The 2021 (and only 2021) Tampa Bay Rays

[Art Deco]

Rollin', rollin', rollin'...



The Rays have taken a 2-0 lead in the World Series thanks to their twin aces including a dominant outing from Kevin DiCostanzo and their 21st-century Mr. October, Joshua Baez. The slugging RF homered twice today, giving the Rays a 2-0 lead in the 5th with his first dinger and then breaking the game open with a 3-run shot in the 6th. Baez now has 15 career postseason longballs in 46 games with a career .694 slugging percentage. Arturo Gutierrez also got into the act with a solo shot and an RBI double as we head to the desert with Wes Mendes on the mound in Game 3.

[Art Deco]

Almost there...



One more win to go as the Rays took a tight, tense pitchers' duel from Arizona 2-1 to take a 3-0 World Series lead. Wes Mendes was excellent again as his outstanding playoff performance has erased memories of his spotty regular season, and the bullpen did the job with three relievers turning in scoreless innings. There wasn't much offense of course but Orlando Tosado's RBI single in the 7th was the difference. Francisco Morales will try to close it out tomorrow.

[Art Deco]

We'll try again...



Francisco Morales wasn't very good and neither were the Rays hitters as Arizona broke through for their first win in the Series and kept the 2032 season alive for at least one more day. Nate Strickland gave the Rays a 2-1 lead with a solo homer in the 4th but Morales gave the run right back in the bottom of the inning and then a 2-run homer in the 5th to send the D-backs on their way. The Rays will now send their ace Joe Marlette to the mound in Arizona tomorrow night to try for the gentleman's sweep.

[Art Deco]

Delayed but not denied...



The Rays earned their fourth World Series title in the last ten seasons and their first in three years thanks to tonight's 8-5 win over Arizona to take it in 5 games. Things didn't quite go according to script though as after they built an early 5-0 lead they received an uncharacteristically poor start from their ace and Cy Young-elect Joe Marlette, who lost the entire lead by the 5th inning. Fortunately the bats picked him up as Cristian Hernandez, who homered earlier, singled home a run in the top of the 6th to put them back up and Kelly Crumpton followed with his second homer of the game to make it 8-5. Crumpton is a free agent at year's end so this was quite possibly his last game in a Tampa Bay uniform and if so he went out with a bang. Tommy Burpee then gave them two scoreless innings and DeMarcus Evans handled the 9th to end up at the bottom of the dogpile:



In some ways this marked a bit of an "end of an era" as not only is Crumpton a free agent but so is Dong-hwan Kim, so that's about 80-85 HR out of the lineup next year if they both don't come back. Kim is 36 so he's very unlikely to be worth a long-term deal. We also say farewell to Michael Prosecky (somewhat steady but replaceable), and rentals such as Francisco Morales, Evans, and Garrett Crochet. More on all that in the offseason posts.

[Art Deco]

Well as I said in my Nationals rebuild, the state of the team is pretty damn great. (It was something else winning two World Series in two saves on the same day.) It's going to be an eventful offseason in Tampa Bay with some turnover, and it started at the very top with a new owner:



Although Paige is said to be an economizer, he is giving me a $190M payroll for the upcoming season. And he was pretty light on the owner goals: reach the playoffs and build a team that can win the championship within 5 seasons. I think I can handle that, glad there's no "re-sign aging free-agent-to-be" goal.

Speaking of free agents to be, we have quite a few of them as I've been mentioning of late. The biggest are perennial 40-HR, 120-RBI guy Kelly Crumpton and slugging OF Dong-hwan Kim. Also departing are starter Michael Prosecky, rental starter Francisco Morales, rental relievers DeMarcus Evans and Garrett Crochet and middle relief guys John Swanda and Slade Cecconi. Cecconi's demands are pretty reasonable (3/11) and he should be re-signed shortly. I also made one move to clear out $6M in salary:



Gutierrez had been one of the premier defensive CF in the league with ZRs above 11 from 2029-2031. But he tailed off so badly last year that he ended up with a -1.8 rating and since his hitting was always kind of iffy he lost his job at midseason to Orlando Tosado. And if he doesn't flash the leather he's kind of useless but had enough residual value to trade and we picked up Ferguson, whom I find very intriguing despite some rough numbers in Anaheim. He's rated 60/65/50 as a reliever and the stuff only drops to 55 as a starter with 65 stamina. So since we'll have two rotation spots to fill after Marlette/DiCostanzo/Mendes, I'm going to look at him as a starter.

So with Gutierrez gone this is how our salary situation shakes out:



I see Panzini as the 5th starter and I'm going to pay the $ to bring Josh Scanlon back to close and hope his 80/50/50 ratings aren't diminished too much when he comes back from injury. Not sure I tender Guzman, while he was good I think I can get him back cheaper since he's coming off a serious injury as well. Anyway keeping everyone listed here puts the payroll at $137M, giving me $53M to spend which is the most I think I've had to play with in this save. If I re-sign Crumpton that's going to eat up about half of that (and commit $20-something million for years to come).

