Tampa Bay Rays’ Disappointing End to a Promising Season
The Tampa Bay Rays were one of the best teams in baseball this year.
Many fans expected this team to go far into the postseason because of their excellent pitching staff and young talent. They ended up being first-round exits. How did this happen?
The Rays started their season hot, going 13–0 before losing to the Blue Jays 6–3 to make their record 13–1. This record-breaking win streak solidified the Rays as a threat in the American League East and the American League as a whole.
While the Rays had many injuries and freak accidents (Wander Franco) happen, they were still able to keep themselves close to first place in the American League.
The only team they had to worry about was the surging Baltimore Orioles. The Orioles came out of nowhere this year after having 3 100 loss seasons in the past 5 years. Now Baltimore could be the reason the Rays don’t win the division.
The Rays finished with a record of 58–35 going into the all-star break. This happened to be the best record in the American League at the time. Having an offense led by surging talents such as Yandy Diaz and Randy Arozarena, and a pitching staff led by Shane McClanahan and Tyler Glasnow was the main reason the Rays were in this spot.
I didn’t even mention how Wander Franco finally proved himself after his massive contract extension. He finished his season batting .281 with 17 home runs and 58 RBIs. He also had 30 stolen bases. His season was cut short though. More on that later.
July was a rough month for Tampa Bay.
They finished with a record of 8–16, but they were still in the race for first place with the Orioles not too far behind.
The Rays stayed strong in August, but the Orioles started to overtake first place a couple of times this month. But there was even worse news.
Superstar shortstop Wander Franco was placed on the restricted list by the Rays for talking with minors. An absolute bone-headed move by Franco and a huge blow for the Rays. Who knows if we will ever see the talents of Wander Franco in the major leagues again?
But even after the situation with Franco and star pitcher Shane McClanahan out for the rest of the season with an injury, the Rays were still battling and in contention for the best record in the American League.
The amount of fight and perseverance in this team after all the roadblocks they faced is astonishing and shouldn’t go unnoticed. The Rays looked like they had first place in the bag and maybe even a World Series championship.
After many hard-fought series with the Orioles and Blue Jays heading into the end of the season. Tampa Bay finished two games behind the Orioles for the division and were heading into the playoffs as a wild card team.
It was not a huge blow for Tampa Bay, but for a team that was doing well, finishing in second place was unfortunate. But being in the playoffs is great, nonetheless.
Tampa Bay was set to verse the Texas Rangers in the first round of the playoffs.
The Rangers were also a surprising team this year. They weren’t supposed to be a playoff team this year so it was shocking to see them do this well.
The Rangers ended up beating the Rays in two games to advance to the ALDS. A huge blow for the Rays who were built to go to the World Series.
It all boils down to the shaky pitching and the nonexistent offense. Awful showing by Tampa Bay and the fact that they lost on their turf makes this even worse.
You could blame this loss on the fact that they didn’t have all their players healthy or available. But they were still able to win without them, so why couldn’t that win when it mattered?
The Rays’ window is closing and they have to start shaping a World Series contending team before it’s too late.
