Latest blog entries from Tampa Bay teams across every league
Yesterday evening the Ken Babby, Rays CEO, presented the Rays stadium/entertainment district plans at a Tampa City Council workshop. Workshops, you may recall from earlier reporting on the Hillsborough County Commission, are not decision-making sessions; no votes are taken. They are opportunities for elected officials, who thanks to Sunshine Laws can only meet in public, […]
Last of three in Tampa. If they light a match on the way out, I will not shed a tear. I hate afternoon weekday games, it messes up the day. There are some updates: Today’s lineup: Today’s Lineups BLUE JAYS RAYS George Springer – DH Yandy Diaz – DH Kazuma Okamoto – 3B Ryan Vilade […]
Go Rays!
With three podcast coming out in short order there is one article to cover all three. The first is a look back at the Tampa Bay Lightning series. Mostly it focused on a low event hockey gamble from Jon Cooper. The bet was on Andrei Vasilevskiy besting Jakub Dobeš. In the end the goalies stole one game each, and Dobeš came on put on top. Looking back on the picks the panel had a pretty good selection. Jared’s Lane Hutson pick was great, the defender played out of his mind and one...
After just a handful shifts in Vancouver on March 19th, Victor Hedman left the eventual 6-2 Tampa Bay Lightning win. He would not return to the line-up for the rest of the season. On Tuesday, he spoke to the assembled media about his absence, “Obviously, after the first period in Vancouver was kind of the final straw. It’s a thing that’s been going on for a long time, and try to work through it, and find ways to get around it, but I wasn’t able to do that. So, that’s where the decision ca...
The good times kept rolling for the Yankees on Tuesday night, as they came from behind to beat Jacob deGrom on behalf of since-demoted rookie Elmer Rodríguez. They’ve won 15 of their last 17 games and would almost be running away with the AL East already if the Rays weren’t off to a scalding-hot start […]
Blue Jays 3 Rays 4 The Jays were leading for most of the game, as if that’s any solace. Tyler Rogers has been terrific for us, but a ground ball pitcher can have bad luck on occasion. His eighth went ground out, double (66 mph, not hit hard), Yandy Diaz ground ball single (harder hit, […]
The Rays have taken small ball to new extremes, winning today on 1 double (a bloop that fell into no man’s land) and 10 singles. When your small ball is this small it maybe needs a new name: tiny ball? wee ball? But the key point is that 10 singles and a double added up […]
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Some runs would be nice. Please note the term runs is plural. . There is a little bit of news, Jose Berrios is feeling soreness, which, since he has a stress fracture, isn’t a huge surprise. Shane Bieber is close to being ready to face live batters. It is like he’s at the start of […]
The Tampa Bay Lightning were once again bounced in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and now general manager Julien BriseBois will be a very busy man this offseason. Multiple reports have surfaced that BriseBois tried to make some roster changes ahead of the trade deadline in March, but wasn't able to find a fit. Heading into the summer, look for BriseBois to make a move to add some talent down the middle of the ice for the Lightning. Elliotte Friedman: Re Lightning: I heard...there...
Corey Perry is entering the summer as a pending unrestricted free agent. If the 40-year-old forward hits the free-agent market this summer instead of re-signing with the Tampa Bay Lightning or retiring, he should generate interest. Due to this, let's look at three teams that could look to sign Perry during the offseason. Edmonton Oilers The Oilers missed Perry this season, and it would not be particularly surprising if they tried to bring him back during the summer. If they signed ...
Hello and good morning everyone. It’s Justin, your faithful managing editor of Raw Charge. For the fourth year in a row, we’ve come to this point a little too early in the spring. With the Lightning getting bounced from the first round of the playoffs yet again, we all face an off-season that starts in May instead of June. Which is a bummer. That means I have to come up with a few extra weeks of interesting posts to keep y’all interested and reading. It was a good season for the website a...
After a monster season that saw him record 22 goals and 70 points in 73 games, Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Darren Raddysh is set to land him a big payday this offseason. Due to this, let's look at three teams that could look to sign Raddysh if the Bolts do not re-sign him. Toronto Maple Leafs The Maple Leafs need another right-shot defenseman, so it would not be surprising if they looked to add Raddysh in free agency. He has already been connected to the Leafs in the past and wo...
Blue Jays 1 Rays 5 That was a very frustrating game. The Jays had ten hits, but just one extra base hit, a double by Yohendrick Piñango. It is hard to have 10 hits and only get one run. You really have to work at it. And, the Rays scored three in the first. Eric […]
Hot off yet another home series sweep, the Rays welcomed the Blue Jays to Tropicana Field for the opener of a three-game series. Nick Martinez starts the series opener, bringing a 1.70 ERA into the game after six starts on the season. Start number seven began with a one-pitch flyout, and ended without a runner […]
So the Jays don’t appear to be using an opener today, it is Eric Lauer right from the first pitch. Let’s have a good start Eric. And there is no Heineman or Springer. Springer is supposed to be available off the bench and he’s supposed to be starting tomorrow. We’ll see I guess. That ball […]
Go Rays!
It was a disappointing finish to the season for the Tampa Bay Lightning, a team many pundits around the sport predicted to come out of the Eastern Conference. Instead, a frustrating 2-1 loss to the Montreal Canadiens in Game 7 of the first round (despite outshooting them 29-9) has left many questions facing the Bolts as they head into the offseason. Perhaps one question we didn't see coming, though, comes to us from insider Pierre LeBrun , who asks in The Athletic, if the Hart Trophy con...
There is a whole mess of injury news this afternoon: Today’s lineup is similar to yesterday’s, minus Sosa and Heineman, and Varsho is DH today. He was having some better at bats yesterday. Hopefully that will continue. Today’s Lineups BLUE JAYS RAYS Yohendrick Pinango – LF Chandler Simpson – LF Kazuma Okamoto – 3B Junior […]
As has been speculated since his acquisition, and propitiated by the season ending hip surgery required by Ryan Pepiot, the Rays have formally started the transition of Griffin Jax to a starting role, and in doing so Jax has reintroduced his cutter. It’s already helping him handle left-handed hitters more effectively, and should help the […]
This was the 3rd week of full minor league play (stats are entering play on May, 3rd). According to FanGraphs (which factors in age and proximity to the big leagues), 19-year old Cooper Flemming has taken over the top hitter spot in the Rays system. Flemming was the Rays 2nd round pick in 2025 and […]
The Tampa Bay Lightning are a meme.
Alex Newhook notched the go-ahead goal with 8:53 remaining in the third period, and the Montreal Canadiens eliminated the Tampa Bay Lightning with a 2-1 victory in Game 7 at Benchmark International Arena. Captain Nick Suzuki also scored for the upstart Canadiens, and goaltender Jakub Dobes stopped 28 shots. Dominic James lit the lamp for the Lightning, and Andrei Vasilevskiy made seven saves. Montreal will face the Buffalo Sabres starting on Wednesday. Cale Makar scor...
It’s now been roughly three hours since the final horn of the 2025-26 Tampa Bay Lightning season sounded. To this very moment, we’re not exactly sure how the Lightning lost this game. Yes, we grasp the concept that they scored fewer goals than the Canadiens. Still, it was such a well-played game, especially defensively, that we’re still kind of waiting for them to somehow find the equalizer. The Lightning limited the Montreal Canadiens to nine shots on goal. There was a stretch of roughly...