limited the damage by turning 5 double plays, the most they've ever turned in one game in this save, and only allowing 2 walks. Cardinal errors led to their demise with 3B Brian Anderson's boot in the 3rd putting two on with two out and giving Brandon Lowe the opportunity to deliver a 3-run shot, his first of the playoffs, to get them right back in the game at 4-3. And of course the tying run came on a bases-loaded walk, with Adley Rutschman laying off a 3-2 pitch. This brought us to the 12th where Anderson allowed Wander Franco to reach on another error but he was erased trying to steal 2nd. Lowe struck out for out #2 but St. Louis 1B Dominic Smith botched Rutschman's grounder and DiSpigna drilled a double over the head of CF Dylan Carlson with Rutschman just beating the tag for the second straight thrilling walk-off playoff win in as many games at the Trop. Joe Ryan will get the ball in Game 2 tomorrow.

[Art Deco]

Turnabout is fair play and today the Rays found out what it felt like to lose an early lead as the Cards edged them 4-3 to even up the World Series at 1 game apiece. Joe Ryan was excellent with his best start since late July and they took a 3-1 lead into the 7th but Osvanni Gutierrez faltered again, hitting a man, walking one and giving up a hit with one out. He gave way to Alex Vesia who couldn't get the outs he needed, allowing a pair of singles to score all three of Gutierrez's runners and give St. Louis the lead. The only encouraging sign for Tampa Bay was getting a key 2-run single from Jarren Duran who has had a miserable postseason, but they couldn't find any late-inning magic to tie or go back ahead. Tyler Glasnow will toe the rubber two days from now in St. Louis to try and get the Rays back in front.

[Art Deco]

Ugh...



The Rays were demolished by the Cards in Game 3 and now trail the series 2-1. They were terrible in all phases of the game: offense (2 runs on 6 hits with Matt Chapman's 2-run homer all they got), pitching (Tyler Glasnow gave up 3 runs in 4 innings and Tarik Skubal was lit up for 4 more) and defense (errors from Wander Franco and Heliot Ramos). Just going to have to put this one in the rearview and try to win at least one of the next two to bring the series back to St. Pete. Dustin May will get first crack tomorrow.

[Art Deco]

We're level now...



The Rays got a much-needed 8-5 win to even the World Series at 2 games apiece and assure themselves of a return to Tropicana Field. As the game summary says, the hero today was Adley Rutschman, who clubbed a 2-run homer in the first and a 2-run double in the 5th. Angelo DiSpigna was almost as instrumental with a solo shot, a sac fly and an RBI single. Dustin May wasn't his best but good enough for the win, JT Ginn contributed two solid innings of relief, and we survived a tough inning from Aaron Fletcher in the 9th. Drew Rasmussen will hope to improve on his terrible Game 1 start tomorrow to try and put us in front.

[Art Deco]

Do or die at the Trop...



The Rays find themselves needing to win Game 6 and force and win a Game 7 at Tropicana Field after dropping a 4-2 decision to St. Louis and falling behind 3-2 in the World Series. They got off to a quick start with a Brandon Lowe RBI single in the 1st but that's all Seth Elledge allowed them in a dominant 8 whiffs in 5 innings performance. Rays batters fanned 14 times in all with Adley Rutschman wearing the golden sombrero. Drew Rasmussen was better tonight, but two bad innings cost him, and although they had the tying run at the plate in the 8th and 9th after Heliot Ramos' homer, they couldn't get it done. So Joe Ryan will have to try and save the season back home in a couple of days.

[Art Deco]

We're going the distance!



With their backs to the wall, the Rays relied on their two best players to rescue them from elimination and force a Game 7 in the World Series, and Wander Franco and Adley Rutschman came through in a 9-2 rout of St. Louis at Tropicana Field. Immediately responding after St. Louis tied it up with a pair of runs in the top of the 3rd, Franco tripled home Jarren Duran and two batters later Rutschman went deep to make it 5-2 and Tampa Bay was on its way. Heston Kjerstad got them on the board in the 2nd with a 2-run HR after a Cardinal error kept the inning alive and Heliot Ramos later added a 3-run shot to blow it open. Joe Ryan came up big when we needed him, and aside from that shaky 3rd inning he was excellent over his 7 innings. So now it's down to one game for all the marbles tomorrow night with Tyler Glasnow taking the mound.

