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Well, it took all of a week before it became clear that it was time to bring back a DRB specialty from last season: the MLB Frustration Rankings.
Last season, it at least took until May to break this exercise out. And then it took two more months after that to get our first update.
The 2018 season has demanded a much quicker call to action, however.
We are only eight games into the 2018 season, but with one win, seven losses - four of those coming by one run - and just a general feeling of malaise overtaking this 2018 Tampa Bay Rays season, the hour is nigh for judging just how frustrated we, as Rays fans, should be.
In the first edition of these rankings, it was only the Texas Rangers who could stake their claim to being a more frustrated fan base. In the follow-up, the Rays once again played second fiddle, this time to the tanking Philadelphia Phillies. (We can’t even win at losing!)
Well, good news Rays fans. The 2018 version of the Rays has been the most frustrating team in baseball, and by a good margin. To make this even more impressive, these rankings were done while Saturday’s games were still ongoing, which means they were an easy number one choice even before they got spanked so hard by the Red Sox that Daniel Robertson had to come on to pitch. What a season!
For those who are new to these rankings, double back to the first official rankings for how these categories were scored, but know that a new category was added for this edition: Delta Preseason. No, this doesn’t have to do with how expensive each team’s spring training airfare was, it’s simply the gap between each team’s preseason rankings (using ESPN) and their current place in the standings. It’s tough to start off the season on a sour note, but it’s even worse if you were picturing anything but that. This new category replaced W-L% in the last 10 games. Which was a must because we couldn’t even make it 10 games into the season without busting these bad boys out.
There’s also the first addition of decimals into these charts because this early in the season, all the stats are chock-full of ties.
Without further ado, the first edition of the 2018 MLB Frustration Rankings:
2018 MLB Frustration Rankings
| Rank | Team | W-L% | W-L% Close | Pace | Blown saves | Errors | K% | RISP | Delta Preseason | L streak bonus | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | Team | W-L% | W-L% Close | Pace | Blown saves | Errors | K% | RISP | Delta Preseason | L streak bonus | Total |
| 1 | TB | 30 | 30 | 29 | 18 | 11.5 | 27 | 26 | 25 | 12 | 208.5 |
| 2 | LAD | 25.5 | 28.5 | 22.5 | 18 | 21 | 15 | 20 | 30 | 6 | 186.5 |
| 3 | PHI | 22.5 | 7.5 | 15.5 | 26 | 28.5 | 30 | 29 | 24 | 0 | 183 |
| 4 | CHC | 18 | 28.5 | 7 | 18 | 24 | 22 | 27 | 28 | 2 | 174.5 |
| 5 | NYY | 14 | 18 | 17 | 26 | 28.5 | 20 | 14 | 27 | 4 | 168.5 |
| 6 | BAL | 20 | 15.5 | 22.5 | 29.5 | 11.5 | 29 | 23 | 16 | 0 | 167 |
| 7 | STL | 18 | 23.5 | 6 | 18 | 18 | 28 | 22 | 26 | 2 | 161.5 |
| 8 | OAK | 22.5 | 15.5 | 26 | 18 | 24 | 12 | 16 | 13.5 | 4 | 151.5 |
| 9 | KC | 28 | 21 | 11.5 | 18 | 11.5 | 1 | 24 | 19 | 2 | 136 |
| 10 | SD | 27 | 23.5 | 3 | 18 | 24 | 18 | 5 | 16 | 0 | 134.5 |
| 11 | TEX | 22.5 | 18 | 4.5 | 6.5 | 18 | 11 | 28 | 20.5 | 2 | 131 |
| 12 | COL | 14 | 15.5 | 27 | 18 | 5 | 21 | 10 | 18 | 2 | 130.5 |
| 13 | HOU | 5.5 | 7.5 | 14 | 18 | 24 | 25 | 12 | 20.5 | 2 | 128.5 |
| 14 | CIN | 29 | 15.5 | 4.5 | 6.5 | 5 | 19 | 19 | 22 | 4 | 124.5 |
| 15 | CHW | 14 | 4 | 20 | 29.5 | 18 | 26 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 123.5 |
| 16 | DET | 22.5 | 26.5 | 21 | 18 | 11.5 | 5 | 9 | 7 | 0 | 120.5 |
| 16 | MIN | 8 | 26.5 | 18 | 6.5 | 5 | 24 | 21 | 11.5 | 0 | 120.5 |
| 18 | CLE | 18 | 20 | 11.5 | 6.5 | 1.5 | 16 | 17 | 29 | 0 | 119.5 |
| 19 | MIL | 9.5 | 2 | 1.5 | 26 | 30 | 17 | 18 | 13.5 | 0 | 117.5 |
| 20 | MIA | 25.5 | 7.5 | 15.5 | 6.5 | 18 | 14 | 11 | 9 | 6 | 113 |
| 21 | SEA | 14 | 11 | 9 | 6.5 | 18 | 8 | 25 | 16 | 4 | 111.5 |
| 22 | TOR | 9.5 | 23.5 | 9 | 6.5 | 27 | 23 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 107.5 |
| 23 | SF | 14 | 4 | 19 | 6.5 | 11.5 | 7 | 30 | 11.5 | 0 | 103.5 |
| 24 | WAS | 11 | 7.5 | 1.5 | 6.5 | 11.5 | 9 | 15 | 23 | 6 | 91 |
| 25 | BOS | 2 | 1 | 28 | 26 | 1.5 | 4 | 13 | 8 | 0 | 83.5 |
| 26 | LAA | 5.5 | 11 | 24.5 | 18 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 10 | 0 | 79 |
| 27 | ATL | 7 | 23.5 | 9 | 6.5 | 24 | 6 | 1 | 1.5 | 0 | 78.5 |
| 27 | ARZ | 2 | 11 | 30 | 6.5 | 5 | 13 | 6 | 5 | 0 | 78.5 |
| 29 | PIT | 2 | 4 | 24.5 | 26 | 11.5 | 2 | 4 | 1.5 | 0 | 75.5 |
| 30 | NYM | 4 | 18 | 13 | 6.5 | 11.5 | 10 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 75 |
I think it’s fair to say that the top three of Tampa Bay, Los Angeles (the Dodger version), and Philadelphia check out. While the L.A. fanbase likely can rationalize just how early we are in the season, it’s a bit trickier for Rays and Phils fans these days.
With that in mind, we are indeed less than 10 games into the season. It’s an age-old trope among the wiser fans in baseball these days, but it doesn’t make it any less true: If we tossed these eight games into the dog days of August, no Rays fan would enjoy it, but it would be far less noticeable than things are as the first eight games of the season. Right now this is the only sample we have, and everyone and every stat is so much more under the microscope because of that. Even though we all know better than to look into the lens, we just can’t help ourselves.
So enjoy our reign as early-season Kings of Frustration, and hopefully we don’t retain this title much longer.