The 2022 (and beyond) Tampa Bay Rays

[Art Deco]

Almost...



The Rays had a decent chance to pull off the sweep but came up just short, so we'll play a Game 5 tomorrow at the Trop. Former Ray Luis German was a tough customer and he kept the Rays in check until they tied it in the 6th on an RBI single from Adley Rutschman, and after New York went back ahead in the 7th Victor Mesa came through with his third homer in two games to tie it again in the 8th. Finally closer Randy Rodriguez, having a very tough postseason, gave up a homer in the 9th to put the Yankees on top once again and although they loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the inning Marco Luciano (who was in because Isaac Cedillos was pinch-hit for in the 8th) flied to shallow left and Nelson Haro grounded out to end the game. Aldry Acosta will be on the hill for Tampa Bay tomorrow.

Meanwhile the Cubs get a leg up in the NLCS:

[Art Deco]

Delayed but not denied...



The Rays are off to the World Series! The team that frustrated me throughout the regular season with its inability to hit with any consistency has become a juggernaut of sorts, going 9-3 so far and getting the big hits when they need them. Today they were up against one of the game's best pitchers in Robert Ahlstrom, and after knocking him around in Game 1 he had his good stuff today, fanning 10 Rays, but they got to him in the 6th thanks to a 2-run Carson Williams double, and then Yordan Alvarez did his thing again, homering in the 8th to make things a bit more comfortable. Alvarez followed up his ALDS MVP award with one for the ALCS and we'll be happy to see him complete the hat trick in the World Series. And the pitching was outstanding once again, which was the one thing they could count on during the regular season. Aldry Acosta gave them 5 shutout innings with 7 whiffs and the bullpen was spotless until Erubiel Armenta gave up a 2-out homer in the 9th to lose the shutout.

So who will the Rays be facing in the Fall Classic? Insert the shrug emoji here as Atlanta has tied up the NLCS and this one will go a while:

[Art Deco]

Game 5:



Taj comes through again for Chicago and the Cubs head to Wrigley looking to wrap it up.

Game 6:



And it will be the Cubs facing the Rays for all the marbles.

[Art Deco]

Another miracle comeback win...



Holy crap, they did it again! For most of the night the Rays' bats were as cold as the sub-freezing temperatures in Chicago on a night more fit for football or hockey as they trailed 4-1 after 7 in the World Series opener. But after getting a run back in the 8th they did their miracle 9th-inning thing again as Junior Caminero delivered a game-tying 2-run homer with one out and then one out later Marco Luciano, in the game only because Isaac Cedillos was pinch-hit for the inning before, stepped up and won it with a 2-run shot of his own. With Randy Rodriguez in a bad postseason slump, Gerald Ogando got the ball in the 9th and mowed down the Cubs 1-2-3 to give Tampa Bay a shock Game 1 win. It'll be Ryan Okuda tomorrow as the Rays look to continue their Cinderella run through the postseason.

[Art Deco]

Halfway to an unlikely championship...



Oops, they did it again. On a slightly "balmier" night in Chicago (35 degrees as opposed to yesterday's 30) the Rays shocked the Cubs again and will head back to the climate-controlled Trop with a 2-0 World Series lead. This time they didn't wait until the 9th to win it - they took advantage of a 2-out Luis Porras error in the 6th when Rodolfo Solano followed with a 3-run homer into the LF bleachers at Wrigley to make it 4-2 Tampa Bay and held from there. Aldry Acosta was downright dominant for 4 innings but ran into trouble in the 5th, giving up a couple of runs and leaving with men on 2nd and 3rd with only one out. That was the point at which the critical decision to bring in early our sole bullpen lefty Erubiel Armenta with two slugging lefties due was made, and it turned out to be a great call when Armenta retired the two men without any further scoring. Later things got a bit shaky in the 9th when new closer Gerald Ogando gave up a leadoff homer to make it 5-3 and put two men on with two out, so old closer Randy Rodriguez came in and while he walked a man to load the bases he then struck out the next one for the final out. Ryan Okuda (this time, really) will start Game 3 in two days in St. Pete.

