The 2021 (and only 2021) Tampa Bay Rays

[Art Deco]

It was a bitter disappointment to win 107 games and then be swept in the ALDS but those are the playoffs for you. Only thing to do is reload and get back in next season. And how will that reloading go?

It's a winter of transition in Tampa Bay as we lose two quality starting pitchers (Kevin DiCostanzo, Chris Ferguson) to free agency along with our primary catcher of the last three years (William Contreras) and our closer (Devon Williams). The good news is that we'll have a lot of money to spend to fill those holes, as we're promised a payroll of $160M and only have $114M in commitments:



Adkins will be a non-tender and there's a good chance Park is as well, freeing up a few million more. Also I'm not wedded to Jake Westfall and his $11M salary as he was a disappointment last year (0.9 WAR). Still we'd need someone who can play a decent CF to replace him; Alex Rivas might be capable.

A position-by-position outlook:

C-Willie Gutierrez was brought in last year to take over for Contreras, instead he flopped and Contreras ending up retaining his #1 catcher role. I'm hoping Gutierrez can hit more like the 287/315/457 like he did as a rookie with KC rather than the abominable 188/228/311 he did with us last year. We're still going to need a backup at a minimum and a job-share guy at best. Art Bing, our 2nd-round pick in 2030, regressed at Durham last year after a decent 2034 and our #1 pick that year, Juan Ozuna, still has developing to do as he's still not progressed beyond High-A ball. They both will likely be lapped by last year's #1 pick out of college, Billy Doughty, who made it to AA Montgomery after hitting 303/357/504 at Class-A Charleston. Doughty projects to be an elite hitter at the position (65 potential contact/55 potential power) and an elite fielder (65 potential).

1B-Joe Stack showed improvement in his sophomore year (33 HR/100 RBI).

2B-Wander Franco took the position like a duck to water and had his best season (according to WAR) at the age of 34.

SS-Justin Blackwell was the other guy we got from KC for Orlando Tosado and he fared much better, having a solid all-around (2.6 WAR) season.

3B-Danny Arroyave will be a fixture for years to come.

IF-Claus Hoppenbrouwers filledin nicely as a rookie in a utility role playing 2B,SS and some OF. If Wander opts out of his contract at season's end, Claus will be the heir apparent. ElsewhereMu-Sang Park is a fine glove but doesn't hit much and Agustin Lopez had a good bat but is a bit iffier in the field. Park is arb-eligible as mentioned and may or may not be non-tendered.

LF-Luis Berumen had an excellent rookie season and should be a middle-of-the-order force for years to come.

CF-See the discussion above - Westfall is borderline and Rivas could be the guy, or we could acquire someone.

RF-Bobby Marin had a somewhat disappointing sophomore season but still has stellar ratings (65 contact/70 potential and 60 power) so I'm counting on a bounceback.

OF-Duk-yoon Ko needs to figure in somewhere, at least against righties, given that he hit 30 homers and drew 93 walks last year in only 117 games. He could play right while Marin slides to center (a bit of a sacrifice on D) and essentially platoon with Rivas.

DH-Danny Charlton is the power-hitting monster you want at the position and his absence was felt in the playoffs.

Rotation: Joe Marlette, Joe Scheu and Danny Morales are a fine trio to top it, and there's a good chance we promote Nick Wallerstedt from the pen to join it. That would leave one spot for either Jeremy Brooks, rookie prospect Leo Gutierrez or an acquisition to fill. Gutierrez struggled a bit out of the pen before going back to Durham and then rupturing a finger tendon but assuming he's healthy without ill effects he provides the most upside.

Bullpen: We also take a hit here with the loss of our closer Williams. Our former closer Mike Moore will return but he was terribly inconsistent last year and lost the job. We'll definitely be signing a free agent or three here but not Williams at the 4/53 he's asking for. Setup guys Ruben Abeyta and Ajani Riddick will also be welcomed back as well as middle man Jeff Coblentz. Chris Ericson and Matt Cronin are also free agents, so there's no debating that we're really thin in this department.

Prospects: Not counting Gutierrez, there aren't really any prospects who are expected to make an impact next season so our holes will be have to filled from without. If Doughty continues his rapid ascent with a big first half in the high minors he could be a factor behind the plate but that's about it.

So the goals for the offseason are:

1) find a backup/job share catcher
2) trade Westfall and maybe find a good defensive CF
3) find a starter
4) beef up the bullpen with 2-3 signings/acquisitions

[Art Deco]

Retirements: Gleyber Torres (Yankees retired his #25 - in this universe he hit 507 HR including 476 in NY), Ke'Bryan Hayes, Francisco Lindor, Corey Seager.

We lifted the lid on the offseason with the expected Jake Westfall trade:



In return we get a bullpen arm in Bridgewater, who is rated 60/60/55 with potential for 65 stuff. He had a solid 3.70 ERA with 4 saves for the Angels last year and has 60 stamina so he can be used in multiple innings, taking over the Chris Ericson role. We also added a relief prospect in Mauricio, who potentially could be rated 55/70/65. He'll probably start the year in AA. The throw-in on our end Fuentes was not much of a prospect.

Awards season:

Gold Glove: Joe Stack made it two in two seasons at 1B, our only winner.

Reliever of the Year: The AL winner was Houston's Jon Patterson, who nosed out LA's Jadon Smith by the slimmest of margins, 118-117 (16-13 in first-place votes). Patterson had 42 saves and a 2.36 ERA. The NL race was amazingly also decided by a point as San Diego's Alfredo de la Vega nosed out St. Louis' Jerry Cuevas 83-82 AND former Ray and current Phillie Nathan Dettmer finished third with 81 points in the ultimate photo finish. Cuevas actually had more first place votes than de la Vega (13-12, Dettmer had 4).

Silver Slugger: We had two winners, Wander Franco at 2B and Danny Charlton at DH.

Rookie of the Year: Thought Luis Berumen might have a chance but he was a distant second to San Antonio's Hector Ruiz, who hit .284-43-109. Over in the NL the winner was Angel Guterez of the Giants thanks to his .291-18-102 campaign.

Cy Young: Andy Williamson of the Angels was the clear AL winner, nabbing 31 of 32 first-place votes after going 18-6, 2.47. The other first-place vote was mine and belonged to 2nd-place Joe Marlette, a bit of a homer pick. The NL Cy was former Ray James Hays, his 5th overall but first since winning 4 straight with us from 2027-2030. The Dodgers ace was 17-8, 3.00 and nosed out San Diego's Henry Williams 182-168 and 18-14.

MVP: Despite finishing 3rd in WAR, at 7.5 some 2.4 behind third-place Jeremy Begley of Oakland, Seattle's Nate Miller won his second straight AL MVP as the gaudy power numbers of .308-52-141 were too big to resist. The Yankees' Ernesto Rodriguez had 9 WAR and finished second in the voting and in WAR and Begley and his 9.9 followed behind him. Wander was the highest-placed Ray in 7th. In the NL the unanimous winner was Philly's second-year superstar Mario Velasguez after a massive .345-51-126 year worth 9.5 WAR.

November 18: It was time to vote for the Hall of Fame and I only found 7 I wanted to vote for: Gerrit Cole, Jacob deGrom, Felix Hernandez (his final year), Yadi Molina (also his final year), Anthony Rendon (only 1st-year guy I voted for), Joey Votto and Christian Yelich.

November 22: We only had one player go to arbitration instead of settle and it was SP Joe Scheu, who ended up winning his case at $13M, about $1.5M more than we offered. Thankfully for a change we have plenty of money available this winter. We also gave a QO to Kevin DiCostanzo, who declined it so we'll net a 1st-round comp pick when he signs elsewhere.

December 2: The rich get richer as the two-time defending champion Dodgers signed Kevin DiCostanzo to a 4/92 deal and he'll join former Rays teammate James Hays. Meanwhile we get the 1st-round comp pick.

December 10: Two more of our free agents signed elsewhere. Devon Williams went back to Washington on a 2/22 deal and starter Chris Ferguson joined Houston for 5/88.

December 19: Former Ray Kelly Crumpton is on the move - after spending the last two seasons with the Jays and the Cubs he inked a massive 5/156 deal with Arizona.

December 20: Big free agent news for us:



We have our closer! He didn't come cheap but as you can see he's one of the game's best, having won AL Reliever of the Year in 2034 and finishing a close second this year.

December 21: We lost three veteran minor leaguers in the Rule 5 draft - 2B Ed Howard, once a regular of ours who we brought back on a minor league deal, to El Paso with the 1st overall pick; IF Alexander Vargas to San Antonio (4th overall) and P Daniele DiMonte to the Mets (9th overall). None of them were in our 2036 plans.

December 25: Merry Christmas! Another of our free agents found a new home as Matt Cronin signed a 1/8 deal with El Paso. For some reason the fan interest "almost crashed" - had no idea the relatively non-descript middle reliever was that popular.

December 26: Another Rays free agent signing:



We add a left-handed power arm capable of closing (to which those save totals in his career stats attest). Again, not cheap but should be worth it as he's rated 70/60/50.

Meanwhile the last (I think) of our free agents Chris Ericson has moved on to San Diego on a 1/4 deal. The Padres also signed veteran star OF Julio Rodriguez for 4/102.

[Art Deco]

January 2: Hall of Fame balloting is in:

1B Joey Votto 83.7 (8th year) Inducted HOF
2B Jose Altuve 64.4 (4th year)
LF Christian Yelich 61.0 (2nd year)
SP Jacob deGrom 55.3 (3rd year)
CL Craig Kimbrel 45.8 (8th year)
3B Anthony Rendon 30.3 (1st year)

Congrats to Votto, who had to wait until his 8th year, while it was tough sledding for everyone else.

January 6: Corbin Carroll signed a 3/58 deal with the Twins.

January 11: Raul Guzman, who hit a Coors-aided 56 HR for the Rockies last year, parlayed that into a 5/104 deal. We'll see how he fares at sea level with 40 contact and 70 power.

January 20: Signed one of the top international amateur free agents in Venezuelan Frank Marques, a 17-year-old 1B with 80 contact and 65 power potential.

January 22: We signed another IFA today, 16-year old Dominican Ricky Diaz, a pitcher with 55/70/80 potential.

January 29: The international signings continue as we secured 17-year-old Venezuelan Leo Lopez, a SS with 70 contact/60 power potential.

February 4: Why not one more? Welcome to the organization Dominican SS (he can play 5 positions) Tony Antonio (Tony Tony?) who isn't expected to be a big contact guy (45 potential) but has a power bat (75 potential).

February 7: Preseason has begun and my owner Jon Paige has decided to raise our payroll $12M. This gives us $40M to spend so despite adding two top-shelf relievers on multi-year deals I may grab another one out there on a 1-year contract and build a super bullpen.

February 11: And there it is - reunion time in Tampa Bay:



Lewis was our closer down the stretch in 2033 when we won our last World Series, and here's hoping he's a good-luck charm again. He also closed us out of the ALDS last year with the Yankees so it's good to have him on our side again. He remains dominant with 80/65/65 ratings and the question now is does he close or does Jadon Smith with his 80/70/50 profile? Just glad we don't have to roll the dice with Mike Moore again in critical late-inning situations, he'll pitch middle relief now.

