The 2023 (and beyond) Tampa Bay Rays

[Art Deco]

Record: 14-14
3rd place AL East, 3 1/2 behind Boston; 1/2 back of Toronto for third wild card

Every year in this save the Rays get off to a slow start, hovering around .500 during the first month or two, turn it on and win the division, and then lose in the playoffs. Well you can check off the first part of this for 2034 as a good 14-9 start turned into 14-14 mediocrity after they lost the last five games of the month.

It was a much more tumultuous month than normal on the roster front. Jose Ramos' return from suspension in Game 4 meant we had to make a move with the OF and it turned into a trade:



Alexis Soto, the rookie who was out of options, was flipped for another OF prospect in Rosas. The 25-year old has 55/45 current contact/power but with potential for 70/60 as well as a 55 eye. He's an average defender in the corners. Rosas has produced in the first month at Durham, hitting 319/375/617 with 8 homers and I'm almost considering bringing him up the way we've been hitting (more on that in a bit).

The wheeling and dealing continued a few days later as we made this blockbuster:



If you're following along you're probably wondering who the heck is Machuca. He's a 17-year-old who was maybe the top player in his amateur IFA class this winter with 70/70 potential and is ranked the #80 prospect. But we're in win-now mode and managed to parlay him into 2/5ths of the Toronto rotation. Yohemas is the real prize - he has 75 stuff as a starter and fanned 239 in 180 innings for Toronto last year. That goes with 65 movement but only 40 control so he did walk 110 in those 180 innings. Still he's a potentially elite starter and has looked the part in his first month in Tampa Bay, as you'll see a bit later. Vela is more of a back-end rotation guy, rated 50/65/60 with potential to go 5 higher in stuff and control and was a pretty good 10-7, 3.75 in 23 starts for Toronto last year. Right now he's in our bullpen but eventually will join the rotation, either later this year or next.

To make room for Yohemas and Vela, we had to move a guy who's been with us for several years:



Kim had been a swingman for us for the last several seasons, usually having a bit more trouble as a starter. The interesting guy for us is Franks, an elite defender in the OF (70 in the corners, 60 in center) with 50 contact, 45 power and 70 gap power. He's also a 70 baserunner/stealer. He had a cup of coffee with the White Sox last year and was a late-month callup for us when Ben Schmidt went on the IL with a bone bruise that will keep him out until mid-May. Sandoval is an org guy at 1B with 45/50 ratings and potential, so not really a prospect.

Phew! That was more wheeling and dealing than I do typically do in April.



As you can see Tatis is bidding for his 4th straight MVP.



And there you have it - very good pitching and defense and not very good offense. Pythagoras has us at 16-12 which wouldn't be so bad, but the late-inning relief has been inconsistent and our next move might be for a real closer as Juan Nunez has had his struggles after being bumped up to 9th-inning duties. Gotta think positive regression is in store for the bats - just look at some of these numbers:



Oof. Look at some of those numbers. Our twin stars Tatis and Subaru have done their usual thing but aside from them and Crisp, that's about it for production. And nobody's been a bigger bust than $10M free agent signee Ramos, second-from-bottom above. Those are bad numbers for a utility infielder, let alone a guy that's supposed to be a middle-of-the-order force. And I'm not sure what's up with Paino, one of our better players the last couple of seasons. There's just too much awfulness from guys with good track records to think it won't turn around soon but it's incredibly frustrating in the moment.



A much rosier picture here with the once-again rebuilt rotation going swimmingly. Sesay has been what we hoped, Yohemas has been great (although that .152 BABIP isn't sustainable) and Morejon is Yohemas' opposite, largely pitching well but with an inflated BABIP. Nunez as mentioned hasn't been a lockdown closer, and Jones has become a sad story. Last year he might have been our best starter in the first half before getting hurt, now he's not even an effective lefty reliever. Garces was the odd man out of the rotation when Yohemas was acquired but he's capable of starting as is Vela, but no room for them right now.



The farm system is middling. 2031 first-round pick Sullivan is off to a blazing start at AAA and is a definite future Ray, but he only has 30 current power to go with 60 contact so I'm not sure where all the homers are coming from. His potential is 75/50 so I'm sure he'll be up next year at the latest. Cerda is hitting homers at Montgomery but needs more consistency, he's a future big-leaguer and a potential star. New acquisitions Franks and Rosas aren't on here even though they're rookies - Rosas was the #62 overall prospect at the end of last season. With Olivo also looked potentially elite we're awash in future OFs.

