The Tampa Bay Rays return home from a weather shortened road trip to Baltimore after dropping a pair of games to the Orioles. On Tuesday, they will welcome the Cleveland Indians into the friendly confines of Tropicana Field for a three-game series.
No one on Tampa Bay’s highly vaunted starting rotation has recorded a victory ― or completed seven innings ― and own a bloated 5.67 ERA in the first six contests of the season. They’ve also allowed 39 hits (including nine home runs) in 33-1/3 innings; something that is shocking to say the least.
As a staff, we’re not happy with what we’re doing, Jake Odorizzi told reporters on the subject of the Rays mediocre pitching. And that just speaks to the standard that we’ve set for ourselves.
Blame it on the isolated bad inning that’s plagued the team almost daily. Or, blame the staff that’s made a habit out of falling behind batters, which in turn forces the pitchers to lose control of the at-bats, putting each into a vulnerable position. Whatever the case, it will be up to Matt Moore, Drew Smyly and Chris Archer to stop the bleeding against Cleveland, a team that scored 19 runs in its first four games.
To that end, the Rays offense certainly hasn’t been a juggernaut, not in the least. Consider that Tampa Bay has scored three runs or fewer in five of the first six games, while striking out 51 times. The culprits? Both Logan Morrison and Brad Miller have gotten off to slow starts. Morrison has gone 1-17 with just a single to his name, while Miller is 1-18 with eight strikeouts. Miller, Hank Conger and Morrison are a combined 4-45 in the first six games of the season.
Corey Kluber, Carlos Carrasco and Danny Salazar will toe the rubber against the Rays over the next three days. Neither Kluber nor Carrasco has put together a solid start, and Longoria and company need to strike while the iron is hot. The 2014 Cy Young Award winner allowed four runs and nine hits over 5 1-3 innings in last Tuesday’s 6-2 loss to Boston, while Carrasco allowed four runs on seven hits (including three home runs) against Boston last Wednesday.
Cleveland won all four games at the Trop last season, thanks in part to Jason Kipnis, who put up excellent numbers against Tampa Bay. Overall Kipnis went 14-29 with a homer in seven outings against the Rays in 2015, and is 8-19 with a homer over his past four at the Trop.
Key Matchups
Corey Kluber: Kluber surrendered nine hits and four runs over 5-1/3 innings in a 6-2 loss to the Red Sox on Opening Day. The 2014 Cy Young Award winner struggled away from home last season, going 3-8 with a 4.15 ERA during a disappointing 9-16 campaign. Kluber isn’t going to blow you away with an overpowering fastball. Instead he relies upon a 92 mph sinker and 93 mph four-seam fastball that generates an extreme number of ground balls, and an 88 mph cutter that he uses to collect whiffs. He too mixes in an 82 mph slider with great depth, and an 85 mph changeup. Key matchups: Hank Conger (1-2, BB), Corey Dickerson (1-3, 2B), Logan Forsythe (2-8), Kevin Kiermaier (3-8, 2B, 3B, 2 BB), Evan Longoria (5-14, HR, 3 RBI, BB), Logan Morrison (4-10, 2B, RBI)
Carlos Carrasco: Carrasco allowed four runs on seven hits (including three home runs) over five innings against Boston in a no-decision Wednesday. He struck out five batters and issued one walk. Carrasco’s 29.6% K% in 2015 was fourth among qualified starters (behind only Clayton Kershaw, Chris Sale and Max Scherzer). He boasts a 96 fastball with late life that he uses to set up his slider, curve and changeup ― all of which generated whiffs 24% of the time (on average) last season. His impressive four pitch repertoire allowed him to lead the majors 40.1% O-Swing%. Key matchups: Hank Conger (1-2, BB), Logan Forsythe (3-9)
Danny Salazar: Salazar handcuffed the ChiSox Friday afternoon, allowing just one run on two hits, while walking three, and striking out seven over 5-1/3 innings. What a difference a year makes. The lefty failed to crack Cleveland’s rotation out of Spring Training last season, with Francona opting to round out its starting rotation with T.J. House and Zach McAllister instead. Yet Salazar forced his way back into the conversation in the early goings, and went on to finish with a better ERA and more quality starts than Carrasco. Per ESPN,
He threw his slider less and his split-finger changeup more often while occasionally mixing in a curveball, which allowed him to generate groundballs at a rate nearly 10% higher than his previous career mark. Salazar also improved his control while striking out more than a batter per inning, and now enters 2016 with a firm hold on a rotation spot. The longball remains a bit of an issue, especially against lefties (15 HR allowed vs. LHP last season).
Key matchups: Curt Casali (1-3, 2B), Hank Conger (1-2), Logan Morrison (1-2), Steve Pearce (2-6, 2B)
Noteworthiness
― Corey Dickerson went 3-6 in two games at Baltimore and boasts three homers in his first six games with the team.
― Evan Longoria is 5 for 14 with a homer off Kluber. However, Longo is just 4-31 (.129) over his last nine games against Cleveland.
― The Rays, who are in the midst of their worst start since losing their first six in 2011, won just two games against Cleveland last season.
― Carlos Santana, a historically slow starter, has a home run and five RBI in the first four games of 2016.
― Jose Ramirez is off to a 5-13 start for Cleveland, while Mike Napoli has homered in two of his last three games.