As we learned last season, things that happen in the beginning of the season tend to get amplified. But anytime you take 3 out of 4 from the Houston Astros, people are going to take notice:

• Beyond the Box Score talks about how the Rays are already positioned for a playoff run.
• Jonah Keri of The Athletic puts the Rays 5th in his first power rankings (and the Astros at 6th).

But it wasn’t all good news, as second baseman Joey Wendle landed on the 10 day Injured List after a hard slide from Jake Marisnick. The Rays should have an update on Wendle’s status in the coming days. In the meantime, they have recalled infielder Christian Arroyo.

You can hear comments from both players here:

This Week in Rays Baseball

The must-listen podcast from Neil Solondz returns for the 2019 season, with a host of great interviews:

Rays Links

• From Ian, late yesterday, is this must read — Fun with Small Sample Sizes: what we learned from the Rays first series
• MLB Trade Rumors reports that the Rays still checking in on Craig Kimbrel, per reporting by The Athletic
• With the Colorado Rockies in town, Tampa Bay Times Marc Topkin ($) revisits the trade that sent starting pitcher German Marquez out west. The Rays will see what they gave up firsthand on Wednesday.
• The Rays minor league rosters are set, with top prospects Brendan McKay heading to Montgomery and Wander Franco heading to Bowling Green.
• At FiveThirtyEight, the Rays playoff odds have risen to 51%; meanwhile, at FanGraphs, the Rays playoff odds have risen to nearly 47%.
• ICYMI, from Tommy Rancel: After dominating Astros, does Yonny Chirinos deserve a shot in Rays’ rotation? ($)

Rays Postgame Audio

Around the league

• Christian Yelich’s second half of 2018 was ‘Bonds-ian,’ and so is his start to 2019.
• In other episodes of small sample size theater, the Red Sox’s early pitching woes might be cause for worry.
• Mets first baseman and Tampa product Pete Alonso hit his first major league home run to help them power past the Marlins.