February 24: After injuries early in his career, former Rays lefty Shane McClanahan became a reliever and quite a vagabond. Today the 38-year-old signed a 1-year, $2.1M deal with the Cubs, who now become his 14th(!) team making him the Edwin Jackson of the 2030s.

March 1: Made a trade:



Baer is a solid mid-back end starter in the final year of his contract and profiles 50/75/50. The lefty was 10-11, 4.18 and earned 3.6 WAR last year with the Royals and should slot in nicely into the rotation. He profiles similarly to Joe Scheu and hopefully he can pitch as well as Scheu did for us last year. This takes some pressure off rookie Leo Gutierrez, who is still slated to be the 5th starter but if he fails Nick Wallerstedt can move into the rotation from long relief. Brooks kept pitching great at Durham but spotty with us so perhaps he'll thrive with a new leash on life.

This was likely the last big move we make before the season starts as after taking on Baer's contract we're down to $14M to play with.

[Art Deco]

A largely uneventful Spring Training with the only injury of note suffered by 2nd-year utility man Claus Hoppenbrouwers, who strained a hamstring and will miss the first week of the season.

We did complete a minor trade, shipping pitcher Randy Morris to Cleveland for 24-year-old OF Mal Stephens. Morris wasn't going to make the staff and was out of options so rather than waive him we acquired Stephens, who has an interesting profile (50 contact/65 gap/60 HR power but only 40 eye, and a 60 defensively in the corners). He's not played above High-A ball though but we'll start him at Durham since he looks MLB-ready.

So here's how the roster shakes out:

C-W.Gutierrez, Bing
1B-Stack
2B-W.Franco
SS-Blackwell
3B-Arroyave
IF-A.Lopez
LF-Berumen
CF-Marin
RF-Ko
OF-A.Rivas, K.Alcantara
DH-Charlton

Art Bing makes his MLB debut as our backup C, while the OF is in its configuration against RHP, against lefties Rivas will play CF and Marin will shift to RF with Ko on the bench. Alcantara is up with Hoppenbrouwers out and may get a few AB against lefties too.

SP-Marlette, D.Morales, Scheu, Baer, L.Gutierrez
LR-Wallerstedt
MR-Coblentz, Gammage, Abeyta, M.Moore, Bridgewater
SU-Riddick (L), J.Smith (R)
CL-E.Lewis

Leo Gutierrez had a great spring and big things are expected of him (see below) so we felt comfortable not acquiring another starter. I look forward to seeing how our mega-bullpen plays out.

BNN likes us in the preseason picks:



And there's Gutierrez as a top 10 pitcher in the AL and Joe Marlette not ranked as one, we'll see about that.

[Art Deco]

We opened the year by taking 2 of 3 from the Twins, starting with this game:



Talk about things going to plan. A little more offense would have been nice, but homers from Bobby Marin and Joe Stack were enough to support a great Joe Marlette outing and then a lockdown performance from the new and improved (and expensive) bullpen.

Well we got to crow about the star-studded bullpen for all of about 24 hours as they blew the second game and the Rays lost 7-6 to Minnesota in 10 innings. Believe it or not it was only a 2-1 Tampa Bay lead after 7 innings with Danny Morales turning in an excellent first start of the season going 6 4 1 1 1 6 and Brandon Gammage had a scoreless frame in his Rays debut. But Jadon Smith couldn't get the job done in the 8th, allowing two runs and leaving a man before Ajani Riddick allowed that runner and one of his own to score to put the Rays down 5-2. Danny Arroyave came to the rescue though in the bottom of the inning, hitting a 3-run homer to tie it up. However the longest-tenured Ray in the pen and one-time closer Mike Moore (0-1) showed why we've demoted him to middle relief when he allowed a pair in the 10th and although Arroyave homered again to cut the lead to one that was all the Rays could manage. Willie Gutierrez had a 2-run shot in the 2nd for early Tampa Bay lead.

The Rays showed no ill effects from yesterday's tough loss and trounced the Twins 8-0 in the finale. Joe Scheu (1-0) was magnificent at 6.2 5 0 0 1 6 and Danny Charlton hit a 2-run homer in the 1st, his 1st. Danny Arroyave's RBI single in the 3rd marked the first 2036 Tampa Bay run scored without homering and the remaining five runs didn't come via the longball either with Bobby Marin and Willie Gutierrez each knocking in two of them.

Team record: 2-1. Next up: Toronto visits for 4 games.

MLB News: A couple of milestones in the opening round of games as San Diego's Fernando Tatis Jr. hit HR #500 and his new teammate Julio Rodriguez banged out career hit #2000 after spending his first 14 seasons in Seattle.

Former Rays Update: 3 of our key players from the last several seasons debuted with their new squads to mixed results. Kevin DiCostanzo lost his Dodgers debut after getting pounded for 6 runs in 2 1/3 innings but Chris Ferguson hurled 7 shutout innings to win his first start for Houston. And Jake Westfall got off to an insane start with the Angels, hitting 3 HR and 9 RBI (!) in the season's first three games going 7 for 11 including a 5-hit game. Where was that all of last season?

[Art Deco]

Tampa Bay took 3 of 4 from the Jays to win both their series to open 2036.

Ron Baer had a successful Rays debut as he pitched them to a 6-1 win over Toronto in the series opener. The ground-balling lefty held the Jays to 5 1 1 0 3 5 before leaving early with back stiffness which will cause his next start to be pushed back a few days. The pen picked it up from there and Jake Bridgewater made his Tampa Bay debut by striking out the side in the 9th to end the game. Alex Rivas and Danny Arroyave each knocked in a pair to lead the offense.

The Rays' offense took the second game off and Leo Gutierrez suffered a tough-luck 1-0 loss in his first-ever start for the club. Gutierrez was solid at 5.1 3 1 0 3 3 with a Justin Blackwell error figuring into the game's only run while the bats managed a meager four hits.

