X-Rays Spex

A Below Average Rays Fan Blog

TNWN: Rays look to keep it rolling in Cleveland tonight

By Leave a Comment

  • Kevin Kiermaier hit one of four homers last night — a three-run inside the park home run to the left-center gap. (Photo Credit: Tampa Bay Rays)

After a 7-2 win over Cleveland on Thursday, the Tampa Bay Rays have a chance to win their third consecutive game tonight. The Rays have not won or lost any more than two consecutive games in the month of May with seven games left to play. They could also move to 12 games over .500 for the first time this season.

Tampa Bay has scored 15 runs in the past two games. Of note, Tommy Pham, Avisail Garcia, and Kevin Kiermaier homered in each of those contests and accounted for five of the seven runs last night.

Per Neil Solondz (Rays Radio), it’s the first time three Rays players have done that in back-to-back contests.

Willy Adames appears to be heating up. The shortstop has hit three homers in a 20-at-bat span and has batted .316 in the month of May with a .934 OPS.

The New What Next

The Rays will start Blake Snell (3-4, 3.31 ERA) tonight, pitching opposite of Shane Bieber (3-2, 3.22 ERA).

Blake Snell allowed one run on six hits and a walk across six innings in a no-decision against New York on Saturday. He struck out nine. Snell scattered six singles throughout his six-inning stint, pitching very well along the way. His only blemish: a third-inning run on two singles, a walk, and a wild pitch. Snell has a 3.31 ERA and a 1.00 WHIP this season

Shane Bieber was dominant in a complete game shutout against the Orioles, scattering five hits while fanning 15 on 107 pitches (75 strikes, 65% strike rate). The 23-year-old has allowed three-plus runs in four of his 10 starts, but he is still 3-2 with a 3.22 ERA. He has punched out 69 in 58-2/3 innings this season. Bieber relies primarily on a 94 mph four-seam fastball with added backspin and an 85 mph 12-6 slider, while also mixing in a whiffy 82 mph curveball with exceptional bite, and a firm 88 mph changeup with arm-side fade and natural sink. Key Matchups: Ji-Man Choi (3-6, 2 2B), Brandon Lowe (1-4, BB), Tommy Pham (2-8, 2B, RBI, BB)

You can read about the series in our preview, while the starting lineup and Noteworthiness are below.

TNWN: Rays vs Cleveland — a series preview

Rays 5/24/19 Starting Lineup

  1. Meadows DH
  2. Pham LF
  3. Choi 1B
  4. Garcia RF
  5. B. Lowe 2B
  6. Adames SS
  7. Kiermaier CF
  8. d’Arnaud C
  9. Velazquez 3B
  10. Snell LHP

Noteworthiness

— Next stop: St. Petersburg! Marc Topkin (Tampa Bay Times) reports that two-way prospect Brendan McKay has been promoted to Triple-A, and will start on Tuesday for the Durham Bulls.

The 23-year-old tossed six shutout innings on Wednesday — bringing his scoreless streak to 20 innings — while fanning nine to give him 62 strikeouts in 41-2/3 innings of work (13.41 K/9). He is 3-0 with a 1.30 ERA in eight games.

With Brent Honeywell still working his way back from Tommy John surgery, McKay becomes the top healthy pitching prospect in the organization. And though he is still working on being a two-way player, he has hit just .167 with two extra-base hits and a .448 OPS thus far.

— With a win tonight, Kevin Cash will have a .500 record with Tampa Bay as a big league manager over four-plus seasons.

TNWN: Rays vs Cleveland — a series preview

By Leave a Comment

Avisail Garcia helped break open the floodgates in the series finale against the Dodgers. (Photo Credit: Tampa Bay Rays)

After a brief two-game series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Tampa Bay Rays set their sights on the mid-west when they head to Cleveland for a four-game set, starting Thursday. Tampa Bay split its series against Los Angeles while Cleveland is coming off a three-game sweep by the Athletics.