So here's how I see things shaking out by position:

C: Contreras and Cartaya return.

1B: The big question mark. If Crumpton isn't brought back and I don't acquire someone to replace him, the internal solution is to take 2032's DH platoon of Strickland and J.Gutierrez and make it the 1B platoon. Top prospect Danny Arroyave could figure here as well:



I post his profile to show he decent he is now and how great he could be, and those were some numbers he put up at Montgomery last year. He doesn't even need to go on the 40-man yet, but he will either be our eventual 1B or 3B.

2B/SS/3B: Arturo Gutierrez, Wander and Cristian Hernandez all return.

IF backup: Could be either Jamie Reiner and/or Carlos Colmenarez but neither excites me much, could look at upgrading there although whoever has this role is going to play very little barring injury.

LF: This was Kim's slot and we're going to need an OF or two next year. We have limited internal options with JJ Cargill at AAA, who can hit for average (65/70 contact) and gap power, but has 50 HR power and is a 50 LF. We also have 2028 5th-rounder Jimmy Powell, who can rake (70 contact, 65 gap, 60 HR power, and that's current not potential), but is a horrible OF (35/40) so he's more of a DH possibility especially if Strickland/J-Gut end up at 1B.

CF/RF: Tosado and Baez are back.

OF: We'll need a backup OF as well as a LF, Caleb Hampton is the incumbent here but a candidate for upgrade.

DH: Wide open. If Crumpton is re-signed then of course Strickland and J.Gutierrez return in the role. If not, the rookie Powell is a possibility as well as J-Gut getting run against RHP. Bottom line is we're going to need a couple of bats, one to replace Kim and perhaps one to replace Crumpton.

SP: As mentioned before I'm looking at Marlette/DiCostanzo/Mendes/Ferguson/Panzini right now and I may give Cecconi his perennial chance to start assuming he's re-signed. We also have a pretty good prospect in David Morales at AA who's 55/60/50 rated with 55/70/65 potential. Randy Morris' 50/75/50 profile intrigues me but he needs a really good defense behind him.

Bullpen: Looking to Scanlon to close although Mike Moore is capable. Burpee and Feole return from the left side, Ruben Abeyta was decent in middle relief as was Eddie Yean. Jon Post also looked good after he came up for the second time and has setup potential. Will probably need at least one more high-quality arm here.

So job one is going to be to figure out whether to re-sign Crumpton. His stated demand is 8/195 and he's 30 years old. One thing about Crumpton I've never really talked about here as I've never used him this way is that he could be a 2-way player - he's rated 60/55/45 as a SP and has 65 stamina. If he's re-signed I could try him in the rotation and have him DH on his pitching days with Strickland at first. If I'm going to pay through the nose for him I might as well get my money's worth, but it ain't gonna be 8/195, I'd like it to be more 6/125 or 6/135.

[Art Deco]

I'll start with the notable retirements around baseball. Former Ray Blake Snell, Mookie Betts (Dodgers retired his #50), Trevor Story, Brandon Nimmo, Brandon Woodruff (who toiled in our minors last year with 35 stuff), and Devin Williams were among the bigger names hanging up the cleats.

Awards season:

Gold Glove: We actually had a winner, believe it or not - it was Francisco Morales at pitcher.

Silver Slugger: Three Rays winners - Arturo Gutierrez (2B), Wander Franco (SS) and Dong-hwan Kim (LF).

Reliever of the Year: OOTP's award voting often baffles me, and it did here:



Crochet never entered my mind as a candidate here (if any Ray was going to win I thought it'd be DeMarcus Evans and his 39 saves but he finished 6th). He only earned 0.1 WAR in his time with us and 1.3 overall and had only 5 saves. Go figure. The NL winner was more expected (and received my vote) as the Giants' Alex Ochoa had 36 saves, a 1.95 ERA and 2.1 WAR.

Rookie of the Year: These were no-brainers as each league had a candidate who was also an MVP candidate - the Yankees' Cuban defector Ernesto Rodriguez (.282-48-130) and the Dodgers' Alex Hicks out of an indy league (.319-35-115 and a Gold Glove). Our Nate Strickland finished 2nd in the AL.

Cy Young: As if there were any doubt...



When you win the pitching triple crown (W, ERA, Ks) it's kind of a fait accompli. Good to see Kevin D taking a deserved 2nd place. The NL winner was Memphis' Josh Johnson, 14-14, 3.02 but with 292 Ks in 259 workhorse innings, a 7.7 WAR season.

MVP: As hinted, the Yankees' Ernesto Rodriguez won in the AL as a rookie, and it was unanimous given his 8.5 WAR season. Our boys Arturo Gutierrez and Wander Franco finished 2-3. In the NL Atlanta's Ronald Acuna Jr. won for the second straight year and fifth time in his career, putting up a .327-48-108 season worth 8.3 WAR.

We traded for an outfielder:



Calderon's ratings and numbers are pretty good:



He had an impressive debut with Washington where he was behind their galaxy of hitters. He's a lefty with a significant platoon split but I'm penciling him in now as the LF vs RHP.