Tampa Bay bounced back in the third game behind a dominant Joe Marlette and enough offense to take a 5-1 win. Marlette (1-0) went 7 5 1 1 0 11 and the offense came courtesy of Wander Franco (HR #1, a 2-run shot in the first) and Alex Rivas (3 RBI including a 2-run double).

It was comeback time in the finale as the Rays erased a 4-1 deficit with 4 runs in the 7th and held on to prevail 5-4. Alex Rivas, off to a hot start, came off the bench to single in a run and then Bobby Marin unloaded a 3-run homer (#2) to win it. Danny Arroyave accounted for the first Tampa Bay run with a solo shot (#3). Danny Morales was 5 7 4 3 1 5 in a mixed bag of a start with Brandon Gammage picking up his first Tampa Bay win and Eric Lewis saving for the first time since Opening Day.

Team record: 5-2. Next up: Our first road trip of the season begins with 3 games in Detroit.

[Art Deco]

The Rays received brutal starting pitching in this series and allowed 27 runs over the three games in Motown, but they did manage to at least pull out one of them.

It wasn't the opener though as Tampa Bay was trounced 9-0 and nearly no-hit in about as bad a game as a team can play. Danny Arroyave's single leading off the 8th inning was the only hit they managed and Joe Scheu (1-1) was roasted to the tune of 3 9 7 7 1 0.

Another terrible start put the Rays in a 5-1 hole after 4 in the second game but led by Danny Arroyave they fought back to take an 8-6 win over the Tigers. After Nick Wallerstedt, filling in for the injured Ron Baer, was ripped for 2 7 5 5 3 5 by Detroit and the Rays trailed by 4, Arroyave started the comeback with a 2-run homer (#4) in the 5th. And after Luis Berumen, in a 3-for-35 slump to start the season, hit his first homer of the season to tie it in the 7th Arroyave came through with a 2-run double in the 8th to win it. The bullpen was in fine form tonight with Jadon Smith earning his first Tampa Bay win and Eric Lewis notching save #3.

It was Leo Gutierrez's turn in the dunk tank in the finale as Detroit obliterated him and the Rays 12-3. With the bullpen heavily used in the first two games Gutierrez was left in there a while to take one for the team and left with a horrible 4 10 10 9 2 2 line as he dropped to 0-2. Wander Franco gave the Rays a brief lead with a 2-run shot (#2) in the top of the first but that advantage did not survive the bottom of the inning. The only bright spot the rest of the way was the first MLB homer for rookie C Art Bing, a solo shot in the 7th.

Team record: 6-4. Next up: A day off then 3 games in San Antonio.

Transactions: I forgot to note in the previous post that Willie Gutierrez strained his hamstring and although it's a "minimal" injury it's going to last 3 weeks so he was put on the IL and from AA Montgomery we called up another rookie catcher to back up Bing in Javy Denton, an 8th-round pick from 2034 who isn't a bad prospect as he has 50 contact, 55 power and 60 fielding potential and is a tick below that in each of those categories for his current rating.

Also we made an interesting waiver claim, picking up 24-year-old Luis Cisneros from Baltimore:



He has two-way ability as you can see from the pitching ratings over on the right and hit 32 HR last year in High-A ball along with 2 more in 4 games at AA this year. He had an option so I sent him to Durham.

[Art Deco]

Our disastrous first road trip of the season concluded in San Antonio, where we ended up like Davy Crockett and were wiped out at the Alamo(s) in a series sweep which saw our pitching give up 26 more runs on top of the 27 allowed in Detroit. A team BABIP against of .338 isn't doing us any favors either.

After the disaster in Detroit surely our ace Joe Marlette would put a stop to the bleeding, right? Nope. He was lit up for 3 homers as part of a 3.1 9 8 8 2 3 outing and dropped to 1-1 in a 14-0 annihilation by the Alamos. The bats only managed four hits and the bullpen wasn't any better either as we were finally forced to use position player Claus Hoppenbrouwers to pitch the 8th (he gave up 2 runs).

The second game was more competitive, and the Rays actually led 4-3 in the 5th inning before succumbing 8-6. Danny Morales couldn't hold the lead 5.1 7 4 4 1 6 and Ruben Abeyta (0-1) was awful in relief, giving up 3 runs to put San Antonio ahead. Luis Berumen was 3-4 with HR #2 and 2 RBI while Danny Charlton and Art Bing also hit solo shots, the second of the year for them as well.

I really thought we were going to win the finale as Joe Scheu turned in a fine start (6 9 1 1 1 4) and we led 3-1 going into the 8th inning. But Jadon Smith (1-1), one of our expensive free agent relief signings, imploded in the 8th, giving up 3 runs and the Rays suffered a 4-3 loss. Danny Charlton and Javy Denton each had 3 hits in the loss.

Team record: 6-7. Next up: We'll try to get right back in the friendly confines of Tropicana Field when we entertain Boston for 3 games.

[Art Deco]

The Rays righted the ship back at home by sweeping Boston, which is causing all kinds of angst in New England as they're now 2-14 to start to year.

The opener saw Tampa Bay bookend a rout with 5 runs in the 1st and 6 more in the 8th as they beat Boston 13-3. Danny Charlton swung the big bat, hitting a 2-run double in the 1st and a slam (#3) in the 8th, giving him 6 RBI, and Justin Blackwell knocked in 3 with a pair of doubles. Ron Baer went to 2-0 after going 5.1 6 3 2 2 4.

The sledding was tougher for the Rays in the second game but they still prevailed 3-2 when Wander Franco and Danny Charlton hit back-to-back doubles in the 8th to break a 2-2 tie. Bobby Marin homered (#3) and Leo Gutierrez pitched very well at 6 3 1 1 3 6 but saw his shot at a win evaporate when Ruben Abeyta gave up the tying run in the 7th. Ajani Riddick (2-0) got the win and Eric Lewis saved for the 4th time.

