The 2021 (and only 2021) Tampa Bay Rays - Page 81

Art Deco · 11-05-2025, 11:02 PM

The Rays pulled off the sweep of Cleveland with three close wins and extended their win streak to 5 but the big news came during the series with a massive trade.

Tampa Bay turned around a 3-0 6th-inning deficit in the opener and came back to beat Cleveland 6-3. It was the red-hot Jeremy Begley who kick-started the comeback with a 2-run double in the 6th with Tony Fisher singling him home to tie it. And after the go-ahead run scored in the 7th on a wild pitch Danny Rodriguez belted a 2-run homer (#5) to give us the final score. Sergio Espinoza (4-1) was solid at 7.1 5 3 3 1 5 for the win and Walt Kelly pitched around a walk in the 9th for save #4.

Despite things perking up of late, I've been kind of underwhelmed with the offense since the second half of last season and thought it needed a jolt. And a jolt it was given:

Just who is Rogelio Fitzgerald? Only one of the top all-around hitters in baseball, as you can see by his career numbers coming into this season:

That's a career OPS of 1.003 with a 162-game average of 48 HR and 113 RBI. He entered his second year of arbitration and is making $23M which made him expensive for the Brewers, although they're picking up 70% of his salary. In return we sent them Danny Perez, who had a nice first full season in the bigs with us hitting 274/325/499 with 31 HR and who of course is making the minimum (but was off to a brutal 5 for 50 start with 0 HR this year), and Malave, who projects as a 5th starter in MLB. Fitzgerald will be our full-time DH since his defense is average to slightly-below in RF where we have a Gold Glover in Danny Rivera.

Fitzgerald made his Rays debut in the second game, and although he went 0-4 his new teammates picked him up in a 7-6 win. It was a strange affair as Tampa Bay jumped out to a 7-1 lead thanks to a monster game from who other than Jeremy Begley as the Rays superstar SS and reigning AL MVP was 3-3 with a walk, steal, two homers (#7 & 8) and 4 RBI. We're not even done with April and he's already accumulated 2.5 WAR thanks to a 378/435/684 batting line and his usual Gold Glove defense. Also going deep with solo shots were Danny Rodriguez and Victor Gonzalez, the 6th of the year for each. Meanwhile Brad Paquette was rolling along with 1 run allowed through 5. Then it all went to hell in the 6th as he could hardly get anyone out and the Guardians put 5 on the board to make it 7-6. Fortunately the bullpen held from there although Walt Kelly made it an adventure as usual, loading the bases with two out but getting a popup to end it for his 5th save and preserving the first Rays win for Paquette (1-1), who finished with an ugly 5.2 9 6 6 1 3 line.

Rogelio Fitzgerald came through for the Rays in the finale, singling in what proved to be the winning run in the 3rd inning as Tampa Bay got by Cleveland 2-1 thanks to an excellent Danny Morales start. Billy Doughty doubled in the first run in the 3rd and Fitzgerald singled him home and that was enough for Morales (2-4), who looked like his old self at 7.2 5 1 1 0 6. With Eric Lewis and Walt Kelly having been used the previous two days Moises Baca got the call in the 9th and allowed only a single in a drama-free 9th for his 1st save.

Team record: 15-9. With the sweep we've pulled within 1 1/2 of the division-leading Yankees. Next up: Back on the road after an off-day, starting with 3 in Oakland.

Also to nobody's surprise, we heard the following from the league office:

Art Deco · Yesterday, 01:51 PM

The Rays took 2 of 3 in Oakland but suffered about as big an injury loss as they could - at least for a while.

A couple of former Rays teamed up to give Oakland a win in the opener but it was the news about a former Athletic which overshadowed the 5-2 A's win. Reigning AL MVP Jeremy Begley strained his back going into 2nd base and will be lost for a month, creating a big hole in the Tampa Bay lineup both offensively and defensively. As for the game the A's got a pair of homers and 4 RBI from Duk-yoon Ko and 5 solid innings from Dwayne Marion who improved to 5-1, 2.38. Ko and Marion were dealt to Oakland in a pair of separate deals two winters ago with Marion the key piece the A's received for Begley. Ko's homers came off Leo Gutierrez (0-3), who went 5.2 5 5 2 1 5 while the Rays got a solo homer from Willis Ramirez, his first of the year.

