A Tampa Bay Rays Blog: Ball on a Budget
Death, taxes, and the Tampa Bay Rays defeating the Toronto Blue Jays in the year 2026. Drake’s 15th project, Iceman, is set to debut May 15, and Shane McClanahan sure had Blue Jays bats frozen Tuesday evening in “The 6ix”, as McClanahan went five innings, allowing only one hit and one walk while striking out […]
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Baseball, especially the Rays brand of baseball, relies on doing all the little things well. Baseball is also a very luck dependent sport. But, doing the little things can help manufacture some luck. Perhaps no player exemplifies that more than Chandler Simpson. Simpson got things started right away, with a comebacker to Gausman, who was […]
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This was the 5th week of full minor league play (stats are entering play on Monday, May 11th). According to FanGraphs (which factors in age and proximity to the big leagues), 19-year old Caden Bodine has regained his spot as the top hitter spot in the Rays system. The backstop is proving to be too […]
Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms in DRBland. The Rays were in Boston, where everyone was wearing a touch of pink to wrap up the weekend series. The Rays were first in the AL East by a wee little percentage point and hoping to push ahead and claim it properly this week. To deal […]
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Go Rays!
Thanks to Ian Malinowski and Adam Sanford in our Slack channel for suggesting that Chandler Simpson may be getting more pitches to run on when Junior Caminero is at the plate. Lineup protection is the idea that a hitter performs better when a strong hitter bats directly behind them in the lineup. The theory is […]
The Rays had an early opening against Connelly Early. Yes, the pun was sitting right there, and unfortunately so were three Tampa Bay baserunners in the third inning that got stranded on the best opportunity to score a run Friday night. Tampa Bay opened quietly against Early. Yandy Díaz struck out after an ABS challenge […]
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This game had a little bit of everything, both good and bad. The second inning was the story early on as the Rays showed to a national audience how they had won 12 of their last 13, before then reminding those same viewers how they got off to a 2-5 start this season with defensive […]
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Is this hell? No, this is Tropicana Field. That might be what the Toronto Blue Jays think of The Trop. Since 2021, the Jays have a .655 OPS and a 10-22 record under the tilted roof at One Tropicana Drive, and losers of 10 of the last 12. Even the Blue Jays, biggest podcast, Gate […]
The Rays claimed Jesse Scholtens in August 2025 after he was designated for assignment by the White Sox. Despite a fairly significant overhaul of the roster this offseason, Scholtens was able to hang on to a coveted 40-man roster spot, and has performed well in his limited time with the major league club — maintaining […]
Yesterday evening the Ken Babby, Rays CEO, presented the Rays stadium/entertainment district plans at a Tampa City Council workshop. Workshops, you may recall from earlier reporting on the Hillsborough County Commission, are not decision-making sessions; no votes are taken. They are opportunities for elected officials, who thanks to Sunshine Laws can only meet in public, […]
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The Rays have taken small ball to new extremes, winning today on 1 double (a bloop that fell into no man’s land) and 10 singles. When your small ball is this small it maybe needs a new name: tiny ball? wee ball? But the key point is that 10 singles and a double added up […]
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Hot off yet another home series sweep, the Rays welcomed the Blue Jays to Tropicana Field for the opener of a three-game series. Nick Martinez starts the series opener, bringing a 1.70 ERA into the game after six starts on the season. Start number seven began with a one-pitch flyout, and ended without a runner […]
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As has been speculated since his acquisition, and propitiated by the season ending hip surgery required by Ryan Pepiot, the Rays have formally started the transition of Griffin Jax to a starting role, and in doing so Jax has reintroduced his cutter. It’s already helping him handle left-handed hitters more effectively, and should help the […]
This was the 3rd week of full minor league play (stats are entering play on May, 3rd). According to FanGraphs (which factors in age and proximity to the big leagues), 19-year old Cooper Flemming has taken over the top hitter spot in the Rays system. Flemming was the Rays 2nd round pick in 2025 and […]
Good teams win close games. The Rays are proving so far this season that they truly are a good team. Today was another example. Not because every win has to be clean, or because the offense is turning games into batting practice. No, this one was proof in a much more Rays’ way. Tampa Bay […]
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