One 'Clunker' Won't Slow Down Rays Starter Drew Rasmussen

Drew Rasmussen was brilliant in his first two starts for the Tampa Bay Rays, pitching 13 scoreless innings and allowing just three hits, with 15 strikeouts and no walks. But he took his first loss last Friday at Toronto, struggling with his command. He's intent on getting back on track Wednesday when he pitches against the Cincinnati Reds.

CINCINNATI — Drew Rasmussen is a perfectionist, in a good way. The 27-year-old Tampa Bay starter hates walks. Heck, he even hates three-ball counts.

His first two starts this season went nearly perfect. He threw 13 scoreless innings and allowed only three total hits in wins over Washington and Oakland. He had 15 strikeouts and not a single walk. Only had one three-ball count, too, a testament to how pinpoint perfect his command was, with all four pitches. 

But last Friday in Toronto, when the Rays were 13-0 and looking to make history for the longest winning streak to start a season, Rasmussen was out of character. He walked four batters, gave up five runs and didn't make it out of the fifth inning.

It wasn't good, and he knew it. Rays manager Kevin Cash called it a ''clunker,'' and no one disagreed.

But also, no one is worried go forward. Not Cash, not Rasmussen, not anyone. Moving on, starting with Rasmussen's start on a sun-splashed Wednesday afternoon against the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ballpark.

"I certainly don't want him to beat himself up too much. He's as much a strike thrower as anybody on our team,'' Cash said. "He's as efficient as anybody, and that was one of those starts where you call it a clunker, or whatever you want. It was a little uncharacteristic for him, but I'm guessing he'll find a way to get right back in the zone real quick.''

That's the plan.

Rasmussen, who broke into the big leagues as a successful relief pitcher, has been a starter now since late in the 2021 season. He loves being a starting pitcher, but said it's still tough marinating for four or fives days after a rough outing.

But he's also looking big picture. And, like Meat Loaf used to sing, two of three ain't bad.

“I think it was easier in the bullpen when you knew you had a chance to throw again the next day. Sitting on it is never the most fun, but it is part of the job,'' Rasmussen said Tuesday afternoon in the Rays' clubhouse. "You use the four days to learn and grow, and try to improve yourself as a player so you don’t make the same mistakes again. Not to say there aren’t more mistakes to come, but you definitely try to avoid the same mistakes.

“I’ve thrown the ball pretty well to start this year and I’m not going to allow one bad outing to define what’s going on right now, and I think this team is in the same spot right now too. We’re playing so well, and a couple of hiccups, you know, we’re not going to allow that to crush our confidence or knock us down a step. We’re in a good spot offensively and defensively, and from a pitching standpoint.''

That's for sure. The Rays are 15-3 so far, the first to five wins, first to 10 and now first to 15. No one in the American League has more than 11. Tampa Bay ace Shane McClanahan is already 4-0, and Zach Eflin, who comes off a brief injured list stint on Sunday, is 2-0. So is rookie Taj Bradley, who's been brilliant in his two starts, including 5 1/3 scoreless innings on Tuesday night when the Rays beat the Reds 10-0. 

Rasmussen is looking forward to getting back on the mound and get rolling again.

“Just talking with (pitching coach Kyle Snyder), it was frustrating because I thought my stuff was really good, but the execution was not,'' Rasmussen said of Friday's loss. "On days where you don’t have the combination of the two, you do have find a way to get by and help the team win, and I didn’t do that. It’s frustrating to not win, but we’re in a good spot right now so I’m not looking too deep into it.''

Rasmussen said the key for him is to be able to throw his fastball for strikes all the time. He has so much movement on all of his pitchers that he can be successful in the strike zone. Not a lot of pitchers can say that.

Rasmussen can.

“(Monday) my bullpen was mostly about fastball command,'' he said. "Usually it’s a pretty even spread of my pitches, but I didn’t think I had very good command of my fastball against Toronto, so that was the main focus.

‘’I talk about using the big part of the plate a lot, intentional or not, I didn’t do a very good job of attacking the big parts of the strike zone and I was nit-picking a little bit and make perfect pitches and that’s not who I am. I attack the big parts of the strike zone and go from there.’’

Rasmussen will oppose 25-year-old Levi Stoudt on Wednesday. He'll be making his major-league debut. He was one of the four prospects the Reds acquired from the Seattle Mariners in the trade last July for rotation ace Luis Castillo, and big things are expected of him.

The Rays are off on Thursday and then start a six-game home stand on Friday with three games against the Chicago White Sox. The world-champion Houston Astros come to town after that.

Here are the starting lineups for Wednesday's game. Wander Franco gets a day off today for Tampa Bay, his first of the season:

Rays starting lineup

1. Yandy Diaz 1B
2. Brandon Lowe 2B
3. Randy Arozarena DH
4. Luke Raley LF
5. Isaac Parades 3B
6. Josh Lowe RF 
7. Manuel Margot CF
8. Taylor Walls SS
9. Christian Bethancourt C

SP — Drew Rasmussen 2-1, 2.60 ERA

Reds starting lineup

1. Jonathan India 2B
2. TJ Friedl CF
3. Jake Fraley RF
4. Tyler Stephenson DH
5. Kevin Newman 3B 
6. Jason Vosler 1B
7. Stuart Fairchild LF
8. Jose Barrero SS
9. Luke Maile C

SP — Levi Stoudt, MLB debut

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