Tag: Tampa Bay Rays

The Rays finally made their decision on where they will play for the 2025 MLB season and it makes sense

Tropicana Field’s roof was destroyed by Hurricane Milton.

While much of the Tampa-St. Petersburg area avoided the worst of Hurricane Milton. The same couldn’t be said for Tropicana Field, and the Rays were forced to look for a new home in 2025 as a result.

That decision has been made, and it comes courtesy of an AL East rival.

The damage to Tropicana Field’s roof was so severe that the city quickly said it wouldn’t be fixed in time for the 2025 season. And further analysis showed that the damage itself would run up a repair cost of nearly $55 million. Given the Rays’ construction of a new stadium set to open in 2028 and the city’s downgraded insurance policy on The Trop, we might never see that roof get repaired.

Well, the Rays can thank the New York Yankees in the meantime because they are heading to Steinbrenner Field — the Yankees’ spring training facility — this season.

According to the Tampa Bay Times, the Rays elected to stay in Tampa rather than explore options in different markets. As we pointed out last month, the Marlins’ LoanDepot Park could have been a choice for consideration (given the roof and MLB-ready facilities), but that would force players and staff across the organization to relocate.

Steinbrenner Field won’t be without its challenges. For one, it’s an open-air stadium. That will get especially brutal in the summers when the Rays have to deal with heat, humidity and frequent rain delays. The 11,000-seat capacity is tiny, but the Rays should at least be able to reliably fill that stadium — something they struggled to do at The Trop.

They should probably get used to seeing Yankees logos constantly, though. That could get awkward, but this was the sensible choice given the tough circumstances.

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Tropicana Field’s roof was shredded by Hurricane Milton in stunning videos

Hurricane Milton destroy the Rays stadium’s roof.

Hurricane Milton made landfall on Wednesday in Florida on the western coast and continued to move across the state on Thursday.

Per USA TODAY, “Tampa Bay apparently was spared a massive storm surge, instead experienced a reverse storm surge that drove water away from the shoreline.”

But Tropicana Field, the home of the Tampa Bay Rays, was affected by it, with its roof completely destroyed by the hurricane. Inside the stadium were beds for first responders and others, and as you’ll see from footage below, the roof is completely shredded.

Check out the dramatic and stunning footage below from various sources:

Tampa Bay sports homes offering refuge ahead of Hurricane Milton

The city and state officials are going above and beyond to help folks in the area who cannot evacuate remain safe. 

Hurricane Milton follows Hurricane Helene, which just ravaged the state of Florida. Helene made its way north, bringing the worst of its storm to those in the Appalachian region of the United States, but Milton isn’t going anywhere but Florida.

As a result, city and state officials are going above and beyond to help folks in the area who cannot evacuate remain safe.

One major way they do that is by turning the Tampa Bay area’s sporting venues into shelters and headquarters for first responders. The biggest is the Rays Tropicana Field, which is turned into a shelter for residents and a base for first responders.

The city has told everyone to evacuate that has the means to do so. If you cannot, check to see what shelters are available, as officials have stated it is much safer there than staying in your home.

At the time of this publication, the storm was once again a Category 4 after increasing to a Category 5 last night.

Bryce Harper said he would’ve fought Rays pitcher Edwin Uceta had he turned around in bench-clearing incident

That could have been bad.

The Phillies were justifiably heated on Tuesday night when a big eighth inning descended into chaos thanks to a frustrated moment from Rays pitcher Edwin Uceta. And according to Bryce Harper, the scene could have gotten even uglier.

Uceta entered the tie game in the eighth inning with the bases loaded and one out, looking to clean up the jam he inherited from Richard Lovelady. Instead, Uceta allowed three extra-base hits (including a home run to Trea Turner). So by the time he faced Nick Castellanos in a five-run game, Uceta couldn’t hold back his frustration. He hit Castellanos with a 96 mph sinker on the first pitch of the at-bat, and benches cleared.

