The Tampa Bay Rays are scuffling. They are in the middle of a 2-7 road trip and have a 10-16 record for the month.
The good news is the Rays will be back home this weekend to play the Texas Rangers, followed by a visit from the Baltimore Orioles.
The weak areas on this team are really starting to get magnified now with the lack of a big bat, timely hitting, and the back end of the bullpen still has a ton of issues.
No one would have expected that Blake Snell would be the worst pitcher in the Rays rotation.
Snell has struggled all season and he is trying to work through the issues. Snell says he feels good but is just not getting the results he is looking for.
Snell’s ERA is 11.42 in five starts in the month of June, and has also allowed six more runs this season 44, then he did all of last season when he allowed 38.
Pitching coach Kyle Snyder has said the majority of the blame should be laid at his feet. Snyder has worked with Snell since 2013.
It’s obviously not a health thing, It’s obviously not a stuff thing. It’s an approach thing and as the pitching coach, that’s on me. That on some better understanding of some sequencing. It’s just more about preparation.
Snyder feels that Snell is pitching just as well this year as he did last year from a mechanical standpoint. The results just aren’t there. “The stuff is arguably just as good if not better than last year. And some of that is maybe adjusting to the league as it’s adjusting to Blake. It just comes with the chess match of playing the game as long as they all intend to.”
If the Rays have any hope of having making a second half run or reaching the post season, they are going to need the 2018 Blake Snell to show up and start getting the results that we all expect from Blake Snell.
The Rays lack of a designated closer has come back to really haunt this team. The closer by committee has not really worked out at all.
Jose Alvarado who has been on the restricted list since June second taking care of a personal matter in Venezuela, threw a bull pen session Monday and Tuesday and should return before the All-Star break. Alvarado is 0-4 with a 3.09 ERA and six saves.
Diego Castillo who lost the two games in Oakland last weekend was put on the 10 day DL with shoulder inflammation. In his last 11 outings before being put on the DL, had a 9.58 ERA with nine wals and seven strikeouts.
On the season Castillo is 1-6 with a 3.93 era and all nine runners that he has inherited this season have scored.
These kind of numbers that Alvarado and Castillo are putting up are not going to get you to the playoffs, let alone have success in the playoffs.
As the losses mount, the news on the injury front just keeps getting worse.
Pitcher Tyler Glasnow who is currently on the 60 day DL had a setback in his rehab and has been shut down till after the All-Star break.
The hope was that Glasnow would be back and ready to be a part of the rotation right after the All-Star break, but now his return has been pushed back.
Infielder Daniel Robertson who was a key part of the Rays team in 2018 had arthroscopic knee surgery and will not be ready to play until early to mid August.
On a positive note, Wander Franco the Rays number one prospect was promoted to Port Charlotte and is continuing to turns heads with his defensive play and his hitting the baseball. Franco should be in Tampa sooner rather than later.
