One reason to be excited for the 2025 Rays

We can all agree that the 2024 season was nothing short of a disappointment. From the atrocious offensive output to the fire sale at the trade deadline, it was certainly a season we’d soon like to forget. Regardless, there’s no sense in harping on the past. The success of this club in the last 5 seasons has been an incredible feat and I don’t think that it has completely come to an end. With that being said, here’s one reason to be excited for the 2025 season.

Rays' pitching staff will be young, deep and talented in 2025

We didn’t get the full staff that we could’ve had this season due to injuries from some of our top arms, but the future looks really good for the hurlers next year. We got to see a full season from Ryan Pepiot where he impressed with 3.60 ERA over 130 innings. He was a workhorse in his first full season in the MLB and showed that he has a bright future ahead of him.

Another right-hander to be ecstatic for in 2025 is Taj Bradley. He had a rollercoaster campaign, but finished with a respectable 4.11 ERA over 138 innings. He was also named the July Pitcher of the Month where he went 3-1 with a 1.45 ERA and 31 strikeouts in five outings. If Tampa Bay can get a full season of production from him, we could see some impressive numbers.

The depth of this upcoming staff is headlined by the returns of Shane McClanahan and Jeffrey Springs and the resurgences of Shane Baz and Drew Rasmussen. There are multiple ways you can arrange this starting rotation. This is the way I believe the Rays will start next season:

1. Shane McClanahan
2. Ryan Pepiot
3. Jeffrey Springs
4. Taj Bradley
5. Shane Baz
6. Drew Rasmussen (in the bullpen)

This pitching staff should be seen as one of the best in the MLB because of the depth from 1-5. We haven’t even glanced at the Rays bullpen which was above and beyond our strength in 2024. Tampa Bay's pen finished the second half of the season with an MLB-best 2.56 ERA. If the bullpen virtually stays the same except for the addition of Rasmussen, then we will have a deadly collection of pitchers in March.