The start to the Tampa Bay Rays Grapefruit League season hasn’t gone well after dropping three in a row, including an 8-5 loss to the Yankees on Sunday. Try not to put too much thought into it, after all, it is just Spring Training. Tyler Glasnow fanned four across 1-2/3 innings, while the Rays hit four homers — the bright spots for Tampa Bay on Sunday.
Felt like I’ve been doing it for a while, felt really comfortable as far as delivery stuff goes. … Just kind of messing around with different sequences and whatnot, but overall I’m pleased.
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I think today was very encouraging with how comfortable it was with the first time I had done it. I did it in BPs and bullpens and stuff, but once you get out there, you don’t know how
— Tyler Glasnowits going to go. But it probably felt more comfortable today than most of my bullpens. It was nice to get back into that go-and-compete mode again.
The Yankees scored first after Tyler Wade hit a one-out ground-rule double to left, and Luke Voit followed with an opposite-field run-scoring base hit to right-center.
Estevan
I think with obviously (the) pitch execution, there were times (it could be better), passed ball, passed
— Tyler Glasnowball and (a run) scored — no excuses by any means, but it’s early. The spin did feel good, just have to make sure I incorporate it more so in the strike zone, especially early in counts, but overall it felt pretty good.
Catcher Mike Zunino was impressed with Glasnow’s overall performance.
It’s unbelievable. You just look at him being as big as he is. but he’s a heck of an athlete and the stuff he has on top of it. There’s some deception, the stuff is outright nasty, so when you put those two together he’s really got a lot of stuff going for him.
— Mike Zunino
In his first appearance of the Spring, Ryne Stanek gave up a three-run homer to Voit in the fourth inning. The “opener” issued a one-out walk to DJ LeMahieu and gave up a single to Tyler Wade before Voit’s blast to left.
The Rays got on the board in the fifth inning when Adames and Zunino went back-to-back with a pair of solo home runs. Later in the inning, Meadows homered off the batter’s eye in center field to make it a three-run contest.
I felt like I hit it pretty well. I’m not sure if it was wind-aided or not, but if it was cool, if it wasn’t, it’s cool. It’s still a home run.
— Austin Meadows
An inning later, Jason Coats hit his second homer of the Spring for Tampa Bay. Coats is the only player with multiple homers for the Rays.
The New What Next
Tampa Bay will host the Marlins on Monday. Colin Poche looks to bounce back from an inauspicious outing in the Grapefruit League opener when he takes the mound opposite of Jose Urena. Also slated to see mound time are Casey Sadler, Oliver Drake, Andrew Kittredge, Hunter Wood, and Brandon Lawson.
Rays 2/25/19 Starting Lineup
- Lowe 1B
- Pham LF
- Wendle 2B
- Diaz 3B
- McCarthy CF
- Robertson SS
- Zunino DH
- Coats RF
- Perez C
- Poche
Noteworthiness
— Kevin Kiermaier is tentatively set to return to the lineup on Tuesday in Sarasota. He has been out with a pretty nasty blister on his right heel.
— Kevin Cash said that there is no set date for Matt Duffy (hamstring) to start playing, although “he’s chomping at the bit, it’s more us slowing him down.”