Archive for Rays

After a dominant run through the American League East this year, the Tampa Bay Rays have punched their ticket to the World Series. Down 2-1 in the ALCS, they reeled off two straight wins in Cleveland over the weekend to take a 3-2 lead back home. And with a chance to put the series away, following a wild weekend of rain, rescheduling, and bullpen games as far as the eye could see, the Rays rose to the occasion, jumping all over the Guardians early and tacking on late to cruise to a 7-3 Game 6 win on Monday night. It was a comprehensive victory for the top seed in the American League, and it showed off their ability to do whatever is needed to win, whether it’s one-upping the opposition at their own game or putting a contest to bed with late-inning power.

Cleveland is a club that needs to make the most out of every opportunity to outscore its opponents. The team’s much-ballyhooed “Guards Ball” style depends a lot on a dominant pitching staff and a little on turning balls in play into baserunners, pressure, and eventually runs. But time and again on Monday, the Rays were the Guardians’ match when it came to the small plays that can flip the game – and they showed off an extra gear when push came to shove. Time and time again, they turned the Guardians away in big moments and extended the lead when they got their own chances.

One sequence was emblematic of the night: In the top of the fourth inning, the Guardians staged an all-too-rare rally against Freddy Peralta. Jo Adell led off the inning with a roped line drive double. Nathaniel Lowe battled back from 0-2 to draw a walk. After a fly out, Patrick Bailey came up and chopped a grounder over Peralta’s head. It was the kind of ball that could rattle around and lead to chaos. But Taylor Walls was having absolutely none of it. He rampaged across second, waved Richie Palacios out of the way, and snared the ball at a full sprint, headed directly toward Lowe, who panicked and slammed on the brakes, but to no avail. Walls ran him down, brushed a tag as Lowe fell out of the basepath, and fired to first to complete a double play. What might have been a big inning instead ended without a run scoring. Read the rest of this entry »

The Tampa Bay Rays are one win away from their third trip to the World Series. After pulling away from the Cleveland Guardians late in Game 4 for a 7-3 victory, the Rays scored a run in each of the first three innings of Game 5. While they left six men on base over that span, they forced Guardians ace Parker Messick to work so hard that he lasted just two innings, and because the game remained within reach, Cleveland manager Stephen Vogt called upon four of his best relievers to record four outs or more. Meanwhile, Drew Rasmussen stifled the Guardians, holding them to one run on four hits over seven innings, and a trio of relievers shut the door for a 3-1 victory and a three-games-to-two series lead. The series now heads back to St. Petersburg, and because the travel day was erased by Friday night’s rainout, the Rays will have the opportunity to clinch the pennant at home on Monday night.

For as great a rookie season as Messick had, the 25-year-old lefty has been anything but dominant during the postseason. He lasted five innings in just one of his three previous starts while putting up a 4.13 FIP and 5.25 xERA to go with a comparatively tidy 3.09 ERA in 11.2 innings. If a 15.1% walk rate, more than double his regular season mark of 6.6%, has been the primary culprit, his previous workload may be a contributing factor as well. Messick ranked fourth in the American League with 186.1 innings — the most of any rookie since 2012 — and with his postseason work prior to Sunday, he had pushed his odometer to 198 frames, up from a combined 138.1 innings between Triple-A and the majors in 2025.

After pairing Messick with backup catcher Austin Hedges for all but one of his starts in 2026 — David Fry caught the first three innings of his September 27 outing — Vogt called upon Patrick Bailey instead… on the basis of his offense. That’s an odd thing to say about a catcher with a career 75 wRC+, and an anemic .146/.213/.183 line when he was traded from the Giants in May, but the 27-year-old backstop has been a credible threat at the plate since joining the Guardians, and he entered Sunday having hit .333/.379/.556 (163 wRC+) during the postseason, with a homer and a single off Rasmussen in Game 1. Said Vogt before the game, “With the way Patty is swinging the bat, [I] just wanted to keep his bat in the lineup, and you know, obviously there is some risk. There’s some concern with Patty never having caught Parker. But you know what? If I’m going to trust two human beings to go out and navigate a game, it’s Parker and Patty.” Read the rest of this entry »

If you’re keeping score at home, the ALCS has now gone back and forth twice. On a frigid Saturday night in Cleveland, Tampa Bay’s big bats finally woke up. The Rays beat the Guardians, 7-3, to win Game 4 and even the series at 2-2. The game was originally scheduled for Friday night, but pouring rain destroyed that plan. The low temperature and a light west-southwest breeze kept multiple would-be homers in the ballpark, and the rain-soaked grass slowed down balls in the outfield. However, it didn’t stop the Rays from scoring more than three runs for the first time in the series. The Rays were more aggressive than the Guardians in terms of asking their best arms to get big outs. They countered a Cleveland bullpen game with a surprising amount of starting pitching, and they got big performances from Yandy Díaz, Junior Caminero, and Jonathan Aranda. The series is now guaranteed to end in St. Petersburg.

