The 2022 (and beyond) Tampa Bay Rays

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Game 1: 7-11 L. LP-Kittredge (5-5). Starter-McClanahan (5 7 3 3 2 6). HR-J.Lowe (18). A Lowe grand slam gave them an early lead but the bullpen blew it, starting with Kittredge as they combined to allow 8 runs.

Game 2: 3-7 L. LP-Baz (9-8, 2.2 7 5 5 2 4). Baz's woes continue as he's been hit for 11 runs in 6 2/3 innings over his last two starts and was unable to handle an early 3-1 lead given to him today.

Game 3: 4-2 W. WP-Loaisiga (3-3, 5 5 2 1 2 4). S-Fairbanks (28). They got some decent pitching for a change and Vaughn's 2-run double was the big hit of the day.

Game 3: 5-2 W. WP-Patino (7-4, 6 3 0 0 0 2). S-Fairbanks (29). HR-Vaughn (14), DeLoach (2). Patino had an unusual pitch-to-contact game but was effective, and Taylor Walls was 2-3 with an RBI and a steal which led to a run as the Rays salvage a series split.

Team record: 76-59. Boston took 3 of 4 from the circling-the-drain Yankees, who have lost 15 of 17 and are barely hanging on to the third wild card, and have pulled into a tie atop the AL East with the Rays. And those Red Sox will be visiting the Trop for a big 3-game series next.

MLB News: The Mets are a game up on Atlanta in the East and a lock for at least a wild card but they're going to have to do it the rest of the way without their ace Jacob deGrom as the oft-injured righty has bone chips in his elbow. Also the Dodgers' Dustin May has torn his flexor tendon and is done until next spring.

Also our own Josh Lowe was named AL Player of the Week as he went 12 for 27 with 2 HR and 8 RBI.

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Game 1: 7-2 W. WP-Chirinos (3-2). Starter-Rasmussen (4 5 2 1 3 6). HR-J.Lowe (19), Schoop (2). Schoop had an RBI triple and 2-run homer to lead the way as the Rays took back sole possession of first place for a day.

Game 2: 1-7 L. LP-McClanahan (10-8, 3.2 3 3 3 1 7). HR-DeLoach (3). The offense was stifled and Mac gave up some key hits before leaving with a tired arm. It will shelve him for a week but he'll stay on the active roster so he doesn't miss more than one start. DeLoach's pinch-homer with two out in the 9th averted a shutout.

Transaction: DFA'd and waived Jovani Moran and purchased the contract of Brooks Raley from Durham. Moran looked good on paper but was terrible for us, walking 8 in 4 innings. Perhaps he'll clear and we'll keep him. Raley pitched well at Durham after being waived himself and will give us a lefty.

Game 3: 0-1 L. LP-Baz (9-9, 7 8 1 1 0 10). Shane Baz deserved better but the bats didn't (4 hits) as his best start in a while was wasted and the Rays drop a game back into second.

Team record: 77-61. Next up: 4 games in Baltimore.

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Game 1: 4-6 L. LP-Loaisiga (3-4, 3.1 8 5 5 1 4). HR-JD Martinez (10/31). Loaisiga hasn't been that great since joining us and this lousy outing has his Rays ERA up to 4.68. They drew 8 walks and had 6 hits but left 10 on base.

Game 2: 8-3 W. WP-Rasmussen (14-4, 7 6 3 3 1 9). HR-Bregman 2 (15/25), Vaughn (15), Vazquez (7). Friday night's game was rained out so we played a Saturday doubleheader and the bats were swinging in the first game. Vaughn drove in 3 in total.

Game 3: 4-7 L. LP-Patino (7-5, 1.2 1 1 1 0 1). HR-Mead 2 (14), JD Martinez (11/32). Patino sprained his ankle in the 2nd so it turned into a bullpen game in which the bullpen wasn't very good as they turned the immortal Yolbert Sanchez into Babe Ruth as he hit 3 homers and drove in 6 on the day. Kittredge in particular was bad, giving up homer-homer-double to the three batters he faced.

Game 4: 0-1 L. LP-Springs (3-4). Starter-Chirinos (7 3 0 0 1 7). So we get an emergency start from Yonny with McClanahan needing to rest his tired arm one more day and he was brilliant, but we can't score a damn run and lost it in the bottom of the 9th when Springs loaded the bases with nobody out. Fairbanks came in and got a whiff but gave up a sac fly for the Orioles to walk it off.

