The 2022 (and beyond) Tampa Bay Rays

[Art Deco]

Game 1: 1-5 L. LP-McClanahan (3-4, 5 7 3 3 1 7). Tampa Bay was held to 4 hits by a former Ray, Alex Cobb, in the loss and Josh Lowe had 3 of them.

Game 2: 3-5 L. LP-Baz (3-2, 5.2 8 3 2 1 2). Rays had some decent chances to win this, leaving 10 on base. Abe Toro was 2-3 with an RBI and Josh Lowe stayed hot, going 2-4 with 2 RBI.

Game 3: 2-1 W. WP-Springs (3-0). S-Fairbanks (6). Starter-Patino (7 4 1 1 0 7). Luis Patino was brilliant again, lowering his ERA to 1.53 and the Rays finally broke through for the win in the 9th on an Abraham Toro RBI single, his 3rd hit of the day. 3 more hits for Josh Lowe who was 8-13 in the series.

Team record: 27-13. Boston took 2 of 3 from Colorado to move into sole possession of 2nd, 4 games behind. Next up: An off-day to enjoy California then we play 3 games in LA against the Dodgers, our first matchup with them since the 2020 World Series.

MLB News: JD Martinez hit his 300th career homer as he now has 12 dingers already for the Tigers. We could have signed him as the RH DH but we traded for Franmil Reyes instead and that hasn't worked out as well. Still at 27-13 I shouldn't complain. Also the oft-injured Steven Matz is hurt again as the Cardinal pitcher is done for the year with surgery for bone chips in his elbow.

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Game 1: 3-4 L. LP-Springs (3-1). Starter-Glasnow (4.2 7 3 3 2 6). Rays rallied for 2 in the 8th to tie it up but the Dodgers walked it off in the 9th.

Game 2: 1-5 L. LP-Rasmussen (4-1, 5.1 5 4 4 1 2). A very frustrating game for the Rays as it took them 9 hits to finally score against Walker Buehler in the 6th, only to see Freddie Freeman hit a 3-run homer in the bottom of the frame to give LA the win. Rasmussen also strained his back and will go on the IL, expected to miss a couple of starts.

Game 3: 4-3 W. WP-McClanahan (4-4, 5 2 3 3 3 5). S-Fairbanks (7). HR-H.Ramos 2 (14), Toro (5). The Rays slugged their way to victory with a pair of Ramos solo homers tying the game at 2 and Toro winning it with a 2-run shot in the 6th. The bullpen was great and Fairbanks is actually 3rd in the AL in pitcher WAR at 1.4 thanks to a 2/26 BB/K ratio in 18.2 IP with 0 HRs allowed. Unfortunately they lost another starter as McClanahan suffered a herniated disc and will be out for the 15 days of his IL stint.

Team record: 28-15. Boston has crept within 3 games of the division lead. Next up: The western swing continues with 3 games in Arizona.

Transactions: Rasmussen and McClanahan hit the IL with Yonny Chirinos called back up as well as Jason Adam to give us an extra arm in the pen. We have a couple of off-days coming up in the next week and a half so we'll get by with a 4-man rotation for now.

MLB News: The Angels lost Mike Trout for 5 weeks with a torn quad.

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Game 1: 5-3 W. WP-Baz (4-2, 5 5 3 2 1 4). S-Fairbanks (8). HR-W.Franco (1). Christian Vazquez drove in a pair, including the go-ahead run in the 5th and the pen held solid for 4 innings.

Game 2: 5-8 L. LP-Patino (2-1, 4 9 6 6 0 4). HR-B.Lowe (9). Coming in with a 1.53 ERA, Luis Patino was due for some regression and he found it tonight. Rays came back from down 6-1 to cut it to 6-5 but that was it.

Game 2: 7-8 L. LP-Springs (3-2). Starter-Glasnow (6 5 2 2 3 7). HR-F.Reyes (5), Ramos (15), J.Lowe (5). Glasnow left with a 6-2 lead and the bullpen imploded. My poor choice to give Jason Adam the ball backfired as he allowed 3 runs and then so did Jeffrey Springs in a 6-run Arizona 7th.

Team record: 29-17, still 2 up on Boston. Next up: An off-day then we return home after this 3-6 western trip to play San Diego for 3.

Minor league note: Royce Lewis had the game of his life on Wednesday for Durham, going 5-5 with a double, 3 homers and 5 RBI. Then on Thursday he broke his hand.

