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A Tampa Bay Rays Blog: Ball on a Budget

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Sweet relief: Rays 11, Cardinals 7

The Rays escaped from St. Louis with a win. Although the Rays offensive production was impressive — 11 runs, 17 hits and 4 walks — there was not one minute when this win felt assured. The Rays started out with the lead. After having been no-hit for six innings yesterday, the Rays were able to […]

When it Boyles over…

The Cardinals beat the Rays 6-5 in a game that went ten innings. The Rays’ offense showed fight, scoring four in the ninth to tie after being shut out for the first eight innings. Joe Boyle gave up two runs early on, but once he settled in, he was fantastic, retiring 15 straight hitters. But […]

Rays Reacts Results: Opening Day Edition

To coincide with Opening Day, we asked y’all whether you thought the Rays did enough to have a competitive season, and the results were not rosy: True to that result, the majority (63%) of fans votes for the Rays to be under .500 this season: As always, Rays Reacts is brought to you by our […]

The One That Got Away: Cardinals 9, Rays 7

It looked like Rays fans were set for a joyous Opening Day, with the reshaped lineup scoring seven runs on a whopping 17 hits. Jonathan Aranda homered, multiple players had three-hit days, Junior Caminero reached base four times while every Cardinals pitcher tried to pitch around him. This game could have been a statement of […]

Rays Opening Day lineup for 2026 has some surprises

The Rays Opening Day lineup for 2026 has been posted by manager Kevin Cash, and has some surprises compared to the expected starters for the season, in part because a left hander is on the mound in for -Rays first round pick Matthew Liberatore, who was traded to St. Louis in the January 2020 deal […]

Rays finalize 26-man roster for 2026 season

The Tampa Bay Rays have officially finalized the 26-man roster for the 2026 season, including six players to the injured list. Here is your 2026 Rays for Opening Day: LEFT-HANDED PITCHERS (4): Garrett Cleavinger, Steven Matz, Shane McClanahan, Ian Seymour RIGHT-HANDED PITCHERS (9): Bryan Baker, Joe Boyle, Mason Englert, Yoendrys Gómez, Griffin Jax, Kevin Kelly, Nick Martinez, […]

Rays 2026 Hot Takes Roundtable

Opening Day is here tomorrow and the bold predictions are flying in the Slack chat, so I’ve pulled together the hottest takes from masthead. Some are reasonable. Some are absolutely nuclear. All of them are compelling. Let’s get into it with Daniel, who set things off: Daniel Vonderwalde Ian Malinowski Danny Russell Jason Collette Darby […]

Four numbers that actually matter in Spring Training: Week Four

Last week we took a look at the improved catching group compared to 2025. With the roster set, it’s a good time to zoom out and evaluate the offense as a whole. The position player group consists of: On paper, this group looks noticeably different from last year’s offense, and the early data from spring […]

MLB

Rays Your Voice: 2026 Season Preview with Elijah Flewellen

On this week’s episode of Rays Your Voice, we are joined by Elijah Flewellen for our 2026 Season Preview! We discuss the latest injury news and how they impact the Opening Day roster. We also discuss the opportunities available for young players Chandler Simpson and Carson Williams, who will look to prove themselves as viable […]

Rays Reacts Survey: Opening Day 2026 Edition

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

2B Gavin Lux to IL, UTIL Richie Palacios makes Opening Day roster

Rays projected starting second baseman Gavin Lux has been battling through a right shoulder impingement, with manager Kevin Cash saying the team was in a time crunch ahead of Opening Day. As the best cure for such irritations in the rotator cuff region is rest, the Rays have opted to move Lux to the injured […]

2026 DRaysBay Community Prospect List

Welcome back to the annual DRaysBay Community Prospect List, a treasured tradition at the site where our community diligently votes for the top prospects in the Rays system. This off-season saw a dramatic overhaul of the Rays system, and accordingly the DRaysBay list has also shifted dramatically year over year. Only one prospect graduated last […]

Leveraging lefties and a possible Opening Day lineup

It’s no surprise the Rays’ offense struggled against left-handed pitching last season. They produced an 85 wRC+ which was the 9th worst of any team in the league. That issue was compounded by volume as Rays hitters saw more left-handed pitching than almost any team in baseball; Rays batters had 1,860 PA vs LHP, second […]

MLB

Rays Reacts Results: What closer?

For this week’s Reacts poll, we asked who y’all expected to be the Rays closer in 2026, and the majority said… NOBODY! Very few seemed to agree with my assessment that Baker is in line for the starring role this season, but I’m excited to see what the Rays pitching lab might unlock there. As […]

2026 DRaysBay Community Prospect List: Vote for Honorable Mentions

Previous Winner Victor Valdez, SS17 | R/R | 6’1” | 186 A pretty swing with a low whiff rate earned Valdez a big payday this winter — $3.5 million — with as good of a power projection as you can reasonably ask for from a a teenage bat, having been given a 25+ home run […]

MLB

GDT: Here comes the money

First pitch against the Boston Red Sox is at 1:05 at Charlotte Sports Park and the Rays will be providing tv and radio coverage.

Rays Spring Breakout Game to be played Tonight

The Spring Breakout games have arrived. For those unaware, the Spring Breakout is when MLB host a series of games from each teams with rosters consisting of that organization’s top prospects. This year, the Rays will have two of Baseball America’s top 100 prospects on their roster, Starting in 2027, the Spring Breakout will be […]

GDT: Tampa Bay should just never trade with Philadelphia

There are couple of really bad trades in Rays franchise history and the Philadelphia Phillies are responsible for at least two of the them. During the expansion draft, the Devil Rays sent Bobby Abreu to Philadelphia for Kevin Stocker. That move turned out badly, but at least Stocker was a competent shortstop for a bit […]