The 2022 (and beyond) Tampa Bay Rays

[Art Deco]

Transaction: Placed P Manny Whitehead on the 15-day IL with an oblique strain, recalled P Danny Zavala from AA Durham.

Game 1: 3-4 L (10). LP-L.Gonzalez (6-5). Starter-Buckman (4.1 3 2 2 4 4). HR-Gurrola (26). After scoring twice in the 7th to tie it the Rays saw their 8-game win streak snapped when they lost in extras.

Game 2: 8-1 W. WP-Najera (15-3, 5.1 6 0 0 0 5). HR-K.White (47), Pino (36). White's 3-run homer in the 3rd sent them on their way, and it was good to see Najera bounce back with a fine outing after his recent rough stretch. The ERA is down to 2.04 so maybe with one more start he can get it back below 2.

Game 3: 7-5 W. WP-Zavala (1-0). S-D.Cruz (15/34). Starter-Lennon (5.2 6 5 4 2 5). HR-W.Perez (18), Rutschman (26). Rays scored twice in the 8th and once in the 9th to come back on Chicago in this one as Perez had a big day. He tripled in the tying run and scored the winner while also doubling and homering, missing a cycle when he popped out in the 9th but driving in four. The rookie Arroyo was 3-4 with 2 RBI as well.

Team record: 97-58. Next up: 3 at home against Boston as we've finished the road schedule with a very good 48-33 showing.

MLB News: Playing the Cubs we had an influence on that silly NL Central race with a bunch of .500ish teams fighting for the division. The two losses didn't hurt the Cubs terribly since everyone else stank:



Last we looked all five teams were in it but the Cardinals have lost 8 of 10 to fall 3 games back with one week left in the season.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: 0-2 L. LP-Jimenez (16-5, 6 4 1 1 0 11). Jimenez gave up a homer to lead off the 7th and that was enough for Toronto to win on a night when his teammates generated only five hits. This is probably his final start of the season and what a first year with the Rays it was: 16-5, 2.37, 239 K in 201.2 IP and 5.3 WAR.

Game 2: 9-6 W. WP-C.Lee (2-4). S-D.Cruz (16/35). Starter-Vargas (5 7 3 3 1 5). HR-Haro (21), Pino (37). A wild back-and-forth game which saw the lead change hands multiple times before a 3-run 8th won it for the Rays including Pino's pop. Haro had a 3-run jack and Castro was 3-4 with 3 runs scored.

Game 3: 3-5 L. LP-Montgomery (1-1). Starter-Buckman (2 1 0 0 1 2). HR-Castro (21). Rays had a quick 3-0 lead before Buckman had to leave with a minor hamstring tweak, and the middle relievers coughed it up. Arroyo was 2-4 with a double and 2 RBI.

Game 4: 8-0 W. WP-Najera (16-3, 6 1 0 0 2 6). S-Fragoso (3). HR-Castro (22), W.Perez (19), K.White (48). Mission accomplished - Najera went 6 shutout innings to lower his ERA back below 2 as his finishes the year 16-3, 1.97 with 189 whiffs in 174 IP and 5.1 WAR. He'll be fighting his teammates Jimenez and Lennon for the Cy Young. Also hitting a milestone was White, who broke his own club record of 47 homers (which broke Carlos Pena's 2007 record of 46) last season with #48. It wasn't all fun and games though as we suffered a key injury just ahead of the playoffs: Haro tweaked his hamstring legging out double #40 and has tendinitis in the muscle which will sideline him two weeks and therefore keep him out of the ALDS.

Team record: 99-60. Next up: 3 games against Boston at the Trop which don't mean much to the Rays other than getting win #100 but mean quite a bit to the Red Sox, who are clinging to a 1-game WC3 lead over Oakland (and 2 over Seattle).

Playoff Picture: Going into the final weekend in the AL the Rays and Royals will be the top two seeds with Texas (2 up on Oakland) likely to take the West. Baltimore and the White Sox should be the top two WCs with Boston fighting Oakland/Seattle as described above.

