The 2021 (and only 2021) Tampa Bay Rays

[Art Deco]

Well that was....something:



The Rays continue to make history, but this time the wrong way as they were beaten 19-1 at Tropicana Field by the Dodgers in the largest rout in World Series history to drop the Series opener. Dustin May did not have it against his old team and the guy he was traded for, Randy Arozarena, broke a 1-1 tie in the 3rd by leading off with his 8th homer of the postseason and the 27th of his career, and the rout was on. Arozarena wound up homering again in a 9-run 9th against the hapless Alex Vesia and now stands one homer from Manny Ramirez' career postseason mark. Otherwise there wasn't much to say other than Drew Rasmussen looked great over his 2 innings. It only counts as one loss but Joe Ryan will need to keep the ball in the park (good luck) tomorrow so the Rays don't go back to California in yet another deep hole.

[Art Deco]

More like it...



The Rays snapped back from the largest defeat in World Series (and postseason) history last night to even it up with the Dodgers after a 5-2 win. Joe Ryan pitched very well, even though he gave up his obligatory homer (to Joc Pederson, not Randy Arozarena surprisingly) and the offense came around after snoozing for a while. Down 2-1 going into the bottom of the 7th and being stifled by Max Fried, the Rays loaded the bases with nobody out (thanks in part to a Dodger error) and Andrew Greckel cleared them with a double. The bullpen held on with the newly-reactivated JT Ginn (Guillermo Zuniga went on the IL after being injured in the ALCS) notching the save despite giving up a few hard-hit balls. So we head to LA with Tyler Glasnow in tow ready to start Game 3.

[Art Deco]

Good thing this series won't be determined by aggregate score!



The Rays were blasted again by LA to fall behind 2-1 so right now I'm hoping for a rerun of the 1960 World Series where we're the Pirates and the Dodgers are the Yankees as New York won 3 blowouts while Pittsburgh took 4 close games to win it. We were dominated by Caleb Ferguson today and only a Luke Voit homer in the 8th kept us from being shut out. Tyler Glasnow (who was ill today and originally slated to start) will go tomorrow in Game 4 as we try to even it up.

[Art Deco]

Got 'em right where we want 'em!



Another blowout loss for the Rays as once again they've put themselves in the position of having to play an elimination game. They're 5-0 in them this postseason, but it's far from an optimal situation. Today it was Tyler Glasnow's turn to be hit hard even if he did manage 8 whiffs in 4 innings while the bats though couldn't take advantage of what turned out to be a bullpen game for LA after starter Josiah Gray left one batter into the game. There were 14 pitches total used in the game, which might be some kind of record. Anyway the season is in Dustin May's hands tomorrow as the Rays try to pull off the near-impossible once again.

[Art Deco]

This team can only win with its back to the wall..



The Rays staved off elimination for the 6th time this postseason as they turned the tables on the Dodgers by blowing them out for a change in a 9-2 win. Dustin May was excellent against his old team and my gamble to play Andrew Greckel at 3B (where he's rated 25) to get his bat in the lineup paid off (or at least didn't backfire) as he was 2-4. Meanwhile we piled up 8 extra base hits among 14 and even Slade Cecconi, just activated after Drew Rasmussen hurt his elbow again, picked up a postseason save with 3 excellent innings to finish it out. So we head back to St. Pete to play Game 6 instead of cleaning out lockers with Joe Ryan looking to keep the season going for one more game.

[Art Deco]

The clock has struck midnight...



As the cliche goes, play with fire long enough and you're going to get burned. It took 7 elimination games for the Rays to finally lose one this postseason, but lose it they did and the Dodgers are World Champions after a masterful performance from LA lefty Max Fried, acquired the winter before last from Atlanta for Keibert Ruiz. The Series win was the the fourth in seven years for the Dodgers, as they've taken a page from their long-time rivals the Giants and won in 2020, 2022, 2024 and now 2026. Joe Ryan was terrible today in what could be his final Rays appearance (he's projected for $7.5M in arbitration), unusually wild with the 4 walks and not-so-unusually homer-prone in giving up a 3-run shot to Max Muncy and a solo blast to that guy again, Randy Arozarena. The homer was Arozarena's 10th of the playoffs, tying his own record set in 2020 when he was up against the Dodgers in the World Series with the Rays, and his 29th career postseason homer, tying Manny Ramirez for the all-time MLB record. Elsewhere the offense died as it lived this year: struggling to score runs. In the interest of fairness, here's a shot of the Dodgers celebrating at the Trop:

[Art Deco]

Can't complain about how things have gone recently with World Series wins in 2023 and 2025 and coming up just short this year. 2027 is going to be something of transitional year, especially with respect to the pitching staff. Tyler Glasnow and Tarik Skubal are free agents (as are Drew Rasmussen and Carter Kieboom). Glasnow was 6/120 to re-sign and although he's worth $20M/year, 6 years is asking a lot considering he's fragile and he's 33. We were very lucky to have him fully healthy over the last 3 seasons and for that kind of money we'll let someone else roll the dice. Skubal is looking for a more reasonable 4/60 and we'll see how free agency goes for him and maybe jump in there.

Also Joe Ryan is due for a raise going into his final year of arbitration and is projected for at least $7.5M. He really wasn't very good last year with all the homers allowed (0.6 WAR) so we'd have to gamble he goes back to the 1.2/1.3 HR/9 seasons he had in the previous two rather than the 2.1 HR/9 he yielded last year. We were probably lucky in 24 and 25 with him as he has 40 movement, though, and I'm going to shop him.

So assuming Glasnow, Skubal, Ryan and Rasmussen are all gone, who's in the rotation? Well Dustin May still has one year left on his deal so he's the ace, and then we have Slade Cecconi, who pitched decently before fading in September. JT Ginn was brilliant in relief but he's capable of starting and I'm considering moving him into the rotation. Reid Detmers is also capable of starting and has an inside track. Finaly, Jared Wetherbee pitched well at Durham after missing the first half of the season with bone chips in his elbow, and the righty acquired from the Angels a few years back in the Willy Adames deal could be ready. Finally we could make a trade for one, we have a bit of OF excess with Greckel, Kjerstad, Robles and Kirilloff and while they all play with the DH, we could find someone else to fill that role.

Elsewhere it should be status quo in the lineup with the exception of #25 overall MLB prospect Kelly Crumpton taking over at 3B for Kieboom. Haven't talked about him much but he has 70 power and hit 18 HR in 316 AB at Durham last year, and he's a two-way player who pitched in Durham's rotation (albeit not great at 4-10, 5.31). Not bad for a 13th-round pick from 2021. Adley Rustchman ain't work the projected $22M in arbitration this year (his final arb year) if he hits like last season but he's a 70 catcher who did wonders with the staff and we may need him to do even more in that department this year. Luke Voit is a free agent of course, so 1B remains up for grabs with the usual suspects Brett Baty, Kody Hoese and Angelo DiSpigna (who missed the last two months at Durham with injury) in the mix. If we deal an OF, one could perhaps DH.

Here are the salaries projected for everyone who isn't making the minimum. Stu Sternberg has given me a payroll of $140M next year, so we can keep everyone listed (including Ryan) and still have about $17M to spend:



I don't know about a few of these guys - Walls is nice but $2.6M is a lot for a utility infielder, and while I'll probably keep Levi Kelly as he too has an outside shot at the rotation I'm not sure either on Vesia.

Awards news: Two Rays that I thought had good shots at awards didn't get them as Ed Howard finished 3rd in Rookie of the Year behind KC's Bill Miranda and Ginn finished 3rd in AL Reliever of the Year behind Minnesota's Marco Raya. Both Howard and Ginn were tops in WAR in their respective categories, but that wasn't good enough.

Cy Young: Detroit's Carlos Duran (16-4, 3.58) won it with Tyler Glasnow a surprising second (9 first-place votes, 14 points behind Duran) and Dustin May third (4 first-place votes). May likely would have won had we ever given him decent run support. In the NL the Cubs' Chad Green was the runaway winner after going 14-9, 2.36 (30 of 32 first-place votes).

MVP: In the AL Jarred Kelenic of Seattle was a unanimous winner and rightfully so after hitting .339-45-133. And it was the same in NL with Ronald Acuna Jr, who won the NL Triple Crown at .340-46-110. Tiger teammates Spencer Torkelson and Marcelo Mayer finished 2nd and 3rd in the AL while San Diego's Fernando Tatis Jr. was 2nd and Cubs' Korean import Dong-Myung Lee 3rd.

November 20: Non-tendered IF Taylor Walls and P Alex Vesia. I saved about $4M and Franklin Dacosta and Jelfry Marte can do their jobs next year, or in the case of Marte if not him then a veteran MI signed on a minor league deal. JT Ginn got about $800K more than I expected in arbitration, DL Hall about $500K and Reid Detmers about $500K so those 3 ate up about half of the money we saved on Walls and Vesia. The bottom line is now we have about $20M to spend on free agents.

December 6: The first notable free agents signed as Detroit's Rony Garcia, who put up 13 WAR over the last 3 years and was top-ranked starter on the market, went to Houston for 6/112. Meanwhile Jacob deGrom returned to the Mets on a 2/23 deal after spending a few years in Houston. He's 38 now and not the pitcher he was earlier in the decade but still is effective. Also former Ray Nick Anderson inked a 1/3.5 deal with the Cardinals.

December 7: The big kahuna was reeled in as the Cardinals went 8/228 for Juan Soto, who had opted out of his deal with Washington. Actually the $28M or so he's being paid is a relative bargain.