Both teams had the option to adjust their pitching plans after the rain banged Friday night’s game. The Rays could have thrown their ace, Drew Rasmussen on regular rest, rather than scheduled starter Nick Martinez. However, they knew they still would have needed Martinez later in the series, and it made sense for manager Kevin Cash to stick with his plan. Things were more complicated for Guardians manager Stephen Vogt.

With none of his most trusted starters available on normal rest on Friday, Vogt had no choice but to plan on a bullpen game, even though his bullpen was overworked. The postponement gave his relievers a much-needed game of rest. It also gave him the opportunity to hand the ball back to Game 1 starter Foster Griffin. Getting some length from Griffin would have been huge, because the postponement meant that if the series went seven games, the teams would play four games in a row, once again taxing the bullpen. However, Vogt stuck with opener Shawn Armstrong, and was cagey with reporters before the game when asked whether Griffin would pitch. It seemed like his plan for cobbling together nine innings was very contingent on how the game unfolded. Read the rest of this entry »

One of the great underrated joys of baseball is a competitive best-of-seven series that ends in five games. Think the 2024 World Series, when the only game the Dodgers lost was also the only game that was decided by more than three runs. The series scoreboard suggests that it was lopsided, but the individual games were absolutely riveting.

Even more overlooked is the enthralling four-game sweep, which is so rare that we are morally obligated to appreciate it when we see one. For that reason, it is my duty as a baseball writer to marvel at the NLCS that just transpired, when the Brewers came from behind in each of the four games to topple the dynastic Dodgers. Michael Baumann covered the series in Milwaukee and Los Angeles, and you should definitely check out his writing on the action if you haven’t already.

In this week’s mailbag, we’re putting together the best all-time roster of players who’ve never played in the World Series, and considering whether they’d beat an All-Star team from the clubs in this year’s Championship Series. We’re also answering your questions on what would happen if hit-by-pitches were treated as regular balls, and 1-0 games that feature a first-pitch home run. But first, I’d like to remind you that this mailbag is exclusive to FanGraphs Members. If you aren’t yet a Member and would like to keep reading, you can sign up for a Membership here. It’s the best way to both experience the site and support our staff, and it comes with a bunch of other great benefits. Also, if you’d like to ask a question for an upcoming mailbag, send me an email at mailbag@fangraphs.com. Read the rest of this entry »

Direct link to application (please see job details below):

Amateur Data Technician

Amateur Data Technician

Department: Amateur Scouting
Reports to: Senior Analyst, Baseball R&D
Location: St. Petersburg, FL

Overview
The Amateur Data Technician will sit at the intersection of Amateur Scouting and Data Engineering, ensuring the completeness, accuracy, and accessibility of college/high school data to maximize its impact on the player evaluation process for the annual MLB Draft. This person will develop a thorough understanding of available data sources and the full data pipeline, from ingestion into the database through integration into the amateur model. The technician will work alongside analysts and engineers to support and maintain data pipelines, ensure reliable and complete data delivery, develop quality-control processes, identify and reduce query bottlenecks, and explore opportunities to incorporate underutilized information. The technician will also gain an understanding of the amateur model, assist with its day-to-day operation and maintenance, and support various ad hoc statistical and draft-related tasks.

Responsibilities:

(65%) Amateur Data Oversight

• Develop and maintain processes to track data delivery and ensure completeness
• Implement quality checks to identify recurring issues, including erroneous or duplicate data
• Develop a working understanding of existing data pipeline frameworks and historical considerations
• Partner with Amateur Scouting staff to improve the accuracy and efficiency of data mapping processes
• Optimize existing queries and develop new ones to reduce data-access bottlenecks
• Maintain a thorough understanding of amateur data sources and their characteristics

(35%) Amateur Analytical Support

• Understand the amateur model framework and impact of underlying data sources
• Assist with the execution and maintenance of the amateur model pipeline
• Conduct ad hoc analytical explorations and support other draft-related tasks

Qualifications:

• Applied experience with SQL and relational databases
• Fluency in R
• Experience working with large or complex datasets and troubleshooting data-quality issues
• Working knowledge of statistical modeling and machine learning
• Experience in amateur baseball or with TrackMan data a plus
• Fluency in Python a plus

All offers are contingent on a satisfactory background check.

