As I think the reader can guess, this piece may not be all too positive! Opening Week overreactions are some of the most common things ever. We’re fans! Of course, we’re going to blow up small things out of proportion and press the panic button! And, while it has been noted already that yes, the Rays had this exact same start last year with that sweep at the hands of Baltimore, it’s not just safe to assume these Rays will do the same thing and turn things around. The easy takeaway to make from Opening Week, and mainly the Boston series, is to say, “this team stinks!”, so here are some more in-depth looks at what needs to change the most.
The bullpen needs to be way better than this
The Rays and bullpening have almost become synonymous at this point due to how brilliant and relied upon the organization is at finding arms from bargain bins to turn around as well as using their pen in ways other teams aren’t doing things to get more value out of it. The bullpen was vital in last year’s postseason with the super trio of Anderson, Fairbanks, and Castillo being relied upon heavily, and with a starting staff much weaker from last year, the pen is going to be even more important. What we’ve seen so far hasn’t been the standard. Guys the Rays expect to be on this roster all year like Thompson, McHugh, and Mazza look like stinkers. Some more surprise players like Springs and Reed have looked very encouraging so far but with Anderson out until July, some previously earlier inning arms are going to have to step into bigger roles and reach new levels to make signature tight Rays’ ballgames much more in favor for Tampa.
The veteran starter free agents are concerning me
The whole narrative of the offseason for the Rays has been about replacing the giant-sized hole Snell and Morton leave in the rotation, and the Rays addressed that by giving one-year deals to veterans Wacha, Archer, Hill, and McHugh. The plan sounded a bit iffy at first but thinking about the Rays and the past with letting veterans rediscover their old mojo, I had faith. That faith might’ve been lost a bit. Wacha actually managed to still look good, pitching stuff-wise, despite the scoreline from the Sox game but what we’ve seen from the rest has been ugly. The Hill-Archer tandem in the Marlins game was really bad with both combining for 7 ER’s over 7 innings (though Archer could’ve gotten some defensive help) and god I hope McHugh does not turn into a starting option based on what’s been seen. Maybe switching him into the rotation full time would help, maybe it wouldn’t, either way, that signature curve needs to start being effective because he looks dreadful.
If this trend continues, Neander and Co. should really consider the two young lefties in Fleming and McClanahan seeing how lights out they looked in spring training and how much of an upgrade they could be over the current pitchers.
The offense is as expected (but still lots of room for improvement)
Good news! The hitters the Rays will be relying upon most for offensive production in Arozarena, B-Lowe, and Meadows look fantastic! Randy is proving he’s not a fluke with a .300 BA and catch of the year worthy highlights. Lowe is an on-base machine so far with a .500 on-base and a 27 percent walk rate to go with it! While more actual hits are needed from Meadows, the fact that the power stroke looks to be found again is extremely encouraging as he embarks on a bounce-back year. This is great and all, but for a team like the Rays to rely on only three hitters to carry the lineup is just so unlike the Rays and isn’t going to work. This is a team with depth everywhere and the rest of this lineup needs to be adequate for it to function.
Yandy Diaz has the chance to take his game to new heights if he can stay healthy this year. The power, the contact, and the eye are all there, now it’s just time for him to start lifting the ball and become a great home run hitter and an on-base machine. Manuel Margot might be seeing a lot of time in center with KK hitting the IL as usual and that could be a good thing! Margot looked super solid last year in limited time and the playoffs, so the chance for him to start every day could get him in some type of groove and play premium defense with good base stealing abilities.
As for Willy Adames, I think we all know what might be coming sooner than some expect if he doesn’t start playing some good baseball (Pleaaasse let us see Wander, Erik!!!!). Oh, and one more side note: Yoshi Tsutsugo should not be leading off or to be quite frank, starting at all! We’d see better results from making Brosseau a starter over Yoshi at this point.