[Art Deco]

Not going to be a cakewalk...



On this Halloween night at the Trop the Rays bullpen turned out to be a trick and not a treat as Chicago overturned a 4-1 middle-inning deficit and took Game 3 from Tampa Bay 9-6 to cut their series deficit to 2-1. Alistair Hardy's 3-run homer in the 5th gave the Rays that 4-1 lead and it looked like they were on track to go up 3-0 in the series. But then came the nightmare of the 7th inning as Luis Oviedo gave up a 3-run homer with nobody out, Jacob Watters proceeded to load the bases on three walks and by the time the inning was over the Cubs were up 8-4. The Rays rallied hard in the bottom of the inning, getting two runs back, but couldn't do any more. Also Ryan Okuda had to leave early with back tightness and won't be available to start a Game 7 if necessary. Jaden Stevenson will try to keep the Cubs from knotting the series tomorrow.

[Art Deco]

One win from history...



Rodolfo Solano and Yordan Alvarez were a two-man wrecking crew tonight at Tropicana Field as the Rays pounded the Cubs into submission 13-5 to take a 3-1 World Series lead. Solano, bidding to be series MVP, was 4-5 with a 3-run homer in the 4th that truly broke the game open while Alvarez, who had been quiet in the World Series after winning ALDS and ALCS MVP, belted a 3-run homer in a 4-run 4th, added an RBI triple later and wound up plating 5. Meanwhile the pitching was good enough and now Donye Evans will have a chance to help pitch the Rays to a title tomorrow, one they'll want to win in front of the folks at home.

[Art Deco]

Champions, emphatically...



The team that struggled to win 90 games, the team that couldn't even get home field for a Wild Card series, the 2032 Tampa Bay Rays, World Champions. I'm not sure I've seen a team struggle to score runs all season (10th in the AL) make like the 1927 Yankees in the postseason but that's what they did, routing the Cubs 7-0 to win it all in 5 games, and scoring 37 runs in the process. Isaac Cedillos had been the only Rays regular not to homer this postseason and he finally got in on the act by belting a 2-run shot in the 2nd off Taj Bradley who was in the Tampa Bay rotation last year. Nelson Haro then went back-to-back with Cedillos and added a 2-run homer in the 6th to make the rubble bounce as part of a 4-hit day (that could have been 5 had he not be robbed on a line drive in the 8th). Meanwhile the Cubs didn't put up much of a fight at the plate as Donye Evans (effectively wild with 6 walks in 5 innings) and three relievers combined on a 1-hit shutout. So here they are - champs for the fourth time in team history and the first in 5 years after having won 3 out of 4. But they're truly the unlikeliest of the bunch.

(Going back I noticed that I never did the usual full stats recap after the regular season ended. I'll do that in the next post along with a postseason stat recap, if for no other reason to compare and contrast the regular season numbers with those from the playoffs.)

[Art Deco]

As mentioned previously, I forgot to make this post when the regular season ended so here it is.

But first, a final look at the sweet, sweet playoff tree:



Yeah, baby.



Our old friend Natanael Santana, who spent five seasons in our outfield and hit 108 homers and then was traded in 2030 to Philly for Alistair Hardy and ended up a free agent and spent most of 2031 in the minors, somehow exploded for 53 HR and 127 RBI for Toronto in a classic case of "who knew?".



And again, you can see why the postseason offensive dominance by the Rays was such a shock, given that it was a struggle all season to score runs. It was the pitching that carried them there, but the bats woke up at just the right time. Here are their pedestrian regular season numbers:



A lot of guys with adequate seasons but Solano was the only one who was above-average. Now check out their postseason numbers (sorted by OPS since WAR is wonky over short stints):



Yordan clearly took it to another level, Solano was almost as good and Adley carried us through the early rounds. An unsung bat in the mix was Williams, who seemed to always be coming up with hits to prolong innings or rallies. We hit 35 homers in 17 postseason games as a team, which really is something considering 162 regular season games saw 180 or barely over one a game.