But keep an eye on Harper as this unfolded.

https://twitter.com/JomboyMedia/status/1833675088631116116

The Phillies star was on second base and quickly made his way towards the mound, hoping to confront Uceta. But when Harper saw that Uceta wasn’t turning around, he slowed down to let the Rays players intervene.

He told reporters after the game that he would have been ready to fight Uceta if he had turned around. Harper let up because he didn’t want to be one to sucker punch someone with their back turned.

Harper said via NBC Sports Philadelphia:

“I didn’t want to be a loser and come up behind him. If he’s going to turn around, then all right, let’s go.”

“That’s not the game that we play, man. It shouldn’t be. Guys throw too hard nowadays. You’re getting mad because a guy hits a homer off you or you blow the lead, walk the guy and come out of the game. The situation, the whole thing, just really fired me up, really upset me. Just not something you should accept as Major League Baseball.”

And while Harper had every right to protect his teammate, the Phillies are probably thrilled that the incident didn’t escalate, especially with the postseason looming in a few weeks.

Uceta was ejected for the pitch, and the Phillies went on to win by that same score, 9-4.

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MLB Network’s Greg Amsinger sang Shohei Ohtani’s praises just seconds before he mashed another monster HR

When it comes to Shohei Ohtani, Greg Amsinger is a baseball Nostradamus.

Shohei Ohtani is currently having one of the best seasons in MLB history. The Los Angeles Dodgers superstar officially joined the exalted 40-40 club earlier this weekend with a walk-off grand slam. By the end of the year, he may well become the first player in league history to get 50 home runs and 50 steals in a single season.

So it’s not exactly a huge stretch to predict Ohtani will make an impactful play any time he comes to the plate. Because it’s expected.

Still, no one can deny MLB Network’s Greg Amsinger has impeccable timing.

While setting up a live cut-in to an Ohtani at-bat on Saturday night, Amsinger called the Dodgers’ generational icon the “greatest living player.” About 30 seconds later, the camera cut to Ohtani conveniently hitting a huge dinger to right field against the Tampa Bay Rays.

Amsinger should take a bow:

Amsinger didn’t predict Ohtani would hit a dinger while singing his praises. But let’s be serious. Calling him the best baseball player alive before he smacks another ball out of the park is effectively the same thing.

1 of the people in this new Penguins staff photo doesn’t look like they belong

For a second I thought we had an NHL-MLB trade

Look, I think we all understand the pain of having to take a new headshot for a new job.

It’s genuinely annoying! You’ve got to wear a nice outfit, obviously, which takes a bit of time to put together. And, whew boy, don’t let it be a bad hair day. That’s another problem entirely. All of this for a work photo? Nobody feels like doing it.

Sometimes, though, the new gig lets you use the photo from he old gig as your headshot. That’s always a relief.

Sometimes the old gig’s photo simply isn’t usable. Or, well, maybe it shouldn’t be. Somebody should’ve told that to Jon Erlichman before he submitted his old picture as a new hire photo for the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Erlichman was once the VP of process and analytics for the Tampa Bay Rays. Obviously, he took a photo for that job. And that job just so happened to require him to put on the Rays uniform.

Yes, I know what you’re asking. “Wait, what? He had to put on the uniform? But he didn’t play?” I know. It’s ridiculous. It’s one of those weird baseball things, though.

Luckily for us, though, it’s resulted in some unintentional comedy. Because, apparently, after Erlichman was hired a few months later by the Pittsburgh Penguins, that photo of him in a team uniform was the only one available.

I don’t know how or why this happened, but I’m so happy that it happened. For a split second, I thought we had just seen our first interleague trade. Of course that was unrealistic. But a man can dream, can’t he?

The Penguins are going to correct this at some point down the line when they get a proper staff photo. The only thing I ask is that they require Erlichman to dress in a full Penguins kit. It’s only right.

Former LSU baseball star Tre Morgan earns another minor league promotion

Tre Morgan is flying up the Rays prospect rankings and through their minor league system.

I recently wrote about how [autotag]Tre Morgan[/autotag] had been playing at an incredibly high level for the [autotag]Tampa Bay Rays[/autotag] organization. He was recognized as one of the players in the hunt for the MiLB batting title.