MLB News: After hitting .279-20-73 for them last year the Dodgers sent Gavin Lux to AAA to start the year where he's been ever since. Until today that is, as they traded him to their crosstown rivals in Anaheim for starter Jose Suarez who was 3-2, 2.76 with a 6/46 BB/K ratio in 49 IP.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: 2-3 L. LP-Chirinos (1-2, 5.2 8 2 2 2 2). A tough loss which saw them unable to get over the hump. Curtis Mead was 2-4 with an RBI to bring them within 3-2 in the 8th.

Game 2: 8-7 W (16). WP-Gau (2-1). Starter-Baz (5 6 3 3 1 5). HR-Arozarena 2 (4), B.Lowe (10). A wild game which saw the Rays score 6 times in the 8th, including a 2-out, 2-run single from Franmil Reyes which tied it and a 3-run homer from Arozarena to go up 7-4, only for Pete Fairbanks to give up a 3-run homer to Fernando Tatis Jr. for the Padres to tie in the 9th after Jeffrey Springs had put two men on. So on and on we slogged until Josh Lowe singled in pinch-runner Estuary Ruiz, who had stolen second, in the 16th. Gau was our 10th pitcher in the game.

Game 3: 5-4 W. WP-Raley (1-1). S-Fairbanks (9). Starter-Patino (3.2 5 3 3 5 2). HR-W.Franco (2), F.Reyes (6). Last thing we wanted after playing 16 was a starter leaving early but Patino threw 99 pitches to only get 11 outs and the Rays were behind 4-2 going to the bottom of the 8th. But once again they rallied in that inning and Franmil Reyes' 3-run shot stood up as the winner when this time Fairbanks made it through the 9th.

Team record: 31-18, now 3 up on both Boston and the Yankees. Next up: An off-day then 3 games in Kansas City as we get back to intraleague play.

MLB News: It was a dark weekend for the 29-20 Mets as not only did they lose $43M man Max Scherzer for the season with a torn flexor tendon, but Pete Alonso will also miss 5 weeks with a fractured wrist after an HBP.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: 5-3 W. WP-Beeks (2-0). S-Fairbanks (10). Starter-Glasnow (5.2 7 2 2 1 8). HR-Toro (6). Rays scored 3 in the 7th including a 2-run Wander (who drove in 3 total) double to take the lead for good. Beeks got the win despite allowing an inside-the-park homer to Bobby Witt Jr.

Game 2: 5-3 W (10). WP-Feyereisen (5-0). S-N.Anderson (1). Starter-Chirinos (5 3 2 0 2 5). HR-B.Lowe (11). Brandon Lowe's 2-run homer in the 10th won it. Andrew Vaughn's RBI double in the 8th gave the Rays the lead but Jeffrey Springs gave up a homer. Nick Anderson got his first save in two years but it was a shaky one as he loaded the bases.

Game 3: 6-5 W. WP-Feyereisen (6-0). S-Fairbanks (11). Starter-Baz (5 2 3 3 4 7). HR-Vaughn (6). A wild game that was 3-1 KC after 7 before Vaughn tied it with a 2-run homer in the 8th. Brooks Raley let KC go ahead 4-3 in the bottom of the inning but the Rays scored 3 in the 9th to take a 6-4 lead. Fairbanks then came in and loaded the bases with nobody out, walked in a run, but then fanned the next two and got Kike Hernandez to hit a line drive snared by a leaping Toro at third to end the game and complete the sweep. Feyereisen's been a good luck charm out of the pen and his 6 wins are tied for 2nd in the AL.

Team record: 34-18, but they can't shake Boston which swept the White Sox and stayed 3 back. Next up: 3 games in Minnesota. The Twins are going badly at 19-33 and sold off starter Sonny Gray to the Mets for a couple of prospects. Also in MLB news, former Rays ace Blake Snell signed a massive 6/136 extension with the Cardinals.

Players of the Month: Gio Urshela (MIN, .365-8-13); Ketel Marte (ARI, .407-6-22).

Pitchers of the Month: Shane Bieber (CLE, 5-1, 2.08); Jacob deGrom (NYM, 4-1, 2.39).

[Art Deco]

After a busy winter I've been quiet on the trade front through the first two months as the Rays have gotten off to an excellent start and I didn't feel the need to rock the boat. But I shopped a few players, a big name caught my eye being made available and I knew I had money to play with ($47M to be exact). So this happened:



Welcome to Tampa Bay Alex Bregman!



