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Rays Rumors

Rays Add Brett Phillips, Ryan Sherriff To World Series Roster

By Steve Adams | October 20, 2020 at 11:16am CDT

The Rays have set their roster for their upcoming World Series showdown with the National League Champion Dodgers. They’ll carry mostly the same group of players that toppled the Astros in a riveting seven-game American League Championship Series, with a few notable changes. Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times tweets that outfielder Brett Phillips and left-handed reliever Ryan Sherriff have both been added to the roster, taking the spots of right-hander Aaron Slegers and lefty Jose Alvarado.

Here’s how the roster breaks down:

Right-Handed Pitchers

  • Nick Anderson
  • Diego Castillo
  • John Curtiss
  • Pete Fairbanks
  • Tyler Glasnow
  • Charlie Morton 
  • Ryan Thompson

Left-Handed Pitchers

  • Josh Fleming
  • Aaron Loup
  • Shane McClanahan
  • Ryan Sherriff
  • Blake Snell (Game 1 starter)
  • Ryan Yarbrough

Catchers

  • Michael Pérez
  • Mike Zunino

Infielders

  • Willy Adames
  • Mike Brosseau
  • Ji-Man Choi
  • Yandy Díaz
  • Brandon Lowe
  • Joey Wendle

Outfielders

  • Randy Arozarena
  • Kevin Kiermaier
  • Manuel Margot
  • Austin Meadows
  • Brett Phillips
  • Hunter Renfroe
  • Yoshi Tsutsugo

Unlike the Division Series and League Championship Series, the World Series has a pair of off-days built into the schedule, which likely contributed heavily to Tampa Bay’s decision to carry an extra position player in the final round of play. In Phillips, they’ll add a rocket-armed and fleet-footed reserve outfielder who can provide some speed off the bench and a defensive upgrade late in games. Phillips tallied just 59 plate appearances in 2020 between the Royals and Rays, hitting .196/.305/.392. He was six-for-seven in stolen bases, however, and has developed a penchant for making highlight-reel throws from the outfield with an arm that regularly drew 70 grades and even a few 80 grades on scouting reports.

The 30-year-old Sherriff returned from a lengthy absence due to Tommy John surgery to give the Rays 9 2/3 shutout frames during the regular season. He has a limited Major League track record, having pitched a bit for the Cardinals previously. Sherriff only struck out two hitters in those 9 2/3 innings, but he also recorded a hefty 56.7 percent ground-ball rate. In all, he has a 2.73 ERA with a 20-to-8 K/BB ratio and a 60.4 percent grounder rate in 29 2/3 Major League innings.

Alvarado was added to the ALCS roster after sitting out the Wild Card and ALDS rounds. He’d been sidelined by a shoulder issue since mid-August prior to that point, and he’ll now be swapped out for Sherriff, it seems. Alvarado tossed 1 2/3 scoreless frames against the Astros but did walk three of the five batters he faced in his second appearance. Slegers has allowed just one run in five innings to this point in the postseason after giving the Rays 26 frames of 3.46 ERA/3.04 FIP ball during the regular season.

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Tampa Bay Rays Aaron Slegers Brett Phillips Jose Alvarado Ryan Sherriff

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Kevin Kiermaier Ready For World Series

By Anthony Franco | October 19, 2020 at 8:21pm CDT

  • Rays center fielder Kevin Kiermaier suffered a wrist injury when he was hit by a pitch in Game 3 of the ALCS. He’ll be a full-go for the World Series, he told reporters (including Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times). That’s not particularly surprising, since the 30-year-old returned to Tampa Bay’s starting lineup for Game 7 against Houston. The three-time Gold Glove winner has been an integral part of the Rays’ superlative team defense this postseason.
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Baltimore Orioles Houston Astros Tampa Bay Rays Texas Rangers George Springer Kevin Kiermaier Michael Brantley Rylan Bannon

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Rays Name Glasnow, Snell Starters For First Two Games Of World Series

By TC Zencka | October 19, 2020 at 1:55pm CDT

Blake Snell will end his streak of starting game ones for the Rays, but he’s not going to  wait long to take the hill. Snell will get the ball in game two against the Dodgers, while Tyler Glasnow will toe the rubber in the opening game of the World Series, per MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand (via Twitter).