[Art Deco]

We did it!



Tight and tense throughout, the Rays took a 2-1 victory over St. Louis to win the World Series, sparing MLB the look of an 80-win team being crowned champions. The title is the Rays' second in three seasons and the deciding game was the ultimate nail-biter. Starters Tyler Glasnow and Tony Gonsolin were outstanding and they each gave the opposition little to work with. Brandon Lowe doubled with two out in the first and Adley Rutschman singled him home to put the Rays up 1-0, but Justin Williams, once a Rays farmhand, homered off Glasnow to tie it up. That's where we stood as the game marched on with Alex Vesia getting out of a two-men on jam in the 6th and then JT Ginn getting two strikeouts after a man reached 3rd with one out for the Cards in the 7th. And it was in the bottom of the inning when the Rays got the breakthrough as Heston Kjerstad and Heliot Ramos drew walks before Wander Franco, the face of the franchise, singled home Kjerstad with 2 out. Aaron Fletcher had to survive another 2-men-on jam in the 8th and in the 9th Tyler Rogers did what he does best, inducing three ground balls on five pitches with Matt Chapman's throw to Angelo DiSpigna setting off pandemonium.

A look at the celebration:



The final postseason stats:





Not too many standout performances here as we didn't exactly dominate the postseason but were just good enough to keep surviving and advancing. Our secret weapon was the bullpen, which was outstanding.

[Art Deco]

Let's bask in the trophy:



Oh yeah! We weren't the best team in baseball this year (that probably was Atlanta or the Angels) but we won the games when they counted and it's a great achievement after starting the year 46-46 and fire-saling our two best relievers. Now our attention turns to 2026 and we have some decisions to make. I exercised the team option on Tyler Glasnow's contract at $17.6M. It's expensive for the season he had last year but not for the one before when he was the AL Cy Young winner. His stuff is still rated high, even if he dropped from 11.9 to 9.7 K/9. There's also the team option for another 2025 underachiever to consider and that's Brandon Lowe. The former MVP had a miserable year with a meager 1.0 WAR, and although he had nice 2024 at 3.9 WAR he was only 1.6 the year before that as 2021's 7.3 stands out as a massive outlier among his career numbers. He had been a bargain earlier in his long-term contract but at $11M for one more season I'm leaning against not exercising. Ed Howard's a decent player who can certainly at least put up 1-2 WAR for the league minimum and Taylor Walls deserves some more playing time.

Elsewhere we could stand to upgrade CF as Jarren Duran has averaged a little over 2 WAR over the last 3 seasons. We have no heir apparent though, so unless we make a trade for one he'll probably be the guy again. We've traded for 3B rentals the past two seasons (Bregman and Chapman) which tells you a lot about our confidence in Carter Kieboom, entering the final year of his contract at $6.1M. Kieboom was yet another guy who cratered this year, plummeting from 4.7 WAR in 2024 to 1.1 this year, with only about 20% fewer at-bats.

We did make one trade immediately after the season ended:



I really had no interest in keeping Dennis Santana and while I wasn't offered any decent prospects for him, I've always been intrigued by Hall, whose numbers in Baltimore have never matched his ratings (70 stuff, 50 movement, 50 control). He's been homer-prone but I chalk a good bit of that up to his home ballpark. He'll give us another lefty option in the pen.

Elsewhere I'd also like to give Slade Cecconi a shot at the rotation as he put a solid season in Durham (10-10, 3.83, 59/150 BB/K ratio in 163 IP with only 9 HR allowed and good for 3.5 WAR). Glasnow, May, Rasmussen and Ryan are locks for the rotation with Tarik Skubal a question mark as he took a big step back this season. JT Ginn might deserve a look in the rotation although he's been valuable in the pen. Tyler Rogers, Griffin Canning, and of course Matt Chapman are all gone as free agents.

Here are the salaries we're looking at with everyone not listed making the minimum. Right now this crop clocks in at $126M with Stu Sternberg giving me a payroll of $140M next season.



I'm likely to drop or trade Lowe, Matt Foster and Luis Garcia which would free up $18M and give us some room to make improvements possibly at 3B and CF.

MLB News: Notable retirements included Giancarlo Stanton, Lorenzo Cain, Justin Turner, Kenley Jansen and Zack Wheeler. Former Rays hanging up the cleats included Colin Poche, Alex Wood and Tim Beckham.

Another quick trade:

Traded 30-year old RHP Matt Foster and 28-year old minor league RHP Luis Garcia to the St. Louis Cardinals, getting 25-year old RHP Jake Miller in return.

We moved out two relievers we didn't want to keep for a live arm in Miller, who in a brief stint with the Cards last year struck out 18 in 9 1/3 innings. He has 70 stuff in relief and will either help our pen or go to Durham next year.

Awards season: Matt Chapman won the AL Gold Glove once again at 3B, Christian Chamberlain finished 2nd in AL Reliever of the Year voting, Adley Rutschman won the Silver Slugger Award at C, and this one, despite a season truncated in mid-August:



Good to see Angelo DiSpigna placing third.

Francis Martes of Houston won the AL Cy Young after a 14-7, 3.56, 5.5-WAR year which saw him fan 204 in 192 IP, while Walker Buehler took his 3rd straight Cy in the NL after going 12-6, 2.77 with an impressive 43/251 BB/K ratio in 193 IP. Joe Ryan finished 5th in the AL voting.

Bo Bichette took home the AL MVP, getting 30 of 32 first-place votes. He hit .319-34-96 and was the runaway WAR leader in the AL at 8.6. Wander Franco finished 5th. Over in the NL Cody Bellinger won the award, his 2nd after winning in 2019, in a close vote over Fernando Tatis Jr. He was .285-40-102 with 7.6 WAR.

November 28: Interesting trade between Milwaukee and Boston where the Brewers sent closer AJ Minter and a couple of prospects to the Sox for young slugging 1B Triston Casas, who is coming off a down year.

November 29: Matt Chapman has found a new home in San Antonio, where he went to the Alamos on a 5/105 deal.

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December 2: The Yankees made a huge splash in the free agent market by signing a couple of the top names out there. Byron Buxton is taking his talents to the Big Apple for 5/92.4 and Corey Seager will become their SS for 4/79.8.

December 4: Another big name changes teams as superstar 3B Jose Ramirez leaves Cleveland for Milwaukee on a 4/89.6 pact.

FREE AGENT SIGNING ALERT!!!!



We made the biggest free agent signing in Tampa Bay history, bringing Victor Robles to Tampa Bay! It's a ton of money and a ton of term, but Robles was a 5.7 WAR guy last year as he plays a quality (60) CF and can hit. Even in 2023 and 2024 when he didn't hit as much he was still a 4-WAR player. He can opt out after 4 years, and I hope he performs so well in that time that he does. This of course means that Jarren Duran is headed elsewhere. We're also surrendering a 3rd-round pick in the deal as compensation.

Also today former White Sox starter Dylan Cease has joined the suddenly aggressive Alamos on a 7/108.8 deal.

And now we've made a massive trade:



We're taking on another long-term obligation as Kirilloff is signed through 2031, but Minnesota is picking up 45% of it. We weren't looking to pick him up but his named popped up when we shopping Duran and eventually it morphed into this. Kirilloff is one of the better hitters out there:



We put Fletcher in the deal to move his $6.5M salary and as you can see for this season at least we're netting $. Brujan never lived up to his prospect status, earning only 3.4 WAR for us over parts of 4 seasons, and always seemed to get hurt. Fletcher will be missed but the DL Hall acquisition will help out there. So now we project an OF of Greckel in LF, Robles in CF and Kjerstad in RF with Kirilloff DH. Kirilloff and Greckel may alternate LF and DH as well. These moves should make us a better offensive team next year.

December 16: Old friend Devin Williams signed with the Cardinals for 1/7.6.

December 18: Added IF Ed Howard, P Slade Cecconi and P Jared Wetherbee to the 40-man roster.