We are an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, age, disability, gender identity, marital or veteran status, or any other protected class.

To Apply
To apply, please follow this link.

The content in this posting was created and provided solely by the Tampa Bay Rays.

The ALCS opened in Cleveland for Game 3 on Thursday afternoon, with the game time moved up five hours to account for the threat of heavy rain in the forecast. All that extra time turned out to be unneeded, however, as the Guardians dispatched the Rays 3-2 in a briskly played game to take a 2-1 lead in the series. Gavin Williams got the start in Game 3 and was perfect in all but one of his five innings of work. That lone blemish, coming in the fourth, temporarily put the Rays on top before Pummelin’ Petey Halpin gave Cleveland the lead for good an inning later. From that point onward, both bullpens worked so efficiently that it seemed as if there was more time spent on commercials for toothpaste and premium dishwasher pods than baseball.

There may be no hotter pitcher in baseball right now than the 27-year-old Williams, coming off starts of 11 and 12 strikeouts against the White Sox in the ALDS. The Rays are a far better contact team than the White Sox, but the story was the same to start off the game, as he cruised through the first three innings, nine up, nine down with five strikeouts. Williams is one of the most aggressive starters in baseball when it comes to peppering breaking pitches against any batter, in any count, and Game 3 was definitely no exception. He threw only six fastballs total over the first three innings. Honorable mention for Nathaniel Lowe, who clipped the corner of the seats while catching a foul pop on the first play of the game and hung on for the out, just barely missing a painful blooper reel moment.

Making his first start of the playoffs, Rays right-hander Griffin Jax appeared to be consciously pitching around José Ramírez in the first inning, walking the Cleveland third baseman with one out. An aggressive base-stealing team, the Guardians ranked third in the American League with 146 stolen bases this year, with an 82% success rate that led the Junior Circuit. Ramírez, who led the team with 37 steals during the regular season, wasted little time trying to get into scoring position, taking off for second on the second pitch to three-hole hitter Chase DeLauter. He got a great jump and picked an offspeed pitch to run on, but Rays catcher Liam Hicks made an even better throw to the right side of the bag, tailing into the runner, where shortstop Taylor Walls applied a perfect tag. Read the rest of this entry »

During the regular season, Tampa Bay’s defense ranked fifth in runs scored, while Cleveland’s offense ranked 24th in runs allowed. After giving up seven runs to the Guardians in Game 1, the Rays entered Game 2 at risk of dropping both games at their home ballpark in Florida.

So I did my best to lay to rest
All of the bodies that have ever been on my body
And in my mind, they sink into the swamp

Techniques for moving on from a humbling loss vary from person to person, but whether the Rays took their nightmarish Game 1 and visualized it as gator food or chose to hit the reset button in some other way, they bounced back with a 3-1 win in Game 2.

Rookie Parker Messick got the start for the Guardians on Tuesday. After posting a 67 ERA- over 186 1/3 innings during the regular season, Messick made two starts during the divisional round. The lefty allowed two earned runs in both outings, but his command was shakier his second time out and he was pulled after 2 1/3 innings in which he walked four batters and threw 65 pitches. In his first ALCS appearance, though, Messick bested both of his prior postseason starts by pitching five innings and striking out three while allowing zero runs. Well, zero earned runs. Read the rest of this entry »

A year ago, even eight months ago, it would have been difficult to envision Victor Mesa Jr. emerging as a postseason hero for the Rays.

The son of a legendary Cuban outfielder and manager, he made his major league debut with the Marlins in 2025, but even by then, his standing as a prospect had faded due to his long swing and his aggressive approach. Designated for assignment by Miami before camps opened in February to make room for a waiver-wire reliever, Mesa was traded to the Rays and began the 2026 season in Triple-A.

Yet by June, the lefty-swinging 24-year-old (now 25) had carved out a platoon role with the big club thanks to his speed and defense. His role expanded as he far outdid his power projections, demonstrated an ability to hit same-side pitching, and played outstanding defense. In Game 3 of the Division Series, he administered the decisive blow against the Yankees, a towering two-run homer on lefty Max Fried’s final pitch to give the Rays a 4-2 lead. His adventurous night didn’t end there — in left field, he attempted to catch Anthony Volpe’s sixth-inning homer-that-wasn’t, which was ultimately ruled a run-scoring double because of fan interference — but the Rays held on to complete the sweep and advance to the ALCS against the Guardians.

“At the beginning of the year, I started being designated for assignment and look at me now,” a beaming, champagne-soaked Mesa said in the aftermath of the Wild Card Series victory.