[Art Deco]

Record: 31-25 (17-11 for the month)
2nd place AL East, 2 1/2 behind Boston, 1/2 behind Detroit for WC3

A decent month but not a great one where the pitching carried us and the offense continued to struggle to the point where we had to shake things up a bit. We made a minor move on the pitching staff where we brought back a former Ray reliever on waivers as Hayden Juenger was claimed from the Yankees. The righty pitched for us from 2024-29 and is rated 65/50/55 although he struggled this year. To make room we DFA'd Brock Jones and traded him to the Mets for utility guy Ken Lombardi, who has a little pop in his bat but is nothing special and was sent to Durham. The bigger shakeup came with about a week left in the month when we benched free agent signee DH Jose Ramos ("hitting" 164/250/267) and optioned long-time RF starter Ben Schmidt (struggling yet again at 214/314/350) to Durham to install a couple of guys we picked up in trades last month, rookie OF Alfredo Rosas (337/400/710 with 17 HR in 43 games with the Bulls) and Jonathan Franks, whom we had originally brought up when Schmidt got hurt last month, making them the DH and RF respectively. Neither has set the world alight since being put in the lineup but I had grown tired of the other two.



The big picture:



Fortunately nobody's running away with things so far.



The run prevention remains excellent but oh that offense. And oh that road record - 10-17 away from the Trop where we're 21-8. Not sure what to do about the bats other than to cycle guys in and out and hope the ones in the lineup start positively regressing to their talent level since most of them should be doing better.

The May stats:



As usual only Tatis and Subaru (and to a lesser extent Basallo) are the only ones consistently pulling their weight on offense. Franks has looked good and Satiro perked up in May but the rest of the lineup's been dreadful and I don't know what's wrong with Paino, who just isn't hitting at all. It can only get better from here, right? Right?



No real complaints here. Vela has struggled in a long relief role since coming over in the trade from Toronto so at the end of the month he was optioned to Durham where he'll get a chance to start.

We'll catch up with the prospects in next month's midseason report.

[Art Deco]

Record: 49-31 (18-6 for the month)
1st place AL East, 2 1/2 up on Boston

A big month for the Rays even if this team kind of underwhelms me but they check out - 49-31 is their Pythagorean record as well. The pitching continues to carry them as the bats have been inconsistent, which is the source of my mild skepticism. Two players came back only to get hurt - OF Joe Edwards lasted one game before tearing his groin and will be out through the end of July, and OF Ben Schmidt tore it up at Durham after being sent down last month, earning a recall which was cut short when he suffered an intercostal strain that will sideline him through the All-Star break. There was one player acquisition: OF Curro Silva was claimed on waivers from Houston on the 23rd. The rookie was hitting 282/327/495 with the Astros with 6 HR in 103 AB and is rated 55/60 (65 potential contact) but is a mediocre defensive OF. Given that we've had issues with OF and DH this year he seemed like a no-brainer pickup.

The game-by-game roundup:



And a look across MLB:




The team numbers:



We are truly dominant at the Trop (32-10). Otherwise the offense did perk up in June as last month we were ranked in double digits in most categories. The pitching remains excellent and the defense has really been good, especially with Jonathan Franks in RF and the return of Owen Paino at 2B.

As always at the midway point we go with the YTD stats rather than the monthlies:



Tatis and Subaru as usual lead the pack for the season but Quezada had a huge month (380/453/658 with 6 HR, 18 RBI and 14 SB) as did Basallo (320/386/680 with 7 HR). Ramos, our big free-agent signing who's been a total bust, even came alive during the month (257/329/614 with 14 XBH including 4 homers) but it's a measure of how bad his April/May numbers were that he's still -0.5 WAR for the year. Ironically Tatis (193/280/409) and Subaru (198/247/429) were terrible in June.




Now that we've reached the midway point of the season it's safe to say the rotation rebuild (with only Teodo and Lambert returning) was an unqualified success as Sesay, Morejon and Yohemas have been brilliant. The bullpen is a little less so but doing alright. Nunez has been shaky at times as the closer after being so good in a setup role in recent seasons but Boyle and Jimenez have stepped up. No real complaints here.



The farm system is not great but not terrible. Vokey and Cerda are elite prospects who aren't that far away; in fact Cerda could get the call as we continue to cycle through OF/DH-types. Olivo and Sullivan are top-of-the-order types who are also bubbling up but are more likely to make an impact next season. And hopefully we can add to this with a decent draft in a couple of weeks.

