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TAMPA — The Rays have had their days — quite a few actually — when they don’t score a lot of runs. Their highly-touted rotation has struggled at times, missing locations and erring in execution. And their bullpen can occasionally melt down, such as in Thursday’s historic loss.
So as they try to navigate these inconsistencies to have a winning season, they’re going to need a good glove story.
Solid defense has been a hallmark of success during the Rays era, and at a time when little else has been going right, they have been playing pretty well.
“Guys are just focused on it,” veteran second baseman Brandon Lowe said. “It’s the one thing — your bat can slump, but your glove can’t. If you’re not getting it done offensively, it’s only half your job for most of us. So if you’re going to wear that 0-for for that day, then steal a hit away from a guy on their team and make them not feel as good."
Defensive impact remains challenging to quantify, but from publicly-available metrics and basic statistics, the Rays measure up well.
They went into play Friday co-leading the majors with 21 defensive runs saved along with the Cubs, per Sports Info Solutions. In Statcast’s Outs Above Average metric, the Rays were tied for sixth best with five, and also with four runs prevented. In old-fashioned errors and fielding percentage, they were tied for third best with 15 and second at .989. And they had turned the second-most double plays, with 42.
Anecdotally, there have been a reel of highlight plays: Jose Caballero’s through the legs flip to second; Kameron Misner’s game-ending double play; home run-robbing catches by Caballero and Chandler Simpson; a series of leaping grabs by Lowe at second; and pretty much a daily display by shortstop Taylor Walls.
“Every ball that’s put in play, you’re like, ‘Oh, that may be an out,’ ” starter Shane Baz said. “It could be hit anywhere on the field, it could be hit super hard or super soft. So, yeah, it’s really nice.”
The Rays figured to be good overall, and especially up the middle, having Walls — whose play Lowe describes as “magic” — at shortstop most days (at least until also slick-fielding Ha-Seong Kim is recovered from shoulder surgery in June or July), Lowe at second, veteran free-agent addition Danny Jansen behind the plate and Jonny DeLuca in center.
An injury to DeLuca and Walls’ offensive struggles have forced some changes to that alignment, and additional injuries to Josh Lowe, Richie Palacios and Jake Mangum required further adjustments, but they have remained sturdy.
Questions they had about the infield corners, with Junior Caminero stationed at third and Jonathan Aranda taking over at first, have been somewhat alleviated, though Caminero (who has a -6 rating in defensive runs saved) is sometimes replaced in late innings by Caballero.
“You want the ball hit to these guys now,” third base/infield coach Brady Williams said. “We’re calling for 5-4-3 double plays in the dugout. We’re calling for the ball to be hit at Jonny because these guys are making the plays, and you feel confident when the ball is hit to them.”
Overall, Rays officials have been quite pleased.
“Our defense has been really good, and I can be honest and say there was some uncertainty around it coming out of spring training,” manager Kevin Cash said. “Want to see us continue to work, but you watch how the guys go about their business, whether it’s the outfield or in the infield, leading into batting practice. They really take their craft seriously, and it’s nice to get some early rewards and trust that they’re going to continue to work.
“That’s a big part of our team is to prevent runs for the pitching staff.”
That just about daily early work is a key to their success.
Rather than just have several coaches hit routine groundballs, the Rays for several years have done a higher-intensity drill.
Cash or another coach stands in the batter’s box and takes full swings at balls tossed to them, hitting sharp grounders that are more similar to the angles and velocity of game action, creating a more competitive environment as well.
“I think it’s awesome,” said Caballero, who plays second, third and shortstop. “It speeds up the practice and slows down the game for us. I think it becomes easier in the game. … That’s the whole purpose behind it."
They’ll then turn up the dial a notch more.
Williams will yell out a time for them to make plays in certain situations — say 4.1 seconds, which is just under the league average time for a hitter running home to first — and then announces how long it actually took them.
“I think every single time that we turn a double play, you love hearing Brady yell out something that starts with a three,” Lowe said. “You’re like, man, we really turned that fast — there’s not a whole lot of guys here that can beat that out.
“It’s just playing at that speed in practice so when that does happen in the game, it just feels normal. It doesn’t feel like you’re speeding things up or trying to do anything any faster. It’s just, I do this for 40 reps every single day, this is just another rep. And try to make that comfortable.”
Walls said they are motivated to put in the effort.
“It’s just a testament to everybody coming in from Day 1 of spring training knowing that there’s a lot of things that we could do to improve on, myself included,” he said. “Everybody came in willing to work, knowing that we can get better every day. And just because we’ve seen some good results doesn’t mean that it kind of stops there.”
The Rays’ success is a product of how they play, and the kind of players they have between speed, strong arms and quick hands — what starter Zack Littell calls “freak athletes all around the field.”
“It’s a crazy athletic group,” Jansen said. “You’ve got guys playing all over the place. Everybody’s kind of just handling their business really well.”
The pitchers are most appreciative.
“Our defense, it’s off the charts, and it always is, right?” Drew Rasmussen said. “It’s something we pride ourselves in, and our defense’s ability to limit damage and also make incredible plays and save runs is huge. And as a pitching staff, we absolutely rely on it.”
• • •
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So as they try to navigate these inconsistencies to have a winning season, they’re going to need a good glove story.