Houston is retaining 40% of his salary which means we're on the hook for $11M the rest of this year and $17M next year, so he's not just a rental, and $17M for Bregman is a bargain. He's coming off a 4.7 WAR season in 22 and is already at 1.9 WAR, on pace for 6.0 as he's hitting 278/376/517 with 10 HR and 29 RBI.

He'll of course be taking Toro's place as Abe comes full circle back to Houston after going to Seattle and then us, and Toro was not really a problem for us this year, hitting 276/339/447 and on pace for a 3.6 WAR season himself, but Bregman is still a clear upgrade. The other key piece going to Houston is Kameron Misner, who really blossomed last year at Durham (5.2 WAR), and was doing decently this year if not quite at that kind of pace. Misner can hold his own in center, but was never going to replace Josh Lowe, who's been our best player this year. The third piece going to the Astros is Jacob Lopez, who had a decent season in the Durham rotation last year but won't pitch until 2024 as he recovers from a torn rotator cuff. If he makes a full recovery he has a future as a 4/5 starter.

One other factor is that Misner and Lopez were going to have to be added to the 40-man this winter as we're going to have a massive logjam there. Right now I see 7 or 8 guys I feel I need to add but our only scheduled openings are for upcoming FAs Tyler Glasnow (whom I may try to extend) and Brooks Raley (whose team option I'm planning to decline).

[Art Deco]

Game 1: 6-5 W. WP-Patino (3-1, 5.1 8 4 4 2 3). S-Kittredge (2). HR-Reyes (7), B.Lowe (12). The Rays took a 6-1 lead and held on for the win. Alex Bregman made a fine Rays debut by doubling and hitting an RBI single in his first two at-bats. Although they only scored 2 runs off him, they dropped former Rays legend David Price to 0-9.

Transaction: We finally needed that fifth starter so Tommy Romero was called up from Durham and it so happened that Nick Anderson had to come out last night's game with a strained forearm (a 2-week injury) so off to the IL he goes.

Game 2: 5-6 L. LP-Kittredge (3-1). Starter-Romero (4 6 3 3 1 4). The Rays overcame Romero's mediocre start and went up 5-3 but couldn't hold the lead and lost the game in the bottom of the 9th. Alex Bregman had two more hits and drove in a pair, including an RBI double, and Francisco Mejia added a 2-run double.

Game 3: 2-11 L. LP-Glasnow (1-4, 2.2 7 5 5 2 2). HR-Bregman (1/11). This game was as ugly as the final score looked with the Rays held to five hits (Andrew Vaughn had 3 of them and the other RBI).

Team record: 35-20, with the division lead over Boston down to 2 games. Next up: 3 at home vs the White Sox.

Note: Alex Bregman was named AL Player of the Week, the first time I imagine it's been for a player with two different teams in that week. Overall he was 10-24 with 3 HR and 8 RBI, including 5-10 with 1 HR and 4 RBI with the Rays.

[Art Deco]

Transactions: Activated Drew Rasmussen from the 10-day IL and recalled P Forrest Whitley from Durham, optioned Ps Tommy Romero and Jason Adam to Durham. Rasmussen goes right back into the rotation tonight and the former Astros prospect Whitley gets a temporary shot (Shane McClanahan will be back soon) with the big club.

Game 1: 7-4 W. WP-Whitley (1-0). S-Fairbanks (12). Starter-Rasmussen (4 6 3 3 4 3). HR-Arozarena (5), F.Reyes (8), J.Lowe (6), Vaughn (7). Josh Lowe's 2-run homer put them ahead to stay in the 6th and Reyes went back-to-back with him before Vaughn hit a 2-run shot against his old team for insurance. Perhaps we should have given Rasmussen a rehab start though as he looked rusty.

Game 2: 11-5 W. WP-Beeks (3-0). Starter-Chirinos (4.1 7 4 4 1 3). HR-J.Lowe (7), Vaughn (8). Chirinos cost himself a win when he couldn't get anyone out in the 5th with a 6-0 lead going in. J.Lowe continues to rake (3-5 with the homer & 2 RBI) and Vaughn broke the game open in the 8th with a grand slam.

Game 3: 7-1 W. WP-Baz (5-2, 7 4 1 1 2 8). S-Feyereisen (1). HR-Mead (5). The Rays completed the sweep and got a good outing from a starter for the first time since May 31 even though they won 4 of the 6 games in that stretch. Wander was 3-4 with 2 RBI and one of the team's 6 doubles in the game.

