The rollercoaster season continues as the Rays were swept at home by Kansas City, with the first two games following the annoying pattern of a starter pitching great, getting no offensive support, and then watching the bullpen let the game get away. And not to mention our best player so far this season,
Victor Robles, had to go on the IL. The only silver lining of the last 3 days was that the Blue Jays were swept as well, meaning we're still only 2 games back in the division. But obviously our wild card position became very precarious.
Stop me if you've heard this before:
Tyler Glasnow was brilliant in the opener (6 5 1 1 2 7), but the offense was held to 4 hits and the bullpen turned it into a 5-0 final. All 3 relievers used gave up at least one run but I suppose it didn't matter since the bats couldn't get a run in.
We made a trade:
With the signing of
Marcell Ozuna, Ramos became expendable and I managed to turn him into a couple of halfway-decent advanced OF prospects. Jobert is a 4th OF in the making, average tools across the board and he can play a little 1B. Hampton is the more intriguing pickup, a legit CF (60D) who has some pop and excellent speed and was Colorado's first-round pick in 2023. His plate discipline isn't great as he's a 40BB/160K guy if he played every day, though. We bid adieu to Ramos, who was an excellent 4th OF for us the last few years, providing good power and decent defense.
We also claimed P
Tylor Megill on waivers from the Mets, he has 75 stuff with 45 movement and 50 control and used Ramos's 40-man spot to add him.
Jake Miller was sent to AAA Durham, as he has struggled of late and the scouts gave him a 5-10 point haircut for stuff and control.
It was Groundhog Day in the second game as
Dustin May went 6 4 2 2 1 7 but left trailing 2-1 and this time it was
Jonathan Loiasiga's turn to fail allowing two runs in the 7th which meant the two runs the Rays scored in the 8th only meant it was a 4-3 loss to the Royals. And to add injury to insult Victor Robles suffered moderate back spasms and had to go on the IL although he should be back when his stint ends. Those two runs in the 8th came courtesy of a 2-run
Heston Kjerstad homer (#5) as he's one of the few hitters off to a good start this year.
Tylor Megill made his Rays debut in the 9th and threw a scoreless inning with 2 whiffs, although he did give up a hit and a walk.
In the finale it was the starter who was bad for a change, as
Joe Ryan went 4.2 6 6 6 2 6 with 3 homers allowed in an 8-6 loss. That still didn't mean the relievers were great though as Levis Kelly and Stoudt each allowed a run, and those proved to be the difference when
Marcell Ozuna hit a too-little, too-late 3-run homer (#2) in the 9th. Before that
Wander Franco was 3-5 with 2 doubles and an RBI in his return to the lineup and
Ed Howard had a nice game going 3-3 with a solo HR (#2) and a pair of steals.
Team record: 19-14. Next up: 3 games in Houston.