Before things went sour for him in the postseason Rodriguez had one of the all-time great seasons by a reliever in franchise history and 3.4 WAR for a reliever is pretty much up there period. Otherwise we had a bunch of 5-inning-type starters who were quite good but often they couldn't make it through 5 and middle-inning guy Buckman came on to end up winning 15 games in relief. Their postseason numbers:



And you can see R-Rod's struggles in black and white, along with Watters who was brutal. Thankfully Ogando and Oviedo picked up the slack and the rest of the staff was very good including the dependable Buckman. They all get rings.



One area in which we're not championship-caliber is the farm system, which ranks in the mid-to-upper 20s MLB-wide. Our 2032 #1 pick Miller is seen as the top prospect, and as far as immediate impact goes Gurrola is a possibility as a leadoff type.

We'll talk more about him and the 2033 outlook in the State of the Team post coming up next.

[Art Deco]

The state of the team:



Pretty darn good. As for 2033 it'll require some tinkering but most of the squad is back. Major free agents include C Adley Rutschman, SPs Donye Evans, Ryan Okuda and Tony Santillan. Also coming off the books are Ozzie Albies (who missed most of last year and lost his job to Victor Mesa) at $18M and Marco Luciano (also a reserve) at $5.5M so the bottom line is that with a projected $160M payroll we'll have about $38M to spend. And there are some players who may not be kept at their projected salaries - as great as LH reliever Erubiel Armenta was last year, $8.7 in arbitration is steep, Elijah Green at $3.6M won't be back and ditto Colby Holcombe at $2.8M so there's another $15M to potentially play with. With $50M+ potentially open we extended a 4/100 offer to keep Rutschman and he'll likely accept. How it plays out position-by-position:

Catcher: As mentioned, Rutschman is probably back and if he re-ups we probably save another $2.6M by letting Angel Rivera go and using Cade Arrambide as the backup.

First Base: Junior Caminero is coming off a pedestrian season and might not be worth the $10.1M in arbitration he's projected for. He's dropped from a 3-WAR guy to a 2-WAR one the last couple of seasons. If we do move on from him Nelson Haro take over the position and someone else can DH.

Second Base: Mesa took over when Albies got hurt and turned in a decent season.

Shortstop: Isaac Cedillos wasn't any great shakes, providing average D and modest hitting, but he's young and potentially can do better with the bat. He'll get another chance.

Third Base: Carson Williams was excellent in his return to the fold, had a big postseason and will return.

Infield: Luciano was our primary IF backup last year but he's gone and we don't have an obvious replacement in the minors, so look for a pickup here.

Left Field: Yordan Alvarez had an OK year and then a fantastic playoffs and is under contract for another season at $19M. He may end up DHing.

Center Field: Rodolfo Solano is probably our best all-around player.

Right Field: Alistair Hardy dropped off from 3.4 to 2.0 WAR last year but he'll get a chance to rebound.

Outfield: Norietsu Kurokawa was the 4th OF but he didn't hit as hoped although he's a good defender. Javy Jasso is the opposite. One or both will be back depending on how things shake out and top OF prospect Hector Gurriola may get some consideration.

DH: Haro is the incumbent but as mentioned he might take over 1B. Jasso would make a good LH half of a platoon but we'd need a righty bat to go with him, although Alvarez could DH and Kurokawa could play LF against LHP.

Rotation: We lose Evans, Okuda and Santillan but still have Aldry Acosta and Jaden Stevenson as well as the Walt Khattak/Bryce Eldridge duo who lost their jobs last year but are still capable. Rookie Jaheim Lennon will probably also grab a slot and we have an offer out to re-sign bullpenner Luis Oviedo and try him as a low-stamina starter with good stuff, a move that's worked out with the likes of Evans, Okuda, Acosta and Stevenson. I'd still like to grab one proven starter if possible over the winter.