Also some big re-signing news:



OK so how did we manage this? I gotta admit it was a little cheesy. The sharp-eyed among you will notice that we re-signed starting pitcher Kelly Crumpton. I was on his profile page, and click on "Set to SP" to check out his pitching ratings, had left his page on that setting and then went back to check his contract demand again and it was significantly less than it was on his hitting page. So there's a bit of an OOTP loophole.

December 10: Perennial NL MVP Ronald Acuna Jr. has left Atlanta for New York, but thankfully it's the Mets and not the Yankees signing him for 4/140. The Yankees did sign 1B Andrew Vaughn to a 4/78 deal however.

December 13: A bunch of big signings. Fresh off adding Ronald Acuna Jr. the Mets signed Triston Casas to a 3/41 deal with the lefty slugger coming off a 53-homer season, Riley Greene is off to Arizona for 4/57 and 38-year-old Carlos Correa joins Milwaukee for 2/45.

December 20: And there he goes - Dong-hwan Kim signs a 3/64 pact with Milwaukee. Since he was given a QO we net a supplemental 1st round pick.

December 21: Added P David Morales, OF Jimmy Powell, 1B Joe Stack and SS Agustin Lopez to the 40-man roster.

All are good prospects, especially Morales and Powell, and needed to be protected in the Rule 5 draft. Turned out nine players were taken, none from us, although the Padres did take former Ray Kendall Williams from Toronto.

December 26: Signed this guy:



Shimizu came over from Japan this winter, and was willing to take a minor league deal despite apparent major league talent so I took him up on it. Looks like a .250, 35-HR guy who can play well above-average D in an OF corner and maybe even pass in CF. Seems a lot like Joshua Baez, who's served us well. A lefty hitter with a significant platoon split so he'll probably start the year at Durham instead of platooning with Alex Calderon.


December 28: Welcome to Tampa Bay, Billy Carlow!



Why one of the star players in the AL was willing to sign for 1/7.3 I don't know but I wasn't going to question it. Now the answer to who Alex Calderon's platoon partner might be Joshua Baez as Carlow will likely supplant Baez in RF. If only Carlow were a RH hitter, but at this price we couldn't turn him down; I can safely say though we're done signing lefty-hitting OFers.

Meanwhile John Swanda, in our bullpen last year, signed a 3/30 deal with the Yankees to start for them; Kyle Tucker returned to Houston after 7 years in Minnesota on a 3/42 deal at age 35; and 40-year old 3B Jose Ramirez, after resurrecting his career on a 1-year deal with Cincinnati, goes for 3/23 to St. Louis.

[Art Deco]

January 1: Our rental closer of last season DeMarcus Evans is headed to Minnesota for 2/19.

January 2: Rays free agent and last year's AL Reliever of the Year (still scratching my head) Garrett Crochet signed a 2/18 deal with the Phillies.

January 5: The Hall of Fame voting is in and we have one new member:



Arenado was an easy first-ballot selection. Gonna be tough for Braun and Ichiro to get over the hump next year and it's Ichiro's last chance. Adios to Joe Mauer, who deserved better.

Also today 39-year-old Francisco Lindor joined the Cubs on a 2/47 deal as he still has some life left in his game.

January 13: Claimed P Pat Bittner on waivers from the Dodgers, designated P Gavin Bruni for assignment.

Bittner has 70 stuff as a reliever, 65 as a starter with 55 movement. The catch - and the reason why he was on waivers - is his 35 control. Still think he could be useful and he has an option left, plus I'd rather have him than Bruni, who was once an effective reliever for us but struggled at AAA last year (and he'll probably clear anyway).

January 15: Another of our free agents departs with Francisco Morales signing a 4/54 contract with the Giants.

February 9: Former Ray and the top free agent catcher out there Joey Bart signed a 2/31 deal with the Red Sox.

February 15: The biggest name left on the free agent board found a home as perennial 35-HR guy 2B Alex Arauz went to Arizona for 3/67.

February 17: 36-year-old Gleyber Torres and his 476 career homers are finally leaving the Yankees as he signed a 1/15 contract with Philadelphia.

A minor trade:



This was a trade offered to me, and I accepted as the three guys are either washed-up or never-will-be minor leaguers. Ritchie meanwhile is semi-intriguing, a former 2nd-round pick of the Giants in 2028 who can play a 60 CF and hits just enough not be a zero. He earned 5 WAR in AA, nice but he was 25. Doesn't have to go on the 40-man so he'll be stashed in the minors for now but is a RH batter which means he could take Caleb Hampton's place as a backup.

February 21: The last of our major free agents has signed elsewhere as Michael Prosecky joins Houston on a 1/4.9 deal.

March 1: Former Rays top prospect Shane McClanahan, who blew out his elbow in 2022 and came back as a vagabond reliever, signed with his 10th big league club St. Louis for 1/3.4.

[Art Deco]

A relatively uneventful spring although Cristian Hernandez strained a groin and will miss the start of the season but shouldn't be out too long. Kelly Crumpton will slide over to 3B, Nate Strickland will play 1B and Joshua Baez gets back in the lineup. Also Carlos Colmenarez fractured his foot so he's out of the backup IF mix.

