Tampa Bay Rays Summer Check Up
Tampa Bay Rays
35-40 (3rd in AL East)
Eye Popping Number
335
The Tampa Bay Rays’ starting pitchers have only thrown 335
innings this season, by far the fewest in the league. Why is that? Because they
implemented a new system that is being called “The Opener.” Essentially, a
relief pitcher starts the game and goes his normal inning, and then in the
second inning, the scheduled starting pitcher will come into the game and go
his usual 5 or 6 innings. The Rays have done this a lot too, not just every
fifth day. The Rays have a young pitching staff, and with young pitchers, would
you rather them start a game against a team’s 1-3 or 4 hitters (usually the
team’s best hitters), or would you rather them try and get into a groove against
the bottom of a team’s line up? In theory it makes sense, but it’s a shock that
the team actually began to implement the strategy this season.
Biggest Surprise
While “The Opener” has been a big surprise, maybe the team’s
other biggest surprise is a starting pitcher that actually starts games, and
does a very good job at it. Blake Snell came into the league as a hyped up
prospect, one of the top pitching ones in baseball at the time. Like the Rays
do with most of their starting pitchers as they come into the league, they
eased him in pretty well. His role has since grown, but he had a disappointing sophomore
season. This season he’s truly filled the ace status for the Rays. He’s already
almost set a career high in innings pitched, so it will be interesting to see
if the team limits his innings down the stretch, but he’s made the most of the
innings he has thrown to the tune of a 2.48 ERA with 103 strikeouts and a 1.06
WHIP (walks plus hits per innings pitched).
Player to Watch
Wilson Ramos came to the Rays as a free agent a couple years
ago on a discounted price while recovering from and ACL injury. When he’s been
healthy, he’s one of the best offensive catchers in the game. This year he’s
hitting .296 with 9 doubles and 9 home runs. The Rays don’t get a lot of
production from their offense, but when it has come this year, it’s come from
Ramos. It’ll be interesting to see if he’s still playing for them once the
trade deadline passes, because his bat could be used on a lot of contending
teams.
What to Watch for at the Deadline
The Rays kicked things off early dumping the salaries of
Alex Colome and Denard Span to the Mariners in a trade a couple of weeks ago. As
they continue to dump contracts and acquire prospects, Ramos will likely be the
next to go. Other than Ramos though, there aren’t a lot of desirable contracts
teams would like to take. The team would likely want someone to take Kevin
Kiermaier’s contract for an elite defender, but that seems unlikely. A lot of
teams will come calling about Chris Archer, as there aren’t a lot of aces out
on the market. The past couple of seasons, the Rays have been adamant about
keeping him, but as he’s struggled a bit this season, and their window to
compete nowhere in sight, they may actually attempt to move him this year.
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