Team record: 78-64. Boston lost 2 of 3 so we only dropped 1/2 game to 1 1/2 out in the East, the magic # for a wild card is down to 14 and the pennant chase page gives us 100% chance of the playoffs but if we aren't limping into the playoffs I don't know what limping into the playoffs is. Next up: 3 games in Houston in which Alex Bregman makes his return to Minute Maid Park. The Astros are a woeful 60-82 but that probably won't stop us from losing 2 of 3 to them.

MLB News: Adam Wainwright, now with Dodgers and who picked up his 200th win last week, is done for the year with a torn meniscus.

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Game 1: 5-7 L. LP-N.Anderson (0-2). Starter-McClanahan (5 6 4 4 2 7). HR-Haniger 2 (15/28), J.Lowe (20). Rays blew a 3-0 lead, came back to tie at 4, only for the bullpen to stink as three different relievers gave up a run with Max Muncy's homer off Nick Anderson the winner for Houston.

Game 2: 8-3 W. WP-Baz (10-9, 5 6 1 1 1 6). HR-Cronenworth (2/11), Haniger (16/29), Vazquez (8), Bregman (16/26), Arozarena (15). Rays led 2-1 after 7 before going homer-happy over the final two innings to put away a rare win these days.

Game 3: 9-6 W. WP-Feyereisen (11-3). Starter-Loaisiga (4.2 5 5 5 3 4) S-Fairbanks (30). HR-JD Martinez (12/33), Bregman (17/27), Schoop (3). Loaisiga couldn't hold a 5-0 lead and the Rays were down 6-5 before Bregman took down his old team with a 3-run shot in the 8th. Schoop's insurance homer in the 9th was his 4th hit of the game as they banged out 17 in total and won their first series since sweeping the Yankees early in the month. They also hit 11 homers in the 3 games.

Team record: 80-65. Boston dropped 2 of 3 so they're only 1/2 game back of the Sox while the wild card magic number is down to 11. Next up: Back home for 4 against the Yankees at the Trop. The slumping Yankees are 1/2 game behind Kansas City for the third wild card.

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Game 1: 10-0 W. WP-Rasmussen (15-4, 6 4 0 0 1 7). HR-Haniger (17/30), Vaughn (16). Haniger drove in 5 with a 3-run homer in the 1st and a 2-run double and the Rays coasted in this one.

Game 2: 2-1 W. WP-Chirinos (4-2, 7 2 1 1 1 5). S-Fairbanks (31). Vaughn had an RBI single and Jose Lowe an RBI double to back another great start from Chirinos, who is staying in the rotation and Loaisiga is taking his role as long man in the pen.

Game 3: 5-6 L (11). LP-Feyereisen (11-4). Starter-McClanahan (3.1 6 4 4 2 6). A tough loss for the Rays as they fought back with 3 in the bottom of the 9th to tie it, only to lose in extras.

Game 4: 3-8 L. LP-Patino (7-6, 6 7 3 3 2 8). This was a 1-1 game after 6 and I left Patino in too long as he gave up a couple of runs in the 7th and the bullpen let it get away even more.

Team record: 82-67. Boston won 3 of 4 in their series so the Rays are 1 1/2 behind with 13 games left. Thanks to the two wins over the Yankees the magic number for a wild card is down to 7. Mitch Haniger was named AL Player of the Week for his 9-28, 4 HR, 10 RBI performance.

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Game 1: 4-5 L. LP-Baz (10-10, 5 8 5 5 1 10). HR-J.Lowe (21). Baz got his whiffs but was hit hard otherwise, and they might have pulled this one out in the 9th had Josh Lowe not been caught stealing after leading off with a walk as two singles followed.

Game 2: 4-9 L. LP-Rasmussen (15-5, 3.1 8 6 5 2 4). HR-Bregman (18/28), J.Lowe (22). More terrible pitching cost them today.

Game 3: 4-7 L. LP-Chirinos (4-3, 4 9 5 5 1 2). The bad pitching bug infected Yonny today as he was uncharacteristically terrible as well as the losing streak reached 5.

Team record: 82-70. Boston took 2 of 3 from the Yankees so the bad news is that the division is probably gone at 3 1/2 back with 10 games left but the good news is the two Yankee losses cut the wild card-clinching magic number to 5 . We're 3 1/2 up on Cleveland for the all-important first wild card. Next up: An outside shot at the division remains as we visit Fenway for 4 so a sweep puts them in first. Who are we kidding though? They'll be lucky to win one of these games.