Solid defense has been a hallmark of success during the Rays era, and at a time when little else has been going right, they have been playing pretty well.
“Guys are just focused on it,” veteran second baseman Brandon Lowe said. “It’s the one thing — your bat can slump, but your glove can’t. If you’re not getting it done offensively, it’s only half your job for most of us. So if you’re going to wear that 0-for for that day, then steal a hit away from a guy on their team and make them not feel as good."
Defensive impact remains challenging to quantify, but from publicly-available metrics and basic statistics, the Rays measure up well.
They went into play Friday co-leading the majors with 21 defensive runs saved along with the Cubs, per Sports Info Solutions. In Statcast’s Outs Above Average metric, the Rays were tied for sixth best with five, and also with four runs prevented. In old-fashioned errors and fielding percentage, they were tied for third best with 15 and second at .989. And they had turned the second-most double plays, with 42.
Anecdotally, there have been a reel of highlight plays: Jose Caballero’s through the legs flip to second; Kameron Misner’s game-ending double play; home run-robbing catches by Caballero and Chandler Simpson; a series of leaping grabs by Lowe at second; and pretty much a daily display by shortstop Taylor Walls.
“Every ball that’s put in play, you’re like, ‘Oh, that may be an out,’ ” starter Shane Baz said. “It could be hit anywhere on the field, it could be hit super hard or super soft. So, yeah, it’s really nice.”
The Rays figured to be good overall, and especially up the middle, having Walls — whose play Lowe describes as “magic” — at shortstop most days (at least until also slick-fielding Ha-Seong Kim is recovered from shoulder surgery in June or July), Lowe at second, veteran free-agent addition Danny Jansen behind the plate and Jonny DeLuca in center.
An injury to DeLuca and Walls’ offensive struggles have forced some changes to that alignment, and additional injuries to Josh Lowe, Richie Palacios and Jake Mangum required further adjustments, but they have remained sturdy.
Questions they had about the infield corners, with Junior Caminero stationed at third and Jonathan Aranda taking over at first, have been somewhat alleviated, though Caminero (who has a -6 rating in defensive runs saved) is sometimes replaced in late innings by Caballero.
“You want the ball hit to these guys now,” third base/infield coach Brady Williams said. “We’re calling for 5-4-3 double plays in the dugout. We’re calling for the ball to be hit at Jonny because these guys are making the plays, and you feel confident when the ball is hit to them.”
Overall, Rays officials have been quite pleased.
“Our defense has been really good, and I can be honest and say there was some uncertainty around it coming out of spring training,” manager Kevin Cash said. “Want to see us continue to work, but you watch how the guys go about their business, whether it’s the outfield or in the infield, leading into batting practice. They really take their craft seriously, and it’s nice to get some early rewards and trust that they’re going to continue to work.
“That’s a big part of our team is to prevent runs for the pitching staff.”
That just about daily early work is a key to their success.
Rather than just have several coaches hit routine groundballs, the Rays for several years have done a higher-intensity drill.
Cash or another coach stands in the batter’s box and takes full swings at balls tossed to them, hitting sharp grounders that are more similar to the angles and velocity of game action, creating a more competitive environment as well.
“I think it’s awesome,” said Caballero, who plays second, third and shortstop. “It speeds up the practice and slows down the game for us. I think it becomes easier in the game. … That’s the whole purpose behind it."
They’ll then turn up the dial a notch more.
Williams will yell out a time for them to make plays in certain situations — say 4.1 seconds, which is just under the league average time for a hitter running home to first — and then announces how long it actually took them.
“I think every single time that we turn a double play, you love hearing Brady yell out something that starts with a three,” Lowe said. “You’re like, man, we really turned that fast — there’s not a whole lot of guys here that can beat that out.
“It’s just playing at that speed in practice so when that does happen in the game, it just feels normal. It doesn’t feel like you’re speeding things up or trying to do anything any faster. It’s just, I do this for 40 reps every single day, this is just another rep. And try to make that comfortable.”
Walls said they are motivated to put in the effort.
“It’s just a testament to everybody coming in from Day 1 of spring training knowing that there’s a lot of things that we could do to improve on, myself included,” he said. “Everybody came in willing to work, knowing that we can get better every day. And just because we’ve seen some good results doesn’t mean that it kind of stops there.”
The Rays’ success is a product of how they play, and the kind of players they have between speed, strong arms and quick hands — what starter Zack Littell calls “freak athletes all around the field.”
“It’s a crazy athletic group,” Jansen said. “You’ve got guys playing all over the place. Everybody’s kind of just handling their business really well.”
The pitchers are most appreciative.
“Our defense, it’s off the charts, and it always is, right?” Drew Rasmussen said. “It’s something we pride ourselves in, and our defense’s ability to limit damage and also make incredible plays and save runs is huge. And as a pitching staff, we absolutely rely on it.”
• • •
Sign up for our Sports Today newsletter to get daily updates on the Bucs, Rays, Lightning and college football across Florida.
Every weekday, tune into our Sports Day Tampa Bay podcast to hear reporter Rick Stroud break down the biggest stories in Tampa Bay sports.
Never miss out on the latest with your favorite Tampa Bay sports teams. Follow our coverage on X and Facebook.
Continue reading...
