My Two Cents: Confidence Rankings With Rays' Pitchers Right Now

The Tampa Bay Rays have the third-best pitching staff in the American League based on team earned run average, so with an off-day upon us, now is a good time to break down our confidence level on all of the Rays' arms as of mid-June.

It's a day off, one last chance to catch our collective breaths before the Tampa Bay Rays head into battle with the crazy-hot New York Yankees on Tuesday night in New York in the middle series of a nine-game road trip.

I thought it might be a good time to take a look at the the Rays' pitching staff right now — which ranks No. 3 in the American League — and gave a quick thought or two on the 14 guys currently on the roster. That does not include the guys on the injured list, those lost for the year and those who hopefully will be back soon.

I broke them into four groups, for easy digestion. Your thoughts? Definitely weigh in on the various social media channels.

Tampa Bay starter Shane McClanahan leads the majors with 98 strikeouts and his seven wins are second only to Houston's Justin Verlander, who now has eight wins. (USA TODAY Sports)

Highly confident, no wavering

• SHANE McCLANAHAN (7-2, 1.87 ERA, league-leading 98 strikeouts: As I said last week, I think McClanahan is the best pitcher in baseball right now, so my confidence level in him is off the charts. He's got four great pitches, and will throw them at any time. I love watching him pitch. It's hard to believe he just turned 25 years old. Wise beyond his years.
• JEFFREY SPRINGS: (3-2, league-leading 1.45 ERA among starters with at least 49 innings: Springs has been sensational since making the move into the starting rotation. He's held teams scoreless in five of his last eight appearances, and hasn't allowed a run in 13 innings. 
• JASON ADAM (0-1, 0.72 ERA): Adam has been terrific all year, allowing only two runs in 25 innings thus far. With Andrew Kittredge out for the year and J.P. Feyereisen on the injured list, Adam is going to get the most important innings out of the bullpen. He certainly seems up to it. He's been really good, not allowing a run since May 3.

Confident, but wavering slightly

• DREW RASMUSSEN (5-3, 3.41 ERA): A month ago, I called McClanahan and Rasmussen the best 1-2 punch in baseball. But now, in his past three outings, he's been wildly inconsistent. He gave up five runs in three innings on May 30 at Texas, and then gave up seven runs (four earned) Friday against the Twins. In between? He had a career-best seven scoreless innings, allowing just three hits to the White Sox. He's been very consistent — and very good — since joining the Rays last May, but this little stretch raises an eyebrow. I'll be curious to see how his next three starts go. 
• COREY KLUBER (3-2, 3.88 ERA): Kluber has been roughed up a couple of times – twice he's allowed 11 hits in a game — but he's been mostly good as a starter this season. The 36-year-old veteran isn't going to overpower anyone anymore, but he's still crafty and can get big outs. He's been a moderately pleasant surprise, but you just never know when that next 11-hit day shows up.
• COLIN POCHE (2-0, 1.40 ERA): For a guy who missed all of 2020 and 2021, Poche has been very good this year. He's allowed only three earned runs all year in 19 1/3 innings, and he's handled his three save opportunities well. The waver? Can he answer the bell in the most-difficult moments all the time now that he'll have a bigger role late in games? He's got a great attitude and very calm demeanor, so no moment will be too big for him. 
• BROOKS RALEY (1-0, 3.31 ERA): The oldest member of the Rays bullpen has only pitched 16 1/3 innings thus far, and he's been mostly good. He's going to get used a lot more now, and it will be interesting to see if he can hold up with a heavier work load. 

Shane Baz was shaky in his first outing with the Rays on Saturday, but everyone in the organization is still expecting great things from the 22-year-old this season. (USA TODAY Sports)

Confident, but uncertain of greater demands

• SHANE BAZ (0-1, 19.29 ERA in 2 1/3 innings: There have been a few fans who have already given up on Baz after he allowed five runs in the third inning of his first start on Saturday, which is foolish. He's got electric stuff and he's going to be fine. I'm really looking forward to seeing what he does, but we really don't know how he's going to handle the daily grind of being an important starter. As great as he is, he's only 22. I think he's going to be very good, but it might take a couple of great starts back-to-back to get his confidence level back up. The guess here is that the shaky third inning was just an anomaly. 
• JALEN BEEKS (1-1, 1.38 ERA): Beeks has good numbers and has pitched well, for the most part. He's only been scored upon once in his last nine appearances, but that was a two-run homer to Jake Burger when the White Sox beat the Rays 3-2 on that dinger just two pitches after entering the game. Beeks will have to get more late-inning outs now too, and I do like his stuff. I'm looking forward to seeing him pitch later in games. Maybe that one bad outing won't happen again, but it is hard to forget.
• MATT WISLER (2-1, 2.15 ERA): Wisler gave up runs in three straight outings in mid-May, and I had some concerns if he could be counted on in big moments. But since then, he's had eight straight scoreless outings, so now I feel better. He's hard to figure with his slider-heavy repertoire, but he's been getting the job done lately. His ERA went from 3.00 to 2.15 during this recent scoreless streak.

Worried, but hopeful

• RYAN THOMPSON (1-2, 6.63 ERA): Thompson even admits that he hasn't been very good lately, and he would be right. What's weird is that he has been very good before, and you'd like to think he can get there again. He's lost that sharp break on some pitches, and grooving too many easy-to-hit pitches. Here's to hoping he'll find it.
• SHAWN ARMSTRONG (1 earned run in 6 2/3 innings, a 1.35 ERA): Armstrong has pitched a lot since being called up on May 31, and he's gotten plenty of outs. What's going to be interesting is to see if it can continue that going forward, especially in more difficult situations. We can't forget that he gave up eight runs in 6 2/3 innings earlier this year while pitching for the Marlins. They cut him, but maybe he's found some things with the Rays. 
• LUKE BARD: (no runs in 2 innings): It's far too soon to tell how much he can help going forward. He looked good throwing one-hit ball ball in a blowout, but that's all we've seen so far. Just don't know enough.
• CALVIN FAUCHER: (7 earned runs in 4 innings): Faucher got ripped for five runs in his first outing, but he's been better in two of his next three outings since then. Much like Bard, there's too much of an unknown with him right now. 

Rays reliever Ryan Thompson has struggled to get comfortable this season, getting hit hard on several occasions. (USA TODAY Sports.)

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