After a weekend series sweep over the White Sox, the Tampa Bay Rays turn their sights to the Houston Astros, against whom they will start a three-game home series on Monday. The Astros are coming off a series sweep against that ball club from Atlanta.
At 19-3 on the season, the Rays enter play 16-games above .500, and in first place in the AL East.
Tampa Bay’s home run streak is still active — the Rays have hit a home run in 22 consecutive games, a new franchise record — thanks to Luke Raley, who launched a mammoth 442-foot shot in the second inning of the series finale against Chicago. They are also now 13-0 in the friendly confines of the Trop.
Overall, Tampa Bay boasts a .537 SLG and is averaging just under seven runs per game (1st in MLB). Yet, they don’t necessarily live and die by the long ball…after all, as of Sunday, they have hit 39 doubles and 207 singles while earning free passes on 70 different occasions.
Over the last week, the Rays have slashed a devastating .303 BA/.372 OBP/.511 SLG/.883 OPS line with a 153 wRC+ — 53% better than the Astros over the same stretch — and a .208 ISO. It bears mentioning that a handful of Tampa Bay hitters are coming back down to earth, which is expected. Forget not, this long season is a marathon, not a sprint — offensive ebbs and flows are going to happen.
Meanwhile, Houston has an overall .389 SLG and have struck out 174 times. The Astros have hit 32 doubles as a team to go along with 22 homers as of Sunday. As a unit, the Astros are averaging 5.1 runs per game. None of this is to speak poorly of the Astros though, we all know what Houston is capable of despite their underperformance thus far…in fact, given that they swept a very good Atlanta team, and have won four in a row, they might just be slipping out of their early malaise.
Nevertheless, over the last week, Houston has slashed a modest .254 BA/.319 OBP/.385 SLG/.704 OPS line with a 100 wRC+ and a .123 ISO.
The Rays will be seeking a whole lot of revenge this week. Tampa Bay went 1-5 against Houston in 2022 and was outscored 22-11.
Pitching Probables
Over the next three days, Kevin Cash will turn to Taj Bradley (2-0, 2.61 ERA, 0.65 FIP), Drew Rasmussen (3-1, 2.01 ERA, 2.55 FIP), and a pitcher to be named before Wednesday’s contest. Dusty Baker will counter with Jose Urquidy (1-1, 3.66 ERA, 5.34 FIP), Luis Garcia (1-2, 5.14 ERA, 5.34 FIP), and Hunter Brown (2-0, 3.09 ERA, 2.71 FIP). I will update this piece when more information becomes available.
Taj Bradley allowed three hits and one walk over 5.1 scoreless innings against the Reds on Tuesday. He struck out nine. Bradley was sharp again, blanking Cincinnati while striking out nine en route to his second big-league win. The right-hander has looked good in his first two outings, allowing three runs through 10.1 innings with 17 strikeouts to just two walks, while posting an impressive 8.5 K/BB, a 2.61 ERA, and a 0.65 FIP.
Jose Urquidy threw six scoreless innings against Pittsburgh on Wednesday, surrendering two hits and three walks while striking out two. The righty got hit around a bit in his first start of the season but has since calmed down, allowing just one earned run in his last two starts (11.1 IP). Both of the hits against him were Carlos Santana and Jack Suwinski singles, so while he didn’t have his best strikeout stuff going Wednesday, he still did a good job of limiting extra-base hits. Overall, he owns a 3.66 ERA and a 5.34 FIP, with a 1.53 WHIP, and a 2.43 K/BB. Urquidy relies primarily on a whiffy 93 mph fourseam fastball that generates a lot of backspin and an 81 mph slider that sweeps across the zone and has some two-plane movement, while also mixing in a firm 87 mph changeup, an 80 mph curveball that has sharp downward bite, and a 93 mph sinker. Urquidy is 1-0 with a 1.50 ERA in two career starts against the Rays. Key Matchups: Christian Bethancourt (1-3), Brandon Lowe (3-11, 2B), Manuel Margot (3-5, BB)
Drew Rasmussen allowed three hits and three walks over five scoreless innings against the Reds. He struck out seven. The right-hander got staked to a 6-0 lead before he set foot on the mound, although Rasmussen gave Cincy no glimmers of hope — firing 51 of 78 pitches for strikes (65% strike rate) before his day was done. Rasmussen rebounded nicely from a shaky outing against Toronto, and he owns a 2.01 ERA and a 2.55 FIP, with a 3.71 K/BB, and a 0.94 WHIP through 22.2 innings on the season. He is 2-1 with a 3.00 ERA in three career starts against Houston.
Luis Garcia struck out nine over seven scoreless innings while allowing two hits and one walk against the Blue Jays. He used his cutter effectively, with 19 of the 23 swinging strikes he generated among his 92 pitches (25% SwStr) coming on that pitch. He now has a 5.14 ERA and a 5.34 FIP, with a 1.38 WHIP, and a 3.00 K/BB over 21 innings. Garcia relies primarily on a whiffy 86 mph cutter that has some natural sink and strong cutting action and a 93 mph fourseam fastball, while also mixing in a 79 mph slider that sweeps across the zone and has exceptional depth, a 76 mph 12-6 curveball that has a sharp downward bite, and an 85 mph changeup that has slight arm-side fade. He is 2-1 with a 3.94 ERA in three career starts against the Rays. Key Matchups: Christian Bethancourt (1-4, RBI), Wander Franco (2-6, 2B), Brandon Lowe (2-4, 2B, HR, 2 RBI), Francisco Mejía (1-2, RBI), Harold Ramírez (2-6, 2B)
TBA
Hunter Brown allowed four runs on seven hits and two walks over 4.2 innings against Atlanta on Friday. He struck out seven. Atlanta immediately jumped on Brown in the first, plating four runs, including three with two outs. He settled in to prevent a disastrous outing, although he failed to complete five innings for the first time since his season debut on April 3. Brown forced 14 whiffs (30% SwStr) including seven on his slider. He owns a 3.22 K/BB, a 3.09 ERA, and a 2.71 FIP, with a 1.20 WHIP through 25 frames on the season. Brown relies primarily on a 96 mph fourseam fastball, a hard 92 mph 12-6 slider, and an 84 mph 12-6 curveball. Key Matchup: Harold Ramírez (2-2, 2B)
Noteworthiness
— Jose Siri began a Minor League rehab assignment with Triple-A Durham on April 21 and played again on April 23. That puts him in line to return at some point during the Rays’ series against the Astros.
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