Clayton Kershaw is set to oppose Glasnow in game one for the Dodgers. Los Angeles was able to escape the NLCS despite just one so-so outing from Kershaw, but they’re surely expecting more from the all-time great as the World Series kicks off on Tuesday.

For the Rays, expect similar usage from their pitching staff over the first couple of games, but it will be anyone’s guess from there. With days off after game two and game five, manager Kevin Cash will have more options available to him. The days off mean the Rays will probably drop a pitcher from their 15-man unit in order to bring a position player back into the mix, per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. The Rays went with a 14-and-14 pitch-to-hitter balance for the first few rounds of the playoffs, only adding the additional arm for the 7-day, 7-game ALCS.

Rays starters don’t tend to pitch far beyond the fifth inning regardless, but the extra rest gives Cash some flexibility for how to deploy his arms. Charlie Morton would be on five days rest for a game three start, assuming Cash decides to keep his regular rotation intact. He could then turn to Ryan Yarbrough for game four, or return to Glasnow on three days’ rest.

Purely speculating, Josh Fleming and Jose Alvarado were the ’last in,’ so to speak, having been added to the roster for the ALCS. Alvarado struggled with his command, while the Rays may not feel the need for a longman like Fleming given the extra days of rest. Shane McClanahan, who made his big league debut during the postseason, could also be an option for removal. On the offensive end, Brett Phillips and Nate Lowe both made the playoff roster for a previous round. Given how much the Rays value outfield defense, Phillips might be the more natural add, especially with Ji-Man Choi healthy and ostensibly filling Lowe’s potential role on the roster.

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Tampa Bay Rays Blake Snell Marc Topkin Tyler Glasnow

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Astros, Rays Set Game 7 Starters

By Connor Byrne | October 16, 2020 at 9:36pm CDT

The Astros are one win away from pulling off one of the greatest postseason comebacks in Major League Baseball history. After dropping the first three games of the American League Championship Series against the Rays, they have won three in a row to force a Game 7 on Saturday. The Astros will use right-hander Lance McCullers Jr. as their starter then, Jake Kaplan of The Athletic tweets. The Rays, hoping to stave off a collapse, will turn to righty Charlie Morton, per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times.

McCullers, who debuted with the Astros in 2015, has been through the postseason wringer with the perennial contenders. He made his first playoff outing as a rookie and has since contributed 43 frames of 2.93 ERA pitching with 9.6 K/9 against 2.9 BB/9 in the postseason, including closing out the Yankees in the Astros’ 2017 ALCS victory in Game 7. As for this fall’s playoffs, the 27-year-old has tossed 11 innings of five-earned run ball, and he last took the mound for the Astros in their Game 2 loss in this series on Monday. McCullers totaled seven innings with four runs (only one earned) on four hits and no walks in that game, and he put up 11 strikeouts.

Morton got the better of McCullers in the pair’s previous matchup, during which he fired five scoreless frames. The 36-year-old Morton helped lead the Astros to a championship in 2017 with his excellent playoff performance, but he could now end their season with his current club. Not only has Morton largely been a tremendous regular-season pitcher since he broke out as an Astro during their title-winning campaign, but he has been as good or better in the fall, evidenced by his lifetime 3.16 ERA with 9.6 K/9 and 3.5 BB/9 in 51 1/3 playoff innings. Based on the success he has had in the postseason, Morton seems well equipped to handle a do-or-die matchup.

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Houston Astros Tampa Bay Rays Charlie Morton Lance McCullers Jr.

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Framber Valdez, Blake Snell To Start Game 6 Of ALCS

By Connor Byrne | October 15, 2020 at 9:12pm CDT

Thanks to the heroics of shortstop Carlos Correa, who hit a walk-off home run Thursday, the Astros forced a Game 6 of the American League Championship Series against the Rays. Both teams’ starters are set for that affair on Friday. The Astros will use left-hander Framber Valdez, per manager Dusty Baker (via Brian McTaggart of MLB.com), while the Rays will turn to fellow southpaw Blake Snell, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times tweets.

This will be the third straight backs-against-the-wall game for the Astros, who fell behind 3-0 in the series but have refused to go away quietly. They’ve won two consecutive games by a 4-3 score and will now rely on the 26-year-old Valdez to keep their season going. He was an indispensable part of their Justin Verlander-less rotation during the regular season, when he tossed 70 2/3 innings of 3.57 ERA/2.85 FIP ball with 9.68 K/9, 2.04 BB/9 and a 60 percent groundball rate. Valdez has added another 18 frames in the postseason and allowed just four earned runs. The Rays did, however, get the better of him in Game 1 of the ALCS with a 2-1 victory.