We also had several tough roster decisions to make, mostly on the staff, and ended up losing a couple of guys on waivers. First we said farewell to Brad Garrard in a trade:



Park is a slick-fielding MI rated 70 at 2B and 60 at SS and will actually serve as our backup MI to at least start the season even though he hasn't played above AA. He's only rated 45 for contact but somehow he hit .337 in high-A and .297 at AA last year. He at least gives us someone we can use as a late-inning defensive replacement.

Also we had to put a bunch of guys out of options on waivers with the likes of Frankely Guzman and Josh Scanlon now fully healthy. And unfortunately we lost both Christian Little (who was great for us in middle relief last year) and Pat Bittner (claimed on waivers this winter so easy come, easy go) to the White Sox. Also waived were Gavin Bruni, JJ Cargill and Edwin Salvidar, but they should clear. So that leaves us with this OD roster:

C-William Contreras, Cartaya
1B-Strickland
2B-A.Gutierrez
SS-W.Franco
3B-Crumpton
IF-Park, J.Gutierrez (DH)
LF-Tosado
CF-Carlow
RF-J.Baez
OF-Hampton

DH-Calderon (OF)

SP-Marlette, DiCostanzo, Mendes, Ferguson, Panzini
LR-Cecconi, Yean
MR-Abeyta, Feole, Post, Guzman
SU-Moore, Burpee
CL-Scanlon

IL-C.Hernandez, Colmenarez

Some thought was given to bringing up Danny Arroyave, our top prospect, to start at 3B while Hernandez is out but with the 40-man tight (although not any longer with all the waived guys) and his clock starting, he'll be at Durham but a definite mid-season possibility.

Preseason predictions:



Since the OD roster is used here this is us without Cristian Hernandez, but a 3-way race in the AL East is forecast.

[Art Deco]

Fireworks on and off the field to start the season:



It was an Opening Day nobody is likely to forget as after the Rays' players received their 2032 World Series rings they played a wild, woolly and lengthy first game won in 12 innings thanks to heroics of Wander Franco. It looked like business as usual when Kelly Crumpton celebrated his new below-market contract with a 3-run homer in the first to put the Rays up 3-1 but nobody had Joe Marlette gets torched for 6 runs on their bingo card yet that's what happened and Tampa Bay found itself behind. Franco and Billy Carlow in his Rays debut homered but they were still down 8-5 in the 8th when Joshua Baez, the guy we always seem to squeeze out of the lineup but somehow gets back in and produces, hit a 3-run blast to tie it up and send us to extras, and Wander won it in the 12th with his 2nd dinger and 4th hit of the game. Also an encouraging sign is that Josh Scanlon appears to be fully healthy with his stuff intact as he struck out the side in the 9th in a 2-inning outing. Not encouraging though was this:



Kind of surprising to see one of the new guys calling out somewhere who was there before him, but we'll see what happens.

Game 2: While Opening Day didn't go quite as expected even though it ended with a Rays win, today was more in line with things as Kevin DiCostanzo was excellent and Tampa Bay took an 8-3 win. The righty went 6 3 1 1 2 8 for the win and a 5-run 4th inning was key to the victory. After Orlando Tosado tied the game at 1 with a double, feuding teammates Nate Strickland and Alex Calderon teamed up for a 2-run single and a 2-run homer, the latter's first with the club. Strickland later hit a solo homer, his 1st, and Wander Franco added a moonshot to center for his 3rd in the season's first two games.

But the drama continued after the game:



I was given the option of releasing Strickland, suspending him for 5 games, or doing nothing and I chose to do nothing. We'll see how this plays out but I'm going to have faith for now that they work it out.

Team record: 2-0. Next up: 2 games in Baltimore.

[Art Deco]

The Rays remain perfect for 2033 after winning both games in Baltimore. And no new drama from Strickland and Calderon so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Tampa Bay spoiled the Orioles' home (and season) opener 8-3 at Camden Yards as former O Billy Carlow drilled a 2-run homer (#2) and Wander Franco was on base five times, driving in a run. Joshua Baez also homered for the second time and Arturo Gutierrez broke out of a season-starting 0-16 slump by hitting a 2-run blast in the 9th. Wes Mendes wasn't very good in his season debut (3.1 8 2 2 2 3), leaving the bases loaded with one out in the 4th for Slade Cecconi who struck out the first two men he faced to get out of it and went 2.2 0 0 0 1 5 to get the win.

The Rays swept the two-game mini-series with a 7-4 win over Baltimore as Jonathan Gutierrez took advantage of a start against a lefty to drive in three including a first-inning 2-run inside-the-park homer. Joshua Baez also homered for the third time in four 2033 games, a no-doubt 2-run shot that saw the Oriole CF not even bother to move. Kelly Crumpton was 3-5 with an RBI and is hitting .500 on the young season. Meanwhile on the mound Chris Ferguson was impressive in his Rays debut, going 7 4 2 2 2 3 for the win and Josh Scanlon picked up his first save in about 10 months retiring one man after Jon Post gave up a 2-run homer in the 9th and put two more on after being entrusted with a 5-run lead.

