Tag: Tampa Bay Rays

Rays’ Pete Fairbanks described his awful game with a brutally honest one-liner

At least he’s being honest.

Pete Fairbanks has generally been a reliable reliever for the Tampa Bay Rays, but in the loss to the Los Angeles Angels on Wednesday, the pitcher gave up a pair of runs in the ninth to take a loss.

And how did a very miffed Fairbanks describe it to a reporter after when asked what went wrong?

“I thought it generally sucked,” the pitcher replied. “I didn’t think it was a specific suck, I thought it was like an all-encompassing type of suck, so we’re going to try to rectify that, but for right now, I’m going to be pretty pissed about it.”

Well said.

Best bets: 2024 Tampa Bay Rays World Series odds, win total and more

Analyzing the 2024 Tampa Bay Rays World Series odds, futures and projected win total with expert MLB picks and predictions.

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The Tampa Bay Rays have won at least 86 games each non-Covid season since 2018, and they have made the MLB postseason in 5 straight years. In 2023, the Rays overcame a slew of injuries to win 99 games. But for a 2nd straight October, Tampa Bay was ousted 2-0 in a Wild Card series.

In 2024, the Rays will have to overcome key players being out again. As usual for this franchise, not much has been added to the cupboard.

Let’s analyze the Tampa Bay Rays’ World Series odds, along with their projected win total, playoff, division and AL odds as we make our expert MLB picks and predictions.

Tampa Bay Rays World Series odds

Provided by BetMGM Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated Sunday, March 24,  at 11:34 p.m. ET.

Odds: +3500 (bet $100 to win $3500)

Tampa is in the middle of the pack at +3500. The Los Angeles Dodgers (+350), Atlanta Braves (+450), and Houston Astros (+800) have the shortest odds. The Chicago White Sox, Colorado Rockies and Oakland Athletics have the longest odds; all 3 are pegged at +50000.

At +3500, the Rays have an implied probability of winning the World Series of 2.78% or 35/1 fractional odds.

Albeit with a slight edge, this return does indeed have a value edge to it, especially for a franchise that has routinely outperformed expected wins over the last 5-6 years.

Take the RAYS (+3500) as a value play in World Series futures.

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Tampa Bay Rays playoff odds

Will they make the playoffs: Yes +120 | No -145

The AL East could well send 3 teams to the postseason bracket. With the Rays being a solid bet to be in that mix, the return here is strong.

BACK THE RAYS (+120).

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Tampa Bay Rays win total

Over/Under: 85.5 (O: -105 | U: -115)

The Rays added almost nothing in free agency. And they will for stretches be without the services of SS Wander Franco (likely to be placed on the restricted list or administrative leave) LHP Shane McClanahan (recovering from Tommy John surgery), RHP Drew Rasmussen (elbow, out until late season) and LHP Jeffrey Springs (recovering from Tommy John surgery).

But Tampa Bay does have perhaps better talent expected to take the field than what many bettors suspect. On offense, the Rays ranked in the top 5 in nearly every important offensive category. They were 6th in HRs. And Tampa pitching clocked a 3.87 ERA, a figure tied for 5th. On FanGraphs, the Rays’ expected Fielder Independent Pitching mark was a league-best 3.84. Tampa’s team defense ranked around league-average.

With unheralded returning production, valuable bench and relief pieces, and high-end prospects on the cusp, the Rays prospects for holding things together until the pitching comes back are decent. And maybe what was there last year was better than what showed on the surface, too. The club appeared to underplay its 5.31 runs per game, and 4.10 runs allowed. A 22-25 mark in 1-run games didn’t help.

So, peg the OVER 85.5 (-105) as being worthy of an account log-in.

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To win AL East Division

  • New York Yankees +175 (bet $100 to win $175)
  • Baltimore Orioles +200 (bet $100 to win $200)
  • Toronto Blue Jays +475 (bet $100 to win $475)
  • Tampa Bay Rays +700 (bet $100 to win $700)
  • Boston Red Sox +1300 (bet $100 to win $1,300)

Figure on the potential for the Rays to be more included in a 2- or 3-way race that what shows on these prices. And that makes for leverage with a TAMPA BAY (+700) play.