December 8: And the first of the Rays free agents signed elsewhere as Tyler Glasnow went to Boston on a 5/74.6 pact. Interestingly Glasnow also signed for Boston in my 2020 save at around this same time, had one great year with the Red Sox then had health issues and lost his effectiveness, essentially forcing Boston to eat most of the contract.

December 18: Added C Diego Cartaya and OF Jose Pena to the 40-man roster.

Rule 5 time again, I still left 4 slots open on the 40-man for potential free agent signings and due to confidence that my Rule 5-eligibles weren't going to be taken. Cartaya of course is ticketed for the bigs in 2028 after Rutschman goes and Pena can play CF and hit for some power, making him semi-valuable.

December 19: Selected P Levi Abbott in the Rule 5 draft from Detroit.

I've played 24 seasons in my 2020 Rays save and 6 in this one and I've never claimed a guy in the Rule 5 draft until now. And we're bringing back a familiar face as Abbott was our #1 pick in 2023 and dealt in early 2024 for Andrew Greckel and Angelo DiSpigna. That deal worked out great for us and now we get Abbott back, whom Detroit left exposed. Obviously he didn't set the world on fire in the Tigers system but my scout still likes him and he still has 3-3.5 star potential. Of course if we want to keep him he has to stay on the MLB roster and while there are rotation slots open he isn't going to take one of them, he'd be our 14th pitcher and use in long relief/mop-up work if he makes the team.

December 24: Longtime Milwaukee SS Luis Guillorme signed a 5/77 deal with Atlanta, while brief former Ray and farmhand of ours for the last several years before becoming a minor league free agent Jack Little signed with St. Louis.

December 26: The Tigers replaced Rony Garcia in their rotation with 2025 AL Cy Young winner Francis Martes on a 6/123 deal.

December 27: Alex Vesia, who spent the last 5 years in our pen, is now a Los Angeles Angel on a 1/2.7 pact.

December 29: Former 2-time World Series winner with the Rays Devin Williams inked a 3/23 deal with the Mets.

December 31: Usually when a team fire-sales a pending free agent, that free agent doesn't go back to their old team but that's what happened with Luke Voit who went back to the Yankees after spending the stretch run and playoffs with us last year. He signed a 1-year, $7.7M deal.

[Art Deco]

January 8: Tarik Skubal is gone, he signed a 5/58 deal with the San Antonio Alamos. The fan interest decreases slightly.

January 11: We made a free agent signing (nothing that exciting):



As you can see, Lodolo is a decent 4th/5th starter who's averaged about 1.5 WAR the last few years. The cost wasn't much (990K) so he's worth a shot. He slots in as our fifth starter behind May, Ryan, Cecconi and Ginn.

January 12: Atlanta acquired Corbin Burnes from the Brewers for a couple of minor leaguers. Burnes isn't the pitcher he was earlier in the decade and is coming off a couple of seasons with an ERA over 5.

January 13: The Hall of Fame voting is in:



Pujols no surprise of course, and for the second straight year Robinson Cano falls just shy of enshrinement.

January 22: Another of our free agents signs elsewhere as Drew Rasmussen hooks up with Houston for one year at $4.6M.

February 2: Our 3B of the last several years Carter Kieboom had to settle for a minor league deal with the Twins, shades of Brandon Lowe (who's out there right now as well).

February 26: It took until the first day of exhibition games but Randy Arozarena finally found a home in Washington for 4/79.6. We'll see if he can help the Nats get to the postseason so he can try to become the all-time postseason homer leader as he's tied with Manny Ramirez on 29.

March 1: We may have dodged a bullet by not re-signing Tarik Skubal, as the new Alamo lefty tore his labrum and will miss most of the season.

March 9: Austin Meadows has surfaced with the Mets on a minor league deal with a major league option.

March 12: A flurry of free agent signings which I'll just post:



March 13: Longtime Mets slugger Pete Alonso, seemingly in decline, signed a 1-year, $1.7M deal with San Diego while Austin Riley went for 1/2.3 to San Antonio.

March 14: 34-year-old Trevor Story signed a 1/4.6 deal with Milwaukee.

March 17: Taylor Walls surfaced in Chicago, signing a minor league deal with the White Sox.

March 24: Former Oakland A's fixture Matt Olson signed a 1/4.4 deal with the Giants.

[Art Deco]

Before we get down to business, we had one piece of business before the season started:



Kershaw of course is not the ace he once was but the price was right and we needed some rotation depth. He's coming off elbow surgery and will be out for the first month, and frankly I'm not sure what to expect from him other than impeccable control. This could be another Chris Sale situation except we're not on the hook for anything more than the $2.2M.

Also to get down to 27, we had to DFA Neraldo Catalina.

It was a quiet offseason by my standards, the first time I've ever gone a winter without making a single trade. We're filling all our holes internally for now with the except of the Nick Lodolo and Kerhsaw signings. So without further ado, here's the Opening Day roster:

C-Rutschman, Collins
1B-Baty, Hoese (platoon)
2B-Howard
SS-Franco
3B-Crumpton
IF-Marte
OF-Kjerstad, Robles, Kirilloff, J.Diaz

DH-Greckel

Three rookies take roles with Crumpton the full-time 3B, Marte backing up in the infield and Jhon Diaz the 4th outfielder. Baty is getting one last chance to be the long-side of a 1B platoon as Angelo DiSpigna lurks in Durham and we can always go outside the org for a 1B.

SP-May, Ryan, Ginn, Cecconi, Lodolo
LR-Wetherbee, L.Abbott
MR-R.Detmers, Dacosta, Chamberlain
SU-Megill, O.Gutierrez
CL-Castillo, Hall

More rookie action with Jared Wetherbee taking over a long relief/spot starter role, Levi Abbott (who had a good spring) on the team since he was taken in the Rule 5 draft, and Franklin Dacosta takes over Alex Vesia's lefty middle relief role.

The preseason predictions:



I'm not surprised they don't like us, given the losses in the rotation we suffered from last year.

Next up: We open the season with 3 games in Chicago against the White Sox.

[Art Deco]

I give you the traditional Opening Day box, although it's grim reading:



The Rays laid an egg on Opening Day, one of the goose variety for the bats. They did manage 8 hits, but they truly were scattered by Lucas Giolito. It was business as usual failing to score for Dustin May but not business as usual for May on the mound as he was hit hard in his 2027 debut. The only bright spot was that Kelly Crumpton collected his first MLB hit. Levi Abbott was impressive despite the line above as he put two men on to start the 6th and Reid Detmers coughed up the first of two homers he allowed to score Abbott's runners.

In the second game the Rays finally put some runs on the board but still lost and went to 0-2 after being edged 5-4 by the White Sox. Andrew Greckel homered for their first run of 2027 and had a big day with a triple and single as well, and Alex Kirilloff was 3-4 with an RBI, but the bats went cold as soon as they fell behind and that was that. Joe Ryan was not good, and whenever he's wild it's bad as he went 4.2 6 5 5 4 4.

In the finale the Rays were no-hit until the 6th and trailed 1-0 as it looked like 2027 was going to start 0-3. But the bats suddenly came alive and when the dust cleared they had an 8-2 win. Victor Robles put them ahead 2-1 in the 7th with a 2-run single and then they broke it open with 5 in the 8th. After loading the bases with nobody out Adley Rutschman drew a walk to force one in and then Kelly Crumpton broke it open with a 2-run double, his first big hit as a Ray. Rutschman and Robles singled in additional runs and it was all enough to see JT Ginn win his first start with the Rays after a couple of years in relief as he was impressive at 6.1 5 1 1 3 3. Robles stole two bases and was hit by a pitch twice in addition to his 2-3, 3-RBI day.

Team record: 1-2. Next up: The home-opening series against Texas.

MLB News: Jacob deGrom's return to the Mets was not a good one as after being hit hard in his season debut it turned out he had torn his flexor tendon and is done for the year.

[Art Deco]

The Rays bounced back from a rough start in Chicago to sweep Texas in their home-opening series of 2027, twice in thrilling walk-off fashion.

The opener saw Slade Cecconi pitch perhaps his best game as a big leaguer, only to see Diego Castillo blow the save before the Rays still prevailed anyway 2-1 in 10 innings. Cecconi dominated the Rangers to the tune of 7 4 0 0 0 8 and was up 1-0 after Kody Hoese finally broke the deadlock in the bottom of the 7th with an RBI single. But Castillo allowed Texas to tie in the 8th and on to extras we went when Wander Franco singled home Andrew Greckel with the walk-off winner in the 10th. Osvanni Gutierrez picked up the win.

The Rays had to overcome a brutal debut from Nick Lodolo and the resulting 6-1 deficit, scoring 4 times in the bottom of the 9th to pull out a wild 11-8 win on Andrew Greckel's 3-run homer (#2). Lodolo gave up 4 in the 1st inning and barely made it into the 4th going 3 9 6 6 2 1. Tampa Bay answered with 5 in the bottom of the 4th to tie it up and went ahead in the 5th on Alex Kirilloff's 1st homer of the year before Texas went back ahead and took an 8-7 lead into the bottom of the 9th. That's when the Rays mounted a rally with Heston Kjerstad singling the in the tying run and Greckel following him with a 3-run blast to right to send the Trop into a frenzy and cap a 5-RBI day. Kirilloff and Kjerstad also had 3-hit days, Victor Robles homered in the 1st (#1) and Tylor Megill (1-0) picked up the win.