The Rays took another tight 3-2 win over the Sox in the finale, walking it off in the 11th after tying it in the 9th. Joe Marlette was great (7 3 0 0 4 9) and was in line for a 1-0 win before Eric Lewis blew his first save of the year, giving up a 2-run homer in the 9th. Luis Berumen and Danny Arroyave came to the rescue as they each doubled in the bottom of the 9th to produce the tying run, and Joe Stack's sacrifice fly (Stackrifice fly?) in the bottom of the 11th won it after they loaded the bases. Braden Gammage (2-0) picked up the relief win.

Team record: 9-7, 1 1/2 back of Toronto in the AL East. Next up: The Yankees (also 9-7) visit for 4 games.

[Art Deco]

The sputtering start to 2036 continued as the Rays dropped the first three games of this series to the Yankees before salvaging the finale.

Transactions: Starting RF against RHP Duk-yoon Ko was injured in the Boston finale and will go on a short IL stint with back stiffness. Mal Stephens, acquired from Cleveland just before the season began, was called up from Durham and will play against righties. Also we claimed veteran reliever Alden Segui off waivers from the Yankees and DFA'd Jeff Coblentz. Segui has 75 stuff, 55 movement & 50 control.

Danny Charlton was 3-4 with 2 homers (#4 & 5) and 4 RBI but it wasn't enough in a 9-6 loss to the Yankees in the opener. Danny Morales (0-1) was hit hard (5 9 5 5 0 4) and after they got within 5-4 the bullpen was hit for four more runs. Joe Stack added a solo homer (#2).

The Rays didn't do anything well in the second game, losing 6-0 as once again the terrible defense allowed double-digit hits (15 last night, 13 tonight). Joe Scheu (1-2) was roughed up at 3.2 8 4 3 1 1.

12 more hits allowed by the staff and the defense led them to a 6-2 loss to the Yankees in the third game. Wander Franco's 2-run double in the 5th got them within 3-2 but that was as good as the day got. Ron Baer (2-1) took his first Rays loss after going 5 7 4 3 1 5.

It took a rookie to save the day for Tampa Bay in the finale as Leo Gutierrez pitched his best game as a big leaguer in a 3-0 Rays win. The lefty more than earned his first MLB win, going 5.2 1 0 0 3 8 and the pen ony allowed one more hit from there as Eric Lewis earned his 5th save. Luis Berumen's RBI double was all they needed, although it was costly as Berumen strained his hamstring on the play and will miss a month. Mal Stephens added a solo shot for his first MLB homer.

Team record: 10-10. Next up: Off to Baltimore to play 4.

[Art Deco]

The Rays manic-depressive season continues as this time they swept a 4-game series in Baltimore as there doesn't seem to be much of a middle ground with this club from series to series.

Transaction: Luis Berumen went on the IL with his hamstring strain and will miss about a month. Called up to replace him is rookie Rocky Corniell, who was our 5th-round pick in 2033. Corniell profiles as a leadoff-type with 55 contact/eye and the potential for more and is a good OF but has limited (40) power.

The opener was one of the best-pitched games you'll ever see on both sides as Joe Marlette out-dueled Baltimore's Joe White a 1-0 Rays victory. Marlette went 7 2/3 before surrendering his first hit, a Gunnar Henderson single and departed there, going 7.2 1 0 0 0 9 to improve to 2-1. Eric Lewis finished up for save #6 and the lone run came in the 4th on doubles by Bobby Marin and Danny Charlton. White went 8 4 1 1 2 14 in a dominant but losing performance.

The Rays shut the Orioles out again in the second game but this time it was a romp as they won 9-0. Danny Morales, an 18-game winner each of the previous two seasons, finally got into the win column for 2036 just before April ended after going 6.1 5 0 0 2 5. Wander Franco swung the big bat, homering solo twice and driving in a 3rd run with an infield single, while Joe Stack and Claus Hoppenbrouwers each drove in 3 for the other 6 runs, with Stack hitting HR #3.

Tampa Bay had to work overtime in the third game but prevailed 4-3 in 12 innings on Danny Arroyave's 4th hit of the game, a solo homer (#5) over the deep LF wall at Camden Yards. It was Arroyave who sent us to extras with a 7th-inning RBI double after Joe Scheu was let down by the defense and gave up 3 unearned runs in the 5th, finishing 6.2 9 3 0 1 2. Jadon Smith (2-1) ended up with the win and Eric Lewis saved again for #7.

Another extra-inning affair saw the Rays complete the sweep as they put up 4 runs in the top of the 10th to take a 9-5 win over Baltimore. Claus Hoppenbrouwers, who earlier had an RBI double, hit a 2-run triple and then came home on Justin Blackwell's 1st homer of the year to provide the winning runs while Agustin Lopez earlier had a 2-run single. Ron Baer pitched well at 5.2 5 3 2 2 7 but Ruben Abeyta blew a 5-3 lead for him in the 7th. Jadon Smith (3-1) pitched two perfect innings to get the win for the second straight night.

Team record: 14-10, 2 1/2 behind Toronto which is off to a 16-7 start. Next up: we head west to Kansas City, where we'll play 3.

[Art Deco]

The Rays' hot streak rolled on as they swept the Royals (who were 15-8 coming in) and extended their winning run to 8 games.

Quality pitching and just enough offense earned the Rays a 3-2 win in the opener. Justin Blackwell's RBI single in the 9th against his former team provided the winner and Leo Gutierrez turned in another good start (5.1 2 1 1 3 4). Alden Segui picked up his first Tampa Bay win in relief and Eric Lewis closed it out for save #8. Wander Franco had a first-inning homer (#5) which came off former Ray Jeremy Brooks.

