The 2020 (and beyond) Tampa Bay Rays

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Game 1: Mission accomplished, as Gordie Ager got his 20th win of the season as the Rays routed the Orioles 10-2 to open their 4-game series at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Ager was 5 6 2 2 1 5 on 94 pitches to pick up the milestone win and he had plenty of support. Mario Saro was the star on offense, going 4-5 with 2 doubles, a homer (#20) and 2 RBI. Luis Barela (#40) and Seth Williams (#21) contributed 2-run homers and Tony Cordova knocked in a pair.

Game 2: Greg Bookhart was outstanding in a 6-3 Rays win over the Orioles, the club's sixth straight. The lefty was 7 3 0 0 1 6 and improved to 17-6, 4.15. Dan Anderson made a mess in the 9th allowing 3 runs so Willie Minier came in to get the final out for save #10 as a Ray and his 29th overall. Tomas Laboy was the big man with the bat, going 3-5 including double #20 and HR #20 and Tony Cordova had his second straight 2-RBI day.

Game 3: It looked like the Rays might actually lose one as they trailed 5-2 after 7 innings, but a 5-run 8th propelled them to a 9-5 win to extend their win streak to 7. Tomas Laboy stayed red-hot by going 5-5 with HR #21, Jose Castillo delivered a tying 2-run double in the 8th as part of a 3-RBI game, bringing his season total to 127, and Doug Johns' 2-run double broke the tie. Dan Robinson had his struggles at 6 6 5 5 2 4 but was taken off the hook with Jon Harbour (5-0) picking up the win in relief.

Game 4: The Rays completed the 4-game sweep of Baltimore and made it 8 straight wins with a 6-3 triumph in the finale. Jose Mendez had a 2-run HR (#29) and joined teammates Luis Barela, Jose Castillo and Doug Johns in the 100-RBI club and Tony Cordova concluded a big weekend by driving in 3 more, including a 2-run homer (#9) after Baltimore had pulled within 4-3. Jim Brophy (16-5), coming off a complete-game shutout, was excellent again at 6 4 1 1 1 6 and while Sean Forbes gave up a 2-run shot to MLB homer leader Mike Collin (his 54th), Willie Minier had a clean 9th for Rays save #11 and his 30th total.

Team record: 111-45. Next up: An off-day then we conclude our regular season road schedule with 3 games at Yankee Stadium.

Not a big shock here:

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Game 1: The Rays made it 9 straight wins with a back-and-forth 9-7 win over the Yankees at the Stadium. Jose Castillo broke a 6-6 tie in the 7th with a 3-run blast (#37) which moved him into the MLB RBI lead with 131. Earlier Jose Mendez became the 4th Ray to join the 30 HR/100 RBI club with a 2-run shot and Tomas Laboy kept on raking with a 2-run single. Marc Gibson was pretty bad (and won't be on the postseason roster) with a 4 8 6 6 1 4 start and 2 homers allowed. Dan Anderson (4-0) picked up the win in relief and Willie Minier got Rays save #12 and overall save #31.

Game 2: Gordie Ager wasn't going to rest on the laurels of 20 wins as he went out and finished his regular season with a flourish, tossing 6 shutout innings to lead the Rays to a 2-0 win over New York and making it a double-digit win streak. Ager was 6 3 0 0 3 6 and finishes with a 21-6, 3.56 record for 2045 with his next start coming in Game 1 of the ALDS. Satoshi Sato had a 2-whiff perfect 9th for his 4th save, and he looks to be in mid-season form after missing most of it. The two Rays runs came on back-to-back jacks in the 2nd which landed in nearly identical spots in the LCF seats from Luis Barela (#41) and Jose Mendez (#31).

Game 3: The Yankees snapped the Rays' 10-game win streak with a 7-4 decision in the finale. Greg Bookhart wasn't very sharp and was pulled after a 51-minute rain delay and after going 2 5 4 4 0 2, finishing his regular season at 17-7, 4.32. Once again he's right up there for the pitcher WAR lead at 4.9 but his ERA remained high with a .317 BABIP (although that's the lowest he's had in his career). Chris Parham supplied most of the Rays offense today, going 3-4 with a 2-run homer (#4).

