The Tampa Bay Rays will try to maintain their historic undefeated start to the season when they open a three-game series in Toronto on Friday night. Tampa Bay has rattled off 13 consecutive wins, with the latest coming in a 9-3 final against Boston on Thursday afternoon. The Blue Jays are coming off a series win against Detroit, although they dropped the series finale on Thursday, 3-1.
Tampa Bay tied Major League Baseball’s modern-day record with consecutive wins to open the season after scoring seven runs in the fifth inning on Thursday. Only the 1982 Atlanta Braves and the 1987 Milwaukee Brewers have gone 13-0 to open a campaign since 1900. The longest opening streak was a 20-0 start by the 1884 St. Louis Maroons of the Union Association.
The Rays have been tearing the cover off the ball, with all but two of their games having been decided by at least four runs. They have excelled on both sides of the plate, outscoring opponents 101-30 — scoring the most runs in baseball, while also allowing the fewest; the pitching staff has put up a combined 2.17 ERA and 2.83 FIP.
Wander Franco leads the team with 17 hits and a .340 average through his first 50 at-bats, with four home runs and 12 runs batted in. That’s not to diminish the contributions up and down the lineup though. All but three players — Christian Bethancourt (95), Manuel Margot (79), and Francisco Mejía (48) — have posted above-average wRC+ figures. The “New Bash Brothers” — Brandon Lowe and Josh Lowe — lead the team in wRC+, with each putting up a 235 wRC+ respectively. For his part, B. Lowe now has five home runs on the season, all of which have come in the last five games he’s started (and six overall). Over the last seven days (as of April 13), Tampa Bay has slashed a .289 BA/.385 OBP/.614 SLG/0.999 OPS line, with a .325 ISO and a 179 combined wRC+.
What’s interesting, the league average on batting average on balls in play (BABIP) hovers around the .300 mark. Tampa Bay has been unlucky with respect to BABIP coming into their last two series, since they came in under .300. Yet, if you take a peek under the hood, you will get an understanding of why the Rays have been successful thus far. See, they don’t strike out a lot (18.6% K%), they accept their walks (9.6% BB%), they get on base (.367 OBP), and they mash the ball when they put it in play (.578 SLG).
As expected, the Blue Jays have the league’s top batting average at .289. Third baseman Matt Chapman leads Toronto with 23 hits, 15 RBI, and a .489 batting average, while Vladimir Guerrero is batting .417 and six RBI. Over the last seven days (as of April 13), Toronto has slashed a healthy .286 BA/.335 OBP/.498 SLG/0.843 OPS line, with a .212 ISO and a 130 combined wRC+.
Tampa Bay went 10-9 against Toronto a season ago, including 5-3 at the Rogers Centre.
Pitching Probables
Over the next three days, Kevin Cash will turn to Drew Rasmussen (2-0, 0.00 ERA, 1.10 FIP), Josh Fleming (0-0, 6.43 ERA, 1.83 FIP) in some capacity, and Shane McClanahan (3-0, 1.59 ERA, 2.52 FIP). John Schneider will counter with José Berríos (0-2, 11.17 ERA, 3.20 FIP), Yusei Kikuchi (1-0, 6.75 ERA, 7.91 FIP), and Alek Manoah (1-0, 4.91 ERA, 7.02 FIP).
Drew Rasmussen allowed one hit and no walks over seven scoreless innings against the Athletics on Sunday. He struck out eight. Rasmussen has had a pair of favorable matchups to start the season — striking out seven in six scoreless frames against the Nationals on Monday prior to Sunday’s gem against Oakland. Nevertheless, he’s allowed just three baserunners while striking out 15 in 13 scoreless innings to earn back-to-back wins. The right-hander boasts a 0.00 ERA and a 1.17 FIP on the season, with a 0.23 WHIP, and a 15.00 K/BB. Rasmussen is 1-3 with a 2.33 ERA in eight outings (seven starts) against the Blue Jays.