Danny Arroyave almost single-handedly willed the Rays to a 4-3 win in the second game, knocking in all four Tampa Bay runs including the go-ahead run with a single in the 6th. Arroyave had an RBI double in the first and a 2-run homer (#6) in the 5th and made a winner of Joe Marlette (3-1), who went 6.1 7 3 3 2 5 with the only damage a 3-run homer allowed in the 4th. Eric Lewis saved again, his 9th.

The Rays played home run derby in the finale, going yard five times and downing Kansas City 9-5. Joe Stack had a pair of solo shots to give him 5 on the year and Danny Charlton had the biggest day among the hitters, going 2-4 with HR #6 and 3 RBI. Also finding the seats were Bobby Marin (#4) with a 2-run shot and Mal Stephens (#2) who went back-to-back with Stack in the 6th. Danny Morales (2-1) wasn't his best but good enough for the win at 5 9 3 3 1 6.

Team record: 17-10. We gained a game on Toronto and now sit 1 1/2 back. Next up: Back home for 3 against Seattle.

[Art Deco]

The Rays extended their win streak to 9 before dropping the last two in a disappointing series with Seattle which also saw two starting pitchers go down with injuries.

Things were good in the opener though as Joe Scheu was scharp and the Rays took a 5-3 win. Scheu (2-2) was let down by the defense a little but overcame it to go 6.1 8 3 1 1 4 for the win and Eric Lewis hit double digits in saves. The big blow was a 3-run Alex Rivas homer in the 4th, his first of the year, which erased a 2-0 Seattle lead. Joe Stack was also 3-4 with a ribbie.

Tampa Bay had to go with an impromptu bullpen game in the next one but still led 6-4 going into the 8th before Brandon Gammage (2-1) imploded to allow three runs to lose it 7-6. Two batters into the game Ron Baer tore his meniscus trying to field a ground ball and he'll be lost for five months, a tough blow. Still Danny Arroyave and Joe Stack drove in a pair and the Rays held the lead until the fateful 8th.

Transaction: With Baer going on the IL, we re-purchased the contract of Jeff Coblentz who had earlier cleared waivers and was assigned to Durham. Taking Baer's spot in the rotation for now will be Nick Wallerstedt, who wasn't impressive in an earlier spot start or in his long relief stint yesterday so we'll be checking out the trade market.

For the second straight day we didn't have a starter last past the first inning as this time Leo Gutierrez left after one with a tired arm, which will sideline him for a week. Thankfully we have a couple of off days coming up so his turn can be skipped. The bullpen held in gamely again but the offense left 11 on base as the Rays dropped the finale to Seattle 4-2. Jake Bridgewater (0-1) took the loss, allowing 2 runs in 2 1/3 innings in relief of Gutierrez.

Team record: 18-12. The Jays improved to 20-9 with a sweep, so we've fallen 2 1/2 back of them. Next up: An off-day to fly coast-to-coast as we play 3 in Oakland.

[Art Deco]

An extremely low-scoring series (13 runs in total from both teams over the three games) saw the Rays lose 2 of 3 again and drop farther behind Toronto.

They did take the opener though 4-2 thanks to Danny Charlton's 2-run homer (#7) in the 11th inning. Joe Marlette was outstanding (7 3 2 2 2 10) as was the pen with Eric Lewis (1-0) going 2 innings for the win and Ruben Abeyta claiming his 1st save. Duk-yoon Ko hit his first homer of the season earlier in the game. The win came a price however as Bobby Marlin made it two starting OFs down thanks to a hamstring strain suffered trying to make a catch which will sideline him 2-3 weeks.

Transaction: Rocky Corniell returns from Durham to take Marin's place on the roster.

With a lineup filled with lefties the Rays are vulnerable to left-handed pitching, especially with their two lefties who hit LHP well in Luis Berumen and Marin on the shelf, and as a result they were 2-hit today in a 2-0 loss to Oakland. Danny Morales (2-2) pitched quite well, hurling a complete-game loss at 8 5 2 2 0 5. One of the two hits was Rocky Corniell's first MLB hit, so at least someone was happy.

In addition to the bats the bullpen let the Rays down in the finale as they fell 3-2 to the A's. Joe Scheu (2-3) was in a 0-0 duel going into the bottom of the 7th when he put the leadoff man and left the game. Ruben Abeyta and Branden Gammage then proceeded to load the bases and allow Scheu's and two of Abeyta's men to score to make it 3-0, and although Art Bing answered with a 2-run homer (#3) in the 8th that was all the offense could muster. Scheu finished 6 3 1 1 3 3 in a tough-luck loss.

Team record: 19-14. Toronto took 3 of 4 while we were in Oakland, including a 7-whiff perfect game on 103 pitches from Hector Andrade against a good 19-9 Houston team, and opened up a 4-game lead in the division. Next up: An off-day then we'll hope get right in Chicago with 3 against the 10-22 White Sox.

[Art Deco]

The Rays swept the woeful White Sox in Chicago, including winning "the game from hell" which saw them lose 3 pitchers including the starter in the first inning, and have to go 15 to win.

The opener was the most straightforward of the three games as the Rays scored 7 times by the 4th and took an 8-4 win over Chicago. Joe Stack hit a pair of solo homers to give him 7 and added an RBI single while Danny Charlton hit a 3-run homer (#8) to lead the offense. Nick Wallerstedt (1-0) got the first of what could be many starts and wasn't terribly impressive, getting the win despite going 5 7 4 4 0 4 with a couple of homers allowed.