Bullpen: Our top trio of Randy Rodriguez, Gerald Ogando and Jacob Watters will return but with Armenta's impeding departure we're going to need a lefty. Of course middleman supreme Benjamin Buckman and his 15 wins are back as well but in addition to a lefty we're going to need a couple more arms to round it out.

Others: As mentioned Gurrola could contend for an OF job and 2027 5th-round pick Evan Bell could figure into the 1B derby as he looks very similar profile-wise to Caminero. Otherwise not much help around the fringes of the 40-man roster or at the high MiLB levels.

So the tl;dr offseason priorities:

1) Add a 1B/DH type
2) A starter
3) Bullpen depth
4) Utility IF

[Art Deco]

Retirements:

Notables: Nolan Arenado (STL retires #28), Anthony Rendon, Joey Gallo, Sandy Alcantara, Royce Lewis, Tommy Edman, Trevor Story, Eloy Jimenez, Jazz Chisholm Jr, Max Kepler, Josh Hader (MIL retires #71), Matt Chapman, Walker Buehler, Edwin Diaz.

Former Rays: Jake Cronenworth, Pete Fairbanks, Alec Bohm, Drew Rasmussen, Colin Poche, Nate Lowe.

November 6: We swung our first deal of the winter, filling our backup IF hole:



Jones can play everywhere but catcher or pitcher and his best position is 3B, where he's rated a 70. He's an average (50/50 contact/power) hitter and was good for 5.7 WAR with the Yankees' AAA affiliate last year. The price wasn't high as New York seemed motivated to move him and Bolanos isn't much of a prospect.

November 8: Some big news:



Yes he's 34 and this probably won't age well but he showed us in the postseason that he's still an elite power-hitting catcher and even though he didn't hit a lot late in the regular season he stabilized the staff. Now we don't have to look for a decent catcher.

Awards season:

Gold Glove: No Tampa Bay winners but a couple of former Rays were selected: 41-year-old 1B Yandy Diaz (Boston) and LF Zach DeLoach (San Antonio).

Reliever of the Year: There could be no other in the AL:



And as you can see Armenta took third. San Diego's Nelson Berkwich took 29 of 30 first-place votes to win in the NL after posting a 2.02 ERA in 102 IP with 2.2 WAR. He had 6 wins but only 4 saves. The 30th vote was mine.

Silver Slugger: With the offense we had in the regular season, there were no Rays winners of course. The only former Ray to win was Chicago CF Riley Greene, whom we rented in 2028.

Rookie of the Year: A close vote in the AL with Baltimore RF Anson Balcome (.250-28-84) edging out KC's Sergio Fernandez 18-12 and 126-114. The NL winner was Miami 3B David Mendoza (.275-22-65) who got by teammate Eli Becerra 16-14 and 122-114. The Marlins actually had the top 4 finishers in the voting.

Cy Young: The Yankees' Ignacio Gonzales was a unanimous AL winner after a 17-9, 2.96, 6.6 WAR season with 245 Ks in 216 IP. No Rays received votes. In the NL former Ray and current Cub Taj Bradley, whom we saw (and beat) in the World Series won with 16 first-place votes after going 14-5, 3.15 with 4.6 WAR.

MVP: Seattle 2B Noelvi Marte was the clear winner over Cleveland's Juan Soto after a .285-51-131, 8.0 WAR year. No Rays received votes. The NL MVP was of course unanimous as Washington SS Hector Juarez had a season for the ages, earning 10.6 WAR thanks to a .365-48-149 year, adding to his trophy case which already included a 2030 Rookie of the Year and a 2031 World Series ring.

November 20: Time for another trade:



So long to Junior Caminero after 6 seasons and 122 homers. From 2028-2030 he averaged 25 HR, 95 RBI and 3.5 WAR but has tailed off to more of a 20-HR, 78-RBI guy good for 2 WAR and with his salary approaching $10M it was time to move on. In return we get a pretty good-looking reliever in Vargas, who's rated 65/65/60.

