Tampa Bay Rays Spring Training Half-Time Report Card

The Tampa Bay Rays have reached the halfway point of spring training. Let’s check the report card of some key players.

The Tampa Bay Rays are halfway through spring camp. What better time for a half-time report on how the roster is taking shape. There are a few roster battles we are watching carefully. There are also players and prospects giving us reason to cast our eyes upon them like Sauron watching Frodo and Sam relieving themselves on the base of Mount Doom.

Randy Arozarena

Randy Arozarena was acquired in the exchange for Matthew Liberatore. The Rays sent the left-handed prospect to the Cardinals in exchange for Jose Martinez and Arozarena. At first it looked like he might be a fourth outfielder despite having limited major-league experience.

There’s no doubt, he’s more dynamic than both Batman and Robin. That is why the Rays have had their eyes…

Wait a minute. I can’t live with that last statement. Batman and Robin are more dynamic than Randy Arozarena, that’s ridiculous. They are the Dynamic Duo. In my attempt to celebrate his versatility and highly refined skills, I have overstepped a sacred boundary and made my description of his prowess a farce. Batman and Robin are the dynamic duo and he is a really good baseball player.

Let me try again…

There’s no doubt, Randy Arozarena could beat both Batman and Robin in a home run derby.

Like I was saying, the Rays have had their eye on him for a while… Okay, wait a minute. In fairness, I haven’t seen Batman’s swing, I’m willing to bet he’s no slouch.

While the Rays love his tools, they appear to also believe that Batman and Robin are better baseball players than he is. Likely due to his lack of experience. That may explain why they traded their projected closer, Emilio Pagan for Manuel Margot.

It appears Margot and his magnificent glove are slated to play fourth outfielder and primary backup to the staple that is Kevin Kiermaier.

Arozarena may be making them regret that decision with his performance thus far this spring.

Randy has appeared in eight games and is hitting .583 with a double, a triple, six runs batted in and a fantastic six walks in 18 plate appearances. He’s displaying the tools he’s showed in the minor leagues, basically where he does everything. He hits for average, power, steals bases and is rangy on defense.

The Rays have to be pleased with his performance. Should something happen to one of the regular outfielders, the traditionally soft-hitting Margot may have a short leash with Arozarena waiting in the Batcave.

Tyler Glasnow

We all know Tyler Glasnow had a breakthrough, breakout, achy-breaky heart-type season in 2019. In his 12 starts of 2019, he slapped down a 1.78 ERA while striking out 76 batters in 60.2 innings. He was elite. One breakthrough he had last season was taking significant strikes in his command. Prior to 2019, he commanded his electric stuff like Luke Skywalker in Empire Strikes Back.

Remember? There’s no doubt Luke was powerful. I mean the Force was always with him, that’s how he was able to destroy the Death Star without a targeting computer. And you know the rebellion had some awesome catering…Google “Jek Tono.”

That high-quality and unlimited catering didn’t bother Luke…Where was I? Oh, Luke had serious power with the force and self-control. You could say he had naturally electric stuff, but not great command. He struggled to hold little pebbles in the air in Empire Strikes Back while Yoda was lifting an X-Wing like Braun Strowman.

Like Luke, Glasnow gained control of his power last season. In 2016 he walked five batters per nine. In 2017, he walked 6.4 per nine. In 2018 he walked 4.3 batters per nine. Last season, that number plummeted to 2.1 free passes per nine innings.

This spring he has pitched in 2.2 innings and walked only one batter while striking out five. His curveball is disgusting and his fastball is almost invisible. In his two starts, he has been credited with two wins this spring.

While last season gave us reason to believe Glasnow could be the next Rays pitcher to find himself in the midst of a Cy Young race, it was a small sample size. His spring performance is building the hype train for 2020. All aboard for Tyler Glasnow in 2020.

Round Up

Yoshitomo Tsutsugo has looked good in his 17 plate appearances. He has hit .357/.471/.643 in his first sample of Major League-Esque pitching.

The backup catcher battle has produced solid results with Chris Herrmann hitting .500 with 4 runs batted in, Kevan Smith is hitting .333 with 4 RBI and 5 runs. The presumptive favorite for the job, Michael Perez is only hitting .167 but he’s walked three times and leads the team in homers with two.

Dylan Cozens was a prolific Minor League home run hitter and so the Rays gave him a shot but he’s struck out nine times in 15 at-bats with a .133 average this spring.

Wander Franco made his spring debut. He’s only had five at-bats and has one hit. His one hit looked good when he took a pitch away to the opposite field with a short, smooth stroke.

Brandon Lowe is off to a hot start in building off his All-Star rookie campaign, hitting .462 with three walks.

A lot of pitchers have looked good thus far, Diego Castillo has six strikeouts in four innings with no earned runs allowed. Pete Fairbanks has four innings, seven strikeouts, and zero earned runs.

On a sour note, Blake Snell pitched one inning and then suffered inflammation in his elbow. It appears to be superficial and away from the tendon, so hopefully, it’s not a long setback for the former Cy Young Award winner. As of now, he is projected to pitch a bullpen session this Friday.