Rule 5 Draft time again. Howard of course is penciled in as our starting 2B while Cecconi and Wetherbee are our two top advanced pitching prospects (July 2 signee from a few years back Dave Cedeno is our best pitching prospect - and #4 overall by BNN - but he's in A ball).

December 19: Lost P Landon Knack and P Shane Baz to Memphis in the Rule 5 draft.

I would have preferred to keep both of them as depth, but so be it. Knack had the better chance of a callup with his 65 stuff while Baz has been a swingman at Durham the last few years and pitched decently but not spectacularly.

January 5: Our second-half closer last season Tyler Rogers is an Angel for 2/6.4.

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January 10: The Angels signed another free agent, this time hard-throwing lefty Robbie Ray for a reasonable 2/11.6.

The Hall of Fame balloting is in. Despite his involvement in the Astros cheating scandal of the late 2010s, Carlos Beltran makes it into the Hall in his fourth year of eligibility. Robinson Cano nearly made it as a first-timer and he's probably a lock for next year, and Ichiro crept closer in year #2. Manny Ramirez though is off the ballot at 64.3% in his 10th year:



January 15: Griffin Canning has surfaced in Houston on a 1/5 deal.

January 27: Garrett Whitley, who last season made it to the big club after 10 years in the minors, signed a minor league deal with the Angels.

February 3: Veteran 3B Kris Bryant inked a 2/24.6 deal with the San Antonio Alamos, who have spent freely this winter. Bryant will DH for them as they had already signed Rays rental and Gold Glover Matt Chapman to play 3B.

February 4: Veteran SP Patrick Corbin signed a 1/3.3 deal with San Francisco after going to the World Series last year with the Cards.

February 7: Perhaps the biggest-name free agent still sitting out there found a team as OF Kyle Tucker went for 7/140 to Minnesota where he'll take the place of Alex Kirilloff, whom they traded to us. Also the 2026 schedule came out and we'll be opening the season in Minnesota.

February 12: Memphis decided they didn't want to keep Landon Knack, whom they took from us in the Rule 5 Draft, so he's back with us and assigned to AAA Durham.

March 1: Wow as in Lowe as Brandon signed a minor league deal with the Twins, not even able to get a MLB deal. Other notables who signed minor league deals today were Jurickson Profar (Rockies), Kevin Kiermaier (Cleveland) and Tim Anderson (Cincinnati).

March 2: More surprising minor league deals today. Jared Walsh, who hit 38, 33 and 34 HR for the Angels the last three seasons, went to Memphis; Sean Murphy, a pretty good 75-rated catcher who hit 16 HR for Oakland, goes to El Paso (formerly Pittsburgh), and Alex Bregman, once one of the game's stars, went to Minnesota to join Brandon Lowe. Had I known these guys would sign MiLB deals, I might have pursued them. Need to see who else is out there in that boat.

March 11: The Twins continue to collect one-time great veterans on minor league deals as Joey Gallo becomes the latest. Meanwhile, our pitching prospect Jared Wetherbee had to undergo surgery for bone chips in his elbow and he'll be sidelined 4-5 months which sends him to the 60-day IL.

March 17: Keston Hiura signed a 1/7 deal with San Francisco while Max Kepler went for 1/4.5 with St. Louis.

The story of spring training so far has been Jose Pena, an OF prospect I've never mentioned before, who got an invite and has gone nuts with 6 homers, hitting 409/447/886 in 44 AB. He was .260-17-67 at High-A Bowling Green and is projected as a 25-HR, .245 guy and plays a passable CF.

March 18: Guess who's followed everyone else to Minnesota? Austin Meadows signed a nice 1/6.9 deal with the Twins. He hit .313-8-45 in the second half with Milwaukee after we traded him following his miserable first half with us.

March 19: D'oh! Drew Rasmussen, who helped turn our season around last year, has a rotator cuff strain and will miss 7 weeks, putting him out with rehab until about mid-May at least. This likely means Tarik Skubal is back in the rotation.

March 21: The Marlins, as is their wont, shipped out JJ Bleday to Houston as he was getting too expensive. They received starting pitching prospect Alex Santos, a pretty good one, in return. Bleday will fill the Kyle Tucker-sized hole in the Astros' lineup.

