A Tampa Bay Rays Blog: Ball on a Budget
The Rays hoped to even the series after a tough one-run loss against the Dodgers last night. And they had their best on the mound to make it happen, as Drew Rasmussen took the ball for tonight’s game. Coming into the contest, he had pitched a combined 14 scoreless innings in his last two starts. […]
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Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across the MLB. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Giants fans and fans across the country. Sign up here to participate in the weekly emailed surveys. We have run several trade profiles in the previous weeks as we preview the upcoming trade […]
Over the spring, both the Tampa City Council and the Hillsborough County Commission approved a nonbinding memorandum of understanding with the Tampa Bay Rays that would provide close to $1 billion in public funds for a new Rays ballpark across from Raymond James Stadium. In recent days, however, both elected bodies have been more skeptical […]
This was the 10th week of full minor league play (stats are entering play on Monday, June 15th). According to FanGraphs (which factors in age and proximity to the big leagues), 22-year old Caden Bodine remains the top hitter spot in the Rays system. The backstop was recently added to Baseball America’s top 100 prospect […]
The Rays have not always had the best of luck when playing on ESPN. A West Coast trip to Chavez Ravine on ESPN? Well, I was not expecting a great night. However, much to my delight, for 6 and a half innings the Rays went toe to toe, pitch for pitch, with the defending champs. […]
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Joe Ryan was famously traded from the Rays to the Twins at the 2021 deadline as part of the deal that brought Nelson Cruz to Tampa Bay for its postseason push and veteran leadership in a clubhouse that saw its future in Wander Franco. Fast forward a few years and Ryan looks like an ideal […]
A low scoring, back and forth affair took a turn in the top of the eighth inning during which the Rays broke a 3-3 tie with a five-run inning punctuated by a pair of blasts from Caminero and Mesa Jr. The Rays left Anaheim with a series loss, but were able to salvage the last […]
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The best, most positive bright spot of this game and this series is that it happened late at night on the West Coast, in between a packed World Cup slate, and during Game 5 of the NBA Finals. Ideally the absolute minimum amount of people were exposed to the completely lifeless version of the Rays […]
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From the jump, the Rays just didn’t have it tonight. In the bottom of the first, Trey Mancini roped a triple to right field with two outs to plate two Halos. 2-0 Anaheim before you got a chance to sit down with your popcorn. Again with two outs, the Angels got off the hook with […]
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Coming off a run of 10 losses in 13 games — the first difficult stretch for the AL East leaders — we asked if now was the time to panic for Rays fans, and the overwhelming majority said NO! Good job! The Rays went on to sweep the Red Sox, starving the children of Boston […]
It feels like Lars Nootbaar has been someone that could fit well on the Rays’ roster over the last few years. I think the timing could be right to acquire him this season if the Cardinals are willing to part ways with him. Nootbaar combines above-average on-base ability, defensive versatility, and multiple years of team […]
It was a fine afternoon for baseball, because the weather is always great when you’ve got a dome. The Rays were looking to sweep their series against the Red Sox, and to get the job done, they had Drew Rasmussen on the mound. He was up against Jake Bennett for the Sox. Rasmussen got things […]
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The Rays were the kings of the two-out rally on Tuesday night in a 4-3 win over the Red Sox. Tampa Bay put Payton Tolle to the test early when Yandy Díaz lined a single to right, Junior Caminero followed by smoking a ball to the wall in center, and suddenly Tampa Bay had runners […]
Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across the MLB. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Rays fans and fans across the country. Sign up here to participate in the weekly emailed surveys. Please take our survey
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Is Junior Caminero getting pitched around because neither Jonathan Aranda nor Yandy Diaz are hitting behind him in the lineup to “protect” him? How much influence does Caminero have on the number of pitches the batter ahead of him sees in the zone? Inspired by an article examining the statistical significance of lineup protection, I […]
This game was unnecessarily close for the entire game because the runners in scoring position issues continued, but thankfully, Boston struggled to get anyone into scoring position all night allowing the Rays to score just enough to hold on with a 3-1 victory to open the series at Tropicana Field. The Rays started off with […]
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While the Rays’ rotation has performed pretty well so far this season, they could benefit from some reinforcements. They have several pitchers with relatively strict workload limits (Shane McClanahan, Griffin Jax, and Steven Matz) and will be without Ryan Pepiot this season. Even Drew Rasmussen will have his workload carefully managed given his injury history. […]