“Victor Mesa Jr. is a very talented player both sides of the ball,” manager Kevin Cash said that night. “And when we got him up here and he found comfort in playing in that role that he was in basically every day, he really lengthened out our lineup.” Read the rest of this entry »

It wasn’t how manager Stephen Vogt drew it up, but after stealing Game 1 in St. Petersburg, the Guardians have won four in row and they now find themselves in the driver’s seat of the ALCS. On paper — on pretty much any surface you can think of — the Rays held the advantage coming into the series. They were the better team all season long. They dominated the Yankees in the ALDS, while the Guardians nearly fell to the White Sox. They were rested, while the Guardians had completely worn down their pitching. They had fearsome bats, and they had their rotation lined up the way they liked it.

Drew Rasmussen was coming off one of the most dominant playoff starts we’ve ever seen, throwing eight scoreless innings against the Yankees in Game 1 of the ALDS while allowing just one hit and striking out 10. What’s more, the Rays staked him to an early lead against Cleveland. But these Guardians just don’t seem to quit. After coming back from two games down in the ALDS, the Guardians came back from two runs down to beat the Rays on Monday. Then they poured it on, scoring in each of the last four innings to earn a 7-3 victory.

From the first pitch of the game, Rasmussen looked much less sharp than he had against the Yankees. His velocity was down compared to his regular season average. In each of the first two innings, he allowed two singles and notched just one whiff. Thanks to some help from his defense – catcher Nick Fortes threw out a stealing José Ramírez in the first and Victor Mesa Jr.’s rocket arm held Nathaniel Lowe to a single on a tailor-made double in the second – he escaped those two frames without surrendering a run. He allowed another single apiece in the third and fourth, but kept the Guardians off the board. His velocity ticked back up, but he didn’t throw a clean inning until the fifth. It would be his only one. Read the rest of this entry »

Rebounding from two sub-.500 seasons, the Rays won an American League-high 98 games, and took home their first AL East title since 2021. They followed that with an impressive three-game Division Series sweep of the Yankees, highlighted by Drew Rasmussen’s 7 2/3 no-hit innings in Game 1, a contact frenzy that exposed the Yankees’ shoddy infield defense and hastened ace Cam Schlittler’s exit in Game 2, and a timely two-run homer by rookie Victor Mesa Jr. in Game 3. That sweep marked the Rays’ first postseason series victory since 2020, when they outlasted the Astros in a seven-game ALCS to claim their second pennant in franchise history. After bowing to the Dodgers in that World Series, they made the playoffs in each of the next three seasons but went just 1-7 in those games, including a 2022 Wild Card Series sweep by the Terry Francona-managed Guardians. Rays manager Kevin Cash and designated hitter Yandy Díaz are the only principals left from the 2020 pennant-winners. This really is a new era in Tampa Bay baseball.

For their part, the Guardians spent a good chunk of the summer drafting behind the upstart White Sox in the AL Central race before sneaking into first place in mid-September and finishing one game ahead of their rivals at 85-77. They came from behind again versus Chicago during the ALDS, becoming the fourth team to lose the first two games of a five-game series at home but win three straight elimination games to capture the series. After being called upon to close out Game 4 with a four-run lead (a bit of overkill), Gavin Williams threw 5 2/3 innings of one-hit ball and struck out 12 on just one day of rest, while José Ramírez shook off an injury-related slump to homer in Games 4 and 5; his two-run shot off an ankle-high pitch in the finale was all the scoring Cleveland needed. Against the whiff-prone White Sox, Guardians pitchers set and then broke the postseason strikeout record for a nine-inning game, with 19 strikeouts in Game 3 and then 21 in Game 5. This is Cleveland’s third straight trip to the postseason under manager Stephen Vogt, and its second time to the ALCS in that span; the Guards lost to the Yankees in 2024.

Particularly given the contrast between the big-spending Dodgers and the more frugal Brewers in the NLCS, expect much to be made of an ALCS matchup featuring the teams ranked 29th and 28th in payroll, with Cleveland ($87 million) slightly outspent by Tampa Bay ($90 million). Both are ultra resourceful teams whose front offices are among the game’s most analytically inclined, though they’re built differently, with the Guardians heavily reliant on homegrown talent, while the Rays have largely leaned on smart trades to fill out their roster. In fact, deals with the Guardians brought the Rays Díaz in 2018 and third baseman Junior Caminero in ’21, the latter when he was an 18-year-old coming off his professional debut in the Dominican Summer League. Read the rest of this entry »