December 3: Another trade, this time for a starter:



The lefty Stone is one of the better strikeout pitchers in the bigs, fanning 245 last year for Boston after 242 the year before and he's earned 4.1 and 3.6 WAR over those two years. Nevertheless his surface numbers (11-14, 4.21) are a little underwhelming for two reasons: 31 homers allowed (he's rated 45 movement) and a .348 BABIP against. The team and the ballpark should help him in that department this season and he's a legit upgrade over Eldridge, who's going the other way and lost his role in our rotation last year and several middling years with us. Guzman isn't much of a prospect. Stone will slot in as our #2 starter behind Acosta.

December 10: The top free agent pitcher out there, Robert Ahlstrom, switched sides in New York by leaving the Yankees for the Mets on a 5/175 deal, which is fine by us.

December 15: The Yankees, who just lost Ahlstrom as well as slugger Jackson Castillo in free agency, didn't stand pat and signed closer Andres Munoz for 5/92 and followed that up with former Rays rental Kyle Tucker for 3/80.

December 16: We're not done dealing:



We needed a lefty reliever to go with Luke Little so hence the deal for Green, who did pitch well for us in 2028. He's 35 and rated 60/50/60 so he's not the savior or anything but he did save 28 games for the Dodgers last year. It's a no-risk deal for us since they're eating all of his salary and we only had to give up Mendoza, a middling middle-infield prospect. Odds are given his age we end up with a scouting report in spring training saying his stuff is down 2-3 MPH and that 60 becomes a 50, but again not much given up here.

December 23: Added OF Juan Anaya, 3B Bob Pinon, P Alex Salazar and C Jalen Lowe to the 40-man roster.

Even with these additions, we have 4 open slots on the 40-man so if something intrigues us in the Rule 5 Draft we have the room.

December 26: Lost 1B Nic Abraham to Detroit and 1B/OF Andrew Vaughn to the Mets in the Rule 5 Draft.

There was one guy who intrigued us (a CF prospect) but he was taken early so that was it for us. Abraham was a 2nd round way back in 2024 but the fact that he's been in the minors for 8 years tells you all you need to know (45/50 hitting ratings don't play at 1B) and you probably didn't know we had the veteran Vaughn since I never mentioned him after he signed with Durham last year. Expect to get both of these guys back, for what it's worth.

December 29: Reliever Ivan Armstrong, who pitched his way off our roster last season, resurfaced in Baltimore on a 1/2.4 deal.

[Art Deco]

January 5: The Hall of Fame Voting is in:



Talk about taking it down the wire - in his final year of eligibility Mauer made it. Joey Votto should take encouragement as he keeps getting closer, and things bode well for Altuve and the Cardinals trio of Yadi, Goldschmidt and Wainwright.

Mauer was helped by a very week first-year class; the highest vote-getter among newcomers was JD Martinez and he managed a mere 8.6%.

January 6: Former Ray Natanael Santana, who came back out of nowhere to hit 53 homers for Toronto last season in one of the more well-time walk years ever, parlayed that performance into a 3/40 deal with Houston.

January 8: OF Zac Veen, who's averaged 36 HR and and just under 100 RBI over the last 4 seasons, joins the Angels for 2/24.

January 9: Colby Holcombe, one of the last men in our bullpen the last couple of years, somehow got a 3/11.4 deal with San Antonio.

January 12: Erubiel Armenta, so good for us as a lefty out of the pen the last couple of seasons, got a 3/47 deal from the Yankees to be a 40-stamina starter. We'll have to see how that goes.

January 13: 35-year-old veteran OF Alex Kiriloff inked a 3/36 pact with Boston.

January 14: A couple of more name free agents sign with Corbin Carroll surfacing in Los Angeles for 3/27 and ageless (38 actually) 1B Matt Olson is a Boston Red Sock for 1 year and $15M.