[Art Deco]

The teams:

Leading the way for the American League All-Stars will be:

SP Greg Carter (SEA) - 6-3, 2.93 ERA, 107.1 IP, 1.16 WHIP, 8.4 K/9, 2.1 WAR
SP Bubba Chandler (LAA)* - 12-1, 2.37 ERA, 114.0 IP, 0.97 WHIP, 14.1 K/9, 3.9 WAR
SP Erik Kinney (TEX) - 11-2, 2.72 ERA, 119.1 IP, 1.21 WHIP, 10.0 K/9, 3.5 WAR
SP Prince Lovette (CLE) - 10-5, 2.09 ERA, 129.0 IP, 0.93 WHIP, 11.6 K/9, 4.7 WAR
SP Brandon Pfaadt (TEX) - 8-0, 2.42 ERA, 81.2 IP, 0.91 WHIP, 7.2 K/9, 1.3 WAR
SP Zyaire Sesay (TB) - 7-5, 3.00 ERA, 111.0 IP, 1.20 WHIP, 9.3 K/9, 2.8 WAR
SP Chris Wilson (OAK) - 7-8, 3.73 ERA, 94.0 IP, 1.33 WHIP, 6.7 K/9, 0.8 WAR
RP Omar Gonzalez (LAA) - 4-4, 2.09 ERA, 56.0 IP, 0.95 WHIP, 8.0 K/9, 0.5 WAR
RP Chris Goodwin (HOU) - 1-3, 5 SV, 2.19 ERA, 37.0 IP, 1.03 WHIP, 9.5 K/9, 0.8 WAR
RP Francisco Lucumi (SEA) - 1-0, 2.45 ERA, 47.2 IP, 0.99 WHIP, 10.6 K/9, 1.2 WAR
RP Fernando Perez (TEX) - 0-0, 3.00 ERA, 30.0 IP, 0.83 WHIP, 8.1 K/9, 0.3 WAR
CL Kymani Alamin (CWS)* - 1-3, 19 SV, 0.86 ERA, 31.1 IP, 1.05 WHIP, 14.6 K/9, 2.2 WAR
CL Rogelio Pereyda (NYY) - 2-1, 16 SV, 1.72 ERA, 31.1 IP, 1.12 WHIP, 8.9 K/9, 1.1 WAR
C Francisco Alvarez (NYY) - .222/.322/.466, 221 AB, 16 HR, 117 wRC+, 1.2 WAR
C Samuel Basallo (TB)* - .286/.351/.607, 262 AB, 20 HR, 161 wRC+, 2.8 WAR
C Ian Citrowske (BAL) - .330/.404/.534, 88 AB, 5 HR, 162 wRC+, 1.1 WAR
1B Bob Colasante (HOU) - .265/.347/.538, 279 AB, 19 HR, 143 wRC+, 2.3 WAR
1B Spencer Horwitz (BOS) - .285/.351/.524, 319 AB, 19 HR, 135 wRC+, 1.8 WAR
1B A.J. Samadani Jr. (BOS)* - .315/.401/.512, 324 AB, 14 HR, 2 SB, 151 wRC+, 2.9 WAR
2B Juan Collado (TOR) - .327/.391/.609, 327 AB, 26 HR, 2 SB, 168 wRC+, 3.6 WAR
2B Jackson Holliday (MIN)* - .303/.357/.462, 314 AB, 10 HR, 2 SB, 125 wRC+, 2.5 WAR
2B Alex Mooney (BAL) - .295/.390/.457, 339 AB, 9 HR, 3 SB, 137 wRC+, 2.4 WAR
3B Elly De La Cruz (TEX) - .321/.366/.557, 352 AB, 19 HR, 10 SB, 149 wRC+, 3.7 WAR
3B Ethan Porter (BAL) - .255/.364/.533, 330 AB, 27 HR, 2 SB, 145 wRC+, 3.1 WAR
3B Fernando Tatis Jr. (TB)* - .251/.342/.479, 315 AB, 17 HR, 19 SB, 127 wRC+, 3.0 WAR
SS Reylin Perez (DET)* - .294/.359/.514, 313 AB, 17 HR, 1 SB, 135 wRC+, 2.7 WAR
SS Edgar Quezada (TB) - .260/.314/.449, 285 AB, 14 HR, 30 SB, 110 wRC+, 2.5 WAR
LF Steve Lewis (DET) - .319/.364/.458, 354 AB, 4 HR, 36 SB, 125 wRC+, 3.3 WAR
LF Jesus Rosario (MIN)* - .345/.393/.547, 223 AB, 11 HR, 2 SB, 157 wRC+, 2.7 WAR (Injured)
CF Subaru Nakashima (TB)* - .290/.342/.537, 335 AB, 20 HR, 32 SB, 140 wRC+, 3.6 WAR
CF Brennon Seigler (TEX) - .286/.339/.479, 357 AB, 17 HR, 3 SB, 125 wRC+, 3.1 WAR
RF Dusty Harpole (CWS) - .327/.391/.462, 327 AB, 8 HR, 1 SB, 138 wRC+, 2.2 WAR
RF Josh Metasavage (NYY)* - .307/.343/.498, 329 AB, 15 HR, 2 SB, 131 wRC+, 1.3 WAR
RF Lars Nootbaar (KC) - .270/.349/.472, 318 AB, 16 HR, 4 SB, 125 wRC+, 1.3 WAR
RF Hedbert Sykes (CLE)* - .369/.408/.556, 347 AB, 13 HR, 26 SB, 168 wRC+, 4.4 WAR