Since being called up to the Bowling Green Hot Rods, Morgan has played in 53 games and has a .371 batting average with 17 doubles, one triple, six homers and 44 RBI. The former LSU first baseman has now received another call-up as he will now head to the Rays AA affiliate, the Montgomery Biscuits.

Morgan is flying up the Rays prospect rankings and flying through the Rays organization as he has worked his way from rookie ball up to the Biscuits in two years. His next step would be a call-up to the Triple-A team and then the next step would be the MLB.

Congratulations to Tre for being called up once again. Hopefully, we will see him excel in Montgomery.

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Tre Morgan in the hunt for MiLB batting title

If he keeps playing this well, Tre Morgan will be called up again sooner than later.

[autotag]Tre Morgan[/autotag] has been a star in the [autotag]Tampa Bay Rays[/autotag] farm system. He earned All-Star honors and was selected to play in the MLB Future’s Game thanks to how well he has played this season.

Now he looks to add another accomplishment to the year. The season is winding down and, as of now, Morgan leads all full-season qualifiers in batting average. Across two classifications (Morgan has played for the Rays single A-team and the Rays A+ team) he has a .358 batting average.

He was called up to the Bowling Green Hot Rods after playing well for the Charleston River Dogs. Since receiving the call-up, he has played even better. Morgan has a .378 batting average in 52 games. He’s hit 17 doubles, one triple, six homers, and 44 RBI. His on-base percentage is up to .453 and his slugging percentage is up to .570.

If he keeps playing this well, Morgan will be called up again sooner than later.

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Astros’ Yordan Álvarez accidentally broke the Tropicana Field scoreboard during batting practice

Oh no! Not the scoreboard!

Houston Astros left fielder Yordan Álvarez made himself known at Tropicana Field during batting practice before Tuesday’s game against the Tampa Bay Rays.

Álvarez apparently hit a ball so hard during Tuesday’s batting practice that he broke the Tropicana Field scoreboard in an absolutely hilarious snafu, per MLB.com Astros reporter Brian McTaggart.

This apparently isn’t the first time the Astros slugger has broken a scoreboard. He accidentally damaged part of the Minute Maid Park scoreboard in Houston during batting practice in 2019.

The Astros have to love Álvarez’s range and power at the plate when he’s up to bat, but we’re sure they’d love it if he’d quite literally go easy on the scoreboards from here on out.

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Former UNC baseball standout Mac Horvath traded to Tampa Bay Rays

Mac Horvath put together quite the career at UNC. He was a second-round 2023 MLB Draft Pick, but was recently traded to a new team on Friday.

Before Vance Honeycutt became the featured star on UNC’s baseball roster, there was a promising third baseman by the name of Mac Horvath, who came from Minnesota but played his high school baseball at IMG Academy in Florida.

Horvath actually didn’t play too well in his 2021 freshman campaign, hitting just .227 with only five home runs and 22 RBIs. He started to gain some MLB Draft attention in 2023, though, leading North Carolina to an ACC Tournament Championship by improving to register a .268 batting average, 18 home runs, 53 RBIs and 19 stolen bases.

Horvath saved his best season for 2023, which the Diamond Heels really needed, as he set career highs with a .305 batting average, 24 home runs, 66 RBIs and 25 stolen bases. The Baltimore Orioles were impressed by Horvath’s junior campaign, taking him 53rd overall (second round) in the 2023 MLB Draft.

As the sports world today goes, though, players are constantly moving teams via free agency and trades.

Horvath was subjected to the latter on Friday, July 26, as Baltimore traded him to the Tampa Bay Rays.

Horvath, who was hitting .232 (63-for-271) with nine home runs and 41 RBIs with the High-A Aberdeen IronBirds, will now suit up for the High-A Bowling Green Hot Rods. He joins a team currently tied for first place in the South Atlantic League’s South Division.

If Horvath rises quickly through Tampa Bay’s farm system, which is consistently ranked amongst baseball’s best, he’ll be playing minutes from Boshamer Stadium with the Durham Bulls.

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