(Stats Credit: ESPN)

Tampa Bay bounced back from a pair of ugly losses with an 8-1 win against the best team in the National League. Prior to the series finale, the Rays allowed 14 walks and 20 runs across 18 innings, but they cleaned things up and walked a total of batters on Wednesday. Rays pitchers didn’t tap dance around the zone, rather they attacked an aggressive hitting team and coaxed 10 grounders and 10 fly balls.

Even though Cleveland has gone 8-6 over a two-week stretch,
they have been especially tough to strikeout, striking out just 19.4% of the time. Compare that to Tampa Bay which has struck out twice as many times over the same stretch. Still, Cleveland hasn’t been able to consistently string together hits and drive in runs, which became glaringly obvious in the three-game series loss to the Athletics. Be that as it may, they still have outperformed Tampa Bay in almost every offensive category over that stretch. Rays hitters will have to do what they did in the latter portion of the game against Clayton Kershaw, as well as the contest against Rich Hill, and pounce on any mistakes that may come their way.

Meanwhile, if Rays hurlers can perform as they had in four of the last six days, they could make it very difficult on a Cleveland team that is reeling from a string of unsteady play.

(Stats Credit: FanGraphs)

The Rays went 4-2 against Cleveland last season, including 2-1 at Progressive Field.

Pitching Probables

Over the next four days Kevin Cash will lean on an opener/bulk guy combo to be announced before the series opener, Blake Snell (3-4, 3.31 ERA), Charlie Morton (4-0, 2.65 ERA), and probably Jalen Beeks (3-0, 3.19 ERA) who will follow an opener in the series finale. Terry Francona will counter with Adam Plutko (1-0, 1.50 ERA), Shane Bieber (3-2, 3.22 ERA), Carlos Carrasco (4-4, 4.30 ERA), and Trevor Bauer (4-3, 3.95 ERA).

(Stats Credit: FanGraphs)

TBA

Adam Plutko allowed one run on one hit across six innings. He struck out four and walked two. The right-hander missed the beginning of the season with a right forearm strain but showed no rust Saturday as the only hit he allowed was a solo home run to Trey Mancini. Plutko finished at 83 pitches, although it makes sense the team took it slow in his first big league start of the season. He relies primarily on a 91 mph four-seam fastball and a whiffy 86 mph 12-6 slider, while also mixing in an 83 mph changeup and a 76 mph curveball.

Blake Snell allowed one run on six hits and a walk across six innings in a no-decision against New York on Saturday. He struck out nine. Snell scattered six singles throughout his six-inning stint, pitching very well along the way. His only blemish: a third-inning run on two singles, a walk, and a wild pitch. Snell has a 3.31 ERA and a 1.00 WHIP this season

Shane Bieber was dominant in a complete game shutout against the Orioles, scattering five hits while fanning 15 on 107 pitches (75 strikes, 65% strike rate). The 23-year-old has allowed three-plus runs in four of his 10 starts, but he is still 3-2 with a 3.22 ERA. He has punched out 69 in 58-2/3 innings this season. Bieber relies primarily on a 94 mph four-seam fastball with added backspin and an 85 mph 12-6 slider, while also mixing in a whiffy 82 mph curveball with exceptional bite, and a firm 88 mph changeup with arm-side fade and natural sink. Key Matchups: Ji-Man Choi (3-6, 2 2B), Brandon Lowe (1-4, BB), Tommy Pham (2-8, 2B, RBI, BB)

Chalie Morton gave up five uncharacteristic runs (three earned) on four hits and four walks while striking out six over four innings of work on Sunday. Morton was ineffective and inefficient, throwing 88 pitches (56 strikes, 64% strike rate) in his turn. Walks continue to be a problem: Over the last month, he has an impressive 10.5 K/9, yet a 3.7 BB/9 (2.84 K/BB).