In the NL Atlanta and Colorado will have the byes while our favorite bastion of mediocrity, the NL Central, now sees Cincinnati at 80-79 atop the division, 1 game up on San Antonio and Milwaukee. Meanwhile the Phillies and Mets have the first two wild cards sewn up while Miami and Washington are tied at 85-74 for WC3, so all 3 wild cards will come from the East and the loser (who finishes last in the division) will have a superior record to the Central winner. As may San Diego, already eliminated at 81-78.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: 4-2 W. WP-Lennon (18-8, 7 7 2 2 2 6). S-D.Cruz (17/36). HR-Castro (23). Rays came back from 2-0 down to win their 100th game of the season with 3 in the 5th keyed by Arroyo's 2-run single before Castro added an insurance solo shot. Lennon finishes another brilliant year at 18-8, 2.80 with 5.5 WAR.

Game 2: 4-6 L. LP-Jimenez (16-6, 4.2 4 6 6 4 8). HR-J.Lowe (4), V.Munoz (2). Boston put 5 runs up in the 5th to take the win and hold on to WC3. Jimenez ran into trouble he just couldn't escape in the inning but still finishes a great first campaign with the Rays with a 2.57 ERA, 247 whiffs and 5.3 WAR.

Game 3: 6-2 W. WP-Salazar (5-0). Starter-Vargas (5.2 6 2 2 3 2). HR-K.White (49). The Rays spoiled Boston's playoff hopes in the regular season finale by beating them while Oakland won and took WC3 from the Red Sox via the season series tiebreaker. Boston was up 2-0 in the 6th before the Rays put 3 on the board thanks to Pino's 2-run single (he later added an RBI double) and then added 3 more in the 8th to put it away.

Final Regular Season Record: 101-61. Next up: The ALDS against either Baltimore or Chicago.

Playoff Races: As mentioned Oakland nosed out Boston for WC3. In the NL, Cincinnati won the sorry NL Central with an 82-80 record, winning the division by 2 games, and Washington held off Miami for WC3 in the NL.

Some Rays got recognition from the league for their great Septembers:



Cruz has been incredible as our closer since coming over just before the trade deadline - his overall line as a Ray is 27 6 1 1 11 41 with 0 homers allowed and 17 saves, good for 1.6 WAR on its own.



Castro was great early in the season after being claimed on waivers from Detroit on April 4, but slumped midseason. But he started getting hot again over the last couple of months and won a full-time job, taking Alistair Hardy's spot in the lineup against RHP (at least until Haro got hurt which got Hardy back in there).

Next up: The full standings and stats review of the regular season.

[Art Deco]

Just look at those pitching numbers - first across the board. And if the defense had been a little better they would have had a team ERA below 3. The key to the second half was the improvement of the offense as they moved up a couple of notches in most of the categories above.



The second-half offensive surge was primarily due to Perez, who hit 11 of his 16 homers in the second half including 7 in September, and Pino, who after a horrible first half recovered to hit 20 HR and 70 RBI in the final three months.while hitting .278 - in other words he was Jose Pino again. The bench was brutal but we should get Ransom and Haro back at some point during the ALDS.



Now this is what a league-leading pitching staff looks like. Not only do you have the top 3 who are going to be battling each other for the Cy Young, but we had fine seasons from the fourth starter (although Vargas was much better in the first half) as well as several bullpen pieces. This group is going make them formidable in the playoffs. Really no complaints here - bottom dweller Segura was flipped for Cruz and even Little pitched better down the stretch.



And...they better win now because this is a pretty bleak-looking farm system with no top 100 prospects. And I'm not sure a 23-year-old playing in the DSL should be their #2 guy, so that says a lot. No apparent help for next year except perhaps Almeda who has great stuff but iffy movement and control.

[Art Deco]

So it will be the White Sox taking on the Rays in the ALDS.



Oakland will face Kansas City in the other ALDS.



The Mets will face fellow NL East rival Atlanta in the NLDS.



The Reds were the only one home team out of four to advance out of the wild card round and they'll play Colorado in the other NLDS.

[Art Deco]

The comeback kids...



For quite a while things didn't look good for the Rays as Hugo Najera gave up back-to-back jacks in the 2nd inning and they trailed 3-0 as late as the 6th inning. But a 2-run Alistair Hardy shot in the 7th got them even, and Hector Gurrola's RBI triple gave them the lead. And even though Chase Lee gave up a game-tying homer in the 8th Tampa Bay wouldn't be denied as Kevin White and Adley Rutschman went back-to-back themselves to give them a 1-0 series lead. Jesus Jimenez will get the ball in Game 2 tomorrow.

