Tampa Bay Rays Grades: Assessing early season performance from position groups

The Tampa Bay Rays are about one month into the season and sit just below .500 at 14-16 on the season. Although it has not been the hot start to the season they way it was in 2023, there is a lot to evaluate with how the players have done so far. Here are grades for the position groups on the Rays in 2024.

Catchers Grade: C

The Tampa Bay Rays have routinely played two catchers this season following Christian Bethancourt leaving the team. Those two have been Rene Pinto, who is the main starter, as well as Ben Rortvedt, who was formerly with the New York Yankees and was picked up by the Rays in a trade back in March.

Rortvedt has been a big bright spot on the team this season when he has played. At the plate in 2024, he has batted .362 with an OBP up near .455 over the course of 47 at-bats. He currently leads the Rays in WAR at 0.9.

Pinto has been quieter at the plate, with a .214 average and an OBP under .300. He does have two long balls this season in 42 at-bats.

Both catchers defensively have been pretty decent with Pinto and Rortvedt both having solid pop times at the plate ranking in the top 15 among MLB catchers. Rortvedt's framing ranks in the 79th percentile, while Pinto's is down in the 49th, and he has struggled with blocking so far, as he sits in the 11th percentile.

Infielder Grade: C-

If one thing has remained consistent from 2023 with the Rays infield, it is that Isaac Parades still has his power from his 30-home run season last year. He has seven blasts, as the season is just entering the month of May, and has batted a smooth .283 on the season, making the case to be the best all-around bat Tampa Bay has had in 2024.

A big suprise to the team has been the lackluster play from Yandy Diaz who was the American League batting champion in 2023. He is only batting .214 and has not gotten on base as often as he normally does, sporting an OBP under .300.

Jose Caballero has made his base-stealing ability known, leading the team with nine but, like Diaz, he has not been able to get on base enough to show that, with an OBP of .283. He has hit the ball decently with an average at .263.

The remainder of the infield has played pedestrian and just okay. Harold Ramirez is batting .252 and is in double figures for RBI. Curtis Mead and Austin Shenton have had underwelming seasons with averages of .228 and .182 respectively. As for Brandon Lowe, he has posted just 27 at-bats this season, as injuries have been an issue. Overall, the infield from Tampa Bay has been pretty lackluster outside of Parades.

Starting Pitching Grade: B-

The starting pitching story for Tampa Bay has been the great beginning to the season Ryan Pepiot has had. He has tossed a 3.12 ERA in 34.2 innings of work and has 38 strikeouts over that stretch with a great WHIP of 0.87. He has been the main catalyst to a rotation that continues to battle the injury bug, and has stepped up to become the big arm so far.

Zack Littell has been pretty good as well with an ERA of 3.27, and has 35 strikeouts over 33.0 innings on the mound. He has been really gods in particular at keeping batters from drawing walks, as he only has allowed five this season. Him and Pepiot both average 9.0+ strikeouts per nine innings.

Unexpectedly, these two have overshadowed the other two big name arms in Zach Eflin and Aaron Civale. Civale has an ERA of 5.06, as he has given up almost a hit per inning of pitching, but he is continuing to put up good strikeout numbers with 34 in 32.0 innings. Eflin's ERA sits at 4.08, and he continues to do what he does best: not allow walks, as he has only surrendered four in 35.1 innings of work.

Overall, the Rays' starting pitching has been doing well enough to compensate for the extensive injuries that they continue to harbor.

Bullpen Pitching: D+

As it stands, the Tampa Bay bullpen has the fourth worst ERA in baseball, sitting at 5.15. They are also tied with the Miami Marlins and Pittsburgh Pirates for the most blown saves this season at eight.

Big time closer Pete Fairbanks recently went on the Injured List for the Rays due to a nerve issue. Although news has been hopeful for him, he started very poorly with a 9.00 ERA, and that has been brutal in hurting the Rays' chances of holding late leads.

He is not alone. Colin Poche, Jacob Waguespack, Phil Maton, and Chris Devenski have all had high ERAs, which have hurt. Pitchers like Poche and Maton have been put in high-leverage situations, and it has cost the Rays deeply.

The bullpen has been the largest concern for Tampa Bay. Addressing the problems there may be what the Rays need going forward.