The second game was one of more grueling affairs I've managed in any save. It began with Leo Gutierrez having to leave after striking out the leadoff man in the 1st with what turned out to be shoulder inflammation which will sideline him 4 months. This meant a parade of pitchers who largely kept the team in the game when they scored 4 in the 6th on two-run homers from Danny Charlton (#9) and Mal Stephens (#3). The game was 4-4 in the 9th when Branden Gammage, the 8th Rays pitcher of the 9th, left with a sore elbow which will keep him out for 3 weeks. He was replaced by Jadon Smith, who faced two men before leaving with a strained back (only a 3-day injury. This left Eric Lewis as the last unused reliever and he went 3 innings but he wasn't going to be pushed to the 14th which meant we had to turn to Joe Marlette (4-1) to make his first relief appearance since 2029 with Memphis. Thankfully in the 15th Danny Arroyave delivered an RBI single and Marlette finished it out to preserve a game that would have been devastating to lose.

Transactions: Gutierrez (60-day) and Gammage (15-day) went on the IL and we called up a couple of farmhands to make their MLB debuts. Jordan Rodriguez, our 2nd-round pick in 2029, is up from Durham after pitching well with a 2.19 ERA in 37 IP in their rotation. He has iffy (40) control, average stuff (50) but good movement (65). Also coming up is David Marin (no relation to Bobby), a 2027 scouting discovery who is 50/55/45-rated and he'll join the rotation, which was already down a starter before Gutierrez went down.

A 9-run 5th inning put the Rays up 11-0 in the finale, but Danny Morales couldn't get the final out in the 5th as Chicago scored 6 times and Tampa Bay had to hold on for an 11-7 win. The red-hot Mal Stephens hit a 2-run homer (#4) in the 2nd and then added a 2-run double in that 9-run 5th, Alex Rivas added a 2-run homer (#2) and Duk-yoon Ko smacked a 2-run double for the big hits. Morales cruised through the first 4 but apparently the long wait to come out for the 5th messed up his rhythm as he finished 4.2 8 6 6 2 2 and missed out on an easy win. Instead the win went to Jordan Rodriguez in his MLB debut as he went 3 1/3 and allowed only one run, helping save the beleaguered bullpen.

Team record: 22-14. Toronto lost a couple of games and we cut their lead down to 1 1/2. Next up: Back home for 3 against 19-16 Cleveland.

MLB News: Minnesota's Royce Lewis notched career hit #2000.

[Art Deco]

Don't think I've ever had a team in any of my saves suffer as many injuries as this year's Rays squad has had with two more key players hitting the IL. And unsurprisingly this skeleton crew dropped 2 of 3 over the weekend.

Our team defense is pretty terrible and that doesn't bode well for a groundballer like Joe Scheu, who was hit hard today in a 7-6 loss to the Guardians. Scheu went 5.1 10 6 4 0 2 and the Rays fought all the way back from 5-1 down to tie the game at 6 before Alden Segui (1-1), whom I'm no longer wondering why he was on waivers, gave up the winner in the 8th. A couple of homers figured large in the ill-fated comeback: a 2-run poke from former Guardian Danny Charlton (#10) and a 3-run pinch-hit blast from another former Guardian Mal Stephens (#5), who's slugging a cool .727 since being called up.

Transaction: The latest Rays star to hit the IL is Wander Franco, who was injured a few games ago but it was thought to be a 3-day "moderate" injury. He sat out but still had a setback and now he'll miss a couple of weeks. To take his place we had to purchase the contract of another rookie, SS Adan Chavarria who was our 4th-round pick in 2033. The 24-year-old boasts excellent contact (60) and is a defensive whiz at short, something our lousy defense could use. He'll take over SS and Justin Blackwell will move to 2B while Franco is out.

Rookie David Marin got the start today and helped pitch the Rays to a 6-1 win over Cleveland in his MLB debut. He didn't last long enough to get the win but was effective at 4 3 1 1 2 5 on 84 pitches before giving way to Jeff Coblentz (1-0), who picked up the win. Tampa Bay scored all its runs in the 5th, keyed by a bases-clearing Danny Arroyave double. Speaking of MLB debuts Adan Chavarria had an impressive one, going 2-3 with a walk and a run scored.

Nick Wallerstedt continues to struggle in the rotation and his terrible outing today helped doom the Rays to a 5-2 loss in the series finale. Wallerstedt (1-1) went 3 7 5 5 0 2 with a pair of homers allowed and saw his ERA rise to 6.85. While the bullpen held Cleveland scoreless the rest of the way the offense struggled with men on base, hitting into 3 double plays and leaving 11 men on. And one of the two runs came via the homer as Duk-yoon Ko hit his 3rd as part of a game in which he reached base all 4 times up. And the injuries continued as closer Eric Lewis, getting in some work in the 9th, of course got hurt as he herniated a disc and will miss close to two weeks.

Team record: 23-16, now 2 1/2 behind Toronto and clinging to the second wild card. Next up: Philadelphia visits for 3 in our first interleague action of the season.

Just to give an idea of how many guys we have hurt, this is our current major league IL:



2/5 of our rotation, 2/3 of our outfield, our starting catcher, closer, superstar IF and top lefty reliever, all on the IL. Unbelievable. At least Gutierrez is coming back shortly having just started a rehab assignment at Durham.

[Art Deco]

2 runs on 8 hits. That would be a mediocre game for an offense; instead it was the sum total of what Tampa Bay bats managed over this three-game series and despite getting decent pitching which held Philly to 9 runs total the injury-riddled Rays were swept.

The Rays were one-hit in a 3-0 loss to Philadelphia in the opener with Alex Rivas' 6th-inning double their only safety. Joe Marlette (4-2) had some trouble with balls in play but was otherwise effective, going 5 8 3 3 0 8.