José Berríos allowed six runs (four earned) on six hits and one walk while striking out five batters over four innings. Berríos cruised through two scoreless innings and was staked to a four-run lead heading into the bottom of the third when the wheels fell off. He coughed up three runs between the third and fourth, then allowed the first three batters he faced in the fifth to reach base — one on his own error. Mike Trout followed with a three-run homer off reliever Adam Cimber one batter after his departure, putting Berríos on the hook. It’s been a tough start to the season for him, as he’s allowed 12 earned runs through his first 9.2 innings. All told Berríos owns an 11.17 ERA and a 3.20 FIP, with a 1.86 WHIP, and a 4.00 K/BB on the season. He relies primarily on an 83 mph slider, a 93 mph sinker, and a 94 mph fourseam fastball, while also mixing in an 84 mph change. Berríos is 1-4 with a 5.86 ERA in eight starts against the Rays. Key Matchups: Randy Arozarena (4-8, 2B, 2 RBI), Josh Lowe (1-3, 2B), Manuel Margot (4-10, 2B, 3 RBI), Harold Ramírez (3-11, 2B, RBI)
Josh Fleming, pitching behind opener Jalen Beeks, took over against Boston in the top of the third, looking to bounce back from a rough first start on the season. The left-hander came out of the gates strong, striking out Triston Casas, getting Connor Wong to ground out, and striking out Kiké Hernandez to retire the side. In the following frame, Fleming put down Boston’s hitters in order on 10 pitches before he worked around a Christian Arroyo two-out, line drive single to right in the fifth — ultimately stranding the runner when he forced a line out from Casas to end the frame. In his final inning of work, Fleming struck out two batters in another 1-2-3 frame. All told he allowed just one hit and walked none on 47 pitches (31 strikes, 66% strike rate) with five punchouts. Fleming is 2-1 with a 3.72 ERA in four outings (one start) against the Blue Jays.
Yusei Kikuchi allowed six runs on nine hits and a walk across 4.1 innings on Sunday against the Angels. He struck out six. Kikuchi surrendered three home runs and dug Toronto into a 6-0 hole after four innings, yet the offense eventually came to his defense. Even though the left-hander gave up just one run in five frames during his season debut, he allowed a significant amount of hard contact on Sunday…although he did generate 14 swinging strikes. All told, Kikuchi has performed to a 6.75 ERA and a 7.91 FIP, with a 4.00 K/BB, and a 1.50 WHIP. He relies primarily on a whiffy albeit flat 95 mph fourseam fastball and a hard 87 mph slider, while also mixing in an 89 mph worm-killer changeup that has surprising cut action and some natural sink. Kikuchi is 3-0 with a 1.88 ERA in five outings (four starts) against the Rays. Key Matchups: Randy Arozarena (3-11, HR, RBI), Christian Bethancourt (1-2, RBI), Wander Franco (2-6), Manuel Margot (3-8, BB), Isaac Paredes (1-3, HR, 2 RBI), Harold Ramírez (2-5, BB)
Shane McClanahan allowed one run on two hits and four walks over five-plus innings against the Red Sox. He struck out nine. The southpaw blanked Boston for the first five innings, but after McClanahan led off the sixth with a walk to Rafael Devers and a single by Justin Turner, he got the hook and eventually had to watch Devers come around to score. Despite that, McClanahan generated a massive 23 swinging strikes on 95 pitches (24% SwStr%) in another dominant outing. In 17 innings of work, Sugar Shane owns a 1.59 ERA and a 2.52 FIP, with a 2.33 K/BB, and a 1.18 WHIP. McClanahan is 2-2 with a 2.87 ERA in six career starts against the Blue Jays.
Alek Manoah gave up three runs on four hits and five walks over 4.1 innings on Monday. He struck out three. All the damage came on a three-run homer by Nick Maton in the second inning, although Manoah had trouble finishing off hitters and got the hook after 85 pitches (58 strikes, 68% strike rate). The big-right-hander has an ugly 4.91 ERA and a 7.02 FIP on the season, with a shaky 1.00 K/BB, and a 1.70 WHIP through his first three starts (14.2 innings) this season. The swarthy Manoah relies primarily on an 81 mph slider that sweeps across the zone and boasts some two-plane movement, a 92 mph sinker, and a 93 mph fourseam fastball that generates an extremely high number of swings and misses, while also mixing in a firm 86 mph changeup that has slight arm side fade. He is 4-2 with a 1.42 ERA in seven starts against the Rays. Key Matchups: Randy Arozarena (3-12, 2B), Vidal Bruján (1-2, 2B), Brandon Lowe (3-10, RBI, 2 BB)
The Music That Influenced This Preview
The best thing to ever come out of Toronto (okay, I lied…the Constantines, S.H.I.T., Career Suicide, and others were pretty damn good, too), Fucked UP, released a new album recently, and it is fantastic.