February 12: Alex Bregman, who will be 39 when the season starts and once helped the Rays to a championship in 2024, signed a 1-year, $7.6M deal with Minnesota while a much more recent former Ray, starter Ryan Okuda, joined Atlanta for 1/8.7.

February 17: Speaking of former Rays, 37-year-old OF Austin Meadows re-signed with Philly for 1/13.

February 28: Another of our free agents signed as P Tony Santillan somehow got $21.6M out of Philly for 1 season.

March 18: A late free agent signing for us:



Thomas is a solid OF who plays excellent LF defense and will slot in at the position with Yordan going to DH and Haro to 1B. He's been a 2-3 WAR player the last couple of years and while he isn't sexy he'll be helpful.

[Art Deco]

A largely injury-free spring training with only OF Norietsu Kurokawa landing on the IL with a mild shoulder strain that should sideline him until mid-April.

The Opening Day roster shakes out as such:

C-Rutschman, Arrambide
1B-Haro
2B-Mesa
SS-Cedillos
3B-C.Williams
IF-J.Jones
LF-A.Thomas
CF-R.Solano
RF-Hardy
OF-Tovar, Jasso

DH-Y.Alvarez

Tovar is Manny Tovar, who was up for a little bit in 2031 but had been at Durham since. He made the team in lieu of the injured Kurokawa. Otherwise with the exception of Alek Thomas it's pretty much the same lineup as last year.

SP-Acosta, Khattak, Stone, Stevenson, Oviedo
LR-Lennon
MR-Buckman, Little, Vargas, Watters, L.Gonzalez
SU-Ogando, M.Green
CL-R.Rodriguez

L.Gonzalez is Luis C. Gonzalez, whom we claimed on waivers from Philly just before Opening Day, He's a righty rated 65/65/45 who saved 7 games with 80 Ks in 52 IP last year and should improve the pen.

What does BNN think of this team? Quite a bit it seems:



Much as last year we're not expected to have any true standout players but a solid all-around team. Perhaps we'll get hot in October and win the World Series just like last year too.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: The Opening Day box:



Looking more like the regular-season Rays of last year than the playoff version. At least Alek Thomas had a decent Tampa Bay debut, getting two of the team's three hits.

Game 2: 11-3 W. WP-Khattak (1-0, 5 8 3 3 1 5). S-Lennon (1). HR-Y.Alvarez 2 (2), Hardy (1), Rutschman (1), R.Solano (1). The offense returned with a vengeance, pounded out 16 hits (and drawing 7 walks) including 5 homers. Everyone except Mesa had a hit and he walked twice. The rookie Lennon went 3 hitless for the save.

Game 3: 3-4 L. LP-Stone (0-1, 5 9 4 4 1 6). HR-A.Thomas (1). Rays squandered a 3-0 lead which included Thomas's homer to lead off the game as he continues to impress with his new club.

Game 4: 9-7 W. WP-Little (1-0). S-R.Rodriguez (1). Starter-Stevenson (4 8 1 1 1 3). HR-A.Thomas (2), C.Williams (1). They scored 9 but left 13 on and it nearly cost them when Watters gave up a grand slam (this on the heels of his OD 3 runs allowed in 1/3 inning) in the 8th. Thomas scored 3 runs including his homer and is hitting .467 and Williams' 3-run homer in the 8th turned out to be the key hit.

Team record: 2-2. Next up: 3 games in Detroit as part of our 10-game season-opening road trip.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: 15-0 W. WP-Oviedo (1-0, 5 3 0 0 2 6). HR-Y.Alvarez 3 (5), C.Williams (2). An incredible game from Yordan, going 4-4 with 3 HR and 7 RBI and scoring 5 runs as the Rays scored in every inning but the 3rd and 9th while banging out 17 hits (other than Yordan 5 other players had 2 apiece). Oviedo's first start since being converted from the pen was also a success.

Game 2: 3-2 W (10). WP-R.Rodriguez (1-0). Starter-Acosta (5.2 3 1 1 2 7). HR-Hardy 2 (3), Rutschman (2). Hardy's second homer of the game was a 488-foot titanic blast to center in the 10th to win it as the Rays overcame losing a 2-0 lead in regulation.