Team record: 4-0. Next up: A quirky schedule which saw us play twice before most everybody else now gives us consecutive days off before resuming with three over the weekend in Boston.

MLB News: Texas slugger Yordan Alvarez hit career homer #400.

[Art Deco]

Not the best of series as we dropped 2 of 3 at Fenway, our first defeats of the season.

The opener saw the bullpen lose leads of 4-3 and 7-5, capped by Josh Scanlon giving up three runs including a 2-run walk off-homer in the 9th against his old team as the Rays lost 9-7. Billy Carlow continued his hot start in a Rays uniform by homering twice and driving in four to give him four homers in the first five games of the season and Nate Strickland also found the seats for the second time to lead the offense. Joe Marlette struggled somewhat again at 5.1 6 3 3 1 7 but left with the lead before Ruben Abeyta let Boston go ahead 5-4. The Rays got 3 in the 7th but Scanlon (0-1) couldn't get it done in the 9th, failing to retire a batter.

Shane Panzini's first start of 2033 wasn't a very good one as Boston beat the Rays again 6-3. The righty gave up 3 in the 2nd and a couple more in the 5th to finish 4.1 5 5 5 2 2 and take the loss. The bats also had their worst game of the year.

The Rays did salvage the finale in a back-and-forth affair 8-6. Boston took a 3-1 lead against Kevin DiCostanzo, Tampa Bay tied it in the 5th, Boston scored again in the bottom of the inning, the Rays then tied it again in the 6th before finally exploding for 4 runs in the 7th with Joshua Baez's 2-run single putting them ahead to stay. Arturo Gutierrez hit his 2nd homer, a 2-run shot in the 5th, and drove in 3 total while Nate Strickland also plated a pair. DiCostanzo (2-0) managed to hang around for the win going 6 4 4 4 4 6, and Josh Scanlon atoned for Friday night's debacle with a perfect 9th for his 2nd save.

Team record: 5-2. Next up: An off-day then back home for 3 vs San Antonio.

Calderon/Strickland update: I did get word from the clubhouse that the team was not happy no discipline was taken against Strickland and that team chemistry "could take a hit". Right now it shows as "content" though.

[Art Deco]

The Rays took 2 of 3 from the Alamos to continue their good start to the season.

The opener though was one of those games as San Antonio won 4-2 while the Rays piled up the hits but couldn't get the man home. They had 13 baserunners but the only two who scored came on solo homers from Arturo Gutierrez (#3) and Kelly Crumpton (#2). Wes Mendes (0-1) struggled again at 5.1 5 4 4 2 5.

The second game was a rollercoaster as the Rays fell behind early, came back to take the lead, blew the lead, and then pulled out a 7-6 win over the Alamos by scoring twice in the bottom of the 9th. Kelly Crumpton's RBI double, his third hit of the night, tied it and Orlando Tosado's sac fly brought home the winner. Tosado earlier hit his first homer of the season, Billy Carlow went deep with #5 and Arturo Gutierrez homered again for his 4th. Chris Ferguson's second Rays start wasn't as successful as the first as he went 5 5 4 4 1 2 and Frankely Guzman won his first 2033 decision after pitching the 9th.

Transaction: Cristian Hernandez was activated and Mu-Sang Park was optioned to Durham.

Things were more comfortable for Tampa Bay in the rubber game as they scored 7 times by the 3rd inning and went on to an 8-2 win. Bad boy Nate Strickland had a huge game with three hits and four RBI including a 3-run shot (#3) in the 3rd to lead the offense while Kelly Crumpton had 2 more hits including an RBI single and is hitting a cool .477. Cristian Hernandez also returned to action with an RBI double. Joe Marlette (1-0) was solid at 6 4 2 2 2 6 for the win.

Team record: 7-3. Next up: Toronto, which is 1/2 game ahead of us at 8-3, comes to town for 3.

[Art Deco]

The Rays' bats took the first two games off before exploding in the finale but it was still good enough to take two of three and move into first in the AL East past Toronto.

It was Orlando Tosado to the rescue in the opener as his 7th-inning homer (#2) broke a 1-1 tie and the Rays eked out a 2-1 win over the Jays. Kevin DiCostanzo started and scattered a lot of hits (6 10 1 1 1 7) but largely kept Toronto off the board and Cristian Hernandez's first homer of the year meant the teams were at parity until Tosado's blast. Tommy Burpee, who got DiCostanzo out of a 7th inning first-and-third, nobody out jam earned the win in his first decision and Josh Scanlon had a 1-2-3 9th for save #3.

All Toronto in the second game as the Jays shut out the Rays 4-0. It was a dismal affair all around for Tampa Bay as the bats only managed five hits and Shane Panzini (0-2) had his second rough outing in as many starts after going 4 7 4 4 1 3 with a pair of homers allowed to Toronto's Josh Jung. Five scoreless from the bullpen was the only highlight.

