Inside The Rays

The Rays are fresh off a series sweep against the Giants, highlighted by a walk-off in game 3 from Jonathan Aranda, the 200th in club history, a strong performance from Griffin Jax to open game 2 with the bullpen following suit and capped by Aranda's 26th and 27th RBIs of the season, and Shane McClanahan's best start of the season in game 1 with home runs from Yandy Díaz and Junior Caminero. Prior to the Giants series, the Rays took 2 of 3 from the Guardians thanks to strong performances from Steven Matz and Nick Martinez and big games from Ryan Vilade and, yet again, Jonathan Aranda. The Rays open their next series against the Blue Jays tonight at 6:40 PM with Nick Martinez and his 1.70 ERA taking the mound in game 1.

The Rays swept the Twins and are winners of four straight games. Drew Rasmussen and Shane McClanahan delivered strong outings, and Nick Martinez tossed 8 innings, matching his career high. Junior Caminero had himself a 2-HR game against Taj Bradley with EVs over 111 MPH and distances over 435 FT. He's red hot when he goes the other way or up the middle. Jonathan Aranda also smoked 2 HR off his former teammate for the first multi-HR game of his career, both over 105 MPH and over 402 FT. The offense the last few days has been clicking on all cylinders, getting production from 1-9, and the pen has looked very impressive with strong performances, especially from Griffin Jax, who opened yesterday, throwing more Changeups and being more competitive in the zone. We also talked about some of the most productive players in the farm, including Theo Gillen, Xavier Isaac, and Taitn Gray.

The Rays took it to the Yankees and carried that momentum into Chicago, a place they have struggled at over the last few years. In game 1, Shane McClanahan was able to deliver 5 strong innings, and Ryan Vilade delivered his biggest day at the plate as a Ray with 3 hits, including a 108 MPH EV single. Ben Williamson joined in on the party with two doubles, Nick Fortes and Yandy delivered RBIs, and Jonny DeLuca has looked awesome when he gets playing time. In game 2, Cole Sulser and Jesse Scholtens delivered 7 scoreless innings, Junior Caminero had an absurd one-handed 104.8 MPH EV, 393 FT HR, Jake Fraley got in on the HR action for his first as a Ray, and Jonny DeLuca again had a great day at the plate with a 107 MPH HR. In the series finale, Steven Matz delivered again, and the Rays have won every game he has pitched in. Junior Caminero hit a HR in back-to-back games, and this time it was a game-tying shot. We saw some of the energy that we had seen in the WBC, Taylor Walls collected 2 RBI and has made an impact on the ballclub since returning from the IL. Richie Palacios keeps proving that he deserves more playing time with his approach and results, Nick Fortes had another multi-hit game, Jonathan Aranda collected multiple walks and will look to break out of a little funk, and Hunter Feduccia collected a nice bases loaded walk. The Rays are on fire as they travel to PNC Park to face the Pirates. It's going to be an interesting series with all the great pitching matchups.

The Rays swept the Yankees for the first time since 2021. We recapped all the notable performances, including 3 good starts from Steven Matz, Nick Martinez, Drew Rasmussen, strong production from the bullpen, and the offense doing its job in key spots. We talked about some injury updates, including Edwin Uceta, Garrett Cleavinger, Gavin Lux and Joe Boyle. We also talked about some of the young position player prospects playing well. Guys like Caden Bodine, Theo Gillen, Daniel Pierce, Taitn Gray, Brendan Summerhill, Xavier Isaac, Dean Moss, Carson Williams, Austin Overn, and Cooper Kinney stand out. The last thing we did was preview the upcoming series against the White Sox, with top SP prospect Noah Schultz making his debut on Tuesday for the White Sox.

Baseball was played at Tropicana Field for the first time in 561 days and the Rays delivered with a convincing win over the Chicago Cubs. Junior Caminero, Jonathan Aranda, and Cedric Mullins all left the yard, Chandler Simpson was amped up for almost every play he was involved in, and the pen was nails after Shane McClanahan's 4 innings. We also talked about the last two games of the Twins series, including a golf swing HR from Junior Caminero and strong outings from both Steven Matz and Nick Martinez. The Rays are currently 5-5 and look to take the series against Chicago before they welcome the New York Yankees.