Playoff race update: The Angels have clinched the West, the Central is wide open with Minnesota 1/2 up on Cleveland and 1 1/2 on Kansas City with all three teams in playoff spots at the moment as KC leads the Yankees by 1 1/2 for the final wild card. In the NL the Cardinals and Dodgers have locked down their divisions and Atlanta is all but there 4 1/2 up on the Mets. The Mets and Padres look good for wild cards but the third sees Milwaukee 1/2 up on the Cubs and 1 on Arizona.

MLB News: Tommy John surgery time for Houston's Lance McCullers Jr., who will miss all of 2024 as a result.

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Game 1: 8-5 W (12). WP-Fairbanks (3-4). Starter-McClanahan (5.1 7 5 5 2 4). HR-Vaughn (17), Bregman (19/29). A remarkable comeback for the Rays as they trailed 5-1 with one out and nobody on in the 9th, got within 5-3 with 2 out, and Josh Lowe delivered a 2-run single to tie it. The winner came on a 2-run homer from Bregman in the 12th, and Vaughn had 4 hits.

Game 2: 2-6 L. LP-Patino (7-7, 0 2 2 2 0 0). HR-J.Lowe (23). Patino had to leave in the 1st with a mild calf strain (won't miss his next start) turning this into a bullpen day which didn't go so well.

Game 3: 9-8 W. WP-Raley (2-3). Starter-Baz (3.1 9 6 6 2 3). S-Fairbanks (32). Another big comeback win as they trailed 6-1 after 4 thanks to Baz, who really has run out of gas down the stretch. Zach DeLoach, who had an RBI triple in a 4-run 5th which got them back in it, added a 2-run single in a 4-run 8th which put them ahead 9-6 before Feyereisen gave up 2 in the 8th. Francisco Mejia also had a big 2-run triple.

Game 4: 1-0 W. WP-Kittredge (6-5). Starter-Rasmussen (5.2 4 0 0 3 9). S-Feyereisen (2). In the polar opposite of yesterday's game the Rays scored the game's lone run in the 9th when JD Martinez doubled with one out and Andrew Vaughn singled him home with two gone. Rasmussen provided the team's first good start in over a week.

Team record: 85-71. With the third win of the series the Rays clinched a wild card and have all but clinched the important first wild card which means they'll be hosting some kind of series at the Trop. The division remains achievable with them now 1 1/2 behind Boston (2 in the loss column) but obviously they're going to need a huge final week which starts with 3 at home vs Baltimore.

Players of the month: AL-Vlad Guerrero Jr (TOR) .356-8-19; NL-Ronald Acuna Jr (ATL) .369-11-22. Vlad's Jays have won 10 straight (including their sweep of us) but all it's done is get them to 75-80 (which albeit is 3 back of the 3rd wild card).

Pitchers of the month: AL-Shane Bieber (CLE) 5-1, 2.70; NL-Brandon Woodruff (MIL) 5-1, 1.80.

Pennant races still alive: AL Central has Minnesota 1/2 up on Cleveland, 2 1/2 on Kansas City. Those latter two are wild cards #2 & 3 at the moment with the Royals 1 up on the Yankees and 2 on Detroit. In the NL it's 3 teams for the 2nd and 3rd wild card with Milwaukee 1/2 game up on San Diego which is 2 up on the Cubs.

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Game 1: 4-3 W. WP-N.Anderson (1-2). Starter-Chirinos (5.1 8 3 3 2 4). S-Kittredge (4). HR-JD Martinez (13/34), Haniger (18/31), J.Lowe (24). Rays fell behind 3-1 in this one before coming back to tie on Haniger's homer in the 7th and win it on Lowe's in the 8th.

Game 2: 6-4 W. WP-McClanahan (11-8, 5 3 3 3 2 6). S-Fairbanks (33). HR-Arozarena (16), Mejia (3). Mejia's homer broke a 3-3 tie in the 5th and Andrew Vaughn's second 2-run double of the day (he had 3 doubles in all) broke it open in the 6th.

Game 3: 3-2 W. WP-Raley (3-3). Starter-Patino (6 3 1 1 2 7). HR-JD Martinez (14/35). Rays completed the sweep thanks to a walk-off error in the 9th, after Kittredge blew the lead in the 8th by giving up Ryan Mountcastle's second homer of the game.

