Tampa Bay Rays Trade Deadline Overview
By David Hill
A return to the glory days
As mentioned in the previous slide, the Tampa Bay Rays had been built around their speed and a strong pitching staff. Players like Carl Crawford and Desmond Jennings tormented opposing pitchers on the basepaths, while run producers like Evan Longoria, Carlos Pena and Ben Zobrist brought those runs in. David Price and James Shields fronted a strong rotation, where the Rays seemingly found a new prospect to bring up every year.
Due to financial necessity, the Rays no longer have the same players. Longoria remains as a power threat, but Jennings is an injury plagued shell of himself. Crawford has been a disaster since leaving Tampa Bay, and while the Rays are reportedly interested in bringing him back, there is absolutely no reason to think that he would come close to being the same player he had been.
Accordingly, the Rays offensive philosophy has shifted. No longer content to put the ball in play and use their speed, the Rays went looking for a more powerful lineup. It has worked to an extent, as the Rays rank fourth in the American League with 100 home runs heading into last night’s action. However, they are dead last in the AL with a .238 batting average and rank 12th with a .310 on base percentage.
Those struggles are indicated by their lack of runs. Despite hitting 100 homers, the Rays have scored 280 runs, 13th in the AL. All that power does not matter if there is no one on base when the ball is being launched over the wall, as the Rays have come to find out. Getting a few more players like Logan Forsythe, coupled with having Kevin Kiermaier rebound once he comes off the disabled list, could help.
However, the Rays offense is not the only place that they have struggled this year. The pitching staff also needs help going forward.
Next: The struggles of the pitching staff