While the National League will feature these star players:

SP Moises Brito (MIL) - 6-2, 3.69 ERA, 75.2 IP, 1.10 WHIP, 9.8 K/9, 1.8 WAR
SP Nelson Chaverria (SD)* - 10-4, 3.19 ERA, 113.0 IP, 1.19 WHIP, 16.7 K/9, 3.4 WAR
SP Carlos Duran (CHC) - 5-2, 2.92 ERA, 101.2 IP, 1.24 WHIP, 8.9 K/9, 3.8 WAR
SP Esteban Izaguirre (WSH) - 8-1, 2.61 ERA, 103.1 IP, 1.08 WHIP, 5.5 K/9, 2.7 WAR
SP Frank Romero (SF) - 3-3, 2.81 ERA, 67.1 IP, 1.17 WHIP, 12.6 K/9, 2.4 WAR
SP Oliver Roque (CHC) - 4-4, 3.38 ERA, 88.0 IP, 1.05 WHIP, 12.8 K/9, 2.3 WAR
SP Freilyn Silverio (PIT) - 5-7, 3.88 ERA, 106.2 IP, 1.29 WHIP, 10.0 K/9, 2.0 WAR
RP Jake Leger (ATL) - 2-1, 2.66 ERA, 50.2 IP, 1.11 WHIP, 6.2 K/9, 0.6 WAR
RP Hayden Wesneski (SD) - 3-2, 2.35 ERA, 53.2 IP, 1.25 WHIP, 7.0 K/9, 0.3 WAR
RP Thomas White (CHC) - 5-4, 3.11 ERA, 72.1 IP, 1.09 WHIP, 9.7 K/9, 0.2 WAR
CL Steve Bell (STL) - 1-5, 24 SV, 1.98 ERA, 36.1 IP, 1.13 WHIP, 12.9 K/9, 1.4 WAR
CL Bayant Melo (MIA)* - 2-4, 19 SV, 2.02 ERA, 35.2 IP, 1.09 WHIP, 12.1 K/9, 1.5 WAR
CL Matthew Peguero (CHC) - 3-4, 14 SV, 4.54 ERA, 33.2 IP, 1.28 WHIP, 13.9 K/9, -0.4 WAR
C Jake Argueta (CHC) - .285/.354/.474, 228 AB, 10 HR, 127 wRC+, 2.2 WAR
C Axiel Plaz (LAD) - .243/.344/.424, 243 AB, 12 HR, 1 SB, 115 wRC+, 2.2 WAR
C Drew Romo (COL)* - .284/.326/.447, 257 AB, 9 HR, 1 SB, 102 wRC+, 2.6 WAR
1B Andres Gracia (MIL)* - .338/.411/.587, 346 AB, 21 HR, 175 wRC+, 4.2 WAR
1B Alejandro Mendoza (STL) - .307/.366/.502, 283 AB, 14 HR, 141 wRC+, 2.5 WAR
1B Tre' Morgan (COL) - .337/.417/.481, 341 AB, 9 HR, 143 wRC+, 2.5 WAR
2B Jack Ruckert (COL)* - .300/.408/.547, 320 AB, 20 HR, 4 SB, 153 wRC+, 3.6 WAR
3B Jesus Galarza (PHI) - .261/.284/.469, 303 AB, 16 HR, 1 SB, 100 wRC+, 1.4 WAR
3B Marco Luciano (NYM) - .255/.356/.477, 298 AB, 18 HR, 134 wRC+, 2.5 WAR
SS Armando Cruz (WSH)* - .317/.346/.480, 300 AB, 9 HR, 3 SB, 120 wRC+, 2.7 WAR
SS Theo Gillen (AZ) - .255/.312/.392, 286 AB, 4 HR, 11 SB, 91 wRC+, 1.6 WAR
LF Rogelio Alvarado (STL)* - .321/.379/.685, 330 AB, 36 HR, 6 SB, 186 wRC+, 5.0 WAR
LF Jackson Chourio (LAD) - .317/.382/.519, 347 AB, 16 HR, 3 SB, 150 wRC+, 3.8 WAR
LF Malakhi Knight (WSH) - .287/.339/.531, 320 AB, 23 HR, 7 SB, 133 wRC+, 2.4 WAR
LF Jesus Morales (CIN)* - .286/.402/.500, 290 AB, 15 HR, 2 SB, 150 wRC+, 3.0 WAR
LF Juan Vasario (COL) - .307/.356/.594, 251 AB, 18 HR, 150 wRC+, 1.8 WAR
CF Cidro Palomino (MIA)* - .247/.316/.449, 332 AB, 10 HR, 27 SB, 111 wRC+, 2.8 WAR
RF Zaid Diaz (MIA) - .278/.376/.534, 320 AB, 23 HR, 3 SB, 144 wRC+, 2.3 WAR
RF Jesus Echavarria (ATL)* - .246/.324/.478, 337 AB, 19 HR, 4 SB, 118 wRC+, 1.0 WAR
RF Robert Hassell III (CIN) - .323/.394/.555, 337 AB, 19 HR, 11 SB, 162 wRC+, 3.8 WAR
RF Austin Riley (LAD)* - .313/.405/.543, 243 AB, 13 HR, 162 wRC+, 2.9 WAR (Injured)
RF Joey Wika (COL) - .350/.435/.532, 340 AB, 5 HR, 8 SB, 159 wRC+, 4.4 WAR