Game 3: 9-2 W. WP-Khattak (2-0, 5 7 0 0 1 7). HR-Cedillos (1), Mesa (1). As has been well-chronicled in this thread the Rays struggled on offense for just about all of the 2032 regular season but had untapped potential which they discovered in their run to a World Series title and this year they seem to be picking up where they left off with just about the entire same cast. Today's offense explosion came courtesy of grand slams hit in the 2nd and 3rd inning by Cedillos and Mesa and they cruised from there to secure a Motown sweep.

Team record: 5-2. Rays are tied with the Yankees atop the AL East in the early going. Next up: The season-opening road trip concludes with 3 in Kansas City.

Team news: We signed SS/3B Gunnar Henderson to a minor league contract. The one-time star infielder had fallen on hard times the last couple of seasons, beginning with a disappointing 2031 with us. He'll provide depth on the infield should we need it.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: 0-6 L. LP-Stone (0-2, 4 7 6 6 1 2). Lousy game in all phases as Stone was rocked and the bats only managed three hits.

Game 2: 2-1 W. WP-Ogando (1-0). S-R.Rodriguez (2). Starter-Stevenson (5 2 0 0 1 5). HR-Jasso (1). It looked as though the Rays would be shut out for a second straight game but Jasso came off the bench to deliver a one-out, pinch-hit 2-run homer in the 9th after KC went up 1-0 in the bottom of the 8th.

Game 3: 6-4 W. WP-Oviedo (2-0, 5 6 2 2 1 5). S-R.Rodriguez (3). HR-Tovar (1), Mesa (2), Jasso (2). Manny Tovar got the start and had a big early 3-run homer while Oviedo looked good as a starter again, enabling the Rays to take the series from the Royals.

Team record: 7-3, tied with the Yankees for first place. Next up: A day off then back home for 3 against Minnesota.

Forgot to mention this in the last post:



MLB News: Cleveland lost superstar OF Juan Soto for 7 weeks to a torn hamstring.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: 4-3 W. WP-Acosta (1-1, 6 3 1 1 2 5). S-R.Rodriguez (4). HR-Hardy (4). Hardy's 3-run homer in the 6th broke a 1-1 tie and the Rays held on for another win.

Game 2: 10-2 W. WP-Khattak (3-0, 6.1 7 2 2 5 2). HR-Rutschman (3), Haro 2 (2). Junior Caminero is a Twin now and they're playing him at 3B after several years with us at 1B, and his 2-out error in the first opened the door for 5 Rays runs to score. Haro had a monster game, going 4-5 with the two homers and 3 RBI while Solano and C.Williams each plated 3 runs in the 5th game this year they've scored 9+ runs.

Game 3: 6-4 W. WP-Stone (1-2, 6 3 2 2 3 6). S-R.Rodriguez (5). HR-A.Thomas (3), Rutschman (4). Dakota Stone got his first Rays win and pitched his first decent game while Victor Mesa was 2-2 with 2 walks and 2 RBI singles to lead the offense as Tampa Bay finished off another sweep and have now won 9 of their last 10.

Team record: 10-3. Can't shake the Yankees, who kept pace with a sweep of their own and are also 10-3. Next up: Off to Chicago for 3 against the White Sox.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: 3-2 W. WP-Vargas (1-0). S-R.Rodriguez (6). Starter-Stevenson (6.1 6 2 2 1 2). HR-Cedillos (2). Stevenson was excellent but Vargas, who allowed the tying run to score, vultured the win when Carson Williams came through with an RBI single in the 8th to win it.

Game 2: 0-3 L (6). LP-Oviedo (2-1, 4 4 3 3 5 4). Rays couldn't get much going before the rains came and ended the game in the 6th, denying them a chance to come back.

