The 2022 (and beyond) Tampa Bay Rays

[Art Deco]

Congrats to the Diamondbacks, who after losing last year's World Series to the Rays made it back and won it this time, ending the Rangers' Cinderella run through the playoffs as an 82-80 team.

Meanwhile a couple of Rays' farmhands were named MVPs in their respective leagues:



Arakawa was signed out of Japan last winter and had a successful debut stateside. He has MLB power, patience and speed (26 steals) but his contact tool is a bit suspect as .255 at Durham probably translates to .230-.240 in the bigs. He will get a shot next season though.



Specht isn't quite as good a prospect as Arakawa, but he's definitely overachieved his status as a 10th-round pick in 2022. He projects as a backup OF with 45 contact, 55 power, 65 speed and 60 corner OF defense.

[Art Deco]

Rays fans got the fine regular season that was expected but the quick playoff exit wasn't after back-to-back titles. We will lose a key cog next season and replacing him is going to be priority one this offseason.

Free Agents leaving: C Diego Cartaya*, C Shea Langeliers, OF Riley Greene, RPs Pete Fairbanks and Camilo Doval.

Arbitration-eligibles being non-tendered: RP Max Green, IF Jeremiah Jackson, C Cal Raleigh.

*Qualifying offer of $18.9M made, since he's asking for 10/330 in an extension I'm confident he declines it.

Owner Stu Sternberg gave us a projected payroll of $160M. If we take out the non-tenders that leaves us with approximately $135M in obligations, giving us a few bucks to spend.

Position-by-position outlook:

C: Truly the biggest area of need with Cartaya and his backups departing. Cartaya was a 5-win guy and one of the top catchers in the game so it's going to be a tall order to approximate his contributions. Right now the "incumbent" and only catcher left on the 40-man is Angel Rivera, who hit 251/339/410 at Durham with 8 HR in 239 AB. He has a good bat with potential 50 contact, 55 power and 60 eye and rates as a 45/50 defensive catcher. Depending on who we acquire Rivera will either be the backup or in a job-share.

1B: Junior Caminero had a fine season (27 HR, 100 RBI) and will be back. The only possibility he slides to DH is if we move Ozzie Albies here.

2B: And Albies is back as well. Albies' defense is lousy but until we have someone else who can do better overall at the position, he'll stay there.

SS: Wander is entrenched.

3B: Marco Luciano is the incumbent but he missed the second half of last season and Freili Encarnacion filled in adequately for him. Neither was gangbusters as they each played roughly half a season and Encarncion was worth 1.0 WAR to Luciano's 0.4.

IF: With J.Jackson being let go Brooks Lee, who played well while up for Wander last year, looks like the backup IF. Encarnacion may figure in as well as Luciano can play some 2B and SS.

LF: Natanael Santana is coming off a 28-HR, 2.1-WAR season and has the inside track.

CF: Zach DeLoach was outstanding and he has one more year left of team control (in which he'll earn at least $15M in arbitration).

RF: James Wood was a disappointment last year, hitting .232 with only 19 HR but was still worth nearly 2 WAR.

OF: Fu-Chi Chin was the backup but we may be looking to upgrade from him as his glove disappointed and he didn't hit a whole lot. We have some options at Durham with IL MVP Mitsuyoski Arakawa, Luis Leones (who was up briefly) and Hendry Mendez, who came over in the deal that brought us Camilo Doval from the Cubs. Beyond them there's Elijah Green, who can play elite OF defense, while Joshua Mears and Lonnie White are still on the 40-man.

DH: Robby Castillo, who played for us in September, has the inside track as the left-handed side of a platoon here, and Max Viera, who disappointed last year, could be the righty half, but we could stand an upgrade here too. Maybe this guy:



This would be Nelson Haro, the #5 prospect in baseball, who's ready for the bigs. He hit a pedestrian 276/328/414 at Montgomery last year but as you can see he was unhappy and I'm confident he'll perform better in the bigs.

Rotation: Swanda, Eldridge, Orze, Bradley and Khattak all return and Grayson Rodriguez is due back around August. Luis German is capable of starting as well but he'll be more needed in our depleted bullpen.

Bullpen: Speaking of which Edwin Diaz returns as one of the game's most dominant closers but his setup guys (Green, Doval, Fairbanks) are all gone. Trey Riley and Aldry Acosta were excellent after being picked up on waivers and will return, as will German and Charlie Ruegger who pitched very well after coming back up from Durham. We're thin on lefties though as long man JP Sears and the unproven Andri Tavarez are our only current options there. So we're definitely looking for a power lefty.