Former Rays in Italics (Gracia never played for the club but was a farmhand who was the key player going to Milwaukee when we traded for Jackson Chourio)

It's the first All-Star nod for Sesay and Quezada, the fourth for Basallo, the third for Subaru and the seventh for Tatis.

The Derby (with Subaru participating):



At least Subaru won a round.

The game:



A rare All-Star Game slugfest, and one ray in particular had an impact on the AL's win with Subaru hitting an early 2-run double. He ended up playing the entire game and was 2-5. Tatis had a double, Quezada was 1-2 and although Basallo was 0-2 both his outs were diving catches by OFs. Sesay meanwhile was one of many pitchers who had trouble tonight - he allowed a run before recording an out but settled in to get out of further trouble.

We also had the draft:



Arnold is a local boy from nearby Bartow, a lefty with 70/75/55 potential, Kabba from Illinois has 80/65 potential but will be a corner OF at best, Kell should be an excellent defensive OF but only has 50/60 potential, Hendren is a utility guy who can play everywhere but catcher and has 65/50 potential as a college player, Delaney is a good-hit but mediocre defensive 2B and Mahoney has 70 potential stuff and 55 control but uh...35 movement.

[Art Deco]

Record: 64-42 (15-11 for the month)
1st place, AL East: 2 games ahead of Boston

For the first three weeks of the month it looked like the Rays would be on easy street, opening up a 6-game lead on the Red Sox and rolling along. But after an impressive 4-game road sweep in Baltimore the wheels came off late as they lost 6 of their final 7 games while Boston went on a 9-1 tear and we're pretty much now where we were when the month started. We suffered one serious injury though as starter Adrian Morejon went down on the 4th with a partially torn labrum and is done for the season so we brought back Rogelio Vela from AAA to take his place in the rotation.