To win American League

Odds: +1500 (bet $100 to win $1,500)

If you’re sprinkling undervalued teams all the way across. finish the job with this one. As with the Series bet, there is just enough return value here. BACK THE RAYS (+1500).

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Every Major League Baseball team’s best promotional giveaway in 2024

What is the best giveaway your favorite MLB team is doing in 2024?

Former Tar Heel Cooper Criswell heading to Beantown on 1-year deal

2018 UNC baseball pitcher Cooper Criswell, who played an integral part in the College World Series run, is shipping up to Boston for 2024.

Even though Cooper Criswell only spent the 2018 season pitching for the UNC baseball team, he was a crucial part of that College World Series run that ended against – who else – Oregon State.

Criswell was part of a loaded, 2018 Diamond Heels pitching staff that included future MLB draft picks in Tyler Baum, Austin Bergner, Josh Hiatt, Brett Daniels and Rodney Hutchinson. Criswell’s six wins tied Daniels for second on Carolina, while his 2.99 ERA (earned run average) was also second.

Criswell also happened to be one of those 2018 MLB Draft picks, with the Los Angeles Angels taking him in the 13th round. The former Diamond Heel played one game with the Angels, spent 11 games with the Tampa Bay Rays over the last two years and – on Wednesday, Dec. 13, signed a 1-year deal with the Boston Red Sox.

As you can see from his pitch arsenal above, Criswell is more of a finesse pitcher. The slider appears to be his go-to pitch, with a majority of his strikeouts in the above video (if you can see it) coming from the breaking ball.

Criswell struggled in major league action with the Rays last year, recording a loss and 5.97 ERA, but he also picked up a win and struck out 27 batters. He enjoyed more success with the Triple-A Durham Bulls, pitching to a 4-4 record, 3.97 ERA and striking out 80 batters.

2024 is a brand-new chance for Criswell to showcase he can be a valuable MLB pitcher, starting with Spring Training in February. He’ll join a Red Sox staff that finished 21/30 teams with a 4.52 team ERA.

Seeing former Diamond Heels in the pros makes me happy. Seeing them succeed in the pros, however, is the cherry on top.

Follow us @TarHeelsWire on Twitter and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of North Carolina Tar Heels news, notes and opinions.

Even the announcers mocked the Rays’ poor playoff attendance after the crowd started booing

It was *that* bad for the Rays.

The Tampa Bay Rays made the wrong kind of history on Tuesday when they hosted MLB’s smallest playoff crowd (in a non-COVID season) since 1919, and the crowd for Wednesday’s Game 2 wild-card matchup with the Rangers wasn’t much better.

It was so bad that even ESPN/ABC announcer Sean McDonough was working jokes about the poor attendance into his commentary.

One day after falling behind in the three-game series to Texas, another poor start left the fans at Tropicana Field in obvious frustration. The fifth inning started with Corey Seager reaching on a fielding error. And when Robbie Grossman singled two pitches later to move Seager over to third, the boos sounded at the Trop. Seager would later score in the inning.

That set up McDonough for this joke about the crowd.

Now, a sub-20,000 crowd is always going to be an embarrassment for a playoff game. But let’s not pretend that MLB did the Rays any favors with scheduling midweek day games for the playoffs at an awful stadium with a notoriously difficult location to reach. At the same time, though, the Twins haven’t had a problem filling Target Field for day playoff games.

So, excuses only go so far.

But it really had to be bad for McDonough to joke about the crowd as announcers typically play up the atmospheres for playoff games. Fans also had thoughts about the commentary.

Everyone roasted Rays fans for barely showing up for their first 2023 playoff game

C’mon, Rays fans. You barely showed up!

This has always been the problem with the Tampa Bay Rays: Whether it’s a lack of interest in baseball or the terrible stadium (we ranked it 29th of the 30 stadiums in 2023), fans don’t show up enough, despite the fact that they’re a contender.

And that was true on Tuesday. Just 19,704 fans showed up. That’s the lowest attendance for a playoff game since … 1919!! That’s right, 104 years ago! What the heck?!

And now there’s buzz about a new stadium? For a fanbase that barely shows up for a postseason game? Not good.

Everyone roasted Rays fans on X on Tuesday. Here’s a sampling:

MLB playoff picture: A look at the spots left to be decided with under 1 week left in the 2023 season

The MLB playoff race is heating up!

