2014: The Tampa Bay Rays Season Where Nothing Is for Granted

There are so many things that Tampa Bay Rays assumed entered 2014. The starting rotation was supposed to be among the best in baseball–after injuries to Matt Moore, Alex Cobb, and Jeremy Hellickson, that has decidedly not been the case. The offense was supposed to be as strong as ever, but its inconsistency has driven everyone nuts. On Sunday, we even got to see the defense crumble, making four errors in the 6th inning to change the entire game. So much has fallen apart for the Rays. If someone heard for the first time now that the Rays were picked to make the World Series, they would make a wisecrack about the analysts knowing nothing. But here’s the thing: nothing is gone yet. The season is just beginning and the Rays are 11-14 when things could be much worse. Cobb and Hellickson will come back, and prospects like Matt Andriese and Mike Montgomery will come up. The offense is going to find its rhythm and things will be a lot better than this. And one bad defensive game doesn’t overcome the defensive mastery the Rays have shown the last seven years. Our assumptions about the Tampa Bay Rays were wrong and this is not going to be an easy season. But time is something that the Rays have plenty of right now, and we could see everything change before long.