By: Jon Alan
The Tampa Bay Rays are a team that affiliated from the Devil Rays, officially changing their name in 2008 to The Rays,in their first year they made it all the way to World Series marching up against the Philadelphia Phillies. After this they really haven’t had much improvement. Last year was their first year they actually proved something, getting a 90 win season was amazing knowing that that season should’ve been a rebuild season. Even implementing a new strategy, the opener. That teams all around the league have tried, but some people aren’t to fond of it, for example, Madison Bumgarner said that if they use the opener strategy on his “Bump Day”, that he will demand a trade right away. This year could easily be one of the better years since that dynamic run to the World Series, with the pitching they have this year, they could make a deep run and maybe see themselves back to the World Series, maybe even against the Phillies again with their recent offseason pickups. Now, let’s get to their tremendous start to the season.
The Rays right now have one of the youngest cores in all of the MLB as of 2017 they’ve only had 4 of the same players. When you think of the Rays you think of a team that is shadowed by the Red Sox and the Yankees. In a tough AL East division the Rays are shining, as they are at the top of the division with a record of 8-3. In addition, the Yankees in second at a measly record of 5-5 with the Red Sox at 3-8. Now, what is causing this success from such a young team?
The Rays' starting pitchers this season at one point went 33 and ⅔ innings without giving up an earned run, lead by Blake Snell and the recent offseason pickup Charlie Morton. In their game last night against the White Sox, Blake Snell struck out 11 batters and was credited with a W as the team won 5-1. You can argue that the Rays are a good hitting team, which in certain situations they’ve been getting the job done. Yet, their team average is nothing but a .238, and their highest average being a .323 by Ji-Man Choi, who was a recent pickup when they traded Brad Miller to the Brewers for him. Kevin Kiermaier and Austin Meadows are leading the team in RBI’s with 6 a piece. Yet, in their 11 games played they’ve only scored 39 runs. The Rays’ plate discipline is also one of the best in the MLB, as they’ve been walked 34 times, with Tommy Pham having been walked 8 times. The Rays are playing like they’ve been together for years on years, but they’ve only been with each other for such a short amount of time.
With former CY Young Blake Snell and multiple time Gold Glove Winner Kevin Kiermaier leading the team, these guys could become a team to watch in the AL East and in the playoffs, as they will try for a deep run.
The Ray’s are off to a stinging start, so let's see if they can keep it up.
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