So these are our main objectives for the upcoming offseason:

1) Find a full-time or at least job-share catcher
2) Find a reliever or two, especially a power lefty
3) Possible upgrades in a corner OF or 3B

[Art Deco]

We'll start off with a wave of notable retirements: Kevin Gausman, Danny Jansen, Michael Conforto*, Jordan Luplow*, Jordan Montgomery, Lorenzo Cain*, Giancarlo Stanton, Liam Hendriks*, Seiya Suzuki*, Kyle Schwarber, Yasmani Grandal, Mike Brosseau*, Lance McCullers Jr.

*former Rays

Awards Season

Gold Glove: A pair of departing free agent Rays won - Diego Cartaya (C) and Riley Greene (RF).

Silver Slugger: The Rays dominated the AL winners with Diego Cartaya (C), Wander Franco (SS), Riley Greene (RF) and Junior Caminero (DH) all getting the nod.

Reliever of the Year: We had a deserving winner in the AL:



Joey Gerber of the Mets, who racked up 53 saves with a 1.35 ERA, was the NL winner.

Rookie of the Year: Former Rays farmhand Willmer De La Cruz, who was let go by our organization and signed a minor league deal with Baltimore, took the AL award in a very weak crop of rookies this year. De La Cruz only hit 241/307/308 with 3 HR but he did win the AL Gold Glove at 2B. In the NL Arizona SS Robert Delgado was honored, hitting .281-4-47 and earning 2.9 WAR.

Cy Young: Texas's Robert Ahlstrom, who won the pitching triple crown in the AL with 19 wins, a 3.00 ERA and 274 whiffs, was a unanimous pick for Cy Young with our John Swanda taking third. Also unanimous was San Diego's Corbin Burnes in the NL, 16-8 with a 2.49 ERA including a 9-1, 1.82 run down the stretch with the Padres after coming over from Milwaukee.

MVP: Also a no-brainer in the AL as Vlad Guerrero Jr won the triple crown at .344-58-135 as well as leading the majors in WAR at 9.6. He was unanimous and Rays Riley Greene and Wander Franco finished 4th and 5th. In the NL the Dodgers' Trea Turner took home the prize, handily beating out Cardinal OF Dylan Carlson with 25 of the 30 first-place votes. Turner hit .322-34-104 and led the NL in WAR at 7.7. Old friend Spencer Torkelson, now with Washington, finished 5th.

We made a trade:



We were awash in backup OFs and needed a lefty arm, so I was happy to get Okuda, who has mostly been a starter but can pitch in relief. He earned 2.5 WAR last year with the Angels in a hybrid role and earned 3.1 as a starter in 2026. And he's signed for $2.2M for 2029 so a relative bargain.

December 5: Who says you can't go home again? Diego Cartaya has left us to rejoin the Dodgers on a massive 8/239 deal. We of course acquired Cartaya from LA four years ago and now he'll net us a supplemental first-round pick. Meanwhile, reigning NL MVP Trea Turner has joined the Cubs for 3 years and $96M.

December 6: Longtime Cleveland star 3B Jose Ramirez will now torment us from within the division as he joined the Red Sox with a 3/68 pact. He's now 36 but still put up a quality 4.5 WAR season last year.

December 11: The Red Sox continue to splurge, signing OF Ketel Marte from the world champion Diamondbacks for 3/62.

December 12: Brailyn Marquez, who has been one of the top starters in the NL the last few years with Miami, joined the Phillies on a big 7/205 deal.

December 14: A couple of star OFs found new homes. First was our free agent Riley Greene, who is now a Cub for 4/112, and the Phillies followed up their Brailyn Marquez signing by grabbing longtime Twin Byron Buxton for 4/72.

December 15: Former Ray Tyler Glasnow, who had a nice season last year at age 35 with San Diego, has decided to ply his trade at Coors Field - a questionable decision given his 40 movement. He'll receive 3/66 to try to keep the ball in the park.

December 26: Added C Easton Carmichael and 1B Elbert Craig to the 40-man roster.

Probably neither of these guys gets taken in the Rule 5 draft, but we can't afford to lose the 2.5-star Carmichael because we need all the catching depth we can get.

December 27: Lost P Will Bednar to the Orioles in the Rule 5 Draft.

Bednar was signed as a MiLB free agent late last season and didn't figure into our plans although he would have been useful depth. Baltimore took him with the first overall pick. 35 players in total were taken in one of the more active Rule 5 drafts in recent memory.