Tampa Bay completed the sweep as Dustin May bounced back from his rough Opening Day outing and Kelly Crumpton had his first big hit as a Ray, a 2-run homer to break a 1-1 tie in the 4th and send the Rays on to a 5-1 win over Texas. May evened his record at 1-1 after going 6 6 1 0 1 4 and Alex Kirilloff had an early RBI single as part of his third 3-hit day of the young season (he's batting .462). Crumpton then came through with his first MLB dinger, an opposite-field blast to right. Crumpton later doubled and Wander Franco added his 1st homer of the season.

Team record: 4-2. Next up: 3 games in Cleveland.

MLB News: The Dodgers lost Cody Bellinger for 7 weeks with a torn quad; Arizona traded Seth Beer to Colorado where he should hit a lot of homers; the Dodgers signed Astros legend Jose Altuve to a minor-league deal, and the Cubs grabbed the biggest name still on the free-agent market when they signed George Springer for 1 year at $13M.

[Art Deco]

A not-great series for the Rays, especially the pitching as they allowed 24 runs in the 3 games. They did manage to salvage the finale thanks to a huge offensive outburst, but with the new-look staff the question mark coming into the season it wasn't an auspicious set of games.

Joe Ryan pitched well in the opener (6 5 2 2 0 6) but the bullpen let the game get away and the bats barely made a peep in an 8-1 loss. Jared Wetherbee was lit up for 4 runs in the 7th to end any prayer of winning but it didn't matter since they only managed 3 hits for the entire game.

The bullpen let a game they led 4-2 go bad as they fell again to Cleveland 7-4. A solo Wander Franco homer (#2) and a 3-run blast from Kody Hoese (#1) gave them that 4-2 lead and JT Ginn pitched OK, going 5 3 3 3 1 3. But Franklin Dacosta allowed a homer in the 6th to let the Guardians equalize, and DL Hall was hit for 3 runs in the 8th, including Bo Naylor's 2nd home of the game, and the Rays fell back to .500.

The Rays were looking like they'd be swept when they entered the 7th inning down 5-2 to Cleveland but a 9-run eruption sent them on the way to a wild 13-9 win to salvage the series finale. Heston Kjerstad's 1st homer of the year was a 3-run shot to tie it, and after they plated a couple of more runs Alex Kirilloff capped the inning with a grand slam (#2). He added an RBI double in the 9th and finished with 6 driven in while Kjerstad had a 4-hit game. Kelly Crumpton earlier had HR #2. Slade Cecconi started and looked as great as he did in his season debut for 3 innings and then suddenly couldn't get out of the 4th, giving up 4 runs. Jared Wetherbee ended up with his first MLB win in relief despite allowing 3 runs, and it will be his last win for a long time as he ruptured a disc in his back and is done for the season.

Team record: 5-4. The Orioles are off to a blazing 8-1 start and sit atop the division while the Yankees are right behind at 7-2. Next up: Back home for 3 vs Oakland.

[Art Deco]

The Rays took 2 of 3 from Oakland. It wasn't easy and they had to kind of scratch out the two wins but they received (mostly) good pitching in the process.

The exception to the good pitching came in the opener when Nick Lodolo was tattooed again in his second Rays start, allowing all 5 Oakland runs in a 5-3 loss. Both came via Lodolo's Achilles heel, the HR ball, with a 2-run shot in the 1st and a 3-run blast in the 3rd. Outside of the two homers he pitched decently and finished 6 4 5 5 3 5 but there was a "how was the play Mrs. Lincoln?" feel to that. Victor Robles had a solo homer (#2) and Adley Rutschman drove in the other two runs in the loss.

The Rays (literally) came back to win the second game 3-2 with solo homers from Wander Franco (#3) and Victor Robles (#2) tying the game and Adley Rutschman singling in Franco, who had doubled, for the winner in the 7th. Dustin May started and got his usual scant support while he was in there, going 5.1 5 2 2 3 2. Osvanni Gutierrez picked up his 2nd relief win and Diego Castillo notched his first save of the season.

Tampa Bay won the rubber game 5-2 in an affair which saw all the runs score on homers. Therefore it was no surprise Joe Ryan started for the Rays but he can win if he only gives up solo shots and that's what he did today in a 7 4 2 2 1 7 outing for his first win of 2027 against two losses. Diego Castillo saved for the second straight day. The Rays' aerial attack came from Corey Collins (his first of the year and a 3-run shot in the 3rd), Alex Kirilloff (#3 in the 6th) and Andrew Greckel (#3 in the 8th). Some bad news though as Wander Franco had to leave with back spasms which are serious enough to send him to the IL, albeit for not much more than the minimum 10-day stay.

Transaction: With the Franco injury I guess it was a good thing we signed veteran MI Marcus Semien to a minor-league contract the day before.The 36-year-old inked a $1.8M deal contingent on him making the team and it now looks like he will. The idea was to get a better-hitting backup MI than Jelfry Marte anyway but now Marte will stay to back up Semien. Semien doesn't have a ton of gas left in the tank but can still play a 55 SS (and a 60 2B) and offers some average power.

Also before he got hurt, Franco did this:



Team record: 7-5. Next up: An off-day then 3 games in Seattle.

[Art Deco]

Not a great series in Seattle as we dropped 2 out of 3 and even the win was somewhat frustrating because it involved blowing the lead.

Transaction (from last week): I totally forgot to mention this but on the 8th we did put Jared Wetherbee on the 60-day IL since his season is done but at the same time we claimed lefty reliever Robinson Ortiz on waivers from the Dodgers and he took Wetherbee's roster spot. Ortiz was outstanding last year for the Dodgers, earning 1.9 WAR. He's probably not that good, but he has 65 stuff and average movement and control so he should be useful.

It was a tough loss in the opener as DL Hall blew his second game in six days by giving up a key 3-run homer and the Rays lost 4-3 to Seattle. JT Ginn was outstanding (6 5 1 1 3 4) and he left with a 3-1 lead courtesy of a 2-run Ed Howard homer (#1) and an Adley Rutschman RBI single. Tylor Megill had a quick 7th so he came back for the 8th and put the first two men on, and with lefty Trevor Larnach due up Hall (0-2) came in and Larnach took him deep to give Seattle the win.

The Rays won the second game 7-6 on an Adley Rutschman RBI single in the 9th but how they got there wasn't enjoyable. 2-run homers from Ed Howard (#2) and Andrew Greckel in the 1st staked the Rays to a 4-0 lead but Slade Cecconi gave almost all of the lead right back by allowing 3 in the bottom of the 1st. Greckel hit his 2nd homer of the game (#5) to help the Rays bump the lead back up to 6-3, but after Cecconi had to leave in the 4th with back spasms (he'll make his next start), Levi Abbott gave up a 3-run homer to let Seattle tie it up. Finally a 3-hit rally in the 9th capped by Rutschman's single gave them lead again, but DL Hall tried his best to blow another game but was let off the hook when Victor Robles threw the potential tying run out at the plate. Diego Castillo (1-0) got the win, and Hall picked up a shaky 1st save.

The Rays finally got a good start from Nick Lodolo in the finale but it was for naught as naught was what the bats did in a 2-0 loss. Lodolo went 5.2 7 2 2 1 6 and kept the ball in the park but still dropped to 0-2. The hitters only managed five singles in total, and Brett Baty was 0-3 to drop to 2-37 on the season (.054). Angelo DiSpigna will be coming back up soon. The only bright spot was a pair of scoreless innings from recent acquisition Robinson Ortiz.

Team record: 8-7. Next up: We return home to face Boston for 3 with Tyler Glasnow scheduled to return to the Trop mound for the second game. In the division we're 3 games behind the Yankees and Baltimore who are both 11-4.

[Art Deco]

I started out shopping for a 1B and ended up acquiring the best young pitcher in MLB:



Who is James Hays? Glad you asked:



80 stuff. Now, not potential. Hays was the #1 overall pick in 2023 and finally has put it all together and you can see how dominant he was in his first three starts of the year for Texas. He immediately becomes our ace (sorry, Dustin May) and has four more years of team control and isn't arb-eligible until 2029. There's a good chance we give him a long-term deal soon anyway. We did give Texas quite a bit in return with 3 highly-regarded starting pitcher prospects. Allen was our supplemental 1st round pick last year and could be a #2 starter if he gets his control under control, Mank was our 4th round pick but shot up the prospect charts after turning pro and was the #66 overall prospect, and Archila is a flame-thrower we discovered in the Dominican in 2024 and was highly regarded in trade talks where we were offered a lot for him (which is how this all got started when I saw the Rockies were willing to trade me 1B Michael Toglia for him).

Fortunately we didn't have to part with our elite pitching prospect Dave Cedeno, who's been in the top 10 since being a July 2 signing back in 2021 and dazzled at Durham in his AAA debut a few days ago, or with Parker Detmers, our 1st round pick last year who's almost MLB-ready. Hays will obviously go into our rotation, either in Slade Cecconi or Nick Lodolo's place. JT Ginn has pitched too well in his first 3 starts to go back to the pen. Of course when Clayton Kershaw is ready in early May Cecconi or Lodolo is out as well.

[Art Deco]

Thought about putting Brett Baty on waivers and seeing if he cleared, then I realized I'm not going to trust him enough to bring him back and make him the 1B again. So he was dealt:



Romero is a useful lefty reliever with 60 stuff, 65 movement and 60 control. He's going to Durham for now because he has an option but I'm not sold on Reid Detmers right now but he's someone else that I would have to deal or waive so I need a little time on that.

Also, I've decided that James Hays will take Slade Cecconi's rotation spot because Cecconi is one of the few pitchers on the active roster who actually has options so he's headed to Durham, much to his chagrin I imagine.

Finally as a result of the Baty trade Angelo DiSpigna is recalled from AAA Durham and he'll get another shot at the 1B job where hopefully he performs more like 2025 (27 HR in 374 AB) than 2026 (8 HR and a .173 BA).