Team record: 88-71. We're in first! Boston dropped 2 of 3 to Oakland so we lead the division by 1/2 game. More importantly we control our own destiny as the teams are tied in the loss column at 71 and if the Rays sweep they will clinch as thanks to the previous series in which they beat Boston 3 of 4, they hold an 8-6 season series advantage. Boston was supposed to play on our Thursday off-day vs Toronto but they were rained out and will make it up in a doubleheader on Friday. We'll be hosting Houston to close out the regular season. The first wild card was officially clinched with the win in the series opener so either way the Rays will be opening the playoffs at home.

Playoff race update: Plenty of angst in New York as the Yankees are all but dead (13% chance) after losing three games in four this week and are 1 1/2 out of the third wild card. Not only that but they've fallen behind red-hot Detroit, winners of six straight and now only 1/2 game behind Cleveland which is in turn 1/2 behind Kansas City in the second wild card. The Guardians have only two games left in Cincinnati with Friday off. Over in the NL everything's set but the last two wild cards. Milwaukee is 2 up over the Cubs and Padres, who are tied for the third spot. Chicago and San Diego split their 6 games this year so I'm not sure who wins the tie there since I didn't investigate the second tiebreaker.

MLB News: It's rare that there are two no-hitters in three days and it's even more rare that they're both thrown by the same team but that's what Seattle did this week. First, rookie Emerson Hancock no-hit the Angels, walking 2, fanning 7 and throwing 115 pitches. Two nights later, second-year man Matt Brash turned the trick against Oakland and was even more dominant and efficient, walking 2, striking out 11 and doing it on only 98 pitches so he recorded a Maddux as well.

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Game 1: 2-3 L (19). LP-Rasmussen (15-6). Starter-Baz (5.1 5 1 1 3 5). HR-JD Martinez (15/36). A crazy, crazy game in which we used 11 pitchers and ended up with Zach DeLoach catching after we pinch-hit for Vazquez and Francisco Mejia strained his oblique. We were also somehow 0-5 on stolen bases tonight. Rasmussen was tomorrow's scheduled starter but was pressed into action in the 19th and gave up two runs to lose it. Boston split its doubleheader with Toronto, leaving us tied (and with the tiebreaker) atop the division.

Transaction: Mejia goes on the IL (out three weeks) with his strained oblique, Rene Pinto is recalled from Durham.

Game 2: 2-1 W (10). WP-Fairbanks (4-4). Starter-Chirinos (5 5 1 1 2 3). HR-Bregman (20/30). It was all Bregman against his old team as he homered in the 6th to tie it and walked it off with an RBI single in the 10th. Boston won to stay tied with us atop the East, otherwise we could have clinched with a game left.

Game 3: 7-18 L. LP-McClanahan (11-9, 4 9 7 7 0 5). HR-Bregman (21/31), Pinto (1), Haniger (19/32). With a chance to wrap up the division with a win the Rays instead laid their biggest egg of the season, down 10-0 by the 6th. But thanks to Kevin Gausman we backed into the division crown as he and his Jays beat Boston 6-2.

Final regular season record: 89-73. Next up: Despite a miserable second half we end up making the playoffs as the #2 seed and will face the winner of the Detroit-Minnesota wild card series. The Twins took the Central by 2 games with Detroit, Cleveland and Kansas City all finishing tied at 82-80. The Royals ended up the odd team out on the tiebreakers so Cleveland visit Boston in the other wild card series and that winner will the #1 seed Angels.

Over in the NL, the 103-win Cardinals and 99-win Dodgers get the byes (LA edged 99-win Atlanta on the tiebreaker) while Atlanta hosts #3 wild card Milwaukee (which nosed out the Cubs) and the #1 wild card Mets host #2 wild card San Diego.

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OOTP's standings page doesn't do well with the new tiebreakers - instead just showing everyone even without them. The playoff field was noted in the previous post.



This team had a losing record in the second half of the season, so I have no idea what to expect in the playoffs. The starters went bad in the second half, but a lot of that was due to the defense really falling off badly - we were among the league leaders in DE & Zone rating in the first half. Of course the Wander Franco injury didn't help. He'll possibly be back for the ALDS and definitely will for the ALCS should we make it.



Alex Bregman was our MVP this year and may be the league's. Josh Lowe was over 4 WAR before he went into a brutal 2-32 slump over the final days of the season, and Randy Arozarena was right around 5 WAR before finishing the year 4-34.



Defense let the pitching down in the second half as mentioned earlier as both Baz and McClanahan had FIPs about a half-run lower than their ERAs.

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Sean Murphy's second homer of the game walked it off for Atlanta, and San Diego romped with help from a familiar face you can see in the upper right above.