Tampa Bay doubled its hitting output in the second game, getting two whole hits and actually scoring a run but still lost to the Phillies 2-1. Danny Charlton's 11th homer in the 4th gave the Rays brief parity but Danny Morales (2-3) gave up a longball in the 5th as Philly took an insurmountable one-run lead while Morales finished 5 7 2 2 1 6.

Transaction: The first of our walking wounded is back as Willie Gutierrez returned from his rehab assignment to resume his role as the starting catcher. Of course the guy who hit 188/228/311 last season isn't going to jump-start the offense. Art Bing, who started the year with the club as the backup receiver, lost that job to Javy Denton who impressed with his defense and was sent to Durham.

It was a relative bonanza of hits for the Rays in the finale as they banged out five of 'em, but Alex Rivas' 3rd-inning homer (#3) was the only one which brought in a run as they fell 4-1 to suffer the sweep. Joe Scheu (2-4), who normally has his issues with balls in play with this year's lousy defense, instead gave up a pair of 2-run homers and went 5 6 4 4 1 4.

Team record: 23-19, 3 1/2 out in the division and now percentage points out of the third wild card. Next up: A day off then the Mets come to town for 3 games.

MLB News: Former Ray and current Cub Billy Carlow hit his 300th career homer.

[Art Deco]

After taking the previous series off the offense came back with something of a vengeance and the Rays took 2 of 3 from the Mets at the Trop.

They had to do it with offense in the opener as the pitching wasn't great and the Rays beat the Mets 9-6 as more runs were scored in this game than in the entirety of the previous series against Philly. A 4-run 3rd put Tampa Bay ahead to stay with Joe Stack's 2-run double the big hit. Danny Arroyave and Duk-yoon Ko also knocked in a pair. David Marin's 2nd MLB start didn't go as well as his first (3 5 4 3 0 2) but fellow recent rookie callup Jordan Rodriguez (2-0) got the win with 3 innings of quality relief and Jadon Smith earned his first Rays save.

Nick Wallerstedt has struggled mightily this season in the rotation and after he gave up two more runs in the first it looked like a case of "here we go again". But he settled in and the offense came to life as the Rays comfortably beat the Mets 8-3. In his best start of the year Wallerstedt (2-1) nearly went the distance, finishing 8.1 7 3 3 2 2 on 95 pitches and ended up with plenty of support, most of it from the bottom of the order. Justin Blackwell was 3-4 with a double, steal and 2 RBI while Willie Gutierrez doubled, tripled and drove in 3 among his 3 hits and Agustin Lopez hit a 2-run pinch-single to put it away.

Lousy pitching from both Joe Marlette and the pen prevented the Rays from taking a sweep as they fell to New York 8-4. Marlette wasn't horrible but one bad inning did him in as he finished 6 6 4 4 2 7. Still the bats managed to get him off the hook by tying the game at 4 but Ruben Abeyta (0-2) promptly gave up a 2-run homer in the 7th and two more relievers each gave up a run. Danny Arroyave did contribute a 2-run homer (#7).

Team record: 25-20. Next up: The other New York team comes to town as we'll play a pair against the Yankees, who have moved past us into second by 1/2 game.

MLB News: El Paso's Andrew Vaughn collected his 2000th career hit.

[Art Deco]

The Rays swept the 2-game mini-series from New York and moved back into 2nd place in the AL East, but still trail the Jays by 3 1/2 games.

The opener was a struggle as the Rays rallied with two runs in the bottom of the 10th to take a 4-3 win over the Yankees on a walk-off walk. Danny Morales pitched well (7 3 2 2 2 1) but the bats struggled to get anything going outside of a Danny Charlton solo homer (#12) in the 4th. But a 2-base Yankee error in the 8th allowed Joe Stack to bring home the tying run with an RBI single and we went to extras. A Jadon Smith (4-1) error in the 10th led to him giving up to go-ahead run before consecutive bases-loaded walks to Duk-yoon Ko and Justin Blackwell forced home the tying and winning runs in the bottom of the frame.

Tampa Bay had a much easier time of it in the second game as Danny Arroyave homered twice to lead the Rays to a 10-1 shellacking of New York. Arroyave's solo homer in the 2nd put them up 1-0 and after the Yankees tied it in the 4th the Rays responded with 4 in the bottom of the inning to pull away with a couple of Yankee errors and a Danny Charlton RBI double proving large. Arroyave added a 2-run homer later (#9) and Mal Stephens capped a 3-4, 2-RBI day with a solo shot (#6). Joe Scheu (3-4) coasted with the support, finishing 6.2 7 1 1 2 8.

Team record: 27-20, back in the second wild card slot. Next up: Another quickie 2-gamer at Fenway Park against the Sawx.

[Art Deco]

A new nadir for the undermanned Rays as they dropped a pair at Fenway to 12-33 Boston and scored only 3 runs combined in the two games.

One run on three hits is all they got in the opener as they lost 5-1 to Boston and that run came in the first inning. David Marin (0-1) wasn't very good at 3.2 3 3 3 2 1 and had to leave with back spasms while Joe Stack's RBI double was the sum total of the offense.

Transaction: The first of our walking wounded came off the IL as OF Bobby Marin was activated and Rocky Corneill optioned back to Durham.

Tampa Bay was more competitive in the second game but still lost it 3-2 to the Red Sox. Once again they got on the board in the first on a Claus Hoppenbrouwers RBI double but Nick Wallerstedt (2-2) gave up a 3-run homer in the bottom inning. He didn't allow anything else and finished 5 5 3 3 4 3 but the bats only managed an Alex Rivas RBI single the rest of the way and lost again.

Team record: 27-22. Toronto won one of their games so the division deficit grows to 4 1/2. Next up: Back home for 3 against Texas.

MLB News: The Dodgers got consecutive complete-game shutouts from former Rays James Hays and Kevin DiCostanzo the last two nights.