The final week of MLB’s season is finally here and the regular season is nearly over.

But don’t get it twisted — there’s still plenty of intrigue along the way. The playoffs might be near but a lot of things still haven’t quite been figured out.

The standings across the league are still in flux. We don’t know who is going to play who. We don’t even know where the best teams in the AL are going to be playing at quite yet. It’s so exciting.

It’s also a lot, I know. But don’t you worry — you don’t have to keep up with all of it alone. We’re here to do that for you.

Here’s where everything stands as the final week of the regular season continues.

Rays’ Kevin Kelly threw a frisbee-like sweeper that broke 21 inches

This pitch looks like a frisbee!

We’ve seen so many good pitches thrown by MLB hurlers in 2023, but the one pitch type I’m all about this year is the sweeper.

We’ve seen Shohei Ohtani fool hitters with one, a pitch that breaks horizontally and looks incredible. We’ve seen ballparks call it a “slutter” — a slider and cutter, combined — but the sweeper term is the way to go.

Rob Friedman at @PitchingNinja featured one from Tampa Bay Rays reliever Kevin Kelly, and whew, it’s awesome looking outside before it whizzes its way back over the plate for a strike on the corner.

This is so so cool:

The Rays’ Brandon Lowe took a brutal swipe at the Yankees after benches cleared twice in their game

The Yankees are redefining rock bottom.

So much has been said about the New York Yankees’ dreadful 2023 season that it almost seemed impossible for the year to get any worse for them. But these Yankees always find a way to reach a new low.

Just look at how their American East rival Tampa Bay Rays view the Yankees.

The Rays took two of three of their weekend series against New York, and Sunday’s finale included a pair of bench-clearing incidents (and a hilarious wipeout in the dugout). While either incident could have escalated into a full-out brawl, both teams showed enough restraint to resolve the altercations with nothing more than shouting and standing around.

The reason for that, according to the Rays’ Brandon Lowe: The Yankees aren’t worth the trouble.

Speaking with the Bally Sports broadcast after the game, Lowe was asked about Sunday’s on-field fireworks. He said that the Rays weren’t going to let a last-place team get in the way of their larger goals by starting a fight:

“Obviously, tempers flared. The history that we do have with the Yankees is everything that’s kind of come through — obviously, does kind of play a part in it. But looking at it, it’s a last-place team against a team that’s in contention. They’re trying to ignite something over there — whatever. Not worth our time at this moment. We’re focused on bigger things right now than worrying about a little on-field scuffle. We need each game. They’re not really in each game.”

Imagine seeing this quote from a Rays player about the Yankees before this season. It would have been shocking. But let’s be honest — Lowe wasn’t wrong. The Yankees are just coasting into the offseason, and the Rays are the likely top AL wild-card team.

Fans also had thoughts about the postgame quote.

The Yankees’ Tommy Kahnle tripped on the dugout steps as benches cleared and MLB fans had jokes

The Yankees’ season in a nutshell.

The New York Yankees are stumbling into the offseason with a miserable 2023 campaign that general manager Brian Cashman called a disaster. They’re also stumbling into bench-clearing incidents.

While the Yankees lost Sunday’s series finale with the Rays, 7-4, the game itself had its share of fireworks. Yankees pitchers hit Rays batters with the pitch four times, and Randy Arozarena was especially furious to take a 3-1 fastball from Albert Abreu off the elbow guard. Arozarena acted like he was going to throw his bat, and then he turned towards Abreu to have some words with the Yankees reliever. Benches would clear, but the teams were eventually separated without incident.

Yet, Arozarena was clearly still heated about getting hit by the pitch. After he stole third in the inning (off a pitch that narrowly avoided hitting Harold Ramirez), Arozarena stared down Abreu as he went to retrieve his helmet. That led to Abreu shouting back at Arozarena, and benches cleared AGAIN.

Like the initial incident, the teams were separated before anything got out of hand. But the best moment came courtesy of Yankees pitcher Tommy Kahnle. As both teams came running from the dugout and onto the field, Kahnle got a late start from the clubhouse and took a tumble on the dugout steps.

For someone falling down on stairs, Kahnle played it off so smoothly.

I’m glad that was caught on camera because MLB fans had plenty of jokes for the wipeout.