December 28: The Phillies were at it again, signing starter Eury Perez from the Yankees, where he spent his contract year after coming over from Miami, for 6/100.

December 30: Veteran superstar Manny Machado moved up the California coast, joining San Diego's division rival Giants on a 2/44 deal. Meanwhile Jonah Heim, the #2 free agent catcher on the market behind Cartaya, joined Boston for 5/65 as that was more $ and term than I would have wanted to spend, even as catcher-desperate as I am.

[Art Deco]

January 4: Signed C Ryan Jeffers to a minor league deal with a $1.3 MLB option.

Well we finally signed a catcher, although he's not terribly exciting. Jeffers is a good defensive catcher who was a positive framer last year and he does have 55 power and a 60 eye (albeit with 40 contact). We'll pair him with Angel Rivera for now and yes it's going to be a big dropoff from Diego Cartaya but unless we want to trade one of our top young starters or a mega-prospect like Nelson Haro we're not getting a frontline guy.

January 6: Hasta la vista to Pete Fairbanks, who joined Oakland on a 2/8.3 deal.

January 7: The Dodgers added Alex Verdugo for 5/76.

January 10: The Hall of Fame voting is in:

CF Carlos Beltran 84.7 (7th year) Inducted HOF
SP Zack Greinke 83.3 (2nd year) Inducted HOF
2B Robinson Cano 68.7 (1st year)
C Joe Mauer 63.3 (6th year)
1B Joey Votto 63.0 (1st year)
C Yadier Molina 43.1 (2nd year)

The voters made Beltran wait no doubt due to the Astros scandal, but he finally made it in along with another member of those 2019 Astros in Greinke. An excellent showing for Robby Cano in his first year on the ballot while Mauer and Votto plug along.

Also in a big free agent signing the Giants added longtime Arizona OF Alek Thomas on a 4/100 deal.

January 13: The Twins brought back OF Alex Kirilloff on a 5/62 contract after trading him to Toronto last year.

January 15: Former Rays reliever Chris Gau joined Seattle for 3/10 and one-time Yankees star pitcher Gerrit Cole, who's now 38 and has missed most of the last two seasons with injuries, had to settle for a 1/2.2 deal with the Dodgers.

January 23: There's a long drive to deep right field, and Nick Castellanos has signed a 3/47 contract with the Yankees.

February 18: Aging star Christian Yelich signed a 1/14 deal with Cincinnati.

February 22: Camilo Doval, with us parts of the last two years, has joined Oakland on a 1/5.8 deal where he joins former teammate Pete Fairbanks.

February 23: Good news and bad news on Grayson Rodriguez. The good news is that he should able to come back about 5 weeks earlier so instead of August he should be back around midseason. The bad news is that his 65/50/50 profile has been downgraded to 60/45/45 and we're committed to him through 2030.

March 9: Claimed C Raffaele Velazquez on waivers from Cincinnati.

Velazquez is an intriguing option with 45 contact, 60 power and 50 (potential 55) defense and he's only 23 with an option left. He'll provide some much-needed depth and has a shot a joining the big club.

[Art Deco]

Only one injury of note during the spring which was suffered by our leadoff guy and CF Zach DeLoach who has back spasms that will keep him out of action for the first week of the season so he starts the year on the IL.

Otherwise the Opening Day rosters shakes out as thus:

C-A.Rivera, Jeffers
1B-Caminero
2B-Albies
SS-W.Franco
3B-Luciano
IF-B.Lee, B.Jordan
LF-N.Santana
CF-Arakawa
RF-Wood
OF-E.Green
DH-R.Castillo

Blaze Jordan was out of options and will make the team as the DH against lefties platooning with Robby Castillo. Elijah Green will platoon with Arakawa in CF while DeLoach is out.

SP-Swanda, Eldridge, Bradley, Orze, Khattak
LR-German, Sears
MR-Ruegger, Okuda, Acosta, Tavarez
SU-Riley, Moran
CL-E.Diaz

Seriously considered giving MLB's #5 overall prospect Nelson Haro a spot on the roster but with Caminero and Castillo holding down 1B/DH and Haro being a lefty hitter we'll start him at Durham since he's never really played above AA. We also had to waive OFs Joshua Mears and Luis Leones as they were out of options, I especially hope Leones clears.

A look at the boys:



With the 5-WAR DeLoach not on the roster, the preseason predictions were down on us:



At least they're not forecasting anyone to be a juggernaut in the AL, including last year's 108-win Toronto.