There were highlights galore in the finale though as you can't keep a good offense down for long and the Rays demonstrated that in a 15-2 annihilation of the Jays. Jonathan Gutierrez had a big day as his 2-run single capped a 4-run 2nd which got them going and he later added a 2-run homer (#2), his first round-tripper this year which actually left the field of play. Orlando Tosado had 3 hits including HR #3, Kelly Crumpton contributed a 3-run jack (#3), Cristian Hernandez drove in 3 including a 2-run double and Arturo Gutierrez had a pair of doubles, 2 RBI and 3 runs scored. Wes Mendes (1-1) was very good at 5 4 0 0 2 6 even though he didn't need to be today.

Team record: 9-4. Next up: 3 games on the South Side of Chicago against the White Sox.

[Art Deco]

The Rays took 2 of 3 from the Pale Hose but suffered about as devastating injury as possible in the finale of the series.

Chris Ferguson was on point in the opener as the Rays eked out a 2-1 win at Guaranteed Rate Field over Chicago. The righty went to 2-0 after a 6.2 6 1 1 3 2 outing and the pen did its job with Josh Scanlon securing save #4. Both runs came in the first on consecutive RBI singles from Orlando Tosado and Nate Strickland and thanks to Ferguson and the pen they held up.

The Rays didn't have to hold their breath as much in the second game as they took a comfortable 6-1 win over the White Sox. Joe Marlette (2-0) flashed his dominant form for the first time this season, going 6 2 0 0 2 11 and he received ample support. Orlando Tosado's 3-run homer in the 6th (#4) broke open a 2-0 game while Arturo Gutierrez was 3-5 with a double and 2 runs scored and Cristian Hernandez went 2-3 with a walk and RBI.

Tampa Bay lost the finale three times, twice on the field and much more significantly off it as one of our twin aces, Kevin DiCostanzo, had to leave the game early with bone chips in his elbow and will undergo surgery which will shelve him for the rest of the season. The recovery time is six months which puts us in mid-October, so theoretically he could make a playoff return but that would be without any rehab. DiCostanzo struck out the side in the first around giving up a run and then left after pitching to the first man in the 2nd. Slade Cecconi took over and went a respectable 5 4 2 2 1 5 in long relief and the Rays took a 4-3 lead in the 6th on Joshua Baez's 2-run shot (#4). They took that lead into the 8th when Mike Moore imploded to allow 3 runs but Arturo Gutierrez came through with a 2-run single in the top of the 9th to tie it back up. And although Mason Feole (0-1) hit a man in the bottom of the 9th he got two outs and with righties due Josh Scanlon came on, only to give up consecutive singles to let Chicago walk it off 7-6. Earlier the Rays got solo homers from Billy Carlow (#6) and Nate Strickland (#4).

Team record: 11-5. Next up: We slide east to New York to play 4 against the Yankees.

Transaction: After the game DiCostanzo went on the 60-day IL and top starter prospect Danny Morales was called up from Durham to take his place in the rotation. Morales followed up an Opening Day start for 9-0 Durham in which he went 8.2 5 0 0 4 8 with a rougher outing in which he gave up 4 runs and 8 hits in 4 2/3. He has 60 stuff, 65 movement and 50 control with potential to improve and we'll see what he can do at the big league level. With a bevy of top level prospects (several of whom are crushing it at Durham hence the 9-0 start) I also can't rule out a trade for a frontline starter at some point.

[Art Deco]

A successful series for the Rays as they took 3 of 4 in the Bronx including a dazzling debut by a rookie.

The Rays took a 6-2 lead in the opener and hung on to prevail 6-5 with the bullpen making things way too interesting. 2-run homers from feuding foes Nate Strickland (#5) and Alex Calderon (#2) staked them to that lead and Shane Panzini (1-2) was pitching well until the bottom of the 6th before the Yankees got a couple off him and Frankely Guzman gave up a solo homer to make it 6-5. Josh Scanlon then put the first two men on in the 9th before getting out of it for save #5. Panzini went 5.2 5 4 4 1 8 to pick up his first win since 2031.

The Yankees took the second game 6-2 as Wes Mendes (1-2) was ineffective at 4 5 5 5 4 5 and the bats only managed four hits. One of them, Alex Calderon's 2-run homer (#3) in the 7th, was all that stood between them and a shutout.

Danny Morales had an excellent MLB debut, pitching the Rays to a 6-2 win in the third game. Morales went 5 4 1 1 2 6 on 84 pitches and gave up his run and three of the four hits in the 4th inning. He handled some tough hitters like Ernesto Rodriguez very well, striking out last year's MVP & Rookie of the Year twice. Morales received plenty of early support including an RBI triple from Wander Franco and Billy Carlow tacked on a pair of solo homers (#7 & 8), driving in 3 on the day.

The Rays took the series with a late rally to win 5-4 over the Yankees. Arturo Gutierrez's 8th-inning RBI single tied it with two out and Wander Franco hit one over the CF's head for a double to score Gutierrez, the third hits of the game for each. Mason Feole (1-1) earned the win in relief and Josh Scanlon had an easier time of it today, fanning a pair in the 9th for save #6. Billy Carlow had given the Rays a first-inning lead with a 3-run homer (his MLB-best 9th) off veteran Shane Bieber, but Chris Ferguson was unable to hold it, with little help from the defense as he went 6.2 9 4 2 0 5.

