After a 6-3 win over the South Siders on Friday night, the Tampa Bay Rays look to continue their winning streak this afternoon at the Trop.
At 31-21 on the season, Tampa Bay enters play a season-high 10 games above .500 and has won three straight, while Chicago has dropped four in a row.
The Rays scored more than five runs yesterday for the first time in 10 games; they are 18-3 when scoring at least five times.
Shane McClanahan got the start Friday against the White Sox, allowing two runs on six hits (including two solo home runs) and struck out eight without issuing a walk across six frames. By his recent standards, this was a little bit of a downturn for McClanahan, who allowed multiple runs for the first time since May 5. Yet, he’s now picked up wins in four consecutive starts and five of his last six turns, and he had all the support he needed Friday after a four-run first inning. McClanahan now maintains a 2.10 ERA and 2.60 FIP, with a 0.92 WHIP and a 7.42 K/BB across 64.1 innings (11 starts) this season.
Prior to last night’s contest, the Rays placed JP Feyereisen on the 15-Day Injured List due to a right shoulder impingement.
Feyereisen has been one of the best relievers in all of baseball this season, maintaining a spotless 0.00 ERA and 1.71 FIP through 22 outings, with 25 strikeouts and just one unearned run on seven hits (all base hits) and five walks across 24.1 innings. The right-hander said he’d been pitching through some discomfort for a few weeks, and it finally became too much to handle Thursday afternoon, in Arlington.
As it is right now, we’re not overly concerned. The biggest concern is the contributions that he was making to our bullpen. He’s putting together a pretty special season.
— Kevin Cash
In the series finale against the Rangers, Feyereisen recorded one out to end the eighth, but his velocity and stuff were noticeably down during the nine-pitch outing. The Rays’ skipper said it was “fairly telling just watching how the ball was coming out” that Feyereisen probably needed some rest. He did not return in the ninth inning.
It’s early in the season, and hopefully, it’s nothing too serious. It’s been pretty minor, and then yesterday was kind of just the breaking point, basically.
— JP Feyereisen
He had not received the results of an MRI when he discussed his status prior to Friday’s contest, which left some uncertainty regarding a timeline for his return to the mound. He did concede, however, that it felt “very similar” to the shoulder injury that sidelined him from July 21-August 30 last season.
To take Feyereisen’s spot on the roster, the Rays recalled RHP Calvin Faucher from Triple-A Durham.
It will be difficult to replace Feyereisen’s consistent production in high-leverage situations, however, there’s some hope that Andrew Kittredge — who threw a scoreless inning last night for Durham, while striking out one — will return relatively soon.
The New What Next
Drew Rasmussen (5-2, 3.47 ERA) will look to bounce back from his toughest start, pitching opposite Dylan Cease (4-2, 3.69 ERA).
Drew Rasmussen got the start Monday and allowed five runs on five hits and three walks with three strikeouts across three innings. His three walks were a season-high, as were the number of home runs allowed (two), and runs relinquished. It wasn’t a sharp outing for the right-hander, although he’s had few mistakes in 2022, so one can assume this was just a bump in the road. He maintains a 3.47 ERA and a 3.54 FIP, with a 1.09 WHIP and a 3.38 K/BB through 46.2 innings on the season. Rasmussen allowed three runs on five hits across five innings against the ChiSox on April 15.
Dylan Cease allowed an unearned run on two hits and four walks while striking out five over seven innings on Sunday against the Cubs. Cease was effectively wild Sunday, throwing only 63 of 108 pitches for strikes (58% strike rate). The lone run against him came when Jake Burger misplayed a difficult ground ball with two outs in the seventh. May was a bit of a roller-coaster ride for Giolito, as he allowed one run or fewer in four starts and six or more in the other two. For the month, he amassed a 3.98 ERA and 1.29 WHIP with a 3.69 K/BB in 31.2 innings of work. Cease limited the Rays to one run on three hits and two walks across 5.2 innings back on April 15.
You can read about the series in our preview, while the starting lineup is below.
Rays 6/4/22 Starting Lineup
- Kiermaier CF
- Margot DH
- Diaz 3B
- Choi 1B
- Arozarena LF
- Brujan SS
- Phillips RF
- Paredes 2B
- Zunino C