Tampa Bay Rays: Ryan Sherriff Making Case for 1st Opening Day Roster

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Ryan Sherriff (Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images) /

The Tampa Bay Rays had the best bullpen in the Major Leagues last season. After trading their projected closer, we take a look at one guy standing out so far in his spring audition.

When the Tampa Bay Rays traded their projected closer, Emilio Pagan earlier this offseason, it opened up a few opportunities for relievers to join the league’s most stingy bullpen from last season. Ryan Sherriff is one of the pitchers that has joined the fray.

Sherriff has been dominant in three spring innings thus far. The two-seam artist has allowed one hit and zero walks. How did he end up here?

Professional Career

Sherriff was drafted in the 33rd round out of the 2010 draft by the Washington Nationals. He did not sign with the team and was again drafted the following year by the Cardinals. This time he signed and a Cardinal he became.

Sherriff pitched in 50.1 innings in 2011 between Rookie Ball and Low-A. He ended his first professional season with a solid 3.93 ERA.

The following season he went 10-3 with a 3.25 ERA and started 16 games in High-A. In his first 147.1 innings, he had only given up 30 walks and 11 homers. He brought his hits per nine down from a 9.3 his first season to a 7.3. It was becoming evident that this kid was going to be really good. He walked a mere 1.8 per nine in 2011 and 1.9 per nine in 2012. He pounded the zone with his locomotive-like sinker and put about half of his batted balls on the ground.

He won the Palm Beach Cardinals Starting Pitcher of the Year Award in 2012.

Things would only get better from here… for a while.

Ryan Sheriff (Photo by Julio Aguilar/Getty Images) /

Lights Out

In 2013 he ruled over the competition with a giant iron hammer that only he and Thor could use to build a wooden deck. ‘The Officer on Duty’ (the nickname I just coined for him) registered a 2.31 ERA in 78.0 innings pitched at High-A Palm Beach.

He was named Starting Pitcher of the Year again in 2013.

After causing total destruction in Palm Beach the Cardinals moved him to Springfield, Illinois. This was a good move for his career but had to be a geographical bummer. He didn’t let the fact that he was in Illinois discourage him as he cruised to a 3.33 ERA.

Starting Pitcher of the Year Becomes a Reliever

The following season he transitioned from Springfield to AAA-Memphis. He only received four innings of playing time in Triple-A, but he made it. He was one step from “The Show.” He transitioned from a starter to a reliever this season.

Sherriff bounced between Double-A and Triple-A in 2015 and became a fixture in Memphis in 2016. During the 2016 season in AAA-Memphis, opposing hitters might as well have come to the plate in their pajamas because Sherriff was lights out…as in bedtime.

He earned a spot on in the Arizona Fall League at the end of the season. The Arizona Fall League is where each team sends six of their top prospects to compete at the end of the season. He was knocking on the door of the majors.

He posted a 2.84 ERA over 66.2 innings with an elite 59.2% groundball rate. Prior to the 2017 season, the former late-round draft pick was on some important radars. He was selected to participate in the World Baseball Classic as representative of team Israel.

Ryan Sherriff (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images) /

Whiplash in 2018

He went on to have another fantastic season for the Red Birds in Triple-A in 2017, where he posted a 0.99 WHIP and 3.69 ERA. He was done proving himself in Triple-A. He made his Major League debut on August 25 against the Rays where he pitched three shutout innings. It was the first time a Cardinals pitcher had gone three shutout innings in a Major League debut since 1998.

He started his 2018 in Memphis but his phone was ringing just a few days into the season. On March 31 he was called back up. About a week later he hit the DL after his toe was fractured on a comebacker.

Must Read. Our Interview with Ryan Sherriff. light

Tommy John Surgery

Not long after his return he was optioned back to Memphis on May 8 and was placed on the DL just ten days later. It wasn’t his toe this time…It would be Tommy John surgery. Sadly, the Cardinals released him in August.

Baseball can be a cruel game. How could such a dominant pitcher on the brink of the Major Leagues find himself unemployed at age 28?

The Rays must have liked what they saw from Sherriff. They signed him in October of that season while he rehabbed from the procedure.

He was able to appear in seven innings in the lower levels of the minors last season. He was ready to prepare for an opportunity to make the Opening Day roster for the first time in 2020, at age 29.

His Place in the Rays Bullpen

There’s always room for a lefty out of the pen with an elite groundball rate. His diving two-seamer plays well against righties and lefties. His dominance in the minors translates well to the new three-batter minimum. Sherriff is a former starter who won two Starting Pitcher of the Year Awards in Palm Beach. As an effective starter, he knows how to pitch to right-handed hitters.

In his nine Minor League seasons he posted the following combined stats:

34-23 W-L
3.04 ERA
47 starts
2 complete games
228 appearances
492.0 innings pitched
0.5 HR/9 IP
1.12 WHIP
2.3 BB/9 IP
In 120.1 IP between 2016-2017, he had a 57.9% groundball rate.

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If he continues to dominate this spring, Sherriff could be deputized into one of the top bullpens in the league. It’s been a long road full of groundballs and domination. There’s only one real test left for the left-handed 29-year-old. He’s earned an opportunity to prove himself at the highest level in the world. The Rays know what they have and who they signed in 2018, just five months removed from Tommy John surgery. He’s ready and the Rays are ready.

Ryan Sherriff’s time could be now.

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