Tampa Bay Rays: 2017 Season Review and Offseason Preview

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What Went Wrong?

Chris Archer still carries the reputation of the Rays’ ace, but for the second straight year he hasn’t really looked the part. The 29-year-old righty took the hill every five days and logged over 200 innings, but he managed an underwhelming 4.07 ERA and 1.26 WHIP. His 3.40 FIP paints a much better picture, however, and he also produced a career-high 11.1 K/9. Under team control potentially through 2021, speculation concerning Archer’s future in Tampa will likely continue.

The Rays may have also expected a bit more out of young lefty Blake Snell in his sophomore campaign. The 24-year-old posted a 4.04 ERA and 1.33 WHIP in 129.1 innings. If he can get the walks down (4.1 BB/9), he should enjoy more success in 2018.

More from Call to the Pen

While the lineup did contain some success stories, there were also a few letdowns. Wilson Ramos was always a lottery ticket coming off ACL surgery, but he hit just .260/.290/.447 in 64 games. Tampa Bay will hope he’s fully healthy in the second year of his deal and looks more like the Nationals version of himself.

Brad Miller (84), Adeiny Hechavarria (90), Mallex Smith (89) and Peter Bourjos (78) were other regular players who generated an OPS+ under 100. Overall, they relied on long balls from the middle of their order to score runs.

The Rays were probably also a bit perplexed to see former number-one pick Tim Beckham flourish following a trade to Baltimore, although he did come back down to earth toward the end (.180 BA in Sept.). Nevertheless, he slashed a robust .306/.348/.523 with 10 home runs and 26 RBI in 50 games for the Orioles.

Next: The Future

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