3 Things I Liked About the Rays' First Series Against the Orioles
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — One of the things I made sure to point out when I got here last week was how important it was for the Tampa Bay Rays to get off to a hot start this season.
After all, the schedule set up perfectly for them after the lockout was settled. Instead of having to start on the road in Toronto and Boston, the Rays got to open at home against the Baltimore Orioles and Oakland Athletics, the two worst teams in the American League based on preseason win totals projections.
So far, so good.
The Rays blitzed the Orioles in the opening series winning all three games and allowing just four runs in the process, the lowest first-series run total in franchise history. They also scored 15 runs, had quality at-bats up and down the order and were one hung cutter from Drew Rasmussen away from all three starters posting zeroes.
They were that good.
And because of the nice weekend, Tampa Bay is the ONLY one of 30 Major League Baseball teams that's still undefeated. The other 29 all got beat at least once. It was only the third time in 25 years that the Rays started out 3-0. You can say, yeah sure, it was just the Orioles, but facts are facts and the Rays did what they were supposed to do — which was win all three games.
I said just that in my column on Opening Day. I'm well aware that this is a long grind, a 162-game marathon, but it's also the easiest week of the entire year. The Rays had to make hay, and they've done that so far. They've never trailed so far throughout 27 innings.
Now come the A's for four games, three early night games with the new 6:40 p.m. starts and a Thursday matinee, and the Rays need to keep right on winning, Oakland is starting over in a lot of ways, and there are a lot of unfamiliar names in their lineup, So keep on winning, and stack them up while you can.
Here are three things I really liked about the Rays' first weekend:
1. Completely dominant pitching
I'm a huge believer in having dominant starting pitching that can keep you in every game, and we certainly saw a lot of that all weekend. Shane McClanahan pitched 4 1/3 innings of scoreless ball in the opener and Corey Kluber went 4 2/3 on Sunday without giving up a run.
Drew Rasmussen was the only starter to give up anything, a two-run homer early on Saturday, one that was erased anyway in the bottom of the inning when Rays catcher Francisco Mejia hit a two-run homer of his own that made the difference in a 5-3 win. He hung a cutter, and it was his one mistake. He made mid-90s velocity the whole game and looked good, too.
The bullpen was just flat-out nasty all weekend. They pitched 14 innings and gave up just two runs, 11 hits and two walks. A WHIP under 1.00 is always exceptional, and a 1.29 earned run average is even better. (The starters were 1.32.) I don't know how long this will hold, especially through the fourth and fifth spots in the rotation, but it's sure a terrific start so far.
They were all good, but I was really impressed with Josh Fleming on Saturday. He came in after Rasmussen and was nasty, pitching 3 1/3 scoreless innings and making hitters look ridiculous all game. There are a lot of arms on that Rays roster, but Fleming is going to be a big-time weapon for sure this year.
2. The 'Wander-ful' Wander Franco
Signing 21-year-old Wander Franco to a long-term deal last November was probably the wisest financial move this franchise has ever made. That 11-year, $182 million contract is money well spent, and we've seen that already.
Franco, who just turned 21 on March 1 and was the No. 1 prospect in baseball, has had two three-hit games already, and went 6-for-11 in the series against the Orioles.
How rare is two three-hit games in an opening series for someone 21 or younger?
Very.
Franco is just the third player 21 or younger to have two three-hit games in his team’s first three games of a season. The other two? Hall Famers Paul Molitor in 1978 and Ty Cobb in 1908.
That's some pretty serious company.
Franco has also made several great plays in the field, making a diving stop in the opener and a long running catch on a pop-up that looked like ''a shift-buster.''
He's going to be fun to watch. He's the youngest player on any active major-league roster, and he's already getting that ''potential superstar'' label attached. And by the way, the youngest pitcher on any MLB roster? The would be Monday's starter for the Rays, 22-year-old Luis Patino.
3. Just being here so far
Shameless plug, but it's been great this first weekend covering this team. At least through three days, they've all been very media friendly, from the owner on down, and the fan reaction to what we're doing here has been tremendous.
Starting from zero is never easy, but the pageviews so far have been really good considered the fact that we just launched on Friday. So, Rays fans, thank you for reading.
Keep it up!
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Tom Brew is the publisher of Inside The Rays, and has been with the Sports Illustrated/FanNation network for three years. He is an award-winning writer and editor who has spent most of his four-decade career at the Tampa Bay Times, Indianapolis Star and South Florida Sun-Sentinel. He has written four books.