The big off-field moments came via promotion and trade. First we promoted top prospect (#36 overall) Alejandro Cerda from Durham to take over at 1B with Geronimo Satiro continuing to struggle. Cerda had 22 homers between Montgomery and Durham and boasts 60 power and a 65 eye to offset his middling (45) contact. The trade came to bolster the bullpen and get us a reliable closer since Juan Nunez has been up and down all season in the role and briefly got hurt during the month as well. We acquired Yordy Richard from the Phillies, where he had 12 saves (albeit with 4.75 ERA) and boasts 70/75/60 ratings. He's a rental and the cost interestingly was Morejon, who's under contract for one more year at the same salary Richard was making ($22.4M). We also brought Ben Schmidt back up and he hit well late in the month while sending the struggling Alfredo Rosas back to the Bulls.

The day-by-day:



How things look around MLB as we head into the final two months of the season:



Team stats:



Same old story - the offense is decent but homer-reliant, the pitching is solid, and the defense has been really good.



Starting to think we have a Tatis problem. The three-time reigning MVP is 35 now while his contact dropped off to 45 and it showed in July as he had a completely miserable month which took him out of contention for a fourth in a row. We were carried by the crew of Quezada, looking like a true All-Star, Franks, who continues to be a revelation and is now hitting with some power, and Paino, who's positively regressing after an unusually bad first half. Ramos continues to be a bust, though, and Basallo cooled off after his excellent first half.



Maybe we should have gone out and traded for another starter considering how bad Vela was this month in place of Morejon. Otherwise the pitching was largely solid until it wasn't late in the month as Lambert had a couple of bad starts toward the end as well.

We'll check in on the prospects next month after the new draftees have had a chance to get their feet wet.

[Art Deco]

Record: 78-55 (14-13 for the month)
1st place AL East, 1/2 game ahead of Boston

As the record would indicate it was an up-and-down month for the Rays, which turned really down in the latter part of the month, including a 6-game losing streak as part of a stretch in which they dropped 8 of 9. They temporarily dropped into second before winning the final two games of the month to climb back above Boston. There were no injuries except longman Jose Garces missed the final two weeks of the month but was reactivated on September 1, it was just some poor play. In any even the divisional race should be nip-and-tuck in the final month and with Texas and Seattle battling in the West with similar records, there's no guarantee of WC1 if they don't win the division.

How August played out:



And the big picture:



Team stats:



Still looking good all around although part of August's struggles were down to the offense, which has dropped to fifth in the AL in runs scored. A closer look at that:



The good: Tatis bounced back after a midseason swoon while Cerda was quite productive in his first full month and Basallo was steady Eddie. The bad: First-half revelation Franks came back down to Earth, Ramos continues to stink and gave way to Schmidt, and Subaru had a pedestrian month.



Yohemas and Teodo were pretty bad (even if they did combine to go 3-2), although Yohemas did pitch a gem in his final start (a 2-1 win). Richard was excellent as the new closer and Nunez, the deposed closer, showed the form that got him the job initially.

We'll look in on the farm system in the season-ending report in a month.

[Art Deco]

Final Regular Season Record: 99-63 (21-8 for the month)
1st place AL East, #1 seed overall in MLB

After a mediocre August the Rays bounced back to close out the regular season in fine fashion, clinching the division with almost a week to go and nearly reaching the 100-win mark. There were no injuries to report, and the only roster move of note was to bring up veteran IF Masyn Winn to help out on the infield as Owen Paino was hurt again for a bit, and all Winn did was hit 387/412/484 in 31 AB and earn 0.5 WAR for his cameo. Even guys who had fallen out of favor produced in September such as Geronimo Satiro (6 HR in 68 AB, .559 SLG) and Ben Schmidt (297/381/483), who both saw a big increase in playing time. Hell even Jose Ramos hit 3 homers over the final two games, including a 3-run shot in his final AB of the season to get him over the Mendoza Line. So it's all systems go for the playoffs where we'll start against either the Angels or Mariners in the ALDS. September's day-by-day results:



Not shown here is an 8-1 win over Boston on the final day of the season, October 1.



Quezada making an MVP bid with a close 3rd in the AL in WAR. All of the playoff spots were wrapped up or virtually wrapped up with most of the final week to go, making for a boring close to the year with Texas holding off Seattle for the AL West title the only suspense and even that was decided on the final Saturday.



Plenty to like here, although this is a very home run-reliant offense with the poor AVG/OBP numbers yet combined with some outstanding team speed we get it done. And the pitching and defense was outstanding to elite, with only the penchant to walk guys a crack in the armor.



