After splitting a six-game road trip, the Tampa Bay Rays return home to the friendly confines of Tropicana Field, where they will kick off a three-game series against those dastardly Red Sox of Boston on Friday. The Red Sox dropped two of three to the Blue Jays.
At 7-6 on the season, the Rays enter play above .500 for the first time in a week.
It has been a tough slog for Tampa Bay extending back to the second series of the season versus the Athletics. The Rays went 2-5 leading up to the series on the north side of Chicago, thanks in part to shotty defense and not so timely hitting. Yet, they’ve now won three of their last four including two straight against a very good Cubs team, and appear to be back on the upswing.
Wander Franco and Ji-Man Choi are leading the way, boasting some gaudy offensive numbers — .393 BA/.553 OBP/.714 SLG/1.267 OPS with a .538 wOBA and a 275 wRC+ for Choi, and a .392 BA/.396 OBP/.627 SLG/1.023 OPS with a .444 wOBA and a 208 wRC+ for Franco. The two account for 16 runs and 16 RBI, and 14 extra-base hits including three homers. What’s more, Josh Lowe (.263 BA/.263 OBP/.421 SLG/.684 OPS/103 wRC+ over the last seven days) and Taylor Walls (.308 BA/.471 OBP/.462 SLG/.939 OPS/192 wRC+ over the last seven days) are starting to get toasty, as is Yandy Diaz and Harold Ramirez. Shoutout to Manuel Margot, who has been a steady and consistent bat all season long. Yet, we are still waiting on the emergence of Mike Zunino, who has gone 1-for-his-last-27 and maintains an ice-cold -58 wRC+.
Meanwhile, Boston’s bats also haven’t been in a good place of late, performing to a 93 wRC+ over the last seven days with a -1.6 wRAA. That’s not to say the Rays have been an offensive behemoth, however, they are performing some 14% better at the plate. In fact, the only thing the Red Sox really have going for them is that they are a slightly more powerful team at the moment, having hit 10 home runs (vs. nine homers by the Rays). Yet, those long balls have largely been solo shots.
The Rays have an opportunity to punch down on a division rival before it wakes up. Tampa Bay’s pitching has been pretty good to start the season, and as I mentioned before, they are slowly starting to click at the plate. In other words, there’s no time like the present. Last season, the Rays went 11-8 against Boston including 7-3 at the Trop.
Pitching Probables
Over the next three days, Kevin Cash will likely turn to Corey Kluber (0-0, 1.86 ERA), a bullpen day on Saturday, and Shane McClanahan (0-1, 2.40 ERA). Alex Cora will counter with Michael Wacha (0-0, 0.96 ERA), Garrett Whitlock (0-0, 0.96 ERA), and Rich Hill (0-1, 7.00 ERA).
Corey Kluber was solid across five innings on Saturday against the White Sox, allowing two earned runs on four hits and no walks while striking out four. He did not factor into the decision. Kluber surrendered a two-run home run to Jose Abreu in the fourth inning, accounting for the only damage he allowed in his outing. He needed only 75 pitches (49 strikes, 65% strike rate) to retire 15 hitters, which was a positive step forward in efficiency after he issued four free passes across only 4.2 innings in his opening start of the campaign. Otherwise, results have been positive for the veteran as he’s allowed a mere two earned runs with nine punchies across 9.2 frames. Kluber is 3-4 with a 4.43 ERA in 11 career outings (10 starts) against the Red Sox, but 5-3 with a 2.98 ERA in 11 career turns at the Trop.
Michael Wacha allowed a hit and two walks while striking out five across five scoreless innings on Sunday against the Twins. Wacha threw 72 pitches during his season debut Monday against Detroit, and he had a slight uptick in his workload by throwing 79 pitches during Sunday’s sharp outing. He, however, was staked to a no-decision since the Red Sox failed to get on the board until the bottom of the sixth inning. After posting a 5.05 ERA in 29 appearances (23 starts) with the Tampa Bay last season, the 30-year-old has allowed just one run across 9.1 frames with Boston. Over his career, Wacha is 0-3 with an 8.16 ERA against the Rays, and 2-2 with a 4.60 ERA at the Trop. He relies primarily on his 93 mph four-seam fastball and an 85 mph circle change that has a lot of backspin, while also mixing in an 89 mph cutter that has “rising action” and a 76 mph curveball. Key Matchups: Randy Arozarena (1-3, HR, 2 RBI), Brandon Lowe (1-3, RBI), Manuel Margot (4-11, 2B), Harold Ramirez (2-4), Mike Zunino (1-3, BB)
TBA
Garrett Whitlock will get the start because Tanner Houck decided not to vaccinate himself against COVID-19, which forced Boston to shuffle its rotation around since he’ll be ineligible to cross the border into Canada when the team travels to Toronto next week. Whitlock has been added to the rotation in a manner of speaking as part of that shuffling. Exactly how long he’ll be able to pitch is not yet clear, although he did make a four-inning relief appearance on April 12, which suggests he will be in the 4-5 inning range this afternoon. The extreme groundball hurler relies primarily on a whiffy 96 mph sinker that has slight arm side run and an 82 mph slider with 12-6 movement, while also mixing in an 84 mph changeup with arm-side fade. Across his career, Whitlock is 1-1 with a 5.14 ERA against the Rays in seven innings of work. Key Matchups: Ji-Man Choi (1-1, 2B, 2 RBI), Yandy Diaz (1-3), Wander Franco (2-4, 2B), Kevin Kiermaier (1-1, 2B), Brandon Lowe (2-3, 2B, RBI), Manuel Margot (1-3, BB)
Shane McClanahan was electric on Monday, allowing two runs (one earned) on four hits across six innings. He struck out nine on 80 pitches (58 strikes, 73% strike rate). The only damage against the southpaw came from Patrick Wisdom’s two-run shot in the second inning. McClanahan was only charged with one earned run due to Seiya Suzuki reaching base on an error earlier in the frame. McClanahan also forced 13 swinging strikes in the impressive outing. He now sports a 2.40 ERA and a 4.8 K/BB through three starts.
Rich Hill pitched 4.2 innings in tandem on Monday and gave up four runs on six hits and two walks while striking out two. All the damage against the one-time Ray came via the long ball, as he surrendered a two-run shot to Kyle Garlick in the first inning and another two-run homer to Jorge Polanco in the third. Hill has pitched nine frames this season in his second stint with Boston, giving up seven runs and 11 hits over two turns. Hill works in tandem with Garrett Whitlock or another multi-inning option out of the bullpen. He is 4-3 with a 3.22 ERA in 16 career outings (13 starts) at Tropicana Field. Dick Mountain relies primarily on his 71 mph sweeping curveball with sharp downward movement and an 88 mph four-seam fastball. He is known to change his arm slot to mess with the hitter’s timing.