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The Rays have had some rough days on the field, off the field, in this country, out of this country this past week. But boy howdy was Sunday a sight for sore eyes. A long, often brutally frustrating game ended with a fun 18th inning tie breaking rally to defeat the Twins.
And then, when the day is almost over the Rays broke some more super fun news: Brendan McKay is getting the call.
— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) June 28, 2019
BREAKING: #Rays are calling up Brendan McKay to start Saturday game vs. Rangers
— Marc Topkin (@TBTimes_Rays) June 28, 2019
McKay to the Show
Top prospect Brendan McKay will start Saturday for the Rays. His numbers this year are otherworldly.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) June 28, 2019
AA: 1.30 ERA, 41.2 IP, 25 H, 9 BB, 62 Ks
AAA: 1.08 ERA, 25 IP, 13 H, 6 BB, 26 Ks
Oh, and he also hits. After scuffling at AA, McKay is slashing .265/.400/.551 with 4 HR at AAA.
Rays News
- The Rays weren’t satisfied with playing 9 innings of super frustrating baseball on the final game of this road trip, so instead played double!
No one has scored here in Minneapolis since the top of the 2nd.
— Tricia Whitaker (@TriciaWhitaker) June 27, 2019
It is now the top of the 15th.
In today's Rays-Twins game, @RaysBaseball tied the game in the top of the 2nd inning and then neither team scored until the top of the 18th.
— Stats By STATS (@StatsBySTATS) June 28, 2019
That's the most innings between runs in an AL game since September 1, 1906 (Philadelphia A's, 4-1 over Boston Americans in 24 innings).
- Tommy Pham summed it up well:
Mood pic.twitter.com/wQ7ir1T4EB
— Tommy Pham (@TphamLV) June 28, 2019
- Kiermaier exits with leg tightness after dive - Juan Toribio, MLB.com: Why not throw a key injury onto the pile of awful that has been the previous fortnight?
- Yandy Diaz’s return offers opportunity to keep Rays’ infield fresh - Eduardo A. Encina, Tampa Bay Times: A much needed and a welcome return to the Rays.
- Orlando not pursuing Tampa Bay Rays as team discusses splitting home games with Montreal - Ryan Gillespie, Orlando Sentinel: Sounds like at this time they are sitting out making a pitch, but they firmly didn’t close that window for the future.
- The Madman Theory Of The Montreal/Tampa Bay Rays - Neil deMause, Deadspin: Is Stu taking a plan out of old Tricky Dick Nixon’s playbook?
- It’s been a rough road trip on and off the field, but it’s important to know that the future’s still bright down on the farm:
The Rays now have the most Top prospects in baseball following two graduations earlier this week
— Baseball America (@BaseballAmerica) June 28, 2019
The leaders:
Rays -- 8
Padres -- 7
Braves -- 7https://t.co/KjxE5ehyxu
Oh. My. Wander Franco just DESTROYED his first High-A home run in Fort Myers. Apparently exit velocity apparently appeared as N/A. He may have broke the system
— John Vittas (@JohnVittas3) June 28, 2019
Around the League
- What A Foul Ball Can Do - Kelsey McKinney, Deadspin: An excellent piece, and just more examples for why the league should extend netting in all ballparks.
- We’ve Reached the Point of “Too Many Homers” - Jay Jaffe, Fan Graphs: Alternative title is No Country for Mallex Smith.
- Trainers, MLB Teams Unhappy With Current International Signing System - Ben Badler, Baseball America: A fascinating and eye opening look into International Free Agency and the current signing system.
- The Nationals Face a Rapidly Closing Window - Dan Szymborski, Fan Graphs: One of the most promising windows of any franchise is coming to a close with a whimper.
- We Calculated Advanced Stats For The Congressional Baseball Game - Nathaniel Rakich, FiveThirtyEight: The other area of DC baseball.
- The Grand Junction Rockies don’t want a name change, and are tired of your boner jokes - Eric Stephen, SB Nation: This is one of the weirder stories of the day.