Team record: 113-46. Next up: We close out the regular season with 3 at Publix Park vs Baltimore, making it 6 games to finish the year against our 2 possible ALDS opponents. Everything is clinched in MLB with Seattle and Cleveland the other AL division winners, Washington, Milwaukee and San Francisco the NL division winners, and the Cubs and Rockies the two NL wild card teams. The only suspense left in either league is who will host the wild card games.

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We just had our late-season wave of players still toiling in AAA retiring and there were a couple of notable ex-Rays hanging up the cleats.

First and foremost is Ricky Widmar, who had the unenviable task of taking over for Wander Franco as the team's shortstop in 2028 and did his best to make Rays fans forget the team's first true superstar with 28 WAR over his first 5 seasons in Tampa Bay along with 3 titles in that span. Sadly injuries wrecked his career; after 2032 he had only two more seasons in which he played more than 105 games and left the Rays after the 2034 season. At his healthy peak he was one of the more exciting players in the game.

Also retiring was Nate Schultz, who only pitched 3 seasons with the Rays but what a 3 seasons. From 2033-2035 he went an absurd 60-9 in the Tampa Bay rotation, including seasons of 22-2 and 18-2 (he was 20-5 in his "off" year). Somehow he never won a Cy Young despite earning 15.5 WAR in those three seasons. He never reached those heights again over the next 10 years, bouncing around 7 different teams although he had a nice 3.1 WAR season in 2043 as a swingman with the Yankees, a year after going 3-20 with Arizona.

2034 NL Cy Young winner Fabian Petrovich also called it a career.

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Game 1: The Rays dropped the opener of their final regular season series 6-4 to Baltimore at Publix Park. A Tomas Laboy error opened the door for 3 unearned runs in the 3rd, sending Dan Robinson to a loss after going 6 6 4 1 1 2 and finishing his season at 14-7, 3.76. He'll be the 4th starter come playoff time. Jared Richardson hit HR #6 and Chris Fox had a 2-run double for Tampa Bay.

Game 2: The Rays routed the Orioles 13-2 behind a big game from possible 4-time MVP Luis Barela. The 3B is trying to make it four in a row and today's 2 HR, 3 RBI performance gave him 43 HR and 132 RBI on the season. Doug Johns was 3-4 with a 2-run double and solo homer (#35), while Dave Frick made it double-digit dingers with a 2-run blast of his own. Jim Brophy was outstanding in his final tuneup for the playoffs, going 6 2 0 0 2 9 and finishing with a sub-4 ERA at 17-5, 3.92. Brophy's been remarkably consistent in his 3 full seasons with the Rays, earning 4.4, 4.6 and 4.5 WAR.

Game 3: Tampa Bay closed out the regular season with a 2-0 win over the Orioles at Publix Park behind a strong outing from Marc Gibson. The righty was 7 4 0 0 1 5 to finish the year 7-3, 5.04 as a Ray and 11-8, 3.77 overall including his time with the Royals. I had mentioned in the recap of his previous start that he wasn't making the postseason roster but I changed my mind after seeing him rated 70/70/60 as a reliever. Instead the highly inconsistent Ismael Vargas will not make the roster. Satoshi Sato got the final two outs for his 5th save, and the offense came via HR #31 for Jose Mendez (who won the AL batting title at .341) and an RBI single from Luis Barela, who nosed out teammate Jose Castillo for the MLB RBI crown with 133.

Final Regular Season Record: 115-47. Next up: The ALDS against either the Orioles or the Yankees.

A couple of monthly awards to close out the season:





Saro put up those numbers (along with an AL-best 36 steals), good for 4.2 WAR, in only half a season so just imagine how good he could be playing every day as he's in line to be the next Rays superstar.