Carlos Carrasco allowed three runs on seven hits and two walks while striking out four across five innings on Monday. Carrasco worked in and out of trouble constantly, allowing nine base runners. Beware the long ball: Home runs continue to plague the right-hander, as he carries a 1.7 HR/9 this season and gave up two solo shots in his last start. He has a 4-4 record with a 4.30 ERA in 10 starts this season. Key Matchups: Willy Adames (2-3), Erik Kratz (2-4), Brandon Lowe (2-6, 3B, HR, RBI), Tommy Pham (3-6, HR, RBI, BB), Andrew Velasquez (1-3)

Jalen Beeks put together an uncharacteristically bad outing on Tuesday, although he was BABIP’d to a large extent. In the fifth inning, after retiring seven batters in a row, Beeks allowed a one-out walk to Max Muncy, a stolen base, and a fly out to right — putting a runner at third with two outs. After Cody Bellinger walked, and Kike Hernandez rolled an RBI single to right, Corey Seager singled to right-center, making it 5-0 and chasing the left-hander. Even so, Beeks has a 3.13 ERA, 2.64 FIP, and a 9.08 K/9 on the season.

Trevor Bauer allowed four runs on four hits across six innings on Tuesday. He struck out five and walked four. Bauer struggled with his command for the second consecutive outing as he needed a season-high 123 pitches (73 strikes, 59% strike rate) to work through six frames. The right-hander has given up 11 earned runs — including three homers — and has a 1/1 K/BB in his last two outings. Bauer relies primarily on a whiffy 95 mph four-seam fastball, while also mixing in an 80 mph curveball with exceptional bite, a firm 87 mph changeup with arm-side fade, a whiffy 85 mph cutter with sink, and an 81 mph sweeping slider. Key Matchups: Ji-Man Choi (1-2, HR, 2 RBI, BB), Avisail Garcia (9-28, 3B, 2 HR, 5 RBI, 2 BB)

TNWN: Rays vs Royals — a series preview, part two

By Leave a Comment

Yandy Diaz went 2-for-4 on Sunday with a run scored and two runs batted in. (Photo Credit: Tampa Bay Rays)

The Tampa Bay Rays went into Boston with revenge on their mind after the Red Sox swept the Rays a week ago, and left having swept the World Series champions. Now, the Rays head to Kansas City where they look to avenge the 10-2 shellacking they were handed last Wednesday when they start a four-game series against the Royals on Monday. The Royals are coming off a series loss to the Angels.

(Stats Credit: ESPN)

The Rays were able to do a couple of things well in Boston which stands in contrast to the previous series: hit the ball with runners in scoring position, and pitch the ball. A week ago Tampa Bay hit just .235 wRISP, while the bullpen coughed up five runs with two outs. Compare that with their most recent series, when they didn’t allow a single two-out run — even though the ‘pen bent on Saturday but didn’t break — and hit .308 wRISP.

While the Royals sit at the bottom of their respective division, they have, essentially, matched the Rays offense over the last 14 days. They also are a better run-scoring team than Boston; a -36 differential vs. a -21 differential (respectively) speaks to that.

Moving forward, Tampa Bay saw what Kansas City is capable of on Wednesday — they will again face Jake Junis (who held them to just one run) on Tuesday — and they should not take the Royals for granted. After all, the Rays bullpen allowed five two-out runs in the series finale last week.

(Stats Credit: FanGraphs)

The Rays are 2-1 against the Royals this season and swept the Royals at Kauffman Stadium in 2018.

Pitching Probables

Kevin Cash will lean on Yonny Chirinos (3-0, 3.55 ERA) — who will follow opener Ryne Stanek (0-0, 1.32 ERA) on Monday — Blake Snell (2-2, 2.54 ERA), bulk innings guy Jalen Beeks (1-0, 3.32 ERA), and Charlie Morton (3-0, 2.76 ERA). Ned Yost will respond with Brad Keller (2-2, 3.41 ERA), Jake Junis (2-2, 5.57 ERA), Danny Duffy (0-1, 5.40 ERA), and Jorge Lopez (0-2, 5.08 ERA).

(Stats Credit: FanGraphs)

Ryne Stanek held Boston hitless but walked one batter over two innings as an opener on Friday. The right-hander was efficient, recording six outs on just 14 pitches. Stanek has a sparkling 1.32 ERA and 0.79 WHIP as an opener, totaling 11-1/3 innings.

