A Tampa Bay Rays Blog: Ball on a Budget
Spring Training games still haven’t begun but that didn’t stop Kevin Cash from declaring the team’s Opening Day starter. Taking the mound on March 26th in St Louis for the Tampa Bay Rays on Opening Day will be Drew Rasmussen. “I’m really honored. It’s really cool to get the opportunity to pitch on opening day. […]
The most heartbreaking “what if” in Tampa Bay Rays franchise history are tied to two things: losing the World Series, and trading away your favorite players. Unfortunately, that gives us many moments to choose from. Lat’s take it back to the 2008 World Series. After a Cinderella run that transformed the perception of the club […]
DRaysBay works best as a place for community and conversation. Accordingly, in the lead up to the new season, we are posting “Daily Questions” in the month of February. I look forward to seeing you in the comment section! Every year we see a role player make the leap into a star. In 2025 that […]
Last offseason, the Rays acquired Mason Englert from the Tigers for Drew Sommers, adding a flexible, multi-inning arm with option years. Englert fit that role well, posting solid results while working more than one inning in nearly half his appearances. But the interesting question is whether the Rays should ask for more. Marc Topkin reported […]
Spring training is underway, and we are finally hearing from Rays players, coaches, and front office personnel for the first time in 2026. Junior Caminero spoke with the media and discussed his role on the team, and that discussion started to touch on a potential extension. Caminero says that’s up to his team and the […]
DRaysBay works best as a place for community and conversation. Accordingly, in the lead up to the new season, we are posting “Daily Questions” in the month of February. I look forward to seeing you in the comment section! Imagine you’ve been given the powers of the Erik Neander, and you are allowed to make […]
DRaysBay works best as a place for community and conversation. Accordingly, in the lead up to the new season, we are posting “Daily Questions” in the month of February. I look forward to seeing you in the comment section! Spring Training is always an exciting opportunity to see players you might never otherwise see during […]
Previous Winner Jose Urbina, RHP20 | 6’3” | 180A | 2.05 ERA, 3.58 FIP, 92.1 IP (19 GS), 26.4% K, 8.2% BBA+ | 2 ER (2 HR), 4.0 IP (1 GS), 5 K, 0 BB Good pitchers grow and adjust, and Urbina has done that consistently at an age young for his level. Physically he […]
Ken Rosenthal at The Athletic dropped a surprising note that the Rays lone lefty reliever Garrett Cleavinger is evidently drawing strong trade interest this week, in sourcing likely derived from a couple teams pushing for the acquisition. In a vacuum, this is totally something the old Rays would do, as Cleavinger is a short-arm reliever […]
The Rays new owners penned a Valentine’s Day card in their own unique way this year, hosting this season’s FanFest in tents outside Tropicana Field. Those in attendance — for which 50,000 tickets were claimed — got to shop the latest swag, hear interviews from folks like the excellent Rays Radio crew talking to players […]
DRaysBay works best as a place for community and conversation. Accordingly, in the lead up to the new season, we are posting “Daily Questions” in the month of February. I look forward to seeing you in the comment section! Every year we see a role player make the leap into a star. In 2025 that […]
DRaysBay works best as a place for community and conversation. Accordingly, in the lead up to the new season, we are posting “Daily Questions” in the month of February. I look forward to seeing you in the comment section! On the one hand, a pitching duel — particularly with a pitch clock — is a […]
DRaysBay works best as a place for community and conversation. Accordingly, in the lead up to the new season, we are posting “Daily Questions” in the month of February. I look forward to seeing you in the comment section! Don’t say a prospect unless they are on the 40-man roster! But even then, be careful… […]
Previous Winner Trevor Harrison, RHP20 | 6’4” | 225A | 2.61 ERA, 3.26 FIP, 82.2 IP (17 GS), 22.4% K, 10.7% BBA+ | 3.33 ERA, 4.26 FIP, 24.1 IP (5 GS), 23.8% K, 12.4% BB Harrison entered the season as Baseball America’s top pitcher in the system thanks to a cleaned up delivery and high […]
The Tampa Bay Rays will be well represented during the World Baseball Classic. The organization will have eight players representing their countries during the tournament: *prospect**acquired this off-season Jonathan Aranda and Junior Caminero are the most notable representatives from the Rays as both turned in All-Star seasons in 2025. Caminero in particular has been clamoring […]
DRaysBay works best as a place for community and conversation. Accordingly, in the lead up to the new season, we are posting “Daily Questions” in the month of February. I look forward to seeing you in the comment section! Sometimes a key injury to your favorite player is all it takes.
The Rays starters had three pitchers throw 150 or more innings in 2025 (Pepiot at 167, Baz at 166, and Rasmussen just made it with 150), which should be viewed as an acoomplishment. The last time that happened was in 2016 when Chris Archer eclipsed 200, Jake Odorizzi threw 187, and Drew Smyly added 175. […]
DRaysBay works best as a place for community and conversation. Accordingly, in the lead up to the new season, we are posting “Daily Questions” in the month of February. I look forward to seeing you in the comment section! Is it the rotation, and the combined risk of injured elbows and lack of innings? Is […]
Previous Winner Nathan Flewelling, C19 | L/R | 6’2” | 200A | .229/.393/.336 (126 wRC+) 439 PA, 6 HR, 9 SB, 20.3% BB, 27.6% KA+ | 22 PA, 4 H, 5 BB, 6 K The 94th overall pick from 2024, Flewelling made his debut at 18 years young and caught a full season (75 C, […]
DRaysBay works best as a place for community and conversation. Accordingly, in the lead up to the new season, we are posting “Daily Questions” in the month of February. I look forward to seeing you in the comment section! Pitchers & Catchers begin to report to Spring Training today, so I can think of no […]
On this week’s episode of Rays Your Voice, we discuss the signing of right-handed pitcher Nick Martinez, who seemingly will round out the Rays rotation, at least to start the year. Darby and I break down what he brings to the pitching staff, and how his signing alters the roles of other pitchers like Steven […]
The Rays have announced the promotional schedule for the 2026 season. Each item will be made available to the first 10,000 fans in attendance. As is tradition: The first is a schedule magnet presented by Orlando Health at the Rays Home Opener at Tropicana Field (April 6) against the Chicago Cubs. Bobblehead giveaways will include […]
The Tampa Bay Rays have announced they will also celebrate former Rays third baseman Evan Longoria with a weekend of events and recognition dubbed, “Longo’s Legacy Weekend.” The team will honor Longoria by inducting him into the Rays Hall of Fame on Saturday, July 11 and will retire his No. 3 jersey on Sunday, July […]
The Rays catching group last season performed far below the standard we’ve historically seen from them. They were one of the worst groups in the league on both sides of the ball. Thankfully, the front office spent time addressing the need at the deadline. Now, the guys they brought in will have already had experience […]
DRaysBay works best as a place for community and conversation. Accordingly, in the lead up to the new season, we are posting “Daily Questions” in the month of February. I look forward to seeing you in the comment section! The Rays have penciled in many starters that aren’t going anywhere — Junior Caminero, Yandy Diaz, […]