Transaction: Begley goes on the 10-day IL and we'll hopefully see him around the first of June. In his place 2B of the future Luis Solorzano becomes the SS of the present, and IF Jim Vroom, our first-round pick in 2034 out of a Canadian high school, is called up to serve as the 2B/SS backup. Vroom was hitting 338/394/569 at Durham and is a fine defender with Gold Glove potential at 2B.

Tampa Bay overturned a 3-0 deficit to edge Oakland 4-3 in the second game and it was primarily thanks to the guy pressed into duty to replaced the injured Begley as Luis Solorzano drove in 3 runs including a 2-run single in the 6th which was the game-winning hit. Ruben Cerrillo had a subpar start at 4.1 5 3 3 3 4 and put the Rays in that 3-0 hole but they fought back with 2 in the 4th on Victor Gonzalez's RBI single and a Solorzano sac fly. Jerry Baylor earned his first MLB win by retiring all 5 men he faced including 4 via the whiff and Walt Kelly had a 2-strikeout 1-2-3 9th for his 6th save.

Runs were scarce in the rubber game but the Rays got 2 of the 3 scored to beat the A's. It was a scoreless duel between the Rays' Sergio Espinoza and Oakland's Jordan Ramirez until Victor Gonzalez came up with another big hit in the early going this year, a 2-run homer (#7) in the 7th. Gonzalez has hit an impressive 300/352/540 and has made Rays fans forget longtime 3B Danny Arroyave, who had a big first week in Milwaukee after signing as a free agent but is now only hitting 220/262/420 with 5 HR. Espinoza improved to 5-1 after an excellent 7 5 1 1 1 8 performance and Walt Kelly saved again (#7), although this time after putting two men on and getting the last man to fly out on a 3-0 pitch.

Team record: 17-10. Unfortunately the Rays the Yankees aren't cooling off and swept Minnesota to extend their division lead to 2 1/2 games. Next up: Back home for 3 against the Angels.

11-05-2025, 11:02 PM	#1601
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 7,550	April 27-29, 2040: vs Cleveland (3) The Rays pulled off the sweep of Cleveland with three close wins and extended their win streak to 5 but the big news came during the series with a massive trade. Tampa Bay turned around a 3-0 6th-inning deficit in the opener and came back to beat Cleveland 6-3. It was the red-hot Jeremy Begley who kick-started the comeback with a 2-run double in the 6th with Tony Fisher singling him home to tie it. And after the go-ahead run scored in the 7th on a wild pitch Danny Rodriguez belted a 2-run homer (#5) to give us the final score. Sergio Espinoza (4-1) was solid at 7.1 5 3 3 1 5 for the win and Walt Kelly pitched around a walk in the 9th for save #4. Despite things perking up of late, I've been kind of underwhelmed with the offense since the second half of last season and thought it needed a jolt. And a jolt it was given: Just who is Rogelio Fitzgerald? Only one of the top all-around hitters in baseball, as you can see by his career numbers coming into this season: That's a career OPS of 1.003 with a 162-game average of 48 HR and 113 RBI. He entered his second year of arbitration and is making $23M which made him expensive for the Brewers, although they're picking up 70% of his salary. In return we sent them Danny Perez, who had a nice first full season in the bigs with us hitting 274/325/499 with 31 HR and who of course is making the minimum (but was off to a brutal 5 for 50 start with 0 HR this year), and Malave, who projects as a 5th starter in MLB. Fitzgerald will be our full-time DH since his defense is average to slightly-below in RF where we have a Gold Glover in Danny Rivera. Fitzgerald made his Rays debut in the second game, and although he went 0-4 his new teammates picked him up in a 7-6 win. It was a strange affair as Tampa Bay jumped out to a 7-1 lead thanks to a monster game from who other than Jeremy Begley as the Rays superstar SS and reigning AL MVP was 3-3 with a walk, steal, two homers (#7 & 8) and 4 RBI. We're not even done with April and he's already accumulated 2.5 WAR thanks to a 378/435/684 batting line and his usual Gold Glove defense. Also going deep with solo shots were Danny Rodriguez and Victor Gonzalez, the 6th of the year for each. Meanwhile Brad Paquette was rolling along with 1 run allowed through 5. Then it all went to hell in the 6th as he could hardly get anyone out and the Guardians put 5 on the board to make it 7-6. Fortunately the bullpen held from there although Walt Kelly made it an adventure as usual, loading the bases with two out but getting a popup to end it for his 5th save and preserving the first Rays win for Paquette (1-1), who finished with an ugly 5.2 9 6 6 1 3 line. Rogelio Fitzgerald came through for the Rays in the finale, singling in what proved to be the winning run in the 3rd inning as Tampa Bay got by Cleveland 2-1 thanks to an excellent Danny Morales start. Billy Doughty doubled in the first run in the 3rd and Fitzgerald singled him home and that was enough for Morales (2-4), who looked like his old self at 7.2 5 1 1 0 6. With Eric Lewis and Walt Kelly having been used the previous two days Moises Baca got the call in the 9th and allowed only a single in a drama-free 9th for his 1st save. Team record: 15-9. With the sweep we've pulled within 1 1/2 of the division-leading Yankees. Next up: Back on the road after an off-day, starting with 3 in Oakland. Also to nobody's surprise, we heard the following from the league office: Last edited by Art Deco; 11-05-2025 at 11:05 PM.

