Many factors have contributed to the strong start, but what have we actually learned that we didn\u2019t already expect entering the season?<\/p>\n
Pitching<\/p>\n
The Rays entered the season with a much stronger pitching outlook than they had in 2025 thanks to the additions of Martinez and Matz, along with the return to the pitcher-friendly Trop. McClanahan<\/a>\u2019s return from injury has also gone about as well as the organization could have hoped \u2013 especially when considering he hasn\u2019t pitched in a Major League game since 2023. Rasmussen continues to be as reliable as they come, and Jax\u2019s much-anticipated transition to the rotation has gone well so far. Pepiot<\/a>\u2019s injury was surprising and disappointing, but the depth has held up and we haven\u2019t really learned anything new about the rotation.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n We also knew the bullpen had plenty depth, and that depth has already been tested with Uceta<\/a> and Wilson on the 60-day IL to begin the season. IL stints from Cleavinger<\/a> and now Sulser have further tested that depth. Despite those injury concerns, the bullpen has performed relatively well. They\u2019re roughly league average in earned runs per batter faced \u2014 a useful bullpen metric because it accounts for workload \u2014 and middle of the pack in save-plus-hold conversion rate. Ben Williamson<\/a> (a position player who has pitched 1 inning), Yoendrys Gomez, Chase Solesky, and Aaron Brooks have combined for a 7.48 ERA in 21.2 IP this season and are skewing the bullpen performance quite a bit.<\/p>\n One thing we\u2019ve learned: the Rays have a closer, and his name is Bryan Baker. All offseason the idea was there would be a \u201ccloser by committee\u201d approach, but that hasn\u2019t happened, although Cash will use Baker to pitch the eighth inning if that\u2019s when the heart of the opposing lineup is batting. There are still four relievers with multiple saves and I expect that to continue to some extent, but Baker has made the most of the opportunity given to him.<\/p>\n Position Players<\/p>\n We knew the catching group would be better on both sides of the ball compared to 2025. It has been a bit of a surprise to see Nick Fortes<\/a> get so much playing time \u2013 he has appeared in 42 of the team\u2019s 51 games so far while Feduccia has played in 29. The Rays currently have the 12th best wRC+ from their catching group and are 3rd in framing strike rate. The duo we have right now is looking good, and Dom Keegan could see some reps in the majors at some point later in the summer.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n The infield (plus DH) is still the strongest group of players on this team. Aranda, Caminero, and Yandy lead the way while Williamson and Palacios have made solid contributions so far. Taylor Walls<\/a> surprised everyone with a quick return from an early IL stint, and it was good timing too as the game appeared to be a little too quick for Carson Williams<\/a>. The infield has converted ground balls into outs at roughly a league-average rate, but I expect that to improve a bit as Caminero continues to find his groove defensively and Williamson gets more comfortable with his transition to second base.<\/p>\n The outfield has been better, but that was expected. The improvement has been driven by a shift towards more plate discipline and contact profiles on the offensive side while year-over-year improvements from Cedric Mullins<\/a> and Chandler Simpson<\/a> have helped make this unit one of the better defensive groups in the league. The Rays convert fly balls and line drives into outs 61.8% of the time \u2013 the third highest rate in the league and well above the average of 57.7%. Unsurprisingly to some, Ryan Vilade<\/a> has been impactful on both sides of the ball with his 140 wRC+ and three defensive runs saved in the outfield.<\/p>\n