[Art Deco]

The opening day box:



A tough one as we couldn't get any offense going and great pitching only carried us so far. It was not a good day for debutants as Arakawa and Rivera were a combined 0-8 with 7 strikeouts and Ryan Okuda was the pitcher who finally blinked, getting hit in the 12th for the loss.

Game 2: 4-2 W. WP-Acosta (1-0). S-Diaz (1). Starter-Eldridge (4.1 6 2 2 1 8, 92P). HR-Rivera (1). The story today was rookie catcher Angel Rivera, whose 3-run homer in the 4th was the key blow as the Rays got into the win column for 2029.

Game 3: 4-5 L (10). LP-Sears (0-1). Starter-Bradley (7 5 2 2 1 7). HR-E.Green (1), Santana (1). This one hurt. Leading 4-2 after 8 and with Edwin Diaz unavailable, Luis German gave up a leadoff homer to former Ray Diego Cartaya, Charlie Ruegger allowed the tying run and JP Sears gave up the winner in the 10th. Elijah Green homered in his Rays debut and Santana's was an inside-the-park job.

Team record: 1-2. Next up: An off-day then Minnesota visits for 3 games.

Rays news: We signed a slew of veteran pitchers to minor league deals, mainly to beef up Durham but you never know as Noah Syndergaard, Dane Dunning, Edward Cabrera and Michael Grove are all headed to North Carolina.

MLB News: Old friend Shane McClanahan is going to miss 4 months for the Giants with a torn triceps and another old friend Pete Fairbanks is out 3-4 months with a torn back muscle.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: 5-12 L. LP-Orze (0-1, 2 9 4 4 0 3). HR-Jordan (1), Jeffers (1). A brutal night at the Trop for the Rays and their fans. Blaze Jordan and Ryan Jeffers hit back-to-back pinch homers in the 9th, the latter in his first Tampa Bay at-bat.

Transaction: Activated Zach DeLoach from the IL, optioned Mitsuyoshi Arakawa to AAA Durham. Arakawa was 1-13 in his time up.

Game 2: 2-3 L. LP-Moran (0-1). Starter-Khattak (4.1 5 2 2 2 5). HR-Santana (2). Moran gave up a homer to Teoscar Hernandez in the 8th to break the tie and the losing continues for the Rays. Robby Castillo was ejected for charging the mound after being hit following Santana's homer and is suspended for 3 games.

Transaction: Castillo goes on the restricted list, and Mitsuyoshi Arakawa gets a reprieve from his demotion.

Game 3: 2-16 L. LP-Swanda (0-1, 5 7 5 5 2 7). HR-Santana (3). This was actually a 2-1 Minnesota lead going into the 6th before they put 13(!) runs on the board in the inning as our middle/long relief continues to be horrible, along with the team as a whole really. A truly awful start to the season.

Team record: 1-5. Next up: An off-day then off to Houston for the first 3 road games of the year as fumigators attempt to clear the stink out of the Trop.

Rays news: We signed another veteran pitcher to a minor league deal as former Guardian Daniel Espino joins Durham. He has a better chance to help the big club than the batch we signed last week. Speaking of the batch, Noah Syndergaard has already gone on Durham's IL with a dead arm.

MLB News: Syndergaard's old running mate Jacob deGrom, now 40, will miss the rest of the season for San Diego with a UCL tear. Also a couple of late-signing free agents as Jesse Winker goes to Philly for $7.3M and Corbin Carroll joins the Dodgers for $3.3M.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: 7-3 W. WP-Eldridge (1-0, 7.1 6 2 2 3 4). HR-Santana (4), Albies (1), B.Jordan (2). A trio of 2-run homers and a fine outing from Eldridge got the Rays into the win column for only the second time this season.

Game 2: 1-5 L. LP-Bradley (0-1, 6 6 4 4 1 5). The offense only managed 6 hits as the Rays resumed their 2029 losing ways.

Transaction: Robby Castillo comes off the restricted list and Mitsuyoshi Arakawa is sent back to Durham.

Game 3: 1-5 L. LP-Orze (0-2, 5 6 4 4 0 9). HR-Franco (1). Almost a carbon copy of yesterday's game as this time they only had five hits. This team looks really bad.

Team record: 2-7. Next up: Back home for 3 against the White Sox, a team off to a similarly-terrible 2-8 start.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: 4-0 W. WP-Khattak (1-0, 7 5 0 0 2 5). HR-DeLoach (1). Back in the win column thanks to a strong outing from Khattak and the bat of DeLoach, who had a solo homer and an RBI double while Wander added an RBI double.