Snell was at the helm for the Rays in the series’ first game, and the former AL Cy Young winner gave up one run in five innings. He has generally been excellent in these playoffs, having surrendered five ER in 15 2/3 frames. Before that, Snell had another effective regular season with 50 innings of 3.24 ERA/4.35 FIP pitching with 11.34 K/9, 3.24 BB/9 and a 49.2 percent GB rate. The 27-year-old now has a chance to pitch Tampa Bay into the World Series for the first time since 2008.

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Houston Astros Tampa Bay Rays Blake Snell Framber Valdez

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Rays, Astros Set Game 5 Starters

By Steve Adams | October 15, 2020 at 12:45pm CDT

The Rays and Astros have set their starters for Thursday’s Game 5 of the ALCS. Tampa Bay will give the start to right-handed reliever John Curtiss in what should be a bullpen game, while Houston is turning to rookie right-hander Luis Garcia with their season on the line. Garcia has yet to pitch in the playoffs and pitched just 12 1/3 regular-season frames — his first career work above the Class-A Advanced level.

The 27-year-old Curtiss proved to be the latest gem unearthed by the Rays, as he gave the club 25 innings of 1.80 ERA ball with a 25-to-3 K/BB ratio during the regular season. The former Twins prospect was greeted rudely in his playoff debut earlier this month when the Yankees clobbered him for five runs in just two thirds of an inning, but he’s bounced back with a trio of scoreless outings. Curtiss didn’t pitch more than 2 2/3 innings in any appearance this season and hasn’t thrown more than 43 pitches in an outing, so it’ll be an all-hands-on-deck approach for the Rays today.

Garcia, 23, hasn’t pitched in a game since Sept. 27 and wasn’t asked to pitch more than two innings at any point after a five-inning effort back on Sept. 9. The Astros won’t be asking for bulk innings from the rookie today, as manager Dusty Baker told reporters his hope is that Garcia can navigate a potent Rays lineup once through the order (Twitter link via MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart). It’s a stark contrast from last year’s Astros club, which rode the trio of Justin Verlander, Gerrit Cole and Zack Greinke to Game 7 of the World Series, but it’s also a testament to the club’s young pitching that their arms have been able to take them this far in spite of so many key injuries to veteran pitchers.

In other lineup news, Baker revealed that x-rays taken after Michael Brantley fouled a ball into his foot were negative. He’s batting second as the Astros’ DH in today’s elimination game.

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Houston Astros Tampa Bay Rays John Curtiss Luis Garcia

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Oliver Drake Elects Free Agency

By TC Zencka | October 14, 2020 at 5:44pm CDT

Tampa Bay Rays reliever Oliver Drake has elected free agency, per MLB.com’s Juan Toribio (via Twitter).

The Rays designated Drake for assignment after an injury forced him from their playoff roster. Though he’s obviously done for this season, the Rays could re-sign the much-traveled reliever, per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times (via Twitter).

Originally a 43rd-round draft pick of the Orioles back in 2008, Drake made his big-league debut as a 28-year-old with the Orioles in 2015. A trade to the Brewers in April of 2017 kicked off a nomadic period for Drake. The Indians purchased his contract from the Brewers after a season in Milwaukee, but then he’d be waived and claimed by the Angels, Blue Jays, Twins, Rays, and Blue Jays again, all over the course of the 2018 season. He appeared in the majors for five teams that season, the Rays, ironically, not among them.

Tampa would again purchase Drake’s contract in January of 2019 and keep him through the 2020 season. The 33-year-old reliever settled in with the Rays over the past season and a half. He was a significant bullpen piece for them in 2019, using his signature screwball to log a 3.21 ERA/3.87 FIP across 50 games, 56 innings. This season he made 11 appearances with a 5.73 ERA/5.92 FIP. Drake threw one scoreless inning in the ALDS against the Yankees.

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Tampa Bay Rays Transactions Marc Topkin Oliver Drake

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Kevin Kiermaier Exits ALCS Game 3 After HBP

By Anthony Franco | October 13, 2020 at 10:35pm CDT

10:35 pm: X-rays on Kiermaier’s wrist came back negative, per Topkin and Bob Nightengale of USA Today (Twitter links). He has been diagnosed with a contusion.

10:30 pm: Rays center fielder Kevin Kiermaier exited tonight’s ALCS Game 3 in the sixth inning after being hit by a pitch, as first noted by Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times (Twitter link). Right fielder Manuel Margot moved to center, with Hunter Renfroe coming off the bench to play right.

Kiermaier took a 99 MPH fastball from Enoli Paredes off his left wrist area, as Daren Willman of MLB.com noted. He ran for himself but was replaced defensively in the following half-inning. Kiermaier posted a .217/.321/.367 line in the regular season and hasn’t hit much this postseason. He’s an otherworldly outfielder, though, and has been a vital piece of a Rays’ defense that has shined during their playoff run.

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Tampa Bay Rays Kevin Kiermaier

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Rays Name Ryan Yarbrough Starter For ALCS Game 3

By Anthony Franco | October 12, 2020 at 7:42pm CDT

The Rays will turn to left-hander Ryan Yarbrough to start tomorrow evening’s AL Championship Series Game 3 against the Astros, the team announced (via Juan Toribio of MLB.com). Blake Snell and Charlie Morton got the ball for the series’ first two games, while Tyler Glasnow started last Friday’s ALDS Game 5 against the Yankees. Presumably, this sets up Glasnow to go on regular rest in Wednesday’s Game 4.

Already up 2-0 on Houston, the Rays will look to take a stranglehold on the series. They’ll turn the ball over to Yarbrough, who pitched to a 3.56 ERA/3.80 FIP in 55.2 innings during the regular season. He’s not overpowering, but the 28-year-old throws a ton of strikes and is one of the sport’s premier contact managers. Relying heavily on a cutter and changeup that break in opposite directions laterally, Yarbrough perennially avoids the barrel. He limited opponents to an 82.6MPH exit velocity on average this season, per Statcast, placing him in the 99th percentile leaguewide. That continues his years-long trend of hard contact suppression.

The Rays used Ryan Thompson as an opener in front of Yarbrough in Game 4 of the ALDS. This time, they’ll turn to him from the outset, while Houston will counter with righty José Urquidy.

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Tampa Bay Rays Ryan Yarbrough

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Charlie Morton Addresses Future

By Anthony Franco | October 11, 2020 at 7:29pm CDT

In advance of his start in tomorrow’s ALCS Game 2, Rays right-hander Charlie Morton addressed his long-term future with reporters (including Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times and Jon Morosi of MLB Network). The 13-year MLB veteran suggested in February he might step away at the end of the 2020 season. That’s still a possibility, but Morton made clear today the decision is partly in the team’s hands.

The Rays hold a $15MM club option on Morton’s services for 2021, and the pitcher said he’d be happy to play out that deal if the team exercises the option. Morton, who makes his home in Florida, said he’d “be completely honored and privileged to continue to play for the Rays” next season. If Tampa Bay were to decline the option, though, he said he’d seriously discuss with his family whether to pursue another opportunity or to retire.

$15MM is seemingly a more than reasonable price for a pitcher of Morton’s caliber. The 36-year-old (37 in November) only pitched to a 4.74 ERA across nine starts in 2020, but his underlying numbers were far more favorable. Morton’s 24.7% strikeout rate and 12.1% swinging strike rate are down a bit from his 2019 performance, but each mark remains a bit better than league average. Equally important, Morton’s 93.9MPH average fastball velocity is more than sufficient to continue to get outs, even if it’s down a tick from last season.

Of course, Morton has quite recently performed like one of the top arms in the game. He finished 3rd in AL Cy Young voting just last season on the heels of a 3.05 ERA/2.81 FIP over 194.2 innings. From 2017-19, Morton combined for a 3.24 ERA in 508.1 innings while holding opposing hitters to a .218/.296/.359 slash line. Even if one doesn’t expect Morton to return to those ace-like levels, he still looks like a strong mid-rotation starter. Surely, the Rays won’t overreact to a couple months of bad run prevention numbers, considering Morton’s other strengths.

That said, Tampa Bay perennially runs one of the lowest payrolls in the league, leaving the front office constantly on the hunt for advantages on the margins. Teams are also generally expected to curtail spending league-wide in the wake of massive coronavirus-driven revenue losses. That makes it difficult to bank on any team’s spending habits in the coming months.

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Tampa Bay Rays Charlie Morton

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