Team record: 14-6. Next up: An off-day then we head NE on I-95 to play 3 at Fenway Park.

[Art Deco]

Another series win for the Rays as they took 2 of 3 at Fenway.

The baseballs were flying out of Fenway today thanks to the Rays as they hit four homers in a 9-2 win over the Red Sox. Nate Strickland led the parade with a pair of solo shots among his three hits, giving him seven, while Billy Carlow hit his MLB-best 10th of the year and drove in a pair while Alex Calderon walloped a 2-run blast (#4). This was more than enough for Joe Marlette (3-0), who went 6.2 5 1 1 2 6.

Shane Panzini had his best start in two seasons and the Rays comfortably handled Boston again 5-1. The righty, who missed almost all of last year, had dominating stuff today and evened his record at 2-2 after going 5 2 1 1 1 10. Three relievers held the Sox hitless the rest of the way for a combined team 2-hitter. Alex Calderon stayed hot with another homer, a 2-run shot for his 5th and Orlando Tosado went solo (#5). Arturo Gutierrez had 3 hits including a double and a triple and drove in a run as well.

Danny Morales' second start did not go as well as his first and the Rays couldn't quite come all the way back, falling just short of sweeping in a 9-8 loss to Boston. The rookie righty allowed single runs in each of the first three innings, had a 1-2-3 4th, then put two men on to start the 5th who Slade Cecconi let score in a bad relief outing. Morales finished 4 4 5 5 4 6 and dropped to 1-1. A couple of Rays hitters had huge days as Orlando Tosado hit two more homers (#6/7) and drove in 4 while Billy Carlow had a 3-run shot for his MLB-best 11th.

Team record: 16-7. Next up: Back home for 3 against the Angels.

[Art Deco]

The Rays took their customary 2 of 3 games as they remain in first place in the AL East, 2 games up on Toronto which is also off to a good start.

The series did not get off to a good start for the Rays though as the Angels walloped them 8-1 in the opener at Tropicana Field. Wes Mendes (1-3) remained consistently inconsistent, dominating through the first four innings before the wheels came off in the 5th as the Angels put up 6 runs and he finished 4.2 6 6 6 2 4.

Tampa Bay had to work overtime to even the series with the Angels as they pulled out a 12-inning 5-4 win on Joshua Baez's walk-off solo homer (#5). Nate Strickland single-handedly kept them in the game during regulation as he was 3-5 with a triple and 3-run homer (#8) and former Angel Chris Ferguson was 6.1 6 4 4 1 4 in the start. Mike Moore (2-0) got the final out in the top of the 12th for the win.

The Rays took another close one in the rubber game of the series, edging LA 4-3. Arturo Gutierrez's 5th-inning 2-run homer (#5) tied the game before RBI singles from Cristian Hernandez and Diego Cartaya in the 6th supplied the winning margin. Joe Marlette 5 5 2 2 2 7 was solid in his start, the win went to Ruben Abeyta (1-0) in relief despite allowing a run, and Josh Scanlon fanned a pair in the 9th for his 7th save.

Team record: 18-8. Next up: An off-day then another west coast team comes to the Trop as Oakland visits for 3.

[Art Deco]

Despite our pitching being torched for 21 runs in the 3-game series we still managed to take 2 of 3 thanks to the bats.

Shane Panzini couldn't hold a 5-1 lead and the A's went ahead in the top of the 10th inning, but Billy Carlow's 2-run homer in the bottom of the inning (his second of the day) gave the Rays a 7-6 walk-off win over Oakland. Solo homers by Kelly Crumpton (#4) and Carlow (#12) along with a 3-run William Contreras shot (#1) gave them that 5-1 lead but Panzini showed his previous dominant outing was more of a fluke by going 5.1 7 5 5 3 9 with a pair of homers allowed. Mike Moore (3-0) gave up a solo homer in the 10th but became the winner when Carlow blasted his MLB-best 13th for the victory.

The Rays walked it off yet again in even more dramatic fashion in the second game, scoring 4 times in the bottom of the 9th to tie the game at 7 and then winning it in the 10th on Kelly Crumpton's solo homer (#5). They had already pushed across a run in the 9th when Arturo Gutierrez came through in the clutch with two out as he blasted a 3-run homer (#6) deep into the LF stands. Earlier Nate Strickland had a 2-run jack, his 9th. The pitching of course was another story. Danny Morales wasn't terrible, but the rookie wasn't great either at 6.1 8 5 4 1 8 and then the pen gave up a couple of runs to make it look out of reach before the 9th-inning heroics. Josh Scanlon (1-1) had a 1-2-3 10th for the win.