Game 2: 5-2 W. WP-German (1-0). S-Diaz (2). Starter-Swanda (5.2 4 2 2 3 5). HR-Luciano (1). Luciano's grand slam in the 6th won it for the Rays, with Albies going 3-4 with a double, triple and RBI.

Game 3: 3-1 W. WP-Acosta (2-0). S-Diaz (3). HR-Caminero (1), DeLoach (2). Starter-Eldridge (7 5 1 1 3 6). The Rays were being no-hit by Chicago's Matt Brash until the 6th, shut out until Caminero's solo homer to dead center in the 7th, and won it in the 8th with 2 out when DeLoach unloaded a 2-run blast as they completed the sweep of the one team going worse than them coming in.

Team record: 5-7. Next up: Toronto comes in for 4 games so the level of competition takes a big step up.

MLB News: Former Ray and current Nat Spencer Torkelson did something I've never seen done in all my saves over all the years - have consecutive 5-hit games. In fact he was named NL Player of the Week after going a remarkable 16 for 20. Also not only were the White Sox swept by us this weekend, to add injury to insult their ace starter Aaron Nola will have to undergo Tommy John surgery.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: 9-3 W. WP-Bradley (1-1, 5 5 3 3 2 4). HR-Albies (2), DeLoach (3). Albies and DeLoach were a 2-man offense with the former going 3-4 with a homer and 3 RBI and the latter knocking in 5 with an RBI double and a grand slam.

Game 2: 2-3 L. LP-Okuda (0-2). Starter-Orze (5 4 1 1 1 4). The offense was anemic (4 hits) and Ryan Okuda continues to be a disaster with the Rays, allowing 2 runs in the 6th to lose it and now has been hit for 12 runs and 13 hits in 4.2 IP.

Game 3: 2-3 L (12). LP-German (1-1). Starter-Khattak (6.2 8 1 1 0 4). HR-Franco (2). Another awful game from the offense, which had a man on 2nd with either 0 or 1 out in the 9th, 10th and 11th and couldn't get him home. Luis German also is struggling after his big 2028 as he walked 3 in the 12th including the winner with the bases loaded.

Transaction: Finally had it with this offense and decided to bring up the #3 prospect in baseball, Nelson Haro. In case you've forgotten, here is his profile:



All he can do is hit, and he was 429/472/673 in 11 games at Durham. He'll take over as the DH against righties for Robby Castillo who was 3-for-32 with 0 extra base hits this year and has been optioned to the Bulls.

Game 4: 3-5 L (11). LP-Moran (0-2). Starter-Swanda (5 6 3 3 1 5). HR-Lee (1). Losing losers find a way to lose once again as Moran is another guy who's been great in the recent past but has struggled this year as he walked 3 in the 11th including one with the bases loaded to lose it. Brooks Lee's dramatic late-inning 2-run homer tied it but only served to prolong the misery. Nelson Haro was 1-5 in his debut with a single but hit the ball hard every time up.

Team record: a not-nice 6-9. Next up: The Angels visit the Trop for 3 games.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: 11-9 W. WP-Eldridge (2-0, 5 9 6 6 1 6). S-Diaz (4). HR-Wood (1), Franco (3), Luciano (2), Caminero (2), DeLoach (4). Rays overcame a 2-HR, 4-RBI game from Shohei Ohtani by hitting 5 of their own including a Wood grand slam with Caminero knocking in 3. Ryan Okuda did it again, giving up 3 in the 9th and necessitating Diaz to come in for the save.

Transaction: JP Sears suffered a biceps strain and will be out 5-6 weeks. He'll be sorely missed as he's been kind the glue of our staff in long/middle relief these last few years. We purchased the contract of Daniel Espino from Durham to take over his role.

Game 2: 7-6 W (12). WP-Espino (1-0). Starter-Bradley (5.1 6 4 4 0 3). HR-Santana (5), Wood 2 (3). Once again the Rays overcame a pair of Ohtani homers as James Wood matched him with his own pair, including the equalizer in the 8th and then Wood capped his 2nd straight 4-RBI day by singling in the walk-off winner in the 12th as the teams traded the lead five times today. Daniel Espino recorded the win in his Rays debut.