The Rays have been playing a rough stretch of baseball to start the year. They have the worst team defense this year with -7 OAA and -7 DRS, and it has snowballed at times. The starting pitching, however, has looked great with recent strong outings from Drew Rasmussen and Joe Boyle, who is throwing less 4-Seam and tapping more into his secondaries. We also talk about the next two matchups of the Twins series and some minor league standouts including Brody Hopkins, Jacob Melton, and Taitn Gray. Thank you guys for the support so far!

Shane McClanahan, for the first time in 973 days, made a start in a major league baseball game and looked very promising in terms of his secondaries. Nick Martinez made his Rays debut and was throwing tons of strikes and mixing his pitches effectively in the zone. In game 1, Jonny DeLuca hit his farthest HR at the MLB level after we talked about him on the last podcast, and Nick Fortes delivered a clutch RBI on a pitch that might have been 7-8 inches off the plate. Yandy Díaz smacked a leadoff HR, and according to Baseball Reference (Stathead), Díaz was the first player to have 11 hits in the first 4 games of a season since Adrián González did it with the Dodgers back in 2015. Díaz has collected mostly singles out of his 11 hits. In game 2, Jonathan Aranda continued to work the entire field and smoked a 102.8 MPH EV, 388 FT HR, Jake Fraley had himself a nice day at the plate with 2 hits including a 107.8 MPH double, and Nick Fortes had 3 balls hit over 95 MPH and a 408 FT HR. We also talked about Chandler Simpson and his impact. We also preview today's pitching matchup and will get an episode out tomorrow recapping the series and previewing the Twins series. Thank you guys for the support.

The Rays played like a better team than their 1-2 record currently shows, leading in Batting Average (.339), Hits (41), 2nd in OBP (.397), and were 3rd in Runs Scored (23). This highlights some of our spring and off-season thoughts on the team making a shift to a more contact-oriented approach and a team that will put the ball in play and make the defense work.Yandy Díaz had a historic day at the plate, Carson Williams continues to show off his improved hit tool and presence at the MLB level, and Joe Boyle showed off his new mix while not allowing a walk. We also highlight Tre' Morgan's great start to the season and Brody Hopkins unleashing his mix in his first AAA start, with a breaking ball that might be the best in baseball, let alone across Minor League Baseball.

The contact improvements addressed in the offseason were evident today with 17 hits, competitive at-bats, and standout days from multiple players. Jonathan Aranda had himself a 2-hit day with an impressive HR, while Yandy Diaz, Nick Fortes, and Ben Williamson all had 3-hit games, with Diaz standing out after leading all of baseball in hard-hit baseballs last season and Fortes impressing after striking out just once all spring. Drew Rasmussen looked strong in his 5 innings of work before a rough outing from Ian Seymour. Overall, there were a lot of positives from the group and we are excited to bring daily game recaps and other news as minor league baseball starts soon.

In this episode we recapped all the latest Spring action, including players like Ben Williamson, Jake Fraley, Shane McClanahan, Nick Martinez and more. We also talked about some of the latest injury news, and how that will impact the roster to start the season.

Carson Williams continues his great spring showing with improved plate discipline and quality contact. Xavier Isaac is squaring balls up when he's not drawing walks, and Jake Fraley seems to be getting on base every other at bat. We talk WBC, not only the MLB talent but also the organizational depth and minor league talent that has impressed in the tournament. We also give our thoughts on a Rays reliever we think could make a huge impact in Yoendrys Gómez. Thank you for all the continued support recently!

Junior Caminero has been smoking the ball early this spring and carried that into his WBC exhibition ABs, posting a 109.2 MPH AVG EV with a new 118.5 MPH Max EV. We also talk about Shane McClanahan’s emotional return, tossing two scoreless innings, and wrap things up with our WBC predictions and players to watch on each team.

In this episode, we look back at the last week of Rays Spring Training and go over some early standouts. Junior Caminero is already stacking 110+ EVs, Jacob Melton launched a 112+ MPH homer, Yandy Diaz left the yard the other way multiple times, and Theo Gillen showed his mature approach with an eight pitch walk in his first spring AB.On the mound, Steven Matz and Ryan Pepiot each threw scoreless innings in their first outings, Jake Woodford has been steady, and Ty Johnson has carried over his swing and miss stuff after posting a 17.7% SwStr% last year. We also touch on Drew Rasmussen mixing in a new changeup, along with a few other arms who have looked sharp early. Still early, but some really good signs from this past week.

Welcome to Inside The Rays everyone! In the first episode, we summarized the offseason moves, talked about the first week of spring training, and more!