Team record: 38-20. Thanks to Boston cooling off and dropping 2 of 3, the division lead is now 4 over those Red Sox as well as the Yankees. Next up: A day off then Detroit visits for 3 games.

[Art Deco]

Usually the scouting discoveries in OOTP, especially in Latin America, are players who aren't that exciting. Some will develop later but most aren't expected to amount to much more than organization filler. But every once in a blue moon you discover the #1 prospect in baseball:



Meet Nelson Haro, found by head scout Rob Metzler in Venezuela. This profile looks like Wander Franco 2.0 with power, albeit at 1B instead of SS, a potential generational hitter, and BNN is already ranking him as the #1 prospect in the game within days of his signing. Of course he's only 16 and has a long road ahead of him before contributing but between him and Alex Duran, our exceptional July 2 signing last year, the future looks bright.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: 5-4 W. WP-Gau (3-1). Starter-Patino (5.2 3 3 3 3 4). HR-W.Franco (3), H.Ramos (16). Walk-off excitement at the Trop as trailing 4-3 in the 9th, Wander and Bregman singled to put runners at 1st and 3rd, Ramos tied it with a sac fly and B.Lowe won it with an RBI double. Chris Gau was electric in relief, getting the win after going 2 1/3 scoreless with 5 whiffs.

Game 2: 2-5 L. LP-Glasnow (1-5, 5 2 2 2 4 6). Glasnow was OK, but he gave up another homer (now 15 in 67 IP) and has walked 34 in those 67 IP, not a great combination. Eduardo Rodriguez no-hit the Rays through 6 before Bregman broke it up with a single.

Transaction: Yonny Chirinos was optioned to Durham and Calvin Faucher called up to give us an extra bullpen arm for a couple of days before McClanahan is activated.

Game 3: 6-3 W. WP-Rasmussen (5-1, 5 3 1 1 6 3). S-Fairbanks (13). HR-Bregman (2/12), W.Franco (4). Speaking of too many walks, Rasmussen has walked 31 in 55 IP, reflected in his 4.91 ERA if not his W/L record. Bregman is now hitting 407/485/704 in 27 at-bats since the trade, including his first Trop homer as a Ray today which put them ahead to stay in the 3rd.

Team record: 40-21, still 3 up on the Yankees although Boston has dropped 5 behind. Next up: An off-day then some interleague play as the homestand continues with Cincinnati for 3.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: 7-0 W. WP-McClanahan (5-4, 7 5 0 0 1 7). Andrew Vaughn and Heliot Ramos had RBI doubles in a 5-run 3rd and a rehab start was just what McClanahan needed as he was brilliant tonight. Chris Gau fanned 5 more in 2 innings of relief.

Game 2: 6-0 W. WP-Baz (6-2, 5.2 4 0 0 1 8). It was Shane Baz' turn to shine tonight and Randy Arozarena was 3-5 with 2 RBI to lead the bats. Jalen Beeks sprained his elbow and will go on the IL but will be back when his time is up.

Transaction: Beeks goes on the IL and Jason Adam is recalled from Durham.

Game 3: 2-3 L (14). LP-Raley (1-2). Starter-Patino (6 4 1 1 1 5). Rays lost a 2-1 lead on a homer off Feyereisen in the 8th and couldn't push across a run in extras. The winning run reached on a 2-base error from Wander.

Team record: 42-22, still 3 up on the Yankees who aren't going away. Next up: 3 in Seattle.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: 4-3 W. WP-Kittredge (4-1). S-Fairbanks (14). Starter-Glasnow (5 5 3 3 3 12). HR-Vaughn (9). Wander scored on a wild pitch in the 7th to break a 3-3 tie. Glasnow had another interesting start that came with the obligatory homer (a 3-run Eugenio Suarez shot), the obligatory walks (3) and the obligatory strikeouts (a season-high 12). He's such a mixed bag this year coming back from TJS that I'm not sure I want to give him the 3/40 extension he's asking for which would otherwise be reasonable.

Game 2: 8-4 W. WP-Adam (1-0). S-Raley (1). Starter-Rasmussen (6 7 4 4 0 8). HR-Arozarena 2 (7), Bregman (3/13). Rays trailed 4-2 after 7 in this one before erupting for 4 in the 8th and 2 in the 9th. Bregman knocked in 3. Fun stat: 24 of our 44 wins to date have been credited to relievers as we've had a lot of comeback wins and close, low-scoring ones.