Game 3: 6-8 L (14). LP-Okuda (0-3). Starter-Orze (3.2 1 1 1 3 2, 86 pitches). HR-DeLoach (5). Rays led this one 4-2 going into the 8th when Charlie Ruegger gave up back-to-back homers to Rendon and Trout and then Jovani Moran came in and gave up a third straight homer to none other than Ohtani, his 5th in the 3-game series. DeLoach's dramatic 2-out homer in the 9th tied it and the Rays squandered several chances in extras to win it before we were forced to turn to Okuda as the only rested pitcher in the pen in the 13th. He got through that inning but his new frontiers in suckitude continued by allowing 2 in the 14th. He actually lowered his ERA to 19.96 in the outing with 17 runs allowed in 7 2/3 IP this season. He's out of options so he can't be sent to the minors and he still has good ratings so I'm not sure what to do with him.

Team record: 8-11. Next up: 3 games in Baltimore.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: 2-6 L. LP-Khattak (1-1, 5.2 9 6 6 2 5). HR-Caminero (3). Another lousy game from the Rays with Caminero (3-4, homer) the only one having a good day.

Game 2: 2-3 L (11). LP-Espino (1-1). Starter-Swanda (5.1 5 1 1 3 3). HR-Santana (6). Santana's 2-run homer in the 4th gave them a 2-1 lead until Acosta served up a homer in the 7th and then Espino loaded the bases in the 11th and proceeded to balk home the winning run as this team keeps finding new ways to lose, although scoring only 2 runs is a time-honored prescription for defeat.

Game 3: 8-6 W. WP-Eldridge (3-0, 6 9 6 6 2 3). S-Riley (1). HR-Wood (4). James Wood's 3-run shot in the 5th capped a comeback from 6-2 down, putting the Rays ahead to stay. Wander was also 4-5 with 2 doubles and 2 RBI and Eldridge got the win despite a lousy outing as they snapped a 3-game losing streak.

Team record: 9-13. Next up: A day off then Boston comes to the Trop for 3 games.

Rays news: Dane Dunning, one of the veteran starters we signed to give us depth at Durham, stretched an elbow ligament and is out 11 months.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: 8-2 W. WP-Bradley (2-1, 6 5 2 2 2 4). HR-Albies 2 (4), Franco (4), Caminero 2 (5), Wood (5). The series got off to a great start when Albies, Franco and Caminero hit back-to-back-to-back jacks in the first inning and the Rays rolled from there. All the homers except Albies' 2nd were solo shots.

Game 2: 5-2 W. WP-Orze (1-2, 5.2 6 2 2 1 3). A 3-run 5th broke open a scoreless game and Santana's 2-run single provided needed breathing room as the Rays won again. Edwin Diaz had to leave in the 9th trying for the save with back spasms but will be fine in a couple of days.

Game 3: 9-0 W. WP-Khattak (2-1, 8.1 4 0 0 5 5). HR-Albies (5), DeLoach (6), Luciano (3). Khattak took a shutout into the 9th but had to leave with two on and 126 pitches thrown as the Rays routed Boston and swept the series. Albies added a 2-run double as he and Luciano each knocked in three.

Team record: 12-13. We've moved into 2nd in the AL East, 2 1/2 behind Toronto as thankfully nobody is running away with things in the division. Next up: An off-day then we head to Anaheim to play 3 against the 16-9 Angels, against whom we took 2 of 3 about 10 days ago.

MLB News: Mets star SS Francisco Lindor hit his 300th career homer.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: 6-2 W. WP-Swanda (1-1, 6 5 2 2 2 1). Swanda finally got his first win of the season despite pitching well (3.66 ERA) with help from Caminero (2 RBI) and Santana (RBI triple).

Game 2: 5-8 L. LP-Eldridge (3-1, 4 6 4 4 1 3). HR-Caminero (6). Caminero had a huge day, going 3-4 with a 2-run double, solo homer and 4 RBI but it wasn't enough as the pitching wasn't good. Daniel Espino came into a 4-3 game in the 7th and let it get away, giving up 4 runs on a pair of homers.

Game 3: 4-1 W. WP-Bradley (3-1, 8.2 5 1 1 2 8). S-Diaz (5). HR-Wood 2 (7), Albies (6). Taj pitched one of the best games of his career, coming within one out of a complete-game shutout before giving up a homer to Mike Trout and then walking a guy. Rays hit 3 solo homers off Shohei Ohtani for the bulk of their offense as they made it six wins in seven and took 2 of 3 from the Angels for the second time this season.

Team record: 14-14, only 1 1/2 behind Toronto for the division lead. Next up: We head east to Texas for 3 games with the Rangers who are off to a 16-13 start.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: 14-15 L. LP-Diaz (0-1). Starter-Orze (3 8 6 6 0 2). HR-Albies (7). What a rollercoaster. Texas went up 6-0 after 3 innings but the Rays went ahead 14-6 in the 8th. Texas got two back off Ryan Okuda (of course) in the 8th and Okuda started the 9th by putting a man on. Charlie Ruegger came in, allowed Okuda's man to score and 3 of his own allowing Texas within 14-12 so Edwin Diaz came in to stop the madness and instead gave up a 3-run walk-off homer to give the Rangers an improbable win. The homer allowed ended a remarkable run by Diaz in which he had 44 consecutive scoreless appearances and 36 straight saves. Albies was 4-6 with the homer and 4 RBI while Caminero was 2-5 with 2 RBI in what should have been a winning effort.

Transaction: Daniel Espino had to leave yesterday's game with a blister, and we claimed reliever Roel Ramirez on waivers.

Game 2: 4-7 L. LP-Khattak (2-2, 5 5 5 5 3 7). More lousy pitching including a terrible debut from Roel Ramirez, who gave up 2 runs on 4 hits of his own and allowed a couple of Khattak's men to score. Caminero was 2-4 with a pair of RBI singles.

Game 3: 5-3 W. WP-Swanda (2-1, 6.2 5 3 3 4 6). S-Diaz (6). Rays salvaged the finale thanks to Swanda and Caminero, who capped a great series by going 3-4 with 3 RBI, driving in 7 over the 3 games. Diaz scared us again by putting men on 2nd and 3rd with 1 out in the 9th but whiffed his way out of it.

Team record: 15-16. Remarkably despite the poor series the Rays pulled with 1/2 of the division lead as the Jays were swept in Anaheim. Next up: 4 games in Toronto against those same Jays with a chance to take the division lead.

MLB News: Max Green, our lefty setup guy last year and the last substantial free agent still out there, finally signed a 1/20 deal with the Dodgers.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: 6-0 W. WP-Eldridge (4-1, 9 2 0 0 0 6). HR-Santana (7), E.Green (2). Eldridge threw a 102-pitch 2-hit shutout, the first of his career (and first complete game) and Santana had a first-inning grand slam to give him a comfortable lead.

Game 2: 5-2 W. WP-Bradley (4-1, 6.2 5 1 1 0 4). HR-DeLoach (7), Franco (5). Taj was excellent and the DeLoach/Franco combo was 5-9 with 2 HR and 3 RBI to lead the way as the Rays opened up a 1-game lead on Baltimore in the East.

Game 3: 6-7 L. LP-Diaz (0-2). Starter-Orze (4.2 5 4 4 3 4). HR-Caminero (7), Luciano (4), Santana (8). Diaz blew his 2nd save in 3 games, giving up a 2-run homer to former Ray Austin Meadows in the bottom of the 9th to lose a 6-5 lead. Santana's big series continued with a 3-run homer.

Game 4: 5-13 L. LP-Khattak (2-3, 2.1 7 3 3 0 1). HR-DeLoach (8). The pitching was brutal. Khattak had to leave in the 3rd with an abdominal strain, Okuda came in and gave up his usual 4 runs, etc, etc. and the Rays left Toronto in the same place they came in - 2nd, 1/2 game behind the Jays, although now they're tied with Baltimore.

Team record: 17-18. Next up: Back home for 3 against Washington.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: 2-3 L. LP-Swanda (2-2, 5.1 6 2 2 3 5). The offense could only scrape together 3 hits, although they did draw 7 walks so there were more than a few chances to score more but they didn't and it's three straight losses.

Game 2: 4-5 L. LP-Eldridge (4-2, 3 6 4 4 3 0). HR-Albies (8). Coming off a 2-hit shutout Eldridge was terrible today and although Albies' 2-run shot got them within one, they couldn't get over the hump once again.

Game 3: 4-5 L. LP-Riley (0-1). Starter-Bradley (7 5 3 3 1 6). HR-Albies (9). Groundhog Day for the Rays as they lost the fifth straight game and third of the series by a run. Looked like they might win this one when they went ahead in the 7th 4-3 but Trey Riley gave up a pair in the 8th to let the Nats prevail. This team is starting to circle the drain.

Team record: 17-21. Toronto swept its series so the Rays now find themselves 3 1/2 back, and at 17-21 we're not even looking at a wild card right now. Next up: Not getting any easier as we're off to 22-16 Philly for 3.

MLB News: Houston lost star RF (and former Ray for a season) Kyle Tucker for 6 weeks with a strained triceps.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: 4-3 W (11). WP-Diaz (1-2). S-German (1). Starter-Orze (5 6 2 2 0 4). HR-DeLoach (9), Caminero (8), Haro (1). Rays somehow won this one despite getting only 5 hits in 11 innings and fanning 19 times, but Caminero's homer in the 9th sent us to extras and Nelson Haro picked a great time to hit his first MLB homer in the 11th to win it.