[Art Deco]

A lot of excitement coming into this series as it was the first against an AL East rival and it marked the debut of James Hays as a Ray as well as the return of Tyler Glasnow in enemy colors. Tampa Bay ended up taking 2 of 3 but not Hays' start, however not his fault it was.

James Hays got the ball the series opener and was flat-out brilliant in his team debut, dominating the Red Sox to the tune of 6 3 1 1 1 10 and left the game with a 4-1 lead. But the bullpen melted down, costing him the win in a 7-5 loss to Boston. Hays was virtually unhittable save an Alex Verdugo homer, and a 3-run blast from Marcus Semien, his first with the Rays, gave Tampa Bay that lead. However Tylor Megill started the conflagration by giving up 3 runs in the 7th to let Boston tie, and although the Rays regained the lead in the bottom of the inning when Alex Kirilloff tripled and Adley Rutschman singled him home, Christian Chamberlain (0-1) put two men on in the 8th and Diego Castillo, he of the 70 rating for movement, served up a 3-run homer to give Boston the win as the giddy atmosphere turned sour.

The second game saw a matchup of the Rays' two top starters from last year with Tyler Glasnow now a Red Sock and Dustin May on the hill for Tampa Bay. Both were sharp but May outlasted Glasnow in a 3-2 Rays win. Glasnow was impressive and struck out 8 without walking anyone but the Rays got to him for back-to-back solo homers in the 4th from Andrew Greckel (#6) and Kelly Crumpton (#3) to go ahead 2-1. After former Ray Christian Arroyo tied it up with a blast off May in the 6th, the Rays strung 3 singles together in the 7th with Victor Robles bringing home Crumpton for the winner. May (2-1) finished 7 6 2 2 1 3 for the win and the bullpen held this time with Diego Castillo bouncing back for save #3.

Most of the Rays' wins this season have been nail-biters but today they finally had a laugher as they swamped the Sox 9-1 in the finale. They had those 9 runs by the 5th inning, allowing Joe Ryan (2-2) to sit in his rocker and go 7 5 1 1 0 2 in his first start of the year in which he kept the ball in the park. It was a balanced 13-hit attack with Heston Kjerstad homering (#3) and doubling while Victor Robles and Alex Kirilloff each drove in a pair.

Team record: 10-8, now 2 behind the first-place Orioles who sit at 12-6. The Yankees have lost 5 straight after an 11-2 start and just put Gerrit Cole and Corey Seager on the IL with short-term injuries. Yankee Stadium is where we go next for 3 games. While the Rays are off to something of an uneven start, they're way better off than the team they lost to in last season's World Series as the Dodgers are a brutal 4-14 to begin the season, tied for the worst record in MLB with Memphis and Kansas City.

[Art Deco]

A good series for the Rays who took two out of three and believe it or not are now in a 3-way tie for first in the AL East as Baltimore was surprisingly swept by San Antonio. The AL as a whole is compressed with everyone in the league between 12-9 and 9-12 except the Angels at 13-8 and the Royals at 6-15.

The opener was a heartbreak as the bullpen gave up another late soul-crushing homer to allow the Yankees to win 4-2. Tylor Megill (1-1) coughed up a 2-run shot to Josh Smith in the bottom of the 8th to break a 2-2 tie. JT Ginn turned in another fine start (5 2 2 1 3 6) and sports a 2.42 ERA to date but is 1-0 with 3 no-decisions to show for it.

The Rays made up for yesterday's blown game by coming back themselves on the Yankees and taking a 7-5 win. But not before enduring another brutal Nick Lodolo start as the lefty gave up all 5 Yankee runs in the first two innings. The pitching hero turned out to be Levi Abbott, who whiffed 2 in the 3rd to get Lodolo out of further damage and ended up going 3.2 2 0 0 0 6 to keep the Rays in it. The comeback came too late for him to get the deserved win though as it went to Osvanni Gutierrez, now tied for the league lead with 3. Diego Castillo had a quiet 9th for save #4. The big blow on offense came in the 8th when Corey Collins belted a 2-run homer (#2) to provide the winning margin after Ed Howard's 2-run single got them within 5-4 in the 7th and Kelly Crumpton's infield single tied it in the 8th.

It was the James Hays show again at Yankee Stadium today and the dominating righty dominated again in a 4-0 Rays win. Hays went 6 2 0 0 0 11 on 95 pitches and picked up his first of hopefully many Rays wins. Tylor Megill and Christian Chamberlain finished the shutout as Rays pitching struck out 16 Yankees. Meanwhile another guy who wasn't with the club a week or two again had a monster game on offense as Marcus Semien was 4-5 with HR #2 and 2 RBI. He had a solo homer in the first, an insurance RBI single in the 7th and stole a base as well. With Wander Franco coming off the IL tomorrow Semien will go to the bench, but he was brilliant filling in hitting .400 with 2 HR and 6 RBI in 8 games.