Game 3: 7-3 W. WP-McClanahan (6-4, 7 3 0 0 1 6). HR-J.Lowe (8), Arozarena (8). Josh Lowe's grand slam in the 1st sent them on their way to what was a rout until Seattle scored 3 in the 9th. Mac lowered his ERA to 2.70 with tonight's gem although he's a few innings short of qualifying among the leaders.

Team record: 45-22. With the Yankees losing 2 of 3 we've finally opened up some daylight in the division with a 5-game lead. Next up: The west coast swing continues with 3 in Oakland.

MLB News: Seattle dealt young starter Logan Gilbert to Cleveland for a couple of prospects including former Gator Tommy Mace and Atlanta has lost star 2B Ozzie Albies for 3 weeks with a torn hamstring. A quick peek at the standings/leaders:

[Art Deco]

Game 1: 3-4 L (10). LP-Fairbanks (1-1). Starter-Baz (6 5 2 2 1 8). The bullpen lost this one with Feyereisen giving up a run in the 8th to let Oakland tie, then Fairbanks coughing up a homer in the 10th. Alex Bregman had a 2-run single to highlight the offense.

Game 2: 0-3 L. LP-Patino (3-2, 6 4 2 2 2 6). Patino put two on to start the 7th and Jeffrey Springs gave up a 3-run homer to Sean Murphy to lose it. The bats were shut down by JT Ginn over 6 2/3.

Game 3: 9-4 W. WP-Gau (4-1). Starter-Glasnow (5.1 4 4 4 6 5). HR-F.Reyes (9). It looked like Oakland would sweep after they went up 4-2 in the 6th but a 5-run 7th turned the game around. Alex Bregman was 4-4 with 4 RBI giving him 18 in 17 games since being acquired with a 391/461/578 slash line. Curtis Mead had a big 2-run single and Chris Gau fanned 5 in his 1 2/3 innings, giving him a 10/68 BB/K ratio in 45 IP this season.

Team record: 46-24. The Yankees took 2 of 3 in Houston to move within 4 of the division lead. Next up: An off-day to fly back to St. Pete before we entertain the Angels over the weekend.

MLB News: Houston lost star slugger Yordan Alvarez for 6 weeks with a fractured finger; he was .312-24-59 in 67 games this season.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: 6-0 W. WP-Rasmussen (6-1, 7.1 3 0 0 1 10). S-Springs (2). Final score a bit misleading as it was a 1-0 game before the Rays scored 5 in the bottom of the 8th. Rasmussen pitched his best game of the season and Christian Vazquez had the big hit, an RBI double in the 7th before adding an RBI single in the 8th.

Game 2: 8-10 L. LP-Feyereisen (6-1). Starter-McClanahan (6 2 2 2 2 11). HR-J.Lowe (9). A bullpen meltdown of epic proportions cost the Rays as they took a 6-2 lead into the 7th. Chris Gau started it with a 3-run homer allowed in the 7th and in the 8th Feyereisen and Brooks Raley combined to allow 3 more, costing McClanahan a deserved win. The Lowes and Alex Bregman drove in 2 runs apiece.

Game 3: 4-2 W. WP-Baz (7-2, 5.2 4 2 2 3 9). S-Fairbanks (15). The bullpen was solid today with 3 1/3 scoreless and the Rays got their runs without the benefit of an extra-base hit.

Team record: 48-25. The Yankees swept Seattle so they've pulled to within 3 games. Next up: 3 at home vs Texas.

MLB News: Arizona had a memorable game over the weekend, crushing Atlanta 21-2. Rookie Corbin Carroll had a 5-hit game and Nolan Gorman, acquired from St. Louis in the offseason, was 4-5 with 2 doubles, 2 homers and 9 RBI, tying a team record.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: 2-3 L. LP-Kittredge (4-2). Starter-Patino (5 3 1 1 2 6). The Rays were no-hit through 6 in this but were tied 1-1 before breaking through to take the lead in the 7th on 3 hits. But Springs allowed a run in the 8th and Kittredge one in the 9th to lose it.

Game 2: 4-11 L. LP-Gau (4-2). Starter-Glasnow (2 1 1 1 0 2). HR-Bregman (4/14), B.Lowe (13). This game started great with the Bregman and Lowe homers putting them up 3-0 in the 1st but soon turned into a nightmare with Glasnow leaving after 2 with a strained forearm and the bullpen downright horrible with Gau giving up a 3-run homer to Brad Zimmer in the 6th to break a 3-3 tie and then Forrest Whitley was hammered for 5 runs.

Transactions: Glasnow went on the 15-day IL and will be back when eligible. Jason Adam was sent to Durham and Yonny Chirinos and Tommy Romero were called up. Both will give us some long relief if needed but we have a couple of off-days coming up so we don't need a starter.

Game 3: 8-6 W. WP-Fairbanks (2-1). Starter-Rasmussen (3.2 8 4 4 3 6). HR-F.Reyes (10), Mead (6). Rays took an early 4-1 lead, Rasmussen couldn't hold it, they fell behind 6-4 in the 8th but tied in the bottom of the inning and Curtis Mead walked it off in the bottom of the 9th with a 2-run shot. Andrew Vaughn was 3-4 with an RBI.

Team record: 49-27, the lead over the Yankees is down to 2 games. Next up: A scheduling quirk sees us consecutive off-days before playing in Miami on Saturday and Sunday.

We've hit a bit of a rough patch of late, going 4-5 while the Yankees hardly seem to lose these days. One problem is that Heliot Ramos, who carried us over the first six weeks of the season, can't buy a hit these days and essentially went 0-for-June (138/161/212 for the month, for an OPS+ of 4) and now is in slightly negative WAR territory for the year. I'm considering either bringing up Zach DeLoach (289/360/531 at Durham or trading for an OF (the Angels offered me Mitch Haniger at a reasonable price). One possibility is a Tyler Glasnow trade to bring in an impact bat - Glasnow's spotty performance and injury-proneness have me hesitant to extend him, and I don't want to let him walk for nothing at season's end. San Diego's willing to send me Trent Grisham, who's on pace for a 7-WAR season after putting up a 4-WAR 2022. Haniger's a free agent too if I go that route while Grisham will command about $12M in arbitration next year, so those are considerations as well. If a move is made, Ramos will become the 4th OF and the seldom-used Esteury Ruiz will go to Durham. Stay tuned.

MLB News: Players of the Month: AL-Vlad Jr. (315-9-19), NL-Bryce Harper (.396-10-25). Pitchers of the Month: AL-Luis Castillo of Texas, the former Red was 4-0, 1.82. NL-Sonny Gray of the Mets (5-0, 1.31).

Atlanta's Ronald Acuna Jr will miss 6 weeks with a fractured finger, the Mets' Brandon Nimmo will miss 4-5 weeks with shoulder inflammation, and the Yankees have liked Nick Ahmed as their SS since acquiring him from Arizona last year so much that they gave him a 5/70 extension.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: 0-1 L (11). LP-Raley (1-3). Starter-McClanahan (8 3 0 0 0 11). We wasted an absolutely brilliant start from Mac, who would lead MLB in ERA at 2.43 but is 3 innings short of qualifying. Only 4 hits on the day, 2 each from Bregman and Vaughn, and the winning run reached on Raley's own error.

Game 2: 3-4 L (13). LP-Gau (4-3). Starter-Baz (5.2 3 2 2 2 8). HR-Mead (7). Another tough loss which saw Brooks Raley give up a homer in the 8th to blow a 3-2 lead and Gau lose it in the 13th when he was pushed to a 3rd inning. Rays hitters only managed 7 hits in the 13 innings and struck out 20 times, including 4 each from B.Lowe and Heliot Ramos, who is now out of a starting job as Zach DeLoach is coming up from Durham. Losing patience with Lowe as well as he's at -0.7 WAR even with 13 HR and 42 RBI thanks to a .154 BA.

Team record: 49-29. Still one up on the Yankees, who split their two games with the Mets. Next up: More interleague play as Philadelphia visits for 3.

[Art Deco]

I had been considering trading Tyler Glasnow and acquiring a hitter and after the Angels offered me Mitch Haniger as mentioned I decided to expand talks and kill two birds with one stone:



I think we did real well here, not only picking up Haniger to give us a much-needed power bat but we replaced Glasnow in the rotation with Jonathan Loaisiga, having a brilliant year for LA so far (7-3, 3.36, 2.7 WAR to date) and picked up the #106 and #121 prospects in baseball with Jackson, an elite fielder who can play 2B, 3B and SS with some pop, and Swanda, who can either start or relieve. The other guys we gave up aren't as exciting as the ones we acquired - Vasquez is the better of the two with a chance to fashion a career as a utility infielder and Angel highly doubtful to reach the bigs. And while Haniger is a rental, Loaisiga is only projected to make $3M next year in arbitration although that could go up a little if he continues his excellent season.

