For years, the Tampa Bay Rays have been mediocre. That normally comes with being a small market team and having a payroll that pales in comparison to division rivals like the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees. Many MLB analysts have said that they were still a few pieces away entering the season. Now, that fantasy is starting to become a reality.
As it stands at the time of this writing, the Rays are 86-67, third in the AL East. The Rays hold both the fifth-best record in the American League and the entire MLB. Unfortunately for the Rays, they play in the same division as the Red Sox and Yankees. So they won’t be making the playoffs this year with so few games remaining. They do, however, have a really good chance to make it next year.
On the surface, the Rays don’t look like much. A closer look provides some interesting discoveries.
The Tampa Bay Rays hold a .261 batting average as a team (good for second in the MLB), but their 678 runs are below cellar-dwellers like the Cincinnati Reds and Texas Rangers. If they’re not winning games by scoring a lot of runs, how are they doing it?
Unconventional pitching.
Early on in the season, the Ringer’s Zach Kram wrote an article on how the Rays used longtime reliever Sergio Romo as an “opener” to start the game in a series against the Los Angeles Angels. It had mixed results, and the Rays have used it sparingly throughout the rest of the season. However, it seems like manager Kevin Cash and company aren’t afraid to break the status quo. Their bravery (?) has resulted in the third-best team ERA in the league at 3.62.
They continued the latter trend later in the season.
On July 30, the Rays traded ace Chris Archer (29) to the Pittsburgh Pirates in exchange for outfielder Austin Meadows (23) and pitchers Tyler Glasnow (22) and Shane Baz (19).
The following day, Tampa acquired outfielder Tommy Pham (30) from the St. Louis Cardinals for a trio of minor leaguers. This comes just a year after Pham hit .306 with 25 homers and 25 steals, finishing 11th in NL MVP voting.
Sample sizes are very limited, but Meadows has hit 3-for-8 (.375 batting average), with 3 RBIs and one stolen base.
Glasnow has a 1-5 record since coming over to Tampa but has made three quality starts with a 4.11 ERA. The ERA isn’t anything to write home about, but Glasnow has already accrued 55 strikeouts. If he qualified for K/9, he would rank 13th league-wide; above other elite pitchers like Corey Kluber, David Price, and Zack Wheeler.
Baz has yet to make an appearance for his new parent club, but he was one of the top-rated prospects in the Pirates’ farm system. He figures to be a key contributor for the Rays down the road.
Pham has gone 41-for-119 (.345 batting average) at the plate so far for the Rays, while also hitting six home runs and drawing 17 walks. He’s also added 19 RBIs.
A few players have done well on a new team. That’s not exactly the first time it’s happened. Who cares?
For the Tampa Bay Rays, they’re finally starting to have something they haven’t had in a long time – stability.
Chris Archer was without a doubt Tampa Bay’s ace. They had nice supporting pieces like Jake Odorizzi and Alex Cobb, but they went to the Minnesota Twins and Baltimore Orioles respectively last offseason. It’s been a mixture of the new guys and mainstays that are finally meshing.
This is only Jake Faria’s second season with the Rays, but while it hasn’t been pretty at times, he’s gone 4-3 with a 3.43 ERA.
Ryne Stanek has surpassed any expectations anyone had for him entering his sophomore season, posting a 2.71 ERA while making 27 starts and striking out 76 batters.
The man carrying the pitching load for the Rays has been AL MVP candidate Blake Snell. The 25-year-old has a 1.97 ERA and a shiny 20-5 win-loss record. He’s struck out 200 batters while only given up 16 homers all season.
On the other side of the plate (mound?), Tampa has finally received production from a position that’s plagued them for years – catcher.
Before they traded him to the Philadelphia Phillies, veteran Wilson Ramos was batting a very solid .297 to pair with 14 home runs and 53 RBIs.
Other guys like Michael Perez (.284 BA) and Jesus Sucre (1 HR, 17 RBIs) have filled in admirably as well.
2x Gold Glove winner Kevin Kiermaier has only played in 85 games this season but hasn’t committed a single error in 728.1 innings played in the field.
This list goes on and on.
The Rays may not be the most exciting team to watch, but they’re finally starting to build the necessary pieces to be a contender.
For the first time in a long time, they’re on their way to exorcising their demons.