After taking three of four from the Mariners in Seattle, the Tampa Bay Rays head to Anaheim, where they will start a three-game series against the Angels on Monday.
At 18-11 on the season, the Rays enter play at seven games over .500, and 6-1 on the current West Coast road trip.
The Rays are entering Anaheim after winning two consecutive series against the Athletics and Mariners respectively. They were able to sweep Oakland before the most recent series in Seattle, against whom they went 5-2 in 2022. For context, they went 1-6 against the M’s last season. The Angels are entering the series having taken two of three against the Nationals. They have performed well offensively this season.
The Rays are averaging 4.61 runs per game and hitting .249 overall. But, over the last week, they have averaged six runs per game with a .271 BA. All told, they have averaged the eighth-most runs scored per game and boast the fifth-best overall team batting average. Tampa Bay consistently makes contact and forces the opposing defense to make plays. The middle of the order has also been performing at a high level, and they’ve swiped 20 bases on the season — the second-most in the AL.
Defensively, Tampa Bay has been playing very well. The team has allowed the eighth least runs per game while the hurlers boast the third-lowest overall team WHIP (1.10). The Rays have allowed a paltry 3.34 runs per game.
Meanwhile, the Angels have been able to perform at a high level, offensively speaking. They are currently scoring 4.62 runs per game and hitting .241 as a team — averaging the seventh most runs scored per game and the ninth highest overall team batting average. They can also put the ball in play and string together hits to keep innings alive. The middle of their order is scary and they can put up runs in a blink of an eye. Yet, superlatives aside, despite going 6-4 over their last 10 games, the Angels haven’t been firing on all cylinders, slashing .189 BA/.282 OBP/.338 SLG/.620 OPS over the last week, which is good for an 85 wRC+ and a -4.8 wRAA.
The Rays went 6-1 against the Angels last season, with a +25 run differential.
Pitching Probables
Over the next three days, Kevin Cash will turn to Jeffrey Springs (1-0, 0.69 ERA), Corey Kluber (1-1, 2.36 ERA), and Shane McClanahan (2-2, 3.06 ERA). Joe Maddon will counter with Noah Syndergaard (2-1, 2.63 ERA), Reid Detmers (1-1, 5.32), and Shohei Ohtani (3-2, 3.08 ERA).
Jeffrey Springs will start Monday against the Angels in Anaheim. Putting him in rotation then allows Tampa Bay to give Corey Kluber and Shane McClanahan an extra day’s rest before their starts, pushing them back to Tuesday and Wednesday.
Springs earned the promotion due to his exceptional work out of the bullpen and in increasingly extended appearances; he threw a season-high 43 pitches on April 28 and a seasonlong 3.1 innings on Tuesday.
In nine games (13 innings), the left-hander has allowed one run on seven hits and three walks while striking out 14 and has been equally effective against left-handed and right-handed hitters. All told, Springs is 1-0 with a 0.69 ERA and 1.62 FIP, with a 0.77 WHIP and 4.67 K/BB on the season.
Noah Syndergaard surrendered three runs on eight hits and a walk while striking out three against the Red Sox across seven innings on Tuesday. After being scratched from his last start Friday while dealing with an illness, Syndergaard returned to the mound and posted his second quality start of the 2022 campaign. The right-hander gave up two runs in the fourth inning — including a solo home run by Rafael Devers — before later surrendering a third run on a Trevor Story sacrifice fly in the seventh. He has allowed three runs or fewer runs all four of his starts this season. Syndergaard owns a 2.63 ERA and a 3.33 FIP, with an 0.96 WHIP over 24 innings in his first season with the Angels. He is 0-1 with an 11.25 ERA against Tampa Bay in one career outing against the Rays. He relies primarily on a 95 mph sinker and a hard 89 mph changeup that has slight arm-side fade, while also mixing in a 95 mph four-seam fastball that has some natural sinking action, an 85 mph slider that has some two-plane movement, and a whiffy 78 mph curveball that has boasts slight glove-side movement. Key Matchups: Kevin Kiermaier (1-2, 2 RBI), Francisco Mejia (1-3)
Corey Kluber allowed three hits and one walk while striking out seven across six scoreless innings Wednesday against the Athletics. Kluber needed only 64 pitches to retire 18 batters, and he has now completed six innings in consecutive turns. He also coaxed 10 swinging strikes to aid him to a season-best seven strikeouts. Kluber has allowed two earned runs or fewer in four of his five starts this season, and he owns a 2.36 ERA and 2.97 FIP with a 4.33 K/BB across 26.2 frames. Over his career, Kluber is 3-2 with a 3.86 ERA in eight starts against the Angels.
Reid Detmers gave up three runs on four hits and two walks across 4.2 innings on Wednesday against the Red Sox. He struck out two. Detmers surrendered a two-RBI double to Trevor Story in the bottom of the third, scoring Bobby Dalbec and Christian Arroyo. He later allowed an RBI double to Story, which scored Arroyo again. Detmers has struggled to find his footing this season, pitching five or fewer innings in all five of his starts while posting a 5.32 ERA and 4.44 FIP, with a 1.14 WHIP across 22 innings. He relies primarily on a 94 mph four-seam fastball, a 73 mph curveball with exceptional bite and sweeping glove-side movement, and an 83 mph slider that has exceptional depth and short glove-side cut, while also mixing in a firm 85 mph changeup.
Shane McClanahan completed 5.1 innings against the Mariners on Thursday and allowed two runs on three hits and two walks while striking out five. After punching out at least seven batters in each of his first five starts of the season, McClanahan racked up a mere five modest punchies and induced just eight whiffs. Be that as it may, the southpaw kept Seattle off the board for the first four frames and departed after 5.1 frames having done enough to earn the win. McClanahan has yet to surrender more than three runs in an outing this season and has looked like an ace with a 3.06 ERA and a 3.13 FIP, with an 0.99 WHIP and 5.22 K/BB across 32.1 innings. Over his brief career, McClanahan is 1-0 with a 2.70 ERA in two starts against the Angels.
Shohei Ohtani pitched seven scoreless innings on six hits while striking out 11 and walking zero against the Red Sox on Thursday. The groin injury Ohtani suffered during Sunday’s 6-5 win over the White Sox doesn’t appear to be an issue anymore, as the superstar registered his best pitching performance of the season. Ohtani faced traffic in nearly every inning, but he was able to get out of trouble with a big strikeout whenever he needed to while generating an obscene 29 swinging strikes. He owns a 3.08 ERA and 1.52 FIP on the season, with a 1.03 WHIP and an 8.20 K/BB across 26.1 innings. Ohtani is 1-0 with a 1.42 ERA in two career starts against Tampa Bay. He relies primarily on a blazing 98 mph four-seam fastball that has some natural sinking action and a whiffy 85 mph slider that sweeps across the zone, while also mixing in a whiffy 90 mph splitter that has slight cut action and some natural sink to it and a 79 mph curveball that has sharp downward bite and slight glove-side movement.