DRaysBay Jun 22, 2022
Rays 4 Yankees 5: I miss having a good bullpen
Photo by Kevin Sabitus/ Tonight the Rays played four innings of great baseball that reminded me of the Rays of recent years. Good pitching, solid defense, and strong offense from across the lineup. They looked sharp! They had a lead! It was fun. But then some of the demons of 2022 emerged. Outs on the bases. Costly fielding errors. And finally, when you need 12 bullpen outs and you are counting on Colin Faucher (ERA 9.82, FIP 6.67), Ryan Thompson (ERA 5.87, FIP 4.82) and Ralph Garza (ERA a surprisingly low 3.27, FIP 4.63) to get them, you have to think “maybe this...
DRaysBay May 30, 2022
Rays 5, Rangers 9: Rough night for Ras
Photo by Tim Heitman/ A less-than-ideal start from Drew Rasmussen and a less-than-ideal relief appearance from Ryan Thompson gave Texas a big lead. The Rays are in Arlington and facing the Texas Rangers in the first game of a four-game series. Drew Rasmussen is on the mound for the Rays against right-handed pitcher Glenn Otto. Game 1 in Texas is coming up in just a bit pic.twitter.com/Z7cQyIXVev— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) May 30, 2022 Wander Franco drew the first walk of the game with one out in the first inning after Kevin Kiermaier grounded out to start...
DRaysBay May 26, 2022
Introducing a Pitch Shape Tool
Everything’s better with a viz. Perhaps the idea at the heart of Rays pitching philosophy is that “unusual stuff plays.” The Rays have gone out of their way to acquire pitchers with a pitch or two far outside the norm (Pete Fairbanks’s slider speed/drop, Ryan Thompson’s arm angle, others), even if those pitchers had yet to have success. They’ve also developed young pitchers with unusual pitches (Colin Poche’s fastball rise). But how does one define “unusual stuff,” and then how does one find it? It’s hard to conceptualize the trajectory of a pitch in three...