Loaisiga will obviously slot in for Glasnow, although since he just pitched the day before we'll still need Yonny Chirinos to start in the Philadelphia series. Haniger will enter a rotation with Curtis Mead, Andrew Vaughn, Franmil Reyes and the newly recalled Zach DeLoach between 1B/LF/RF/DH with Randy Arozarena shifting between LF and RF as needed. Heliot Ramos will end up in Durham as a result as 16 HR in April and May gave way to a total inability to hit anything in June.

We had called up DeLoach on Monday (purchased his contract actually, so Luke Raley was DFA'd to make room on the 40-man) and optioned Esteury Ruiz to Durham. Also one move I forgot to mention right before the Miami series was that Nick Anderson was activated off the IL and Tommy Romero optioned back to Durham.

The acquisitions of Jackson and Swanda give us an extremely deep farm system, with 15 players in the top 150:



Sadly our amazing scouting discovery Haro has slipped to the #2 ranking, but who's that at #6? Why it's Danny Jimenez, whom we just signed in the July 2 international window. The details on him:



Another one to look forward to.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: 3-2 W. WP-Patino (4-2, 7 5 1 1 1 7). S-Fairbanks (16). Patino was brilliant and Josh Lowe's 2-run double in the 4th was the game's big hit. Alex Bregman was 3-4 with an RBI single.

Game 2: 2-0 W. WP-Rasmussen (7-1, 5 4 0 0 2 4). S-Fairbanks (17). HR-J.Lowe (10). Another nailbiter with the Lowes knocking in both runs, Brandon with a 1st-inning RBI single and Josh with an 8th-inning homer.

Game 3: 3-1 W. WP-Chirinos (2-2, 8.1 3 1 1 3 5). S-Kittredge (3). HR-Bregman (5/15). Going to be tough to send Yonny back to Durham after he took a 2-hitter into the 9th before putting a couple on with one scoring, but what a luxury to have a 6th starter like him to call on when needed. Bregman was brilliant again, going 3-4 with the homer and a double. Zach DeLoach was 2-3 with an RBI double after going 0-7 in his first two games which Mitch Haniger made his Rays debut and went 0-3 with 2 strikeouts, including one with the sacks full.

Team record: 52-29, and for the first time in seemingly forever the Rays gained ground on the Yankees, who lost 2 of 3 to Washington and fell 3 games behind. Next up: An off-day then more interleague play with Atlanta visiting for 3.

MLB News: We've got a lot of news from around the league so pull up a chair:

First off on the injury front a some veteran pitchers had their seasons cut short with torn UCLs: Texas' Mike Clevinger, Arizona's Madison Bumgarner, and former Ray Collin McHugh with Atlanta, so we won't be seeing him when they come to town this weekend.

Now the trades. Colorado dealt Clarke Schmidt, whom they had claimed off waivers from the Yankees last offseason, to the Phillies for Hans Crouse and a minor leaguer. Schmidt in fact pitched the second game in the series recapped above and was a tough-luck loser.

Cleveland looked to beef up its bullpen by acquiring a couple of closers, getting Paul Sewald from Seattle for a prospect and David Bednar from Pittsburgh for IF. Andres Gimenez.

The A's sent veteran reliever Rafael Montero and prospect Maxwell Muncy (not that one) to Milwaukee for a starting pitcher prospect.

Aside from our Glasnow-Loaisiga-Haniger deal, the biggest this week was the Dodgers sending a package of prospects including the wonderfully-named Maddux Bruns and Robinson Ortiz (who is currently in the 2029 Rays rotation in my 2021 save) to Seattle for OF Kyle Lewis.

The Dodgers also re-acquired starter Josiah Gray from Washington for a pair of prospects including Kendall Williams, who is also on my 2029 Rays team in that 2021 save. The Dodgers had sent Gray to Washington in 2021 in the Trea Turner/Max Scherzer deal.

Another closer on the move is Minnesota's Caleb Thielbar, off to San Diego for a prospect.

Finally the Yankees extended SP Luis Severino for 6/120.

Next up will be my midseason review since we're right there at 81 games now.

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White Sox in the third wild card spot, 3 up on Milwaukee in the AL and in the NL the Phillies and Brewers are tied for the third wild card, 1 game up on San Francisco and the Cubs and 2 on Arizona.



As to be expected from all those low-scoring games, we're pretty lame on offense (except in the one team stat that counts the most: runs) and awesome in pitching and defense (except for the walks). One of things that's helped us on offense is the baserunning, including steals, as well as a higher proportion of extra-base hits.