Yesterday, 01:51 PM	#1602
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 7,550	May 1-3, 2040: at Oakland (3) The Rays took 2 of 3 in Oakland but suffered about as big an injury loss as they could - at least for a while. A couple of former Rays teamed up to give Oakland a win in the opener but it was the news about a former Athletic which overshadowed the 5-2 A's win. Reigning AL MVP Jeremy Begley strained his back going into 2nd base and will be lost for a month, creating a big hole in the Tampa Bay lineup both offensively and defensively. As for the game the A's got a pair of homers and 4 RBI from Duk-yoon Ko and 5 solid innings from Dwayne Marion who improved to 5-1, 2.38. Ko and Marion were dealt to Oakland in a pair of separate deals two winters ago with Marion the key piece the A's received for Begley. Ko's homers came off Leo Gutierrez (0-3), who went 5.2 5 5 2 1 5 while the Rays got a solo homer from Willis Ramirez, his first of the year. Transaction: Begley goes on the 10-day IL and we'll hopefully see him around the first of June. In his place 2B of the future Luis Solorzano becomes the SS of the present, and IF Jim Vroom, our first-round pick in 2034 out of a Canadian high school, is called up to serve as the 2B/SS backup. Vroom was hitting 338/394/569 at Durham and is a fine defender with Gold Glove potential at 2B. Tampa Bay overturned a 3-0 deficit to edge Oakland 4-3 in the second game and it was primarily thanks to the guy pressed into duty to replaced the injured Begley as Luis Solorzano drove in 3 runs including a 2-run single in the 6th which was the game-winning hit. Ruben Cerrillo had a subpar start at 4.1 5 3 3 3 4 and put the Rays in that 3-0 hole but they fought back with 2 in the 4th on Victor Gonzalez's RBI single and a Solorzano sac fly. Jerry Baylor earned his first MLB win by retiring all 5 men he faced including 4 via the whiff and Walt Kelly had a 2-strikeout 1-2-3 9th for his 6th save. Runs were scarce in the rubber game but the Rays got 2 of the 3 scored to beat the A's. It was a scoreless duel between the Rays' Sergio Espinoza and Oakland's Jordan Ramirez until Victor Gonzalez came up with another big hit in the early going this year, a 2-run homer (#7) in the 7th. Gonzalez has hit an impressive 300/352/540 and has made Rays fans forget longtime 3B Danny Arroyave, who had a big first week in Milwaukee after signing as a free agent but is now only hitting 220/262/420 with 5 HR. Espinoza improved to 5-1 after an excellent 7 5 1 1 1 8 performance and Walt Kelly saved again (#7), although this time after putting two men on and getting the last man to fly out on a 3-0 pitch. Team record: 17-10. Unfortunately the Rays the Yankees aren't cooling off and swept Minnesota to extend their division lead to 2 1/2 games. Next up: Back home for 3 against the Angels.