Twenty-eight games down, one-hundred thirty-four to go
We are officially one month into the 2025 regular season and the Tampa Bay Rays have gone through the longest homestand in franchise history and a west coast swing against two of the toughest teams in the National League. They’ve endured playing at the newest hitter’s haven in baseball. They’ve suffered numerous injuries to integral parts of the team’s roster. They’ve enjoyed tremendous success from rookies earning their spots on the team. And after the culmination of a month of play, they are 14-14, .500 on the season.
On Tuesday, the Rays will return home and welcome the Kansas City Royals into town. The Royals are currently 14-15, sitting four games back of the AL Central leading Tigers. The Rays meanwhile are 2.5 games back of the Yankees in the AL East.
Kansas City has been led by their star shortstop, Bobby Witt Jr, who is off to a fantastic start. The 24-year old speedster is currently hitting .315/.385/.477 with 2 HR and 8 SB (1.5 fWAR | 138 wRC+) over 29 games this season. He hasn’t received much support from the rest of the team as seven position players currently sport negative fWAR. Drew Waters and Maikel Garcia are a couple of hitters off to decent starts for the Royals.
The starting rotation has been solid with each pitcher either posting solid numbers (Cole Regans seems to just be unlucky thus far). Kris Bubic has been their top starter but the Rays will miss his turn in the rotation. The bullpen has been a work in progress but Lucas Erceg, Carlos Estevez, and Daniel Lynch the names to watch for in high leverage situations.
Frivolities
The top players by career WAR to have played for the Rays and Royals:
- Ben Zobrist
- Johnny Damon
- James Shields
- Carlos Pena
- David DeJesus
The Rays best player offensively against the Royals all-time (min. 25 PA):
Jonny Gomes: .380/.484/.980 with 9 HR over 62 PA
GAME ONE
Tuesday, April 29th
7:05 PM EDT
RHP Taj Bradley vs RHP Michael Lorenzen
GAME TWO
Wednesday, April 30th
7:05 PM EDT
RHP Drew Rasmussen vs TBD, but LHP Cole Ragan’s turn
GAME THREE
Thursday, May 1st
1:10 PM EDT
RHP Shane Baz vs RHP Seth Lugo
