My Two Cents: Will Long Winning Streak Ever Come For Rays This Season?

The Tampa Bay Rays are just 44-46 this season, and it's been an odd year. A team known for going on long winning streaks during their five-year playoff run, they haven't done that this year — at all. It's an issue for sure.

Tampa Bay shortstop Taylor Walls thinks the Rays are still capable of putting some winning streaks together. / Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — One of the many things that's defined the Tampa Bay Rays during this five-year streak of postseason baseball is their ability to get hot — and stay hot — for a good stretch.

They opened the 2023 season with 13 straight wins on their way to 99 victories. In 2021, they had one 11-game winning streak AND another nine-game streak and won 100 games, taking the American League East by eight games. Even in 2022, when they won 86 games and claimed the sixth and final playoff spot, they won six games in a row twice, and five straight on two other occasions as well.

During their COVID-shortened 2020 season that ended in a Game 6 loss in the World Series to the Los Angeles Dodgers, they went 40-20 and won at least four in a row on six different occasions, with their longest streak reaching six games. In 2019, when this playoff run started, they won 96 games, and won five or more in a row a whopping six times.

This year, not so much.

Heck, they even tried to feel good about winning five straight series over the past three weeks, but after getting swept at Texas over the weekend, they went just 10-8 during that span.

Just 10-8, despite winning two of three in order against Minnesota, Pittsburgh, Seattle, Washington and Kansas City. They've had one five-game winning streak all season, and just one four-gamer. And that's it.

So un-Rays-like.

"It is weird. That's not like us at all,'' Rays shortstop Taylor Walls said. "It's nice to win series and all, and we'll take that, but we also know that we're still making too many mistakes to let games slip away here and there. We need to be better, and we know, but to a man, every guy in this locker room knows that some of those streaks are out there. We're still a confident team, and we know we can get hot at any second. Good teams have good runs and have bad runs. We're capable, though, and we can see this changing.''

There are plenty of reasons why the Rays can't put anything together. Their five-game streak included three in a row against the New York Mets from May 3-5, their last series sweep in the past two months, and then two against the horrible Chicago White Sox. The four-game streak was the last two games in Boston May 15-16, and then two in Toronto.

And that's it.

After getting swept in Texas — and getting outscored 20-5 in the three losses — the Rays are now 44-46. They are 5.5 games behind the Red Sox for the final wild-card spot, and 13 behind Baltimore in the AL East ''race.''

Even worse, the Royals and Houston Astros are ahead of them as well in the wild-card race. There's a lot of work still to be done. A whole lot. And for a team that's been inconsistent all season — they haven't hit well, have had an uncharacteristically brutal season out of their bullpen and give up too many big innings — it might be asking too much.

“Look, we didn’t play very good in Texas, and after the off day we’re going to need to hit the re-set button. We need to salvage this last part of the first half,'' Rays manager Kevin Cash said Tuesday at Tropicana Field before their game with the New York Yankees. "It’s a challenging group we’re playing with the Yankees. They’re very talented, but we’d like to think we can play better than we did over the weekend, and hopefully that starts tonight.’’

This last week leading up the All-Star break will mean a lot to the Rays. They have three games with the Yankees (55-37) and three more this weekend against the Cleveland Guardians, who are 56-33 and lead the American League Central by five games over the Minnesota Twins,.

It's fish or cut bait time just three weeks out from the trade deadline.

The Rays have sold off a few pieces already, trading starter Aaron Civale to the Milwaukee Brewers last week, and moving struggling reliever Phil Maton to the New York Mets on Tuesday. But general manager Eric Neander doesn't want to be labeled as a ''seller'' just yet. It's too early for that.

This, he said Tuesday, was more about having replacements at the ready that the Rays are really high on. Shane Baz made his first start on Friday night in nearly two years, and pitched well despite losing 3-0 to Texas. And Neander said moving Maton — and the balance of his $6.5 million salary for 2024 — was more about getting Manny Rodriguez on the major-league roster. He's been pitching to a 1.09 ERA at Triple-A Durham, and has allowed only three hits in 23 innings.

"When it came down to it, we have Manny Rodriguez coming and the way he's been throwing the ball, we wanted to create a more sustainable opportunity, and this was the path we chose to do it,'' Neander said. "The Civale trade, that was for giving Shane a spot and and opportunity, and if we could get the right return, we'd do that. There's some similarities in this move. He's throwing better than he ever has, upper-90s, and that belongs up here at the major-league level.''

Dumping salary is one thing, but having suitable replacements is another. Selling might come later, and ''we'll see in a few weeks,'' Neander said. For now, it's about the guys coming in, not going out.

"Without Shane and without Manny, we probably don't make these moves right now,'' Neander said. "Manny is throwing like a major-league reliever, but he's doing it in Triple-A. ''

Neander isn't about to bail on this season, and neither are the players.

"We're definitely playing better collectively, but there are still too many mistakes being made that might have cost us some sweeps,'' Walls said. "Those are games that matter, too. Series wins are nice, but at the end of the day, it's all about who's got more wins and who's got more losses. At this point we need to get it together and take advantage of where we're at.

''The All-Star break is like a re-set time anyway, because three days off feels like three weeks something. It would be nice going into it on a little roll.''

The Yankees and Guardians will be formidable foes, and a trip to New York awaits the Rays after the break. It's not do or die time quite yet, but it's getting close.

Very close.

Related stories on Rays baseball

• PAREDES AN ALL-STAR: Tampa Bay third baseman Isaac Paredes is going to his first All-Star Game this season. He talked about it on Tuesday in the Rays' clubhouse. He wants to enjoy the entire experience. CLICK HERE

• RAYS TRADE MATON TO METS: Struggling Tampa Bay reliever Phil Maton could benefit from a change of scenery. He got it Tuesday, when the Rays traded him to the New York Mets for a player to be named later. CLICK HERE