Less than 24-hours after Danny Farquhar’s misplaced changeup (that also didn’t break) resulted in a grand slam off the bat of Dustin Pedroia, the Tampa Bay Rays will take the field at home for the last time this season. While Boston walked away from last night’s ballgame having clinched a playoff berth for the second time in three years, for Tampa Bay, the come-from-behind loss offered an inglorious — yet fitting — end to the contest; analogous to that of the entire season.
Source: FanGraphs
In the end the bullpen did what its done all season, falter late when it mattered the most. Consider that the relievers, per FanGraphs, maintain a 112-to-70 shutdown-to-meltdown rating, and a -2.17 WPA — nestling the bullpen somewhere between poor and awful. Sure, the ‘pen has improved from the first half of the season to the second, however, the -0.1 combined fWAR speaks volumes.
That’s not to say there haven’t been any rays of light, after all Alex Colome is the fourth best closer in the AL, while Matt Andriese and recent additions Chase Whitley (should he be used as a reliever next season) and Eddie Gamboa have shown their effectiveness out of the ‘pen. They, however, appear to be the exceptions to the rule. Matt Silverman likely will have a busy offseason trying to rebuild the ‘pen.
Look at the bright side: with last night’s crowd of 25,641, Tampa Bay has drawn 1,259,720 (an average of 15,747), surpassing last year’s total of 1,247,668 (15,403 average).
That is neither here or now though, as the Rays have one more home game before they close out the season on the south side of Chicago then Arlington.
The New What Next
Jake Odorizzi (9-6, 3.73 ERA) will take the mound for the Rays, opposite of Eduardo Rodriguez (3-7, 4.84 ERA). Odorizzi is coming off his MLB-most 16th no-decision on Sunday in Baltimore. He has allowed two earned runs or fewer in 20 of his starts. Odorizzi is 3-3, with a 4.05 ERA in 12 starts against Boston, although he is 2-0, with a 1.01 ERA in four starts at Trop.
The righty told Marc Topkin (Tampa Bay Times) he see this turn as being akin to that of a playoff start:
For me, I kind of look at this start as a playoff test, like this would be the first round of the playoffs. It’s going to be a playoff-caliber team, and it’s nice to go against them at the end when they’re trying to clinch.
Rodriguez is coming off a win Tuesday at Orioles. He is 2-4, with a 3.21 ERA in 12 starts since the All-Star Break, allowing three earned runs or fewer in 10 of those games. Rodriguez allowed nine runs on 11 hits over 2-2/3 innings against Tampa Bay on June 27.
You can read more about the pitching matchup in our series preview.
Rays 9/25/16 Starting Lineup
Noteworthiness
— Tragic news has come out of Miami this morning, one of baseball’s foremost young stars, RHP Jose Fernandez (ex-Alonso HS standout), died in a boating accident early Sunday morning.
Fernandez was among three people who were found dead after police responded to a 3:00 a.m. call regarding the accident. The 30-foot boat they were on overturned after crashing into rocks off Miami Beach. As a result of the news, the Marlins have cancelled this afternoon’s game against the Braves.
The team released a statement this morning:
The Miami Marlins organization is devastated by the tragic loss of Jose Fernandez. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family at a very difficult time.
Fernandez was 24. Our thoughts are with his family and the Marlins organization on this tragic Sunday.
— From the Rays: Given today’s tragedy, we are canceling our pregame ceremony recognizing David Ortiz, per his wishes.