Quezada joined the big two combo of Subaru and Tatis this year as the guy who was a waiver claim from Pittsburgh a couple of years ago has turned into one of the game's best shortstops, putting up a healthy +7.5 ZR on defense to go with 23 HR and 48 SB. Father time continues to catch up with Tatis, who had a great season for most players but a disappointing one by his standards, and this playoff run will be his Tampa Bay swan song as he's a pending free agent. As I said earlier Satiro and Schmidt worked their way back into the lineup despite mediocre season totals, and one player who tailed off in the second half was Crisp so we might do some mixing and matching with the playoff lineup.



Despite losing Morejon for the season midway through the year, the pitching as mentioned was excellent, and Teodo had himself quite a September on the way to winning a career and team-high 17 games:



Hopefully he can carry that form over to the playoffs where he'll be our #3 starter behind Sesay and Yohemas. The latter had a rough September in which he really struggled with his control so there's a bit of concern there. Vela, who was terribly inconsistent, will be the odd starter out of the playoff rotation. The bullpen was a real strength as we have 3-4 guys capable of closing including midseason acquisition Richard, who has the job and has excelled in it.



Not the most inspiring farm system although we have an elite pitching prospect in Vokey, who should be in next year's rotation. Of the rest I like Olivo the most but he needs more seasoning. Speaking of the farm, Durham is up 3-1 in their opening playoff round best-of-7 series.

Next up: The playoffs!

[Art Deco]

The Angels will be the Rays' opponent in the ALDS.



Detroit will face off against Texas in the other ALDS.



St. Louis will square off against Milwaukee in the NLDS.



And the Nats will play the Padres in the other NLDS.

Meanwhile Durham completed their series win over Iowa in the first round of the IL playoffs in 6 games and will face Buffalo in the Championship Round, in which they grabbed a 1-0 series lead. Alfredo Rosas, up earlier in the year with the Rays, was named Series MVP of the first round after going .455-2-5.

[Art Deco]

Franks for the win...



Once more unto the breach, as I try to win a World Series in the only save where I haven't so far. At least things are off to a good start as Jonathan Franks' 2-run homer in the bottom of the 11th gave the Rays a 2-0 walk-off win in Game 1 of the ALDS against the Angels. Tampa Bay had its chances, putting two men on in each of the first three innings and getting a leadoff double from Franks in the 7th but failing to score each time. Zyaire Sesay was outstanding but even he had to pitch out of a jam as the Angels loaded the bases with nobody out in the 6th before he got a force at the plate and two strikeouts to escape. Emiliano Teodo will get the ball tomorrow looking to add to his 17 wins this season.

In the other ALDS opener:

[Art Deco]

Deja vu all over again...



Another day, another 2-0 Rays win in the ALDS, which just happens to also be where the series stands. Rays pitching has now put 20 zeroes on the board in the two games so far and while Emiliano Teodo wasn't as sharp as Zyaire Sesay yesterday he was good enough and the bullpen was perfect in giving the Rays a formidable advantage heading to California. Ben Schmidt supplied the offense today with a 2-run single in the 2nd and those runs stood up the whole way. Earl Yohemas will try to shake off his poor close to the regular season in Game 3 at Anaheim.

Elsewhere in DS action:

[Art Deco]

No runs, no sweep...



The two shutouts from Rays pitching in the first two games of this series masked the struggles of the offense, which scored only two runs in each of those games and today they were laid bare in a 4-0 Angels win to keep this ALDS going for at least another day. They could only manage two hits in all and were shut down by LA rookie Breyllin LaValley, who's only one year removed from the draft. Earl Yohemas pitched well until he didn't, although he left with two on the game 0-0 before Jovani Moran gave up an RBI double and a 2-run triple to put the game out of reach. Garrett Lambert will take the ball tomorrow with another chance to close out the series.

In the other ALDS:



And in yesterday's NLDS action:

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Worth the wait...



Scoring runs in this series was like pulling teeth, but it was the Rays who were all (weary) smiles after going 16 innings to beat the Angels 4-3 and move on to the ALCS. Chris Crisp was the hero with his one-out solo homer in the top of the 16th and named Series MVP, while the Rays bullpen also did yeoman's work, going 10 1/3 innings today without allowing an earned run. Tampa Bay thought they had it won when Fernando Tatis Jr. had homered in the 13th to put the Rays up 3-2 but Joe Boyle gave up a 2-out single which scored the tying run, unearned thanks to an Edgar Quezada error. So now it's back to the Trop for Game 1 of the ALCS with Zyaire Sesay on the hill.

