Rays appear to be pretenders not contenders.
As the Tampa Bay Rays enter the final third of the season, overall their 59-59 record is ok. It's better than a lot of people thought they would be at this point in the season. But considering where the Rays were 1 month ago leading the AL wildcard race it is disappointing to be in this position, considering all the moves the Rays made before the trade deadline to shore up the pen.
It's hard to believe the Rays are just one game out of the final wildcard spot in the AL having been shoutout 5/8 games.
The strength of this team has been the starting pitching. Cobb, Archer, Faria, and Ordorizzi. Those four have done a real good job of battling when thy have been on the mound. The Blake Snell shuttle to Durham has not equaled more wins for the Rays or Snell, but Snell has pitched much better in has last couple of starts. His most recent outing, Snell worked into the 7th inning giving up just one run in the Rays 4-1 win against the Indians.
The relief pitching continues to be a disappointment to me. Sergio Romo and Dan Jennings been unspectacular so far in their performances both being giving good opportunities and not being able to shut the opposing team down. Jennings has given up 5 runs in 8 innings with a. 12.27 ERA since being acquired. Romo has been better giving up just 5 runs in 15 games with a 3.18 ERA. The runs that Romo has given up have come at key moments in ballgames for the Rays. Steve Cishek has done a real nice job thus far having not allowed a run in nine games for the Rays.
Offensively, the club was carried by Corey Dickerson and Logan Morrison the first half of the season with some key contributions by Steven Souza. At the all-star break, both Morrison and Dickerson were on pace to have career years in HR's and RBI's. That dosen't seem possible at this juncture of the season. Now that the bats of Dickerson and Morrison have gone silent, no one is picking up the slack and we are seeing the offense that everyone thought the Rays would have when the season started.
So what can we expect in the final stretch for this Rays team? I think the starting pitching will remain strong and carry this club. Matt Andriese should be back later this month joining Cobb, Archer, Faria and Ordorizzi which will give the Rays a solid fifth starter. That's a pretty solid rotation providing everyone stays healthy.
The Bullpen has to be better I think in those key situations. The Rays needed to re-tool the pen for the stretch run, but these guys are still allowing too many runs when they come in to pitch in those tight games with runners on base.
The offense has to get back to the offense that was on fire the first half of the season. The offense that was leading the league in HR's. The offense that was getting the clutch hit and driving in the runners on base. Kevin Keirmaier is due back in about 10 days. I would like to think he will help this offense, but it will be like spring training for home as he tries to get his swing and his timing back into top form.
Right now the Rays have a lot of issues to contend with and work out before this team can get itself back into contender status.
