View from the Catwalks: The Rays slide into last place in the AL

The Rays are currently in 15th (out of 15) place in the AL. The Yankees are only a hair better at 13th place. A pivotal series between the two teams most expected to be the top teams in all of the AL will fight it out to stay out of the incredibly early-season gutter.

The thing about baseball is, it’s easy to predict and you can always expect what happens.

By the numbers, the Rays have gotten off to a brutal start:

• The Rays have led for just 33 ¹⁄₂ innings out of 117 innings
• 0-3 in Extra inning games
• 4-8 by Pythagorean expectancy (based on run differential). So the Rays are technically overachieving

The good news? Well, it’s been two weeks and there are 149 games remaining. The Yankees and Blue Jays are also off to mediocre to bad starts. Also, the Rays did almost exactly the same thing last year. No seriously, it’s freaky:

if you remember, what happened next in 2020 was a massive 3 out of 4 wins vs New York and then a huge 4 game sweep of Boston at Fenway. So perhaps history will continue to rhyme and this time a trip into the Bronx is just what is needed.

Rays News

• Phillips’ mad dash not enough to earn split - Adam Berry, MLB.com: Brett Phillips did give us another chaos highlight.

• Rays slide continues, drop third straight to Texas - Joey Johnston, Tampa Bay Times: Lots of chances, not enough hits, tons of bad luck just plagued the Rays the entire home set vs Texas.
• One thing we might be seeing more of in the lineup: Brosseau and Brosseau bombs

• Notes: Rays celebrate Jackie; Bronx on deck - Adam Berry, MLB.com
• A very cool gesture:

• Chris Archer, A-Rod, Jackie Bradley Jr, and Adam Jones on race in baseball | Breaking Barriers, ESPN: Archer joined the panel to discuss his perspective.
• Rays propose ‘world class’ multi-sport stadium in St. Pete for Rays and Rowdies - Beau Zimmer, WTSP 10: Potentially the slightest movement forward on stadium talk.
• Which Pitcher Will Be the Next Shane Bieber—and Where Will They Come From? - Michael Baumann, The Ringer
• How would an extra foot from mound to plate affect baseball’s current trends? - Travis Sawchik, The Score: Tyler Glasnow is asked about his perspective on potential changes, and ways baseball is debating inches the edges back towards batters.
• Inside a Mets culture rotten beyond Mickey Callaway and Jared Porter
• David Price notched a Save last night. We all remember his other Save: