It's been a season of fits and starts for the Rays but despite the inconsistency they find themselves only 1/2 game out of first in the AL East and the top wild card team as outside a few really good teams (Seattle, White Sox, Philly) parity reigns supreme in MLB.
These numbers will hold no surprises for anyone who's been following along - a lousy offense and excellent pitching. They have picked up their play on the road lately; after starting 9-20, they've gone 7-4. Otherwise as the month-by-month record shows it's been a little over .500 ball throughout. One hope on offense is that the team's best pure hitter Nelson Haro missed a month, but it'll take more than one man to turn things around at the plate.
And there are the ugly offensive numbers with nobody except Solano having a great season. Several of those names above are capable of much more and hopefully they'll prove it in the second half. One real weakness has been the bench where several of these players have negative value. Green and Wilson have already been kicked to the curb.
Much more pleasing numbers to look at here, with the 3 top starters all having outstanding years along with the bullpen being strong and deep. Even Watters, near the bottom of the list, has started pitching well of late and should be a second-half asset. It would be nice if the back end of the rotation was better and Khattak finally pitched his way out of a spot in it. Top prospect Lennon is doing well at Durham and might get another look, especially now that the scouts have detected a velocity increase and given him an uptick in ratings.
Speaking of prospects, we have made some strides in that department with our top 20 now all within MLB's top 500. It's more depth than star power outside of Lennon and a couple of others, but we have some assets to deal at the deadline to fire-saling teams.