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The Fastball Guy Is Set to Make a Comeback
The Rays’ depth at the left-handed reliever position has been a minefield of injuries, and chief among them was invisible-fastball guy Colin Poche, who suffered a UCL tear back in 2020. He underwent Tommy John surgery in the same year, and he has been recovering since then.
Typically, a rookie salary reliever with a long road to recovery does not last three years on the 40-man roster, but the Rays have...
Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports
This trade does not seem rooted in reality, but it’s a perfect what if!
Sometimes you win trades and sometimes you lose trades, but what about the rumored trades that never actually go down?
While we can never be sure if these nationally reported trade rumors are in fact true, it’s a fun exercise to look back on reported discussions. This rumor from 2018 features a trade that makes us question the validity of the report, but was one I...
Photo by Victor Decolongon/Getty Images
Catcher (?) Ford Proctor wins the previous vote.
Previous Winner
C Ford Proctor (L/R, 6’1 195, 25 in 2022)
2021 statistics with Double-A Montgomery: 381 PA, .244/.381/.419, 12 HR, 27 XBH, 16.5 BB%, 26.2 K%
Ford was busy during the lost season, playing in an independent league and then Australia, all while learning how to play catcher. He skipped a level and went to Double A in 2021, and he got off to a slow start. However, over the final three...
Photo by Julio Aguilar/Getty Images
An alarming trend for the Rays slugger
Austin Meadows put together a 2021 season that had many ups and downs. Overall, it was a decent year for the Rays slugger as he hit .234/.315/.458 (113 wRC+) with 27 homeruns and 106 RBIs over 142 games. His season was certainly an improvement from his forgettable 2020 campaign (88 wRC+) but a step down compared to his great 2019 season (144 wRC+).
There has been quite a bit of variability in Meadows’...
Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports
If you are a Rays fan, you may feel that catchers who are reasonably good behind the plate and reasonably effective with the bat are like unicorns. You read about them, you dream about them, but do we have any evidence that such a creature exists?
Last year, however, Rays fans got to see a catching duo that framed, blocked, threw out runners, and was not a black hole at the bottom of the lineup. Leading that duo was Mike Zunino.
Zunino’s first two years...
Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Coming Thursday, comments will look different.
Hey everyone. I’m Tanya, and I oversee all of our baseball communities for SB Nation.
This Thursday will be a big day for our community: we’re moving our comments to a new platform, developed especially for SB Nation. All of our MLB communities will be moving to the new platform, and I’m excited about the change.
Some of you may already be familiar with this new platform as it rolled out to our NFL...
The Rays find themselves in a tricky position with regards to Tyler Glasnow. The 6’8? right-hander is probably the team’s most talented pitcher.
Photo by Brian Blanco/Getty Images
Stu’s sister city scheme succumbs to reality
Stu Sternberg held a press conference last week to announce the MLB had put the kibosh on the sister city plan.
Dear Rays Fans,
??For more than two decades, the Rays have proudly served as Tampa Bay’s hometown team, supporting our community and uplifting our growing region. Our priorities are to win baseball games and keep the team in Tampa Bay for generations to come.
Nathan Ray Seebeck-USA TODAY Sports
The catching prospect that emerged out of the pandemic was not top-line acquisition Blake Hunt.
Prior to the pandemic interrupting the facets of everything in the world, Rene Pinto had been an organizational soldier for the Tampa Bay Rays. He served as a backstop throughout the lower rungs of the organization, mainly serving as the backup catcher at each level he was playing in.
Although he never merited that much attention as a prospect, Pinto had always...
Paul Rutherford-USA TODAY Sports
The athletic outfielder is set to emerge as an everyday player
On September 8th, 2021 another piece of the future arrived for the Tampa Bay Rays. Josh Lowe made his big league debut.
Lowe, the younger brother of former Rays first baseman Nate Lowe, was selected in the first round (13th overall) in the 2016 draft by Tampa Bay. He was touted as one of the best athletes of the 2016 draft class by Baseball America and all of his tools drew strong praise; some...
Photo by Rick Ulreich/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Colby White was one of the most dominant relief pitchers in minor league baseball in 2021.
Previous winner
RHP Colby White (6’0 190, 23 in 2022)
2021 statistics with Low-A Charleston, High-A Bowling Green, Double-A Montgomery, and Triple-A Durham: 62 1?3 IP, 1.44 ERA, 0.66 WHIP, 6.5 BB%, 45.0 K%
In retrospect, the Rays probably didn’t need 16 1?3 innings to know White was too good for Low A, or 23 1?3 innings to know he was...
The biggest MLB story this week has to do with the Tampa Bay Rays not being allowed to split their season between Florida and Montreal. The plan was a bit ludicrous from the start and MLB shut it down before it could gain much traction.
Set Number: X162951 TK1
Just what makes a major league baseball field?
Welcome back to Baseball 101, where we take you through the ins and outs of baseball, and help fans new and old gain a better understanding of the game. Over the last few weeks we delved into basic pitching and hitting stats, player positions, and how to be a fan of the game, but today we’re going to look at something that is unrelated to stats: the field itself.
What’s fascinating about baseball fields is that...
Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
We react to the news that MLB has killed the Rays split-season plan with Montreal, then dive into what happens next
Following the news that MLB’s Executive Council had killed the Rays “sister city” plan with Montreal, we provide an instant reaction to Rays owner Stu Sternberg’s press conference, which announced the team’s failure on Thursday afternoon.
Brett is joined by Danny and Darby for the instant reaction, where we project what’s next in...
The Executive Council has ruled the Rays cannot pursue splitting their season with Montreal in sudden change of opinion.
The Tampa Bay Rays appeared to be caught off guard this week when MLB’s Executive Council voted to end the team’s pursuit of splitting home games with the city of Montreal.
Rays principal owner Stuart Sternberg announced the change of approval from MLB in a somber press conference this afternoon.
Statement from the Tampa Bay Rays regarding Sister City Baseball plan:...
The Rays have played in Tropicana Field since the team's inaugural season in 1998, but have long been looking for a new home.
The Tampa Bay Rays are known for terrible attendance on an annual basis. Tropicana Field really only fills up if the Boston Red Sox or New York Yankees are in town.
In a blow to principal owner Stuart Sternberg’s attempts to secure a new ballpark in or around the city of Tampa, the Major League Baseball Executive Council officially quashed the Rays’ plans to split time between Tampa and Montreal.
Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
... right?
Brett Phillips solidified himself in Tampa Bay Rays lore when he came through with the game winning hit in Game 4 of the 2020 World Series. He wasn’t the first and won’t be the last to come through in a big moment for a team, but few get to do it for their hometown team as he was born and raised in Seminole, Florida.
Phillips was a sixth round pick out of Seminole High School where he was an overs lot signing as part of the Houston Astros...
Former first round pick JJ Goss stays in the top-20.
Previous Winner
RHP JJ Goss (6’3 185, 21 in 2022)
Rehabbed with Florida Coast League Rays in 2021
Like Taj Bradley, there were reports of big strides made by Goss during the pandemic. Unfortunately, a shoulder injury kept the righty out for most of the season. Fortunately, he’s still very young. Since he was drafted with the No. 36 pick in 2019, his stuff — from his fastball velocity to secondary pitches — has improved. In...