The Tampa Bay Rays will be looking to build off their win over Toronto when they travel to Detroit to start a four-game set against the Tigers, starting Thursday. The Rays snapped a two-game skid with a win in the series finale on Wednesday, while Detroit has lost four of its last five games, including a 4-1 loss against Minnesota.
At 55-49 on the season, the Rays enter play six games over .500 and maintain a hold on the final American League Wildcard spot.
Tampa Bay put together a solid first half of the season, going 51-41 before the All-Star Break. However, they’ve struggled to get the wheels turning since, losing eight of the last 12 games. They dropped two out of three against Kansas City, and three out of four in Baltimore, before losing two out of three against Cleveland last weekend. They settled for a split against Toronto.
The Rays have not been an offensive juggernaut of late, ranking 21st in batting average overall (.238), although they’ll be facing a Detroit pitching staff that maintains an overall 4.04 ERA and 4.02 FIP, with an xFIP of 4.31.
On one hand, Tampa Bay hasn’t been able to figure out the AL Central this season, although they did take two of three from the Tigers toward the start of the season. And in all fairness, Detroit is 1-7 versus the AL East this season, but I digress. If Tampa Bay again can capitalize on the Tigers’ mistakes, this series could represent a righting of the ship.
Detroit has been one of the worst teams in baseball this season, getting virtually eliminated from the playoff race before the second half even began. The Tigers have not been any better since the All-Star Break, going 5-9 over their last 14 games. They have been abysmal at the plate, ranking 27th in team batting average (.226). Future Hall of Famer, Miguel Cabrera, leads the team with 87 hits, while second baseman Jonathan Schoop has 78 hits. Superlatives aside, as bad as the Rays have been — performing to an 82 wRC+ over the last seven days — the Tigers have been objectively worse, playing to a 67 wRC+ over the same stretch.
Pitching Probables
Over the next four days, Kevin Cash is expected to turn to Jeffrey Springs (3-3, 2.70 ERA), Corey Kluber (7-6, 4.03 ERA), Shane McClanahan (10-4, 2.07 ERA), and Drew Rasmussen (6-3, 3.06 ERA). AJ Hinch will counter with Drew Hutchison (1-4, 4.53 ERA), a pitcher to be named before Friday’s contest, Garrett Hill (1-3, 5.88 ERA), and Matt Manning (0-0, 3.46 ERA).
Jeffrey Springs allowed three runs on six hits with five strikeouts and one walk over five innings on Friday against the Guardians. Springs kept Cleveland scoreless through three innings, but he gave up a run in the fourth and a two-run homer to Jose Ramirez in the fifth. Springs has a 5.32 ERA, 1.56 WHIP, and a 6.75 K/BB across his past five starts (23.2 frames during that stretch).
Drew Hutchison was removed from Saturday’s start against the Blue Jays due to an ankle injury. Hutchison was effective to begin Saturday’s matchup, allowing just one run on two hits and three walks while striking out three across five innings. Yet, he was removed after throwing just 68 pitches and had his ankle wrapped following the game. He maintains a 4.53 ERA but a 4.32 FIP, with a 1.33 K/BB, and a 1.39 WHIP across 49.2 innings on the season. The hurler relies primarily on a 93 mph four-seam fastball and an 86 mph slider that has some two-plane movement, while also mixing in a 93 mph worm-killer two-seam sinker that has little arm-side run and little sinking action, and a firm 87 mph changeup. Hutchison is 4-2 with a 5.56 ERA in 11 career outings (seven starts) against the Rays. Key Matchups: David Peralta (2-2, HR, 2 RBI, BB), Taylor Walls (1-1, BB)
Corey Kluber allowed four earned runs on eight hits and a hit by pitch while striking out 10 across six innings on Saturday against his former team. Kluber allowed only one earned run through five innings of work, although he served up a three-run homer to Andres Gimenez to partially spoil his outing. Despite the long ball, Kluber racked up a season-high 10 punchouts — primarily on the strength of 23 called strikes — against a team that doesn’t often strike out and leads the league in contact rate. Kluber has allowed four earned runs in three consecutive starts spanning 17 frames, although Saturday’s outing was encouraging, given that one errant pitch did him in. Overall, he owns a 4.03 ERA but a 3.38 FIP, with a 5.53 K/BB, and a 1.15 WHIP across 105 innings on the season. Kluber allowed two runs on four hits (including a homer) across six innings against the Tigers earlier in the season.
TBA
Shane McClanahan allowed five runs on seven hits, three walks, and a hit batsman while striking out four in 4.1 innings, on Sunday versus the Guardians. McClanahan’s five runs allowed were a season-high, and he matched his season low for innings pitched. Cleveland built rallies against the southpaw in the second and fifth innings, with a two-run Austin Hedges single in the fifth off reliever Ryan Thompson adding the final damage to his line. The good news is this has been a rarity for McClanahan — he’s given up three or more runs only four times in 20 turns, and he’d rattled off 13 quality starts in a row entering Sunday’s contest. He owns a 2.07 ERA and 2.63 FIP, with a 0.83 WHIP, and a 6.87 K/BB across 122 innings. The left-hander limited the Tigers to one run on four hits (including a solo homer) across seven innings in his last start against the Tigers.
Garrett Hill allowed four runs on six hits and two walks while striking out one in five innings against Toronto. Hill allowed a two-out, two-run homer to Matt Chapman in the second inning and run-scoring doubles to Vladimir Guerrero and Bo Bichette in the fifth. He was able to coax two double-play groundballs to limit the damage. Hill made five starts for the Tigers in July despite bouncing back-and-forth between Detroit and Triple-A Toledo for roster reasons. Overall, he owns a 5.88 ERA and 5.65 FIP, with a 1.35 WHIP, and a 1.00 K/BB across 26.0 innings. Hill relies primarily on a 92 mph four-seam fastball that has slight arm-side run, while also mixing in an 83 mph slider, an 82 mph changeup that has some natural sink to it, a 77 mph curveball that has a sharp downward bite, and a 91 mph sinker.
Drew Rasmussen allowed a run on six hits and two walks while striking out three in six innings on Tuesday against the Blue Jays. Rasmussen allowed a two-out RBI single in the first inning but held Toronto scoreless the rest of the way. Since returning from a hamstring injury at the beginning of July, he’s allowed two earned runs or fewer in five of his six starts, while compiling a 2.38 ERA and a 2.67 K/BB while allowing just one homer in 30.1 innings of that stretch. His 88.1 innings on the season represent a career-high in any professional season. Rasmussen blanked the Tigers across five innings in his last start against Detroit.
Matt Manning allowed three runs on five hits across five innings on Tuesday against the Twins. He walked four and struck out one. Manning struggled with his control and allowed plenty of baserunners, although the Twins weren’t able to break through. The right-hander was making his first start since April 16 and was held to 78 pitches, although he should be able to build up his pitch count moving forward. All told he maintains a 3.46 ERA and 5.47 FIP, with a 1.25 WHIP, and a 1.15 K/BB across 13.0 innings. He relies primarily on a 94 mph four-seam fastball, while also mixing in an 83 mph slider that has short glove-side cut, a 79 mph curveball that has a sharp downward bite, and a 93 mph sinker, and a firm 87 mph changeup.
Noteworthiness
— Francisco Mejia was the Designated Hitter Tuesday in the Florida Complex League. He will travel with the Rays to Detroit and Milwaukee, and he could be activated as soon as he’s eligible on August 5.
— Nick Anderson threw a scoreless inning for Triple-A Durham on Tuesday.
— Brendan McKay and Yonny Chirinos each made their first appearance in front of fans in a game in nearly two years on Tuesday.