Team record: 12-9. Next up: Back to the Trop for 3 vs Houston.

[Art Deco]

A thrilling 16-inning win in the opener gave way to despair after losing the next two and the Rays have dropped to 3rd in the AL East, 2 behind the Yankees and 1 behind Baltimore.

Transaction: Activated SS Wander Franco from the 10-day IL, optioned IF Jelfry Marte to AAA Durham.

The opener was a marathon as mentioned, and the Rays had to come back from 3-1 down to force extras. All the scoring came via the longball with solo shots in regulation from Kody Hoese (#2), Angelo DiSpigna (#1) and Victor Robles (#4), the latter tying the game at 3 in the 8th. And then after several chances to win in extras were squandered, Andrew Greckel finally put an end to the game in the 16th with a man on as he launched HR #7 to conclude the 5 hour, 36 minute affair. Diego Castillo (2-0) went the final 3 innings for the win to cap 9 1/3 scoreless from the pen after Dustin May went 6.2 7 3 3 1 6.

The worn-down bullpen from last night's game turned out to be a factor in a 6-4 loss in the second game when Joe Ryan had to depart in the 3rd inning after the Rays had jumped out to a 3-0 lead. All four relievers used in the game gave up runs as the lead evaporated with Robinson Ortiz (0-1) taking the loss after Francisco Lindor's homer off him broke a 3-3 tie in the 7th. Corey Collins led the offense for the Rays, doubling and scoring early and hitting a late consolation homer (#3). Ryan was fine after the game and will make his next start.

A close game got away from the Rays in the finale when JT Ginn stayed in one batter too long and allowed a 3-run homer which turned a 2-0 Houston lead into a 5-0 lead in a 5-1 loss. Ginn, who had excelled after being moved into the rotation this season, had his first poor start although someone relieved him at the right time it might not have been; he finished 5.1 9 5 5 1 5 and dropped to 1-1. It was a frustrating night for the offense as they did manage 11 hits but couldn't get one when it was needed while they also bounced into 3 double plays.

Team record: 13-11. Next up: An off-day then a big series at the Trop against Baltimore.

Team news: Levi Kelly tore his rotator cuff at Durham and is done for the year as his star-crossed Rays career hits another snag.

[Art Deco]

The Rays took on one of their direct rivals for the top spot in the AL East and won two out of three, surprisingly winning the game which featured another horrible Nick Lodolo start and losing the one which featured another absolutely brilliant James Hays outing.

Lodolo gave up 4 runs on 9 hits in 3+ innings but the Rays powered past the early deficit he put them in and took a 9-5 win over the Orioles in the series opener. His latest rough outing upped his ERA to 9.90 and there are options at Durham (including a rehabbing Clayton Kershaw) that may be opted for if he doesn't turn things around quickly. Turning things around quickly was what the bats did, with the big hit a 3-run Angelo DiSpigna homer (#2) capping a 4-run 3rd which turned a 4-2 deficit into a 6-4 lead, and they never looked back. Andrew Greckel was 2-4 with 2 RBI, and all Osvanni Gutierrez does is win as the reliever went to 4-0 after taking over for Lodolo. DL Hall went the final 1 1/3 against his old team for save #2.

James Hays. That is all. The righty pitched one of the best games I've seen a Rays pitcher hurl in this save, and he still lost. A Javy Baez homer in the 2nd inning for Baltimore was the only blemish on an 8 4 1 1 0 12 outing as he's now somehow 1-1 despite a 1/33 BB/K ratio in 20 innings since joining the team and has an absurd 2/53 BB/K ratio for the season. He's by far the leader in pitcher WAR in MLB at 1.7 already and it's still April. Franklin Dacosta and Diego Castillo combined to allow 3 runs in the 9th to put the game out of reach with the final 4-0 as the bats were held to a pathetic 4 hits.

Here's hoping Hays isn't last year's Dustin May, destined to pitch without run support. Meanwhile this year's May didn't exactly receive an offensive outburst in the finale but got enough for a 3-1 win. May turned in perhaps his best start of the young season going 6 5 1 1 1 6 to go to 3-1, 3.67 and DL Hall got the final 5 outs on only 13 pitches to secure his 3rd save. The offense came primarily via a 2-run double by the resurgent Alex Kirilloff in the 3rd and the OF is now third in the AL at .343 with a 15-game hitting streak, looking more like the guy we thought we were acquiring the winter before last than the one who showed up in 2026. It wasn't all wine and roses though as Heston Kjerstad suffered a hamstring strain making a play in the outfield and will be out 4 weeks.

Team record: 15-12, tied with Baltimore 1 game behind the Yankees. Next up: 3 games in Kansas City where the Royals are off to a rough 11-16 start but have won 7 of their last 8.