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Perhaps the least suspenseful season in MLB history in terms of playoff races. The playoff tree:





The usual offensive domination, pretty good pitching, and the defense while not great wasn't horrible either with a good zone rating. I'm convinced Publix Park plays a role in our BABIP as well as it's a hitters' haven.



Luis Barela is likely bound for his 4th straight MVP award, 3rd with the Rays while Jose Mendez had an MVP-caliber season as well. Just about everyone contributed, including reserves like Chris Parham who actually hit this year, and Jared Richardson, impressive as a 31-year-old rookie.



The big 3 starters (and Robinson) were excellent this year, and with Satoshi Sato and Sean Forbes back, the late-inning pen is exceptionally deep with those two, Ben Moses, Willie Minier, and Mike Robichaux all capable of closing. Forbes in fact seems the weak link as he was very homer-prone this year and may no longer be his exceptional 2044 self after his injury.

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The Cubs move on...

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And we'll be playing the Yankees once again in the ALDS:

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Shutout wins for the two higher seeds.

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We always have to make the ALDS interesting...



A tough loss in the opener as the Rays had their chances in the late innings to tie or go ahead. Despite homering earlier in the game to answer an early Yankee lead, Jose Mendez failed to come through twice, once in the 7th with 2 men on and then again in the 9th with 2 men on. Gordie Ager wasn't sharp, allowing a couple of homers including one to long-time Rays-killer Elias Aragune. Now it'll be up to Jim Brophy to keep us from falling into an 0-2 hole in the series.

In the other DS games:

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Looking bleak...



Deju vu all over again at Publix Park as the Rays lost again to the Yankees by a 5-4 margin and are on the brink of elimination. Since 2027 it's been ALDS loss or World Series win for this franchise, and the former is looking to be the likely outcome. Once again their starter struggled and the comeback fell short, and once again Jose Mendez failed to come through in the clutch as he Doug Johns, and Tomas Laboy failed to get the tying run across in the 8th after there were men on first and second with nobody out and a run in. So now we're off to Yankee Stadium for Game 3 needing to win 3 straight. Greg Bookhart will look to save our season for another day.

Seattle was at least able to tie up their ALDS:

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Big comeback by the Nats gives them the advantage while the Cubs stay alive.

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Stayin' alive (just barely):



It took a 9th-inning miracle but the Rays' quest to match the MLB record of 5 straight World Series titles remains alive after a 10-7 win over the franchise which holds the record, the New York Yankees who did it from 1949-1953. The Rays are still going to have to win the next two games, but you can't win three straight without winning the first and today's heroes were Dan Gregory, who came off the bench to deliver a tying homer in the 9th, and Mario Saro, who was 4-5 with 2 doubles, 2 steals and 4 runs scored today and started the game-winning rally with a single and a steal after Gregory's equalizer. Yankee closer Lienhard Moser ended up hitting the one guy who hasn't had a hit in this series, Doug Johns, with the bases loaded to force in the winning run and Jose Mendez, who failed to come through in big situations in the first two games, delivered a 2-run single. Things got interesting in the 9th when Willie Minier put two on and brought the tying run to the plate, and then with two out Johns dropped a fly ball in foul territory which would have ended it, but Minier fanned the batter to end the game. Before all that it was a back-and-forth affair and the Rays looked doomed when Satoshi Sato blew a lead in the bottom of the 8th by allowing back-to-back homers, an amazing sight considering Sato has allowed only 6 in 182 career innings. Greg Bookhart became the latest lefty Rays starter to struggle with the Yankees' predominately lefty lineup, and we'll be sending another one tomorrow in Dan Robinson who now has the season (and possible history) resting on his shoulders.

Elsewhere the Nationals have punched their ticket to the NLCS on a walk-off homer from former Ray Michael Valdez while the Guardians and Cubs picked up big wins:

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Heading back to Tampa....