Game 3: 8-4 W. WP-L.Gonzalez (1-0). Starter-Acosta (4 5 3 3 1 5). HR-Rutschman 2 (6), Y.Alvarez (6). Rays squandered an early 4-0 lead but scored twice in both the 8th and 9th to win it. Rutschman had a monster game, homering in the 1st, singling in a run in the 3rd ahead of Yordan's 2-run blast, and then homering again in the 9th with a man on to put the game away. The win was costly however as Nelson Haro strained an abdominal muscle and will miss 6-7 weeks.

Team record: 12-4. Still not good enough for first as the Yankees won 3 of 4 including one on our off day to move 1/2 game ahead. Next up: Back home for three against Detroit after that off-day.

[Art Deco]

Transaction: Placed 1B Nelson Haro on the 10-day IL with an abdominal strain, recalled 1B Evan Bell from AAA Durham.

As mentioned in the last post Haro will be out 6-7 weeks. Getting a shot at replacing him is Bell, our 5th-round pick in 2027 who's climbed the ladder one rung at a time and has put up modest but decent numbers in the high minors. He is rated 55 contact and power so he should be able to provide some production.

Game 1: 3-5 L (12). LP-Ogando (1-1). Starter-Khattak (6 6 3 3 1 3). HR-Rutschman (7). A tough one to lose as after Khattak was hit for 3 runs in the first inning and the Rays trailed 3-1 after 7, they scored in the 8th and tied it on Adley's solo homer leading off the 9th. Alas Ogando and Little made a mess in the 12th to lose it.

Game 2: 1-0 W. See below as it was more than a typical 1-0 game:




Yes, an honest-to-goodness no-hitter courtesy of Dakota Stone, who needed all of his 123 pitches to hurl what I believe is the first Rays no-hitter in this save which is in its 12th season (I'm not going to go through all the pages of this thread to confirm). Stone was our big offseason rotation addition and he struggled in his first few starts before pitching a good game his previous time out and today of course he took the cake. The problem for most of the game though was that the bats couldn't score for him, but finally in the 8th Rutschman came through with an RBI single to make it 1-0. I seriously considered going to the bullpen since the first priority was to win the game and Stone was in the red at 112 pitches. But I decided to take it batter-by-batter in the 9th and he struck out the first and final batters of the inning, whiffing Jackson Holliday to end it and finish the gem.

Game 3: 4-6 L. LP-Green (0-1). Starter-Stevenson (5 3 3 3 3 2). Rays came back to tie it a 4 in the 7th only for Green to give up a 2-run homer in the 8th to lose it. Yordan was 3-4 with an RBI to lead the offense as the Rays failed to capitalize on the momentum of last night's no-hitter and dropped the series to Detroit.

Team record: 13-6. The Yankees' insane start to the season continued with a sweep so they're now 16-4 and 2 1/2 up on the Rays. Next up: Toronto visits for 3 games.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: 4-6 L. LP-Buckman (0-1). Starter-Acosta (5.1 5 3 3 0 8, 3 HR). HR-Solano (2), C.Williams (3). Rays were cruising up 4-1 into the 6th before Acosta gave up a couple of homers to let Toronto tie and then Buckman gave up a homer immediately upon relieving him, wasting a big day from Williams who was 3-4 with a homer and 2 RBI.

Game 2: 4-3 W. WP-Lennon (1-0, 5 4 2 2 3 7). S-R.Rodriguez (7). HR-Rutschman (8), Hardy (5). Lennon's first MLB start was a success and he was backed by his battery mate Rutschman, who drove in 3 of the 4 runs including a 2-run homer as his blazing start to 2033 continues.

Game 3: 4-2 W. WP-Oviedo (3-1, 5 7 2 2 1 4). S-R.Rodriguez (8). HR-C.Williams (4). Another solid win with the big story being the bullpen as four relievers combined to go 4 perfect innings with 7 strikeouts.

Team record: 15-7. We did gain a game on the Yankees and sit 1 1/2 back in the AL East. Next up: A day-off before the White Sox come to town for 3 games.