Josh Lowe has lived up to his prospect status and Alex Bregman has been incredible since being acquired but way too many at-bats to negative-WAR types like Brandon Lowe, Franmil Reyes and Heliot Ramos. The latter two aren't going to get those at-bats with Zach DeLoach and Mitch Haninger on-board and if Brandon doesn't snap out of it soon Taylor Walls is going to get some run at 2B after putting up some outstanding numbers when he filled in for Wander. Nothing to complain about with these pitching numbers though:



Only quibble I'd have is that our lefty relievers have not been that great (Springs, Raley, Beeks) and have gotten us into some trouble. Of course any runs the pen allows are magnified since the offense isn't giving us much of a cushion to work with.

And you can see what an awful start to the year Tyler Glasnow had with us. Of course he made his Angels debut last night and pitched 6 shutout innings (albeit with 4 walks) for a win and ironically the pitcher going the final 3 for the Angels save was old friend Ryan Yarbrough.

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Game 1: 5-3 W. WP-McClanahan (7-4, 7 5 2 2 1 8). S-Springs (3). HR-Arozarena (9), J.Lowe (11). Mac was great again and Springs had to rescue Fairbanks in the 9th after the Rays' closer gave up a homer, put two men on and tough lefties in Olson and Gallo were due whom Springs retired.

Transaction: Chris Gau was optioned to Durham to make room for Jonathan Loaisiga who will make his debut in the next game. Yonny Chirinos has to now stay up since we've used up his in-season options, which isn't a bad thing since we needed a true long reliever.

Game 2: 1-4 L. LP-Loaisiga (0-1, 4.2 5 2 2 1 4). Jonathan Loaisga's debut was a mixed bag as you can see from that line; he didn't pitch badly but also didn't get any support and left on 85 pitches. Nick Anderson is going back to the IL with elbow inflammation, he'll be out a couple of weeks. The lone run came on a Mitch Haniger sac fly although he's still looking for his first Rays hit.

Transaction: Anderson goes to the IL and Chris Gau's demotion to Durham is short-lived.

Game 3: 3-2 W. WP-Baz (8-2, 6 3 1 1 1 8). S-Fairbanks (18). HR-Bregman (6/16). Baz was dazzling and Alex Bregman's 2-run homer off Max Fried in the 5th was the difference.

Team record: 54-30. The Yankees are relentless, sweeping Miami, so they moved back within 2 games. Next up: A day-off then our interleague odyssey continues (gotta love the new-fangled balance schedule) with 3 games in New York against the Mets, who are 51-33 themselves. Also we have the Amateur Draft on Tuesday.

After the game Sunday we made another trade:



It was time to jettison Franmil Reyes, who found his at-bats dwindling with the Mitch Haniger acquisition and hadn't really produced as the lefty thumper I had hoped he'd be. He hit 213/246/416 with 10 HR so he did bop a few but was useless otherwise and has no defensive value. In return we get a quality veteran reliever in Graveman, who had a 1.88 ERA and a 9/33 BB/K ratio in 38 innings for the Cardinals. Graveman has another year after this one left on his $8M deal but St. Louis is picking up half of it so we're only on the hook for $4M next year. Cal Stevenson, thrown in the deal to make it work, is a 26-year-old OF who was barely playing at Durham.

To make room we sent down Jalen Beeks, who hasn't been the same pitcher he was in his brilliant 2022 season, and called Heliot Ramos back up. Ramos was 7-16 in his brief time at Durham and at least gives us some defensive cover.

MLB News: Lotsa trades once again.

* Atlanta, which sent a package of prospects to Oakland before the 2022 season to acquire Matt Olson, went to that well again sending 3 more prospects to the A's for C Sean Murphy. Murphy made his debut against us in the second game of the series recapped above and homered off Jalen Beeks.

* The Giants are undergoing a fire sale at 39-44. First they sent reliever John Brebbia to the Yankees for 3 minor leaguers, and then they dealt 40% of their starting rotation. Matthew Boyd went to St. Louis for pitching prospect Zane Mills and then Carlos Rodon was shipped to Atlanta for 3 minor leaguers.

* Our next opponent the Mets sent a low-level prospect to Houston for veteran reliever Chad Green, and Arizona did likewise to acquire veteran reliever Brad Hand from Kansas City.

* Finally young San Diego starter Ryan Weathers, off to a great start this year at 9-3, 3.48, is done for the year with surgery to remove bone chips in his elbow, putting a crimp in the Padres' bid to win the NL West as they're tied right now with the Dodgers.