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Minnesota wins its opener behind former Ray Joe Ryan, the Red Sox are trounced by Cleveland at home, the Brewers force a deciding third game in Atlanta, and the Mets' season is over as the Padres take a pair at CitiField and advance to take on St. Louis in the NLDS.

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Our ALDS opponent remains unknown as the Tigers evened up their wild card series to force a deciding Game 3 while the Red Sox are out of the playoffs after being shut down by Shane Bieber and Cleveland, who are off to take on the Angels in the other ALDS. And Atlanta is on to the NLDS to take on the Dodgers after a great game from Casey Mize.

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We claimed OF Josh Naylor on waivers from Cleveland. Naylor has good ratings even if the results aren't incredible (260/335/452). He doesn't offer much defensive value (45/50 in the OF) but is a left-handed bat as we're kind of righty-heavy. Highly questionable he's on the 2024 OD roster but he gives us another option. To make room for him Esteury Ruiz is DFA'd; he probably should clear waivers.

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And the Rays' opponent in the ALDS will be the Twins, who dramatically tied it up in the 9th on a Byron Buxton double and won it in 14 on a Gio Urshela RBI single.

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Ugh...



The Rays were one out away from taking a 1-0 series lead and a 1-0 win, but after Pete Fairbanks fanned the first two Twins in the 9th, Alex Kirilloff singled and Byron Buxton doubled in the tying run before the Twins scored twice off Yonny Chirinos in the 13th to take a 3-1 win, following the same pattern they used to win Game 3 of the Wild Card Series. The Rays had a chance to tie or win in the bottom of the 13th when they loaded the bases for Jonathan Schoop but he flied to center to cap an 0-6 days in which he personally left 9 men on base. Before extras the story was how each team had runners galore (especially Minnesota, who stranded 16 on the day) but couldn't get them home. The Rays strung three singles together in the 4th for their lone run but couldn't do much either. Now Shane Baz will try to keep us from going down 0-2 back to Minnesota tomorrow. Elsewhere:



As much as I felt (and still feel) we got the better of the Tyler Glasnow trade with the Angels, he may be getting the last playoff laugh this year as he was dominant in LA's opening-game win. Meanwhile the Cards are 2/3 of the way to the NLCS while Atlanta-Dodgers is now a best-of-3.

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I hate extra f***in innings...



The Rays' 2023 season is officially on life support after dropping another extra-inning game to Minnesota at Tropicana Field, this time 6-4 to fall behind 0-2 in the ALDS. Max Kepler was a one-man wrecking crew for the Twins, hitting a 3-run homer off Shane Baz (whom I left in one batter too long) to put Minnesota up 4-1 and after the Rays fought valiantly to tie it up, he blasted a 2-run shot off Jalen Beeks in the 11th to win it. There'll be some controversy as Beeks was in over closer Pete Fairbanks, but Minnesota had three lefties including Kepler due up and Beeks had a 1-2-3 inning against that part of the order yesterday. I'm not really one for bright spots right now but Jake Cronenworth did have his best game as a Ray today with 3 hits including an key RBI single in the comeback. Drew Rasmussen will start in two days in Minnesota to try and keep us alive, but he'll be on a short leash.

Meanwhile the Guardians tie things up in the other ALDS:

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Pathetic...



So much talent in this lineup, so little production as the Rays only managed 5 runs in the 3 games (almost 4 with the extra innings played in the first two games) of this series culminating in a 2-0 loss allowing Minnesota to sweep its way into the ALCS. Drew Rasmussen pitched his heart out and had nothing to show for it as the bats were splinters today. Perhaps a mistake of mine was to not activate Wander Franco fresh off a 2-month absence and throw him in there as Taylor Walls was a black hole of offense, and given how close all three losses were he could have made a difference.

There will be changes coming as JD Martinez and Mitch Haniger are free agents so RF and DH are open as will 2B as we're not going pay Jake Cronenworth in arbitration. We have a lot of options and a lot of talent (a whopping 14 of the top 98 prospects in baseball) so we can either bring guys up or package them in trades for some impact bats. The pitching is mostly back and I have two rookies who are MLB-ready to start in Taj Bradley and John Swanda. But we'll get into all that soon enough with the offseason posts. Here's the rest of today's playoff action:



Congrats to the Cards who were the best team in MLB during the regular season and will at least make it to the NLCS. High drama in Atlanta with Buddy Kennedy's walk-off winner and the Angels are one win away from their first ALCS since 2009, the pre-Trout days.