How Have the Rays Fared in Doubleheaders?

Today  the Rays will play a doubleheader versus the Philadelphia Phillies, their first doubleheader in 2012 after playing two in 2011. How have the Rays done historically?

The Rays’ overall record in doubleheaders is just 10-20. The Rays have won just 2 of 15 doubleheaders and are 2-7-5 overall.

That’s not very good, just a .333 winning percentage. The Rays have never had that low of a winning percentage in a season ever. But how about since 2008? The Rays are 5-7 in doubleheaders since 2008 including 5-3 in seasons where they made the playoffs. One big thing to keep in mind is that because of Tropicana Field, a dome, the Rays have never played a doubleheader at home. That lack of familiarity with doubleheaders has to contribute to that poor mark as well.

After playing two doubleheaders in 1998, the Rays didn’t play another one until July 2002.

Because of the Trop factor, the Rays play as few doubleheaders as any team in baseball and that streak is pretty remarkable. It should have or at least could have ended in 2000, but the Rays played just 161 games on the season because they were far enough out of first that their 162nd game didn’t matter.

The Rays season-high in doubleheaders is 3 in 2004. They went 1-5 versus the Red Sox, Yankees, and Tigers.

That is a completely meaningless stat with no value at all. Cooler superflous stat: the Rays have played two doubleheaders versus the Tigers, more than they have played versus their division rival Orioles (1), and split both of them. They have played 0 versus the Blue Jays because of Roger Centre’s retractable roof.

The Rays have played 11 doubleheaders versus the Yankees and Red Sox. Their overall record is 4-18 and they haven’t swept a single one.

Ouch.

The Rays have played just one season where they managed a winning record in doubleheaders: 2008, when they went 3-1. 

So if the Rays have a winning record in doubleheaders, they’ll go to the World Series. Good to know. The Rays didn’t play any doubleheaders in 2010 and went 2-2 in 2011. In seasons where the Rays have not made the playoffs, they have gone 5-13, 2-10 since 2003. They are 5-9 under Joe Maddon.

The Rays first four franchise doubleheaders ended up as ties. Since then, 9 of the Rays’ 11 doubleheaders have been won by one side or the other.

If you want to predict what will happen today, guess a sweep either way. Past events have no impact on historical performance, but this seems like a pretty distinct trend. The Rays have never played an Interleague doubleheader until now.

No matter what has happened in past, let’s root for a doubleheader sweep today for the Rays to win this series versus the Phillies. The Rays have been inconsistent of late, but hopefully a big day Sunday can get them going.