The Rays once again got some late-inning magic to pull out a win over the Yankees in the ALDS to even the series at 2 games apiece and force a deciding Game 5 at Publix Park in two days. Tampa Bay took advantage of the wildness of Yankee pitching as they issued 9 walks, hit a batter and committed a balk, which is why they were still in the game despite being 1-hit through 7 innings. After the bases were loaded to start the 8th with walks and an HBP, Jose Castillo delivered an RBI single to tie it up, and although the Rays squandered a bases-loaded, nobody-out situation to go ahead, like Dan Gregory the night before Tomas Laboy came up with a big homer, leading off the 9th with a solo shot to put the Rays ahead and Seth Williams' fielder's choice brought home another run. Satoshi Sato had no problems this time around, getting New York 1-2-3 to close it out. The Rays had blown an early 3-0 lead on a 2-run Doug Johns double as Dan Robinson was in trouble almost his entire outing but at least limited the damage to some extent to keep the game manageable. Now Gordie Ager will attempt to complete the comeback in the series in two nights' time.

And the winner of that game will be facing the Cleveland Guardians in the ALCS as they took care of Seattle in 4 games:

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The Cubs will hopefully provide some inspiration for the Rays as they also found themselves down 0-2 in their DS and came back with three straight wins over the 101-win Brewers to take it, setting up an NLCS date with Washington.

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They did it!



For the second straight season the Rays had to come back to beat the Yankees in the ALDS in 5 games, but this time the degree of difficulty was upped as they trailed 0-2. The Drive for Five is still alive thanks to a 6-3 win at Publix Park behind a very well-pitched game from Gordie Ager and some big hits, including a 3-run Doug Johns homer as last year's playoff beast had been struggling this postseason. New York made it interesting by pulling within 4-3 in the 7th, but the bullpen and Dan Gregory, who homered leading off the 8th for some insurance, made sure that was as far as New York went. So now they'll face the Cleveland Guardians in the ALCS, a team they haven't faced in a long, long time in the postseason.

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The 9th-inning Nats were at it again, this time coming back on the Cubs to win their NLCS opener:

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Toothless...



The Rays were dominated by Cleveland pitching led by Josh Clausen tonight in a 4-0 loss in their ALCS opener at Publix Park. They were held to 5 hits and struck out 11 times in a rare playoff shutout of the Rays' normally lethal offense. The key turning point in the game came in the 4th when the Rays loaded the bases with 1 out only for Jose Mendez and Tomas Laboy to strike out, and then in the top of the 5th Cleveland got a 2-run homer to take the lead. That was the only blemish for Jim Brophy, who pitched well but was a hard-luck loser. Sean Forbes' dominant 2044 form seems a distant memory after he was hit hard for two more runs, but Marc Gibson was overpowering in relief over his 1 2/3 inning stint and may move into a high-leverage role. Greg Bookhart will start tomorrow and try to keep the Rays from losing the first 2 at home for the second straight series.

Over in the NLCS, the Nationals are already halfway to the World Series thanks to old friend Brad Jackson today:

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Back to even...



It looked early like the Rays were determined to repeat the ALDS by losing their first two games when Greg Bookhart was hit hard for 4 runs by the 2nd inning, and they still trailed 4-2 going into the bottom of the 7th but they unleashed one of their patented offensive explosions and beat Cleveland 10-4 to even up the ALCS at a game apiece. And although there were some big hits at the end the credit really has to go to the bullpen which held the Guardians off the board for 7 1/3 innings and didn't allow a hit over the last 4 1/3 of those. Jon Harbour stabilized things and Dan Anderson was excellent in picking up the win. Tomas Laboy's big 2-run homer tied in the 7th and then the Rays loaded the bases and pushed the winning run across on a balk. And they blew it open with a 5-run 8th, including a 2-run double from Tony Cordova who had a huge game. Gordie Ager will attempt to put them in the series lead in two days' time in Cleveland.

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It's all over but the shouting in the NLCS as the Nats go up 3-0 with an extra-inning win over the Cubs after some 9th inning drama from both sides. That's former Ray Jeff Brockman getting the win in relief for Washington: