Predicting Rays Opening Day lineup against Rockies starter Kyle Freeland

It was recently made official that the Tampa Bay Rays will began their 2025 season against the Colorado Rockies ace lefty Kyle Freeland on March 28th. In recent years, the Denver native has struggled as he's averaged around a 5.00 ERA over the last two seasons. However, the former first-round pick and lifetime Rockies pitcher put together some impressive campaigns early on in his career.

In fact, Freeland finished seventh in ROY voting in 2017 and fourth in Cy Young voting in 2018. His 2018 season was especially impressive as the 25-year old tossed over 200 innings, finishing with a 17-7 record and a sub-3.00 ERA. Freeland was in company with Max Scherzer, Aaron Nola, and 2018 Cy Young winner Jacob DeGrom, so the 6'4 starter should not be taken lightly.

As the Rays prepare for Opening Day at Steinbrenner Field, they will certainly take into account their matchup capabilities against Kyle Freeland. Tampa Bay is a very analytical club that researches everything, but the simplest way to attack this left-handed pitcher is to load up on right-handed hitters.

The Rays will have plenty of righties on their Opening Day roster, so this won't be an issue, but Cash will have to decide which ones to start against the crafty lefty. Here's our prediction for the Rays Opening Day lineup.

Despite talks of Yandy Diaz leaving the leadoff spot, we foresee that it won't happen until later on in the season. The Rays just extended their contact-first infielder and they will want to maximize his potential on day one. Plus, Diaz led all MLB first basemen in batting average against lefties last year as he hit .346 against opposing southpaws.

Brandon Lowe is one of the lone left-handed hitters in this lineup, but he's found some success against the 31-year old Freeland. Also, B. Lowe will likely be an everyday player as long as he remains healthy, so his presence on Opening Day should be expected.

Christopher Morel will be an exciting member of this lineup to watch on the 28th. The former Chicago Cubs infielder has faced Kyle Freeland six times due to his time in the National League. He is 2-for-6 with two home runs against him, so look out for some fireworks towards the middle of the order.

Lastly, the DH spot for Opening Day will be a wild card and we thought it would be fun for the Rays to take their chances with the red-hot Curtis Mead. Mead is not known for his defense, so this could be a great role for him from time to time.

Also, the 24-year old slugger is slashing an amazing .576/.641/.1.338 this spring, so he's definitely earned his way onto the Opening Day lineup. The middle infielder is also very steady versus lefties as he hit .364 against them last season.

However Cash decides to arrange this lineup, the Rays will have a very good opportunity to win game one, especially with two-time All-Star Shane McClanahan on the bump.