In the other ALDS opener:



Catching up on the NLDS starting with yesterday's lid-lifters:



And today's Games 2:

[Art Deco]

Another thriller...



For the second straight game the Rays blew a late lead yet still won as Jose Pino's walk-off RBI single scored Hector Gurrola in the bottom of the 9th to give the Rays a 4-3 win and a 2-0 series lead in their best-of-5 ALDS with Chicago. Former White Sock Darwin Cruz was handed a 3-1 lead in the top of the inning after a typically brilliant outing from Jesus Jimenez and a 2-run homer from Kevin White, but he walked the first man he faced and gave up a game-tying 2-run blast to Chicago superstar Wilfred Veras, and the air came out of Tropicana Field. But like in Game 1 when Chase Lee gave up the game-tying homer in the 8th, the bats immediately responded and after Gurrola singled and stole second, Pino came through with the winner. The third of Tampa Bay's aces, Jaheim Lennon, will take the ball in Chicago looking to complete a sweep.

Meanwhile high drama in Kansas City as the Royals too went up 2-0 in a walk-off:

[Art Deco]

OK this is ridiculous...



After twice blowing leads in the 8th or later and twice still coming out on top, surely the Rays couldn't do it a third time after they gave up 6 runs in the 8th inning to lose a 3-1 lead with one inning left to come back? Well amazingly they did and thanks to the most improbable of 8-7 wins they swept the White Sox to advance to the ALCS. And it was two guys who were a combined 0-20 in the series coming into that 9th inning, Will Perez and Marco Campagne, who delivered 2-run doubles to tie the game and then after the next two men struck out Nelson Haro, just off the injured list, singled home Campagne with the winner. And somehow Darwin Cruz didn't blow the save in the 9th. Before all the late madness it looked like Tampa Bay would sweep in a more typical fashion: brilliant starting pitching and just enough offense thanks to a fine Jaheim Lennon outing. But they'll take it any way they can and hopefully the bullpen can hold onto a lead or two in the ALCS.

And that ALCS matchup will be with the Royals, who too swept their opponent, and who too won all three games in their final at-bat:



Meanwhile things are sorted in the NL as well:





And the Rockies and Mets will make up the rest of baseball's final four.

[Art Deco]

A Royal flush...



The Rays got off to a roaring start in the ALCS, routing the Royals behind a massive game from Nelson Haro, who blasted a bases-clearing double and added a 3-run homer to lead the way. Haro's 3-run double put the Rays on the board in the 3rd after the Royals grabbed an early 1-0 lead, and then Jose Pino immediately followed with a 2-run homer to effectively end the game at that point. The only disappointment was with Hugo Najera, who couldn't make it through the 5th to collect the easy win as he had two on and was tiring badly at 90 pitches (he's a low-stamina guy). We'll do it again tomorrow with Jaheim Lennon.

The early going in the NLCS:





Like the Rays the Rockies opened their LCS with a rout at home, but I'm sure Tampa Bay is noting that the Mets came back and took Game 2.

[Art Deco]

Not great...



After scoring 11 runs in Game 1 the Rays offense dried up almost completely in Game 2, and it cost them after the bullpen let them down as Kansas City took a 6-1 win to even the ALCS at a game apiece. Jaheim Lennon was great, not allowing a hit until the 5th and leaving a scoreless game after 6 innings. But in the 7th Chase Lee put two men on with one out and Danny Fragoso was brought in to face the lefty Sal Lozano, who promptly belted a 3-run homer off him. Alex Salazar was terrible as well in the 8th allowing 3 more runs and that was that except for a Hector Gurrola consolation homer that kept the Rays from being shut out. They'll try to get right again in Kansas City for Game 3 with Jesus Jimenez on the hill.

[Art Deco]

Back in front...



After going AWOL in Game 2 the Tampa Bay bats were back in Game 3 and they needed to be after Jesus Jimenez had a rare poor start and put them in a 4-0 hole before they fought back to take an 8-6 win on the night and a 2-1 lead in the ALCS. Jimenez gave up a pair of homers to KC slugger Jacob Krieg and it was looking bleak. But Adley Rutschman turned the momentum around with a 2-run homer to halve the Royals' lead and they then went to work in a 4-run 5th to take the lead for good with Oscar Castro's 2-run single making it 6-4 Tampa Bay. The bullpen had a hiccup or two but nothing major, and Darwin Cruz closed it out by getting all 4 of his outs via the whiff. Angel Vargas will go tomorrow in the all-important Game 4.

Going to be a dogfight in the NLCS:

[Art Deco]

That was ugly...



The Rays were never competitive in this one as Kansas City evened up the ALCS at two, teeing off on Angel Vargas. Like in Game 2 the Rays got some late consolation scoring, courtesy of a 2-run Nelson Haro double as he's now driven in 9 runs in the 4 games of this series. Ace Hugo Najera is back on the hill in tomorrow's key Game 5.

The NLCS had their Game 5 already:



The Mets are one game away from getting back to the World Series, where they last were two years ago losing to the Rays.

[Art Deco]

Survival of the fittest...



The Rays are one win away from making their fourth straight World Series, and I chose the tagline above because it was Darwin Cruz who made sure of it as the fireballing reliever escaped a 2nd-and-3rd, 1-out jam in the 8th with Tampa Bay up 2-1 by striking out the first two men he faced, and then fanned two more in the 9th to finish off the game. Between today and Game 3, Cruz has notched a pair of saves covering 3 total innings while striking out 8. The other big story was Hugo Najera, who wasn't at his best in Game 1 but certainly was today, going 6 1/3 shutout innings with 10 whiffs and looking like the guy who pitched to a sub-2 ERA in the regular season. He didn't get much support but solo homers from Adley Rutschman and Hector Gurrola were enough. Now it'll be Jaheim Lennon in two days taking the mound at Tropicana Field to try and pitch the Rays into the Fall Classic.

[Art Deco]

Series-bound again...



Marco Campagne was the much less-heralded acquisition at the Trade Deadline, but he etched his name in Tampa Bay lore tonight as his 8th-inning 2-run double put the Rays in their fourth straight World Series, giving them a 2-1 win. For the second time in this series the Rays were bedeviled by KC's Jose Virgen, and he no-hit them until two out in the 6th when Campagne singled to center. But it was still 1-0 Royals into the bottom of the 8th when Oscar Castro reached on a very costly Eric Brown error to start the inning, Jon Ransom singled him to 3rd and then Campagne brought them both home with the tying and winning runs. Darwin Cruz once again brought the heat in the 9th, getting KC 3-up, 3-down with a pair of whiffs and for my money was the Series MVP. However the voters gave it to Nelson Haro, who deserved it as well with his 9-RBI performance even if he was a rare winner who sat out the clinching game (he doesn't hit lefties like Virgen well). So who we will be playing? Well if you read the boxscore recap above you know, but if not here it is:





Yes it's a World Series rematch from two years ago as the Rays will look to once again top the Mets and make it three titles in four years.

[Art Deco]

Off to a flying start...



Jesus Jimenez was dominant once again and Jose Pino, who had a down 2035, belted a pair of homers to lead the Rays to a 7-2 win over the Mets in Game 1 of the World Series. Jimenez was untouchable outside of a solo homer which briefly cut the Tampa Bay lead to 2-1, but Marco Campagne, who really heated up in the ALCS, drilled an RBI single as one of his three hits on the day to restore the 2-run lead and Pino made it 4-1 with his second solo shot before a 3-run 7th really broke it open. Hugo Najera will take the ball for Game 2 tomorrow.

[Art Deco]

Rolling on...



This Rays team was always going to be a handful for whoever they faced in the short series of the postseason thanks to their three Cy Young candidates in the rotation and today it was Hugo Najera's turn to dominate in what could be the capper to an incredible season as he led the Rays to an 8-1 win over the Mets and gave them a 2-0 series lead. This one was over in the 3rd when follower Bryant Salgado couldn't get the ball over the plate in the inning, walking 4 as the Rays put 5 runs on the board capped by a 2-run Oscar Castro single. And look out Mets, you let Kevin White get going. The 49-HR hitter had been in a deep slump and earned the snowflake next to his name before singling in the 5th inning and then belting a 3-run homer in the 7th to make the rubble bounce. Ace #3 will be going at CitiField in Game #3 as Jaheim Lennon takes the ball to try and put this series to an early bed.

[Art Deco]

Juuuust about there...



It's all over but the shouting in the World Series as the Rays took it to the Mets again and are one win away from their title in four seasons and second win in three World Series over the New Yorkers. And it was the third of their aces living up to the standard of the previous two as Jaheim Lennon struck out 11 Mets while not allowing an earned run in his five innings of work. All the whiffs and a first inning prolonged by Marco Campagne's two-base error (which led to the only run against him, albeit unearned) meant that it took him 98 pitches to make it through 5, but thanks to another big offensive outburst they were able to overcome a couple of hiccups from the bullpen with Darwin Cruz closing things out in dominating fashion again. And that offense came courtesy of yet another big inning, a 6-spot in the 5th highlighted by Jose Pino's 2-run single and Adley Rutschman's 2-run double.There is a pitching dropoff in Game 4 though as the shaky Angel Vargas takes the mound but they have plenty of runway now.

[Art Deco]

Going for the gentleman's sweep now...



The Rays' celebrations have been postponed for at least a day as the Mets saved some face with a 4-3 win to extend the series to a Game 5. Angel Vargas was predictably shaky with his own error allowing a run to score in the second and then giving up a 2-run homer in the 3rd on the way to putting his team in a 4-0 hole. They nearly came all the way back though as solo homers from Nelson Haro, Kevin White and Alistair Hardy (getting a rare start for the slumping Oscar Castro) made it 4-3. Hardy's homer led off the 9th and then Will Perez singled, stole second and went to third on a groundout but with one out they couldn't bring him home with the tying run as Hector Gurrola popped out on the infield and Haro's drive to deep center was caught for the final out. One disadvantage for Tampa Bay is that they'll be without starting 2B Marco Campagne, who suffered an intercostal strain and is done for the series. Nevertheless the Mets still face the daunting task of winning three straight against the Rays' three aces, and if they somehow pull that off they'll be worthy champions. The first of those, Jesus Jimenez, will try to end it tomorrow.

[Art Deco]

Not quite the cakewalk we thought...



Well the optimistic way to look at it is that the Rays get to win the Series in front of their home crowd. The pessimistic way is to note the Mets are halfway to a reverse sweep. I mentioned in the previous recap that New York would have to win three straight against the Rays' aces but tonight they found the formula: pitch them to a draw and then take advantage of our iffy middle and setup relief. Despite the Mets throwing a quasi-bullpen game, the Rays could only manage three hits on the night and while Jesus Jimenez was just as brilliant as ever he left a 1-1 game in the 8th and New York went to town on Luis Gonzalez, who came in with three lefties due and loaded the bases without getting anyone out. We brought in Darwin Cruz to hopefully strike his way out of the jam but he was touched for a couple of 2-RBI singles and that was the ballgame. So while I normally say it's up to the next pitcher in the following game instead it's the Rays offense that's going to have to show to back up Hugo Najera in Game 6.

[Art Deco]

CHAMPIONS!...



All the offense had to do was show up and the pitching would take care of things, and that's exactly what happened as the Rays took their third World Championship in four years with a 6-2 win and (and 4-2 series win) over the Mets. They did get to celebrate in front of their fans after squandering two chances to wrap it up in New York and thanks to Hugo Najera and Alistair Hardy it was even sweeter. Najera was no surprise as the MLB ERA leader held the Mets to one run in six innings despite a bit of a sputtering start (he had to get out of a bases-loaded jam in the first and gave up a run in the second) but it was Hardy who served as the unlikely hero. The RF had been a regular the past several seasons and signed a contract extension with the team a couple of years ago but lost his everyday job late in the season to Oscar Castro. But with Castro herniating a disc in his back in Game 5 and unavailable, Hardy came through with a solo homer in the 2nd to break a 1-1 deadlock and then delivered a 2-run single to break the game open and make it 4-1. Darwin Cruz finished it off with a couple of whiffs in the 9th, including one of the Mets' Dario Solado which was the final out and led to this scene: