Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
‘Five bona fide major-league starters’
Rays see their rotation of pitchers as one of game’s best
There have already been a few choice words thrown out around Tampa Bay Rays camp to describe the potential of the starting rotation.
“Insane,” offered up Tyler Glasnow, one of the starters.
Another, Jeffrey Springs, chose “nasty.” “Scary,” reliever Ryan Thompson suggested. Also, “electric.”
Pitching coach Kyle Snyder was diplomatic, calling the quintet — which also includes Shane McClanahan, Drew Rasmussen and free-agent addition Zach Eflin — “five bona fide major-league starters, mid-level to upperlevel starters on just about every other team.”
But leave it to high-leverage reliever Jason Adam to close the door on the discussion.
“Unbelievable,” Adam said. “We were joking, the bullpen [crew] was sitting there, like, we’re just going to kick our feet up and watch most of the time.
“Our rotation is insane. I’m no scout, but it’s got to be the best in baseball. It is.”
Catcher Christian Bethancourt agreed: “To me, it should be No. 1.”
Excellence, with an asterisk
Are the Rays a bit too wound up about the guys who will be in the windup?
Sure, they have reason to be excited.
Take the success McClanahan, Springs and Rasmussen had last year, mix in a full season of Tyler Glasnow following his impressive September return from Tommy John surgery, and top it off by adding Eflin from the Phillies.
Plus all are relatively young — Springs is the oldest at 30 — and all are under team control through at least 2024.
“Hopefully they can do what they did last year and better,” Bethancourt said. “I’m happy for all those guys and what they accomplished last year. Having Glasnow back and now Eflin, I’m expecting big things from them. And I’m sure they’re ready for it.”
But each comes with an asterisk, if not a bold question mark.
Can McClanahan, who dealt with inconsistency and injury after a stellar first half that earned him an All-Star start, dominate for a full season?
How will Springs, who signed a fouryear, $31 million extension, and Rasmussen respond in the follow-up to career-high workloads after transitioning to full-time big-league starters?
Can Glasnow, who has never topped 14 starts or 111 ⅔ innings in the majors, maintain his elite power stuff, health and focus for a full season?
Will Eflin, despite a 36-45, 4.49 career record and a history of knee issues, prove the Rays wise for investing $40 million (a team record for a free agent) over a three-year deal?)
Doubters, beware
ESPN, in an admittedly “way too early” rotation ranking, clearly isn’t impressed, slotting the Rays 10th.
“The rankings, they are what they are,” Springs said. “But we know how good we can be with the work that’s put in. We’re excited. We’ll kind of see how it falls when we start playing, but I know we have a lot of confidence and a lot of belief in one another.”
The Rays’ faith is based on two premises: Quality, in that McClanahan and Glasnow will be as dynamic as any duo leading a rotation in the majors.
And quantity, in that all five pitchers have shown the ability to be legit big-league starters, and successful at it.
“They’re just as good as anybody if not better,” reliever Pete Fairbanks said. “I don’t think you have a better one-two punch. I don’t think you have a better three, I don’t think you have a better four, and I don’t think you have a better five.”
Both those points can be debated.
Among talented tandems, no one can match the accomplishments of the Mets’ Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander, whose six combined Cy Young awards are six more than any Ray. Several other teams have more proven leading men, such as the Yankees with Gerrit Cole and new addition Carlos Rodón.
The Rays want to believe the combination of high-end talent and (relative) youth will propel McClanahan and Glasnow into the conversation.
Similarly, that their success — albeit it with limited experience, as Springs and Rasmussen have a combined 65 big-league starts, and some were opener-type assignments — is a foundation indicative of what is to come.
“When you look at this team as it is, the pitching side of things, we ended (last season) healthy, we showed how good that can be,” baseball operations president Erik Neander said. “[Glasnow] was a Cy Young contender until he got hurt in 2021. Shane started an All-Star Game last year. Springs, Rasmussen they did it very quietly but their numbers weren’t far behind, if they were behind. And then, just our opinion of Zach and what his potential is.
“That’s one through five — someone’s got to be one, someone’s got to be five — but those are all guys that are mid- to front-of-the-rotation capable pitchers in our opinion. And, frankly, have demonstrated that.”
Another difference this year is having the five established starters, a departure from recent years when the Rays had three or four legit starters and filled the rotation using openers/ bulk innings pitchers and bullpen days. (There still may be a few this year to provide an occasional extra day of rest and planned shorter starts, especially early in the season).
Plus they have what they consider alternatives when/if needed, with Luis Patino, Josh Fleming, Yonny Chirinos and top prospect Taj Bradley.
“It’s a really exciting year for us,” McClanahan said. “I feel like we have six, seven, eight guys that could easily be in anyone’s rotation, easily be anyone’s No. 1 or No. 2. That just shows the depth we have.”
“There was a reason I wanted to come here,” said Eflin. “You look at all the guys that we have, and everybody can post numbers, everybody get us into a position to win games. It’s going to be fun to work with a staff like that.”