Game 2: 6-3 W. WP-Okuda (1-3). Starter-Khattak (5 6 3 3 1 3). HR-Green (3), Santana (9), Luciano (5). Deja vu all over again as for the second straight night the Rays won a game they trailed 3-2 after 8. This time they scored 4 in the 9th with back-to-back jacks from Santana and Luciano turning things around before Wander added a 2-run double. Ryan Okuda actually went 2 scoreless in this one for the win but Walt Khattak had to leave with a bone spur in his elbow and will be lost for about 2 months.

Transaction: Khattak goes on the IL and journeyman 32-year-old minor leaguer Carlos Espinal is called up, and when he pitches he'll make his MLB debut. He had 7 saves and a 1.23 ERA at Durham. Luis German is ticketed for the rotation to take Khattak's place.

Game 3: 1-3 L. LP-Swanda (2-3, 6 9 3 3 0 4). HR-Green (4). No late-inning magic today as they were held to a mere four hits with Elijah Green's solo homer all they could muster.

Team record: 19-22, still 3 1/2 behind Toronto. Next up: An off-day then more interleague action against Atlanta, this time at home.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: 5-1 W. WP-Eldridge (5-2, 8 4 1 0 2 5). Rays trailed 1-0 going into the 6th but the bats came alive and backed a great outing from Bryce Eldridge. Wander drove in a pair and Santana had 3 hits, scoring twice.

Transaction: Claimed P Tanner Dodson on waivers from Cincinnati, designated P Carlos Espinal for assignment and placed him on waivers.

Sadly the feel-good story of the career minor leaguer and 32-year-old Espinal concluded without him still getting to throw an MLB pitch as Dodson, who is rated 55/70/55 as a reliever, was claimed and came full circle back to the Rays who drafted him in 2018 before trading him to the Dodgers in early 2022.

Game 2: 5-2 W. WP-Acosta (3-0). S-Diaz (7). Starter-Bradley (5.2 5 1 1 1 12). HR-Rivera (2). Taj was dominant and the Rays scored 3 times in the 7th as Caminero capped a 3-hit day with a 2-run tie-breaking double. Wander was 4-5 with an RBI as well.

Game 3: 6-1 W. WP-Orze (2-2, 5.2 3 1 1 1 9). HR-Santana (10). The Rays completed the sweep and got back to .500 thanks to a great Orze outing and a 3-4, 3-RBI day from rookie Nelson Haro which included a pair of doubles with Santana's 2-run homer also proving to be big.

Team record: 22-22. Back to within 1 1/2 of Toronto for the division lead and 1/2 back of the third wild card. Next up: Baltimore visits for 4 games.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: 15-1 W. WP-German (2-1, 5 4 1 0 1 8). HR-Caminero (9). Luis German's first start was a success and he had all the support he could dream of. Wander was 3-6 with 5 RBI including a bases-clearing double, Caminero had a 3-run homer, and DeLoach had his own bases-clearing double as the Rays climbed over .500 for the first time all season.

Game 2: 3-4 L. LP-Swanda (2-4, 5 5 2 1 1 11). Despite being dominant at times Swanda remained our hard-luck guy, dropping to 2-4 despite a 3.60 ERA. It was 4-0 Baltimore before a Rays comeback came up short.

Game 3: 4-1 W. WP-Eldridge (6-2, 6 5 1 1 2 5). S-Diaz (8). HR-Franco (6), Luciano (6). It was 1-0 Orioles before the Rays got 2-run homers from Franco and Luciano in the 6th & 7th innings to turn the game around.

Game 4: 7-0 W. WP-Bradley (5-1, 7 3 0 0 2 8). HR-Wood (8). Taj lowered his ERA to 2.94 with another gem and the Rays took an easy win to move 2 games over .500. But they suffered a key injury as Wander Franco strained his hip and will be out three weeks, a tough blow considering how key he is to the team. His replacement Brooks Lee knocked in a couple and Wood had a 2-run homer to lead the offense.

Team record: 25-23. So what did taking 3 of 4 get them in the division race? A game farther behind as Toronto took 4 from the Yankees. They have moved into a tie for the second wild card spot though. Next up: off to Oakland for 3 games.

MLB News: Mets slugger Pete Alonso hit his 400th career homer, and Baltimore lost star catcher Adley Rustchman for six weeks with an oblique strain in the series we just played.