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The Rays announced their roster on Thursday for their ALDS showdown against their division rivals Red Sox. Notable omissions include outfielder and 2020 playoff hero Brett phillips as well as left-handed Ryan yarbrough, who has led the Rays with 155 innings pitched this season (and has led the team in one-mile innings since debuting in 2018).
Keeping Phillips out of the lineup robs the Rays of a top-notch defenseman in the outfield and great speed on bases, but Phillips’s .110 / .207 / .164 slash against lefties could be easily exploited by a Red Sox roster that has no shortage of lefties. Conversely, his omission allows the Rays to carry the right-handed batter. Jordan luplow, who hit lefties with a clip of .245 / .360 / .539 during his career. Luplow’s production against lefties in 2021 has worn off, but all of his work against them is formidable.
As for Yarbrough, it was undoubtedly a difficult decision on a personal level to keep him off the list. However, the southpaw has had a tumultuous season, with five or more earned runs in 10 of his 30 appearances (21 starts, nine appearances as a mass reliever behind a first game). While Yarbrough has had his fair share of excellent outings, the year-end results were the career-worst 5.11 ERA and a career-low 17.9% strikeout rate. He can still be added to the ALCS or World Series roster, should the Rays advance that far – although it should be noted with regard to a potential ALCS showing the Astros and White Sox were two of the four. best training against lefties in all of baseball.
Here’s how the Tampa Bay list breaks down …
Right handed pitchers
Left-handed pitchers
Catchers
Infielders
Voltigeurs
Designated hitter
A year after making his Major League playoff debut, McClanahan, 24, will now get the ball as a Game 1 starter for the Rays. The former first round and top prospect had a very solid rookie campaign, working at a 3.43 ERA with a strikeout rate of 27.3% and a walk rate of 7.2% in 123 1 / 3 of heats (25 starts). The Rays were careful with McClanahan’s workload early in the season (hence the rather short average starting length), regularly topping him at four or five frames. They typically kept him on a leash throughout the year to shorten his innings after barely pitching in 2020 (when there hadn’t been a minor league season), but McClanahan pitched more than six innings. in six of his last 16 starts.
Baz, just 22, will only make his fourth start in the league when he wins the mound in Game 2. The big stage doesn’t seem to have touched him at all on his debut in September, as he pitched at a 2.03 ERA with an 18-3 K / BB ratio in 13 1/3 innings over three starts to start his MLB career. Acquired alongside Meadows and Tyler Glasnow in the lopsided deal that sent Chris Archer to the Pirates, Baz is widely regarded as one of the game’s best pitching prospects. He has demonstrated precisely why this is the case with a season. dominant in the minor leagues, working at a combined ERA of 2.06 with a 37.9% strikeout rate and 4.4% walk rate in 78 2/3 frames between Double-A and Triple- TO. While neither Shane is necessarily a household name right now, that could change quickly depending on how the playoffs unfold – and both are vital long-term pieces for the Rays.
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