Yonny Chirinos gave up three runs on six hits and a walk over six innings of work while striking out three. Three of the six hits the right-hander allowed left the yard, but the right-hander did a good job keeping runners off base before the blasts. Chirinos now has a pair of quality starts under his belt even though he is technically considered a bulk guy. Whatever his role, Chirinos has performed to a 3.55 ERA and a 4.4 K/BB over 25-1/3 innings this season.

Brad Keller coughed up five runs on seven hits and three walks over 6-1/3 innings against the Rays in his last start. He struck out three in the 6-3 loss. The right-hander nursed a 3-2 lead after six innings, but Mike Zunino clubbed a two-run home run to center field, chasing Keller from the game. He’ll take a 3.41 ERA and 1.45 K/BB across 37 innings into his next start, on Monday. Key Matchups: Willy Adames (1-3, 3B), Avisail Garcia (3-11, 2B, RBI, BB), Kevin Kiermaier (1-3), Brandon Lowe (1-3, 2B, RBI), Tommy Pham (2-3, 3B, BB)

Blake Snell allowed three runs (two earned) on five hits with three strikeouts and two walks across 3-1/3 innings on Wednesday. In his first game back since fracturing his toe, Snell wasn’t particularly sharp and was lifted after 65 pitches. He, however, had yielded one run and struck out 33 in his last 19 innings prior to the injury. His 0.92 WHIP, .204 batting average against, and 39 strikeouts across 28-1/3 total innings stand as his most impressive marks. He figures to be available for 80-plus pitches this time around.

Jake Junis left his start Wednesday against Tampa Bay with a right-hand contusion which he suffered on a line drive up the middle. Junis was in the midst of a good start prior to the injury, allowing just one run on four hits over five innings, striking out six while walking two. Key Matchups: Ji-Man Choi (2-3, 2B), Kevin Kiermaier (3-8, 2B, BB), Brandon Lowe (2-4, 2 RBI), Micahel Perez (1-4, BB)

Jalen Beeks was great against the Royals on Tuesday, allowing two hits and two walks while striking out seven over 4-2/3 innings. Beeks followed opener Ryne Stanek into the game and maintained a four-run cushion to secure his first win of the season. The right-hander worked within the strike zone, racking up 17 called strikes. It was a good showing from Beeks, who now has struck out 20 batters in 19 innings on the season.

Danny Duffy allowed three runs on five hits and three walks over five innings while striking out in his first start of the season after being activated from the Injured List prior to Friday’s start. The left-hander wasn’t particularly sharp throwing 51 of 86 pitches for strikes (59% strike rate). Duffy relies primarily on a 94 mph four-seam fastball with some added backspin and a firm 78 mph curveball slight glove-side movement, while also mixing in a whiffy 93 mph sinker with neither sink nor run, a hard 87 mph slider with little depth, and a hard 87 mph changeup with added backspin. Key Matchups: Willy Adames (1-3, RBI), Yandy Diaz (1-3), Avisail Garcia (12-36, 2 2B, RBI, 2 BB), Mike Zunino (2-8, 2B, BB)

Charlie Morton faced Boston for the second consecutive start and allowed just two hits and four walks across six innings of work, on 102 pitches (61 strikes, 60% strike rate). The right-hander didn’t have his best stuff, yet he still kept the Red Sox off the board. Morton worked out of a jam  in the second inning —  striking out Jackie Bradley Jr. and getting Christian Vazquez to ground out to short after allowing a pair of base runners with one out.

Boston again threatened in the third when Mookie Betts reached base on an infield single then advanced into scoring position on a throwing error by Willy Adames. Betts moved into third on a wild pitch, but the right-hander came up with a big strikeout against Xander Bogaerts to end the threat.

Morton got a little help from Zunino in the fourth when he picked Rafael Devers off first base to get the first out of the frame. Even though Michael Chavis drew a walk one pitch later, Tampa Bay turned a 6-4-3 double play to close out the inning. Morton coaxed a second double play an inning later, in the fifth.

Jorge Lopez allowed four runs on six hits and three walks across 3-2/3 innings while striking out two. The right-hander was staked to a 7-1 lead after three innings, but Lopez couldn’t find the plate and threw only 37 of 77 pitches for strikes (48% strike rate) before Yost turned to the ‘pen. He’ll take a 5.08 ERA and 2.58 K/BB across 32-2/3 innings into his start against the Rays. Lopez relies primarily on his 93 mph sinker with slight arm side run, a firm 81 mph curveball with 12/6 movement, and a 94 mph four-seam fastball with some natural sinking action, while also mixing in an 89 mph 12/6 slider, and a firm 87 mph changeup with natural sink and fade. Key Matchups: Willy Adames (1-2, RBI), Ji-Man Choi (1-1, BB), Kevin Kiermaier (2-2, 2B)

Noteworthiness

— The Rays announced a pair of roster moves ahead of their series against the Royals.

The team will promote 1B Nate Lowe, their minor-league player of the year in 2018, and option INF Christian Arroyo back to Triple-A Durham. The prodigious hitting Lowe is batted .300 with three home runs and 14 runs batted at Durham, with a .987 OPS. Meanwhile, Arroyo had not fared well since being promoted to the big leagues, going 0-6 with five strikeouts and one walk.

LBWMF: Rays, Snell fall in season opener, 5-1

By Leave a Comment

  • Tyler Glasnow (pictured), Yonny Chirinos, and Ryan Yarbrough greeted fans as they made their way into Tropicana Field on Thursday. (Photo Credit: Anthony Ateek/X-Rays Spex)

Things looked promising in the early stages of the season opener for the Tampa Bay on Thursday, yet the Houston Astros went on to hand Blake Snell the Rays a 5-1 Opening Day defeat in front of a sellout crowd.

Snell took the mound in the first inning and mowed over the first three hitters in order, all on 13 pitches (10 strikes) — coaxing a pair of pop-ups and getting Alex Bregman to chase a filthy 80 mph off-speed to cap the frame.

https://twitter.com/draysbay/status/1111359543085273095

Meanwhile, Tampa Bay took an early lead in the bottom half of the inning. Austin Meadows led off the home half with an opposite-field home run, his first ever leadoff homer. It was the first Opening Day leadoff homer for the Rays since Gerald Williams in 2000 off Brad Radke.

I kind of blanked out, I don’t remember much. But being able to do that first at-bat of Opening Day it’s definitely special. .. It’s cool. I just put a swing on a good pitch that he made. I was able to get the barrel out and get a good swing on it. 

— Austin Meadows

Tommy Pham followed with a single to center, which extended his on-base hit streak to 33 games (dating back to last season) — the fourth-longest streak in franchise history. Yet Pham, who reached base twice, got caught in a pickle during Ji-Man Choi’s at-bat for the first out of the season. Choi and Brandon Lowe then grounded out and struck out (respectively), while Tampa Bay settled for just one run.

The Rays had another chance to extend that lead in the second inning when Yandy Diaz walked and Joey Wendle was hit by a pitch; the first of two on the day. However, Willy Adames and Mike Zunino both struck out, sandwiched around Kevin Kiermaier’s ground out fielder’s choice. That began a string of at-bats where Verlander retired 14 in a row, allowing Houston to take control of the contest.

After Snell worked around a Gurriel single for a scoreless second inning, he was roughed up as Houston took the lead in the third. Snell walked Robinson Chirinos on a close full-count pitch before number nine hitter, Jake Marisnick, worked six-pitch free pass of his own. On the very next pitch, George Springer blasted a curveball over the center field wall for a two-run lead.

In the fourth inning, Michael Brantley paid Snell back for a second inning swinging strikeout.

https://twitter.com/draysbay/status/1111362599394914304

Brantley deposited a first-pitch fastball to right field, while Jose Altuve homered to left in the fifth.

I was happy with a lot of things I did. The only thing I was upset with was sequencing. I didn’t mix pitches like I should’ve been doing. I did it later, but to learn that, it took me giving up home runs.

— Blake Snell

Last season, Snell allowed three homers only once, on May 13 against the Orioles, and two times when he allowed as many as five runs.

Snell is known for his repertoire of four pitches, yet on Thursday he leaned heavily on his fastball (35) and curveball (34) — 76% of the total number of pitches he threw.

I fell in love with the curveball and kept throwing it. It’s a good team, and that’s what they’re going to do. Frustrating, but a lot to learn. A lot to learn, and I’m happy about that.

— Blake Snell

To his credit, the reigning AL Cy Young Award winner was able to finish six innings on 91 pitches (55 strikes, 60% strike rate), although he allowed six hits and two walks, while striking out just three. Snell did not strike a batter out over the final four innings.

Jalen Beeks followed Snell and threw three scoreless innings, while fanning five (four swinging) and scattering four hits on 54 pitches (38 strikes, 70% strike rate).

https://twitter.com/draysbay/status/1111386149371572224

Beeks topped out at 94.7 mph with his fastball and leaned on a new delivery where he pauses ever so slightly and hides the ball well on his lefthand side. If results are indicative of anything, his new delivery is effective and deadly.

Superlatives aside though, at the end of the day the Rays were held to just four hits, two by Pham. True, Justin Verlander is an outstanding hurler and was complimentary of Tampa Bay’s hitters, yet Mike Zunino, Willy Adames, Brandon Lowe, and Kevin Kiermaier looked abysmal at the plate and combined for eight strikeouts. Moving forward, there’s always tomorrow.

The New What Next

Game number two of the season is on Friday with another terrific pitching matchup. Charlie Morton (15-3, 3.13 ERA) will face his most recent team, pitching opposite of Gerrit Cole (15-5, 2.88 ERA).

Charlie Morton will make his first regular season start with the Rays since coming over from the Astros, whom he helped win a World Series in 2017. Morton, who made his first All-Star appearance in 2018 — thanks to a 3.13 ERA and 201 punch outs — inked a two-year deal during the winter. Last season he relied primarily on a whiffy 80 mph knuckle curveball, a 96 mph two-seam worm burning sinker, and a swing-and-miss 97 mph four-seam fastball with obvious tail, while also mixing in an 88 mph splitter with arm side fade, and a whiffy 89 mph cutter.

Gerrit Cole finished fifth in the AL Cy Young race after going 15-5 with a 2.88 ERA and 276 K’s across 200-1/3 innings of his first season with Houston. Cole performed to a .198 opponents’ average and a 1.03 WHIP, leading the AL by averaging a 12.4 K/9 as a starter. Cole has faced the Rays just twice in his career, going 0-1 with a 3.46 ERA across 13 total innings of work. He, however, was great in his lone start at the Trop, throwing six innings of three-run ball (just one earned) while fanning five last season. In 2018, he relied primarily on his 97 mph swing-and-miss four-seam fastball, while also mixing in an 89 mph hard slider, and an 83 mph worm-killer curveball. Key Matchups: Tommy Pham (7-12, 2 2B, HR, 3 RBI), Daniel Robertson (2-3), Joey Wendle (2-5, 2 RBI)

You can read about the series in our preview.

The New What Next: Rays vs. Astros — an opening series preview

Rays 3/29/19 Starting Lineup

Noteworthiness

Tampa Bay Rays 2019 primer

By Leave a Comment

  • Kevin Kiermaier and the Rays got their hacks in the batter’s box at the Trop on Monday. (Photo Credit: Tampa Bay Rays)

The days, hours, and minutes are quickly winding their way down to Thursday at 4:00 PM, when the first pitch of the 2019 season will be thrown. This season, the Rays look to not only build on their successful 90-72 campaign but also ascend to the postseason for the first time since 2013.

Let’s take a look at some of the Rays offseason moves, and take a stab at predicting the Opening Day roster.

Tampa Bay made some solid offseason additions, many of whom will impact the 2019 roster right off the bat. Right-hander Charlie Morton will slot in second in the rotation, Yandy Diaz will spend time both at first and third base, catcher Mike Zunino will be Tampa Bay’s primary backstop, outfielders Avisail Garcia and Guillermo Heredia will give the team some pop, while Emilio Pagan and Adam Kolarek are battling it out for one last spot on the roster. As Neil Solondz (Rays Radio) writes, the decision on Pagan and Kolarek will tie into the Rays’ first three opponents Houston, Colorado, and San Francisco.

The Rays also saw the departures of Sergio Romo, CJ Cron, Mallex Smith, Carlos Gomez, Jake Bauers, and Jesus Sucre.

Pitching

Last season Blake Snell rode a 1.89 ERA/2.95 FIP, 221 strikeouts, and a .97 WHIP across 180-2/3 innings to his first American League Cy Young Award. Can he do it again? Time will tell. Tyler Glasnow, who has been called the right-handed Snell, performed to a 4.20 ERA/4.44 FIP following his acquisition from Pittsburgh. Yet he is projected to improve on his numbers in 2019. Morton, who made his first All-Star appearance in 2018 thanks to a 3.13 ERA and 201 punch outs, inked a two-year deal. They will constitute the Rays starting rotation.

The final two spots will be occupied by openers, who will work ahead of Ryan Yarbrough (who hurled 147-1/3 innings last season) and Yonny Chirinos (who hurled 89-2/3 innings in 2018). Ryne Stanek, and Pagan or Kolarek are Tampa Bay’s opener options, while Jalen Beeks is slated for bulk innings/long relief work. Wilmer Font, who is out of options, will also be on the Opening Day roster. Font could be used as a bulk inning guy, although he could also be used as an opener when needed.

In the bullpen, Jose Alvarado and Chaz Roe — who combined for nine saves last season — will likely close by committee, while Diego Castillo is expected to be the setup man.

https://twitter.com/PitchingNinja/status/1110242807371964420

Catching

The Rays traded away speedy outfielder Mallex Smith to the Mariners for Zunino, who hit 20 home runs in 113 games last season. He is regarded as one of the best power hitting catchers, although his overall line is mediocre at best. Thankfully Zunino is a good defensive catcher. Michael Perez will be Zunino’s understudy as it were. Perez was impressive after he was acquired from Arizona, however, his time was limited due to a season-ending injury.

Infielders

Tampa Bay was faced with a challenge when the team traded Bauers away to Cleveland: who would take over first base? However, the answer became clear during Spring Training as Ji-Man Choi and Yandy Diaz showed they can handle the spot. Moreover, the Rays recently extended infielder/outfielder Brandon Lowe, and we shouldn’t forget about utility man Daniel Robertson who has shown to be defensively gifted wherever he is positioned.

Unfortunately, third baseman Matt Duffy will start the season on the injured list. Diaz, Robertson, and Joey Wendle are expected to fill in for Duffy while he mends on the IL. Wendle, otherwise, will spend the most time at second.

Shortstop Willy Adames rounds out the infield and is primed for a breakout season after slashing .305 BA/.383 OBP/.435 SLG/.818 OPS with seven homers and 35 RBI in the second half of last season.

Outfielders

Kevin Kiemaier is not only the face of the franchise, but he will also patrol centerfield … assuming he has a clean, injury-free season. Tommy Pham, acquired at the trade deadline, slashed .331 BA/.433 OBP/.580 SLG/1.013 OPS in the second half of the season and should spend his time prowling left-field. Austin Meadows will get the majority of the reps in right-field, while Garcia — who is coming off of knee surgery and had an excellent Spring — will platoon the corners.

There are correlations between the graphs (below) when the Rays performed exceedingly well, and when they didn’t. From series 29 onward, Tampa Bay mostly fired on all cylinders and ultimately put up an epic 41-25 second half. The question begs, did the Rays make enough offseason moves to perform consistently without the lulls?

Noteworthiness

— Now I’m feeling kind of blue. According to Marc Topkin (Tampa Bay Times), the Rays are potentially holding off their plan to light Tropicana Field’s roof blue for ballgames.

— The Rays updated their concession/food hall options on Monday. More importantly, though, the team confirmed that the Impossible Burger will be available at Tropicana Field this season. Yes!

— Just six days left to preorder a “Legend of Dan Johnson” t-shirt. Ordering information at the link.