Who will they play? That also got answered today:



The 90-win Tigers got the better of the 98-win Rangers in 4 games so it'll be a Detroit-Tampa Bay ALCS.

Meanwhile, advantages were taken in the NLDS:

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And things are all wrapped up on the NL side with Washington and Milwaukee (thanks in part to our old friend Bryce Clavon) advancing to the NLCS.

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Double the fun...



The Rays hit 5 RBI doubles off one of the game's better pitchers in Eric Groth, riding them and another brilliant postseason outing from Zyaire Sesay to take Game 1 of the ALCS. Owen Paino had two of those RBI double as the Rays had a relatively easy time of it except for a little trouble in the 8th when Andrew Magno came on with a man on first and walked the first two guys he faced to load the bases and bring the tying run to the plate before Yordy Richard got him and Tampa Bay out of that mess. Emiliano Teodo will go tomorrow in Game 2.

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Motoring into the Motor City...



The Rays will head to the Motor City with a 2-0 ALCS lead after today's 5-0 win. Once again the pitching was outstanding with Emiliano Teodo doing his usual "pitching with traffic on but getting out of it" thing and unlike yesterday where it was doubles power that drove the offense today it was home run ball with a trio of them, most notably Subaru Nakashima's 2-run first-inning shot that gave them a 3-0 lead. Speaking of 3-0 leads, that's what the Rays will try to do in 48 hours behind Earl Yohemas at Comerica Park.

In the NLCS lid-lifter:

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A series again?...



Earl Yohemas cruised through the first three innings and was one out away from escaping a bases-loaded jam in the fourth, but made a bad pitch and Adinso Reyes put it in the Comerica Park seats for a grand slam, and that was all she wrote for the Rays in Game 3. The almost complete lack of offense didn't help either. Garrett Lambert will get the ball tomorrow in Game 4 as we try to maintain an advantage.

We're also assured of a Game 5 in the NLCS:

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So close now...



After a toothless Game 3, the Rays offense wasted no time in getting on the board in Game 4 and ended up trouncing the Tigers 10-1 to take a 3-1 ALCS lead. It was a coming-out party for top prospect Alejandro Cerda, who opened the game with a homer in the first and ended up going 4-4 with the homer, 3 RBI and a walk as Detroit couldn't retire him. Chris Crisp has had a big series as well and had a key 2-run double while Ben Schmidt blasted a 2-run homer. All of this made life easy for Garrett Lambert, who still got the job done in fine fashion. Game 1 starter Zyaire Sesay, who has authored two gems so far in the postseason, will look to send the Rays back to St. Pete getting ready for a World Series instead of a Game 6.

In the NLCS:

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World Series time...



The Rays held firm after taking a sizable early lead and got by Detroit 4-3 to win the ALCS in 5 games and advance to the World Series. Alejandro Cerda picked up where he left off in Game 4 with a 2-run first-inning homer and the Rays built a 4-1 lead by the 3rd with ace Zyaire Sesay on the mound But Sesay wasn't sharp today, struggling with his control and letting the Tigers within 4-3 before departing in the 5th. Fortunately though the Rays bullpen was up to the task as the offense dried up after the third, forcing them to make that 4-3 lead stand up the rest of way and a combined 5 3 0 0 0 7 later, they did and the Rays became AL champs. One sour note though - key setup man Joe Boyle had to leave after one batter with what was diagnosed as shoulder inflammation, and he's done for the playoffs. We now await the outcome of the NLCS with Emiliano Teodo ready to take the ball in Game 1 of the Fall Classic. It'll be the Rays' fifth World Series and first since 2029 when they fell to Milwaukee as they're still looking for that first title.

And we're close to an outcome in the NLCS:



Barring three straight Brewer wins the Rays will be facing the team from our nation's capital.

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Game 5:



Game 6:



Milwaukee brought the series back home but couldn't take advantage of that so it'll be Nats-Rays as expected in the Series.

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Phew...



ALCS MVP Chris Crisp picked up where he left off, homering in the first and drilling a bases-clearing double in the 2nd to lead the Rays to a 5-4 win over Washington to open the World Series, but it turned out to be a nail-biter as Yordy Richard struggled in the 9th, loading the bases and giving up a 2-run single but getting a fly out to end the game. Zyaire Sesay will get the ball tomorrow in Game 2.