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Here's the Opening Day roster:

C-Rutschman, Hunt
1B-DiSpigna, Hoese
2B-Howard
SS-Franco
3B-Kieboom
IF-Walls
LF-Kirilloff
CF-Robles
RF-Kjerstad
OF-Ramos, Higgins
DH-Greckel

SP-Glasnow, May, Ryan, Skubal, Cecconi
LR-Stoudt, L.Kelly
MR-Vesia, J.Miller, Ginn
SU-Chamberlain, DL Hall
CL-Gutierrez

Right now we're going with 14 hitters and 13 pitchers because I like Matt Higgins' bat, but that could change if needed. Blake Hunt made it over Corey Collins as backup catcher as he was out of options, and likewise that's what has Levi Stoudt on the team. The closer designation for Gutierrez is nominal, I'm going to go more with a bullpen by committee often depending on handedness.

Just missing the cut were Guillermo Zuniga (what else is new?) and Brett Baty, whose lefty bat lost out to Hoese's righty one.

The preseason predictions: (Yikes! they don't like us but see a good year for Tarik Skubal at least)

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Opening Day, so time for the commemorative box score. The way this game went, it should be hung up on a wall:



Aside from Tyler Glasnow having to leave in the 5th with a blister which will keep him from his next start, things went perfectly in the season opener with Victor Robles showing he was worth the $20M/season free agent contract we signed him to. Robles started the game and the season off by drawing a walk, stealing second, and scoring on an Alex Kirilloff single in his first Rays at-bat. Robles then hit a massive 436-ft homer in the 3rd to make it 3-0, and after showing off his bat and his wheels, he flashed the leather as he threw not one, but two men out at the plate. I'm not sure a player can have a much better debut than Robles did. Kirilloff wasn't shabby either, banging out 3 hits and driving in a pair. Carter Kieboom (who had a big spring) broke it open with a 3-run homer and Adley Rutschman added one for good measure. Alex Vesia was efficient in relief for the win and Jake Miller also made a good first impression with two scoreless.

MLB News: Have to say "whoa" here as with guys left and right still on the free agent market settling for minor league deals, our former reliever Pete Fairbanks somehow talked Atlanta into a 3/28.8 deal. No idea where that came from - he's good but not the best reliever in MLB, which those kind of numbers scream.

In the second game, Dustin May was excellent and the Rays made it 2 out of 2 in 2026 with a 5-1 win over the Twins at Target Field. Minnesota led 1-0 until the 4th when Zach Eflin issued a bases-loaded walk to Angelo DiSpigna and then Heston Kjerstad cleared them with a double. Alex Kirilloff continued to torment his old team with an RBI double in the 5th and that was more than enough for May, who went 6 6 1 1 2 6 in his season debut. Christian Chamberlain came into a tough spot in the 7th and ended up going 1 2/3 perfect with 3 whiffs.

MLB News: Cincinnati's Eduardo Rodriguez combined with a reliever on a no-hitter of the Cubs. Rodriguez only threw 91 pitches in his 8 innings but the AI pulled him up 5-0.

The Rays made it a clean sweep with a nail-biting 5-4 win in the finale. It looked a laugher when Tampa Bay scored 4 times in the first after Victor Robles led off with a walk, stole second and scored on a Wander Franco triple before Alex Kirilloff singled him home and Angelo DiSpigna singled home two more. But Joe Ryan was terrible, going 2.2 7 4 4 2 1 and throwing a whopping 77 pitches in the process. Robles added his 2nd homer and the game was 5-4 Rays after 3 and just....stayed that way. The Rays' bats went silent over the final 6 while the bullpen did a fine job despite getting in some jams. Levi Stoudt got the win in relief of Ryan, and DL Hall made a very impressive Rays debut by striking out 4 of the 5 men he faced and retired to end the game for his first save with the team. Rays pitchers did end up throwing 215 pitches.

Team record: 3-0. Next up: We have our home opener tomorrow to kick off 3-game series with San Antonio where we'll give Matt Chapman his ring.