There was no stirring walk-off win or comeback in the finale, just more bad Rays starting pitching as Oakland walloped them 8-2. Today it was Wes Mendes (1-4) who struggled again at 4.2 7 6 5 4 5 and saw his ERA balloon to 7.33. The only highlight of the day was a 2-run Arturo Gutierrez homer (#7) in the 2nd.

Team record: 20-9. Next up: Detroit visits for 3 games.

[Art Deco]

Yet another series in which the Rays had to outscore their opponents (technically that's always true but you know what I mean) as once again they won 2 out of 3 despite allowing 18 runs.

The opener was the epitome of their recently play: score some runs, give up a bunch, then score in the end to win. Billy Carlow's RBI double in the bottom of the 10th brought the Rays a 7-6 walk-off win after Arturo Gutierrez almost single-handedly got them there with a 4-6, 5-RBI day which included a 3-run homer (#8) and a 2-run double. Chris Ferguson started and was actually pretty good (5 5 2 2 2 8) but Mason Feole gave up 3 runs to put Detroit ahead and after the Rays retook the lead in the 8th Josh Scanlon (2-1) blew the save in the 9th although he did pitch the 10th for the win.

Transaction: Claimed P Pedro Avila on waivers, optioned P Danny Morales to AAA Durham. Morales wasn't bad and to some extent was the victim of the team's poor defense, but Avila is a veteran (36) starter with a track record of success and is rated 55/70/55. We'll plug Avila in and see how it goes.

The Rays went up 6-3 early and hung on to win 7-5 in the second game. Joe Marlette was the victim of some hideous defense as the Rays made four errors behind him and let a lot of hits drop in but he still improved to 4-0 after going 5.2 8 5 1 0 9. Mike Moore pitched a perfect 9th for his first save of the year. The offensive attack was a three-headed monster: Billy Carlow was 4-5 with MLB-best HR #14 and 2 RBI; William Contreras was 3-3 with a walk and a 2-run HR (#2); and Nate Strickland was 2-4 with a 3-run jack (#10).

Pedro Avila made his Rays debut in the finale and while he wasn't bad (6 7 4 3 0 4) the bats didn't respond until it was too late and the bullpen didn't help in a 7-5 loss. Mason Feole had a rough series and he allowed a fifth run to make it 5-1 Detroit before the Rays got 3 in the 7th on a bases-loaded HBP and then a pair of bases-loaded walk to pull within 5-4. But Feole gave up two more runs in the 8th with some more shoddy defense (three errors on the day in total) behind him and that was that. Nate Strickland hit a consolation solo homer (#11) in the 8th.

Team record: 22-10, 5 up on Toronto. Next up: Cleveland visits for 3 games.

MLB News: Minnesota's Rhys Hoskins hit his 400th career homer and the Cubs' Kevin Aguillard now has a 25-game hitting streak.

[Art Deco]

The Rays swept the Guardians by an aggregate score of 34-11, in case you were wondering how the offense is going.

The opener was more of the recent same though as Shane Panzini was awful and put them in a hole but the bats battled back to take another walk-off win, 6-5 in 10 innings on Nate Strickland's game-ending jack (#12). Panzini was just dreadful, allowing 4 in the first inning and not making it out of the 2nd, finishing 1.1 6 4 4 1 1 and of course gave up another homer, his 7th in 25.1 IP and his ERA rose to 8.06. Maybe he gets one more start, we'll see. Slade Cecconi picked up the pieces with 3 2/3 scoreless and the offense battled back with an Orlando Tosado solo homer (#8) and a couple RBI from Alex Calderon to eventually take a 5-4 lead. But Josh Scanlon's up and down season continued as he blew his 3rd save by allowing a leadoff homer in the 9th which sent us to extras. Mike Moore (4-0) pitched the 10th for the win.

No late-inning heroics needed in the second game as the Rays swamped the Guardians 17-4. It was actually a close game for a while as Wes Mendes' problems resurfaced with the lefty allowing 3 in the first and going 4.2 5 4 3 0 3. Cleveland led 4-3 in the 5th before the Rays scored 4 times on a trio of homers: Wander Franco's 4th to tie it, Kelly Crumpton's solo shot (#6) to go ahead and Joshua Baez's 2-run blast to make it 7-4. Baez added another homer in the 7th (#7) to make it 8-4 and then they put 9 on the board in the 8th. Crumpton also tripled and was 3-5 with 5 RBI, Baez drove in 4 total, and Wander was 2-5 with 2 RBI and 4 runs scored. Eddie Yean (1-0) relieved Mendes with 2 1/3 scoreless for the win.

The Rays actually got one good start in the series as Chris Ferguson was excellent in an 11-2 rout in the finale. Ferguson improved to 3-0, 3.30 with a 7 4 2 1 1 4 and has been an important acquisition with Kevin DiCostanzo done for the year and the rest of the non-Marlette rotation struggling big-time. There was support aplenty for him, mainly from Nate Strickland who was 2-3 with HR #13 and 3 RBI. Wander Franco homered again (#5), Alex Calderon homered and drove in 3, and Orlando Tosado was 2-3 with 3 runs scored and 2 RBI.

Team record: 25-10. Next up: An off-day then 3 in Minnesota.