Schoenfield takes – The rays just miss perfection, but can they reach October?



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There have been no batters in the history of the MLB, including the Los Angeles Angels emotional scorer on Friday night. On Sunday, the Tampa Bay Rays nearly launched the first combined combined match in the history of the MLB.

Ryne Stanek started and retired the first six Baltimore Orioles. Ryan Yarbrough retired and retired the next 18. When Joey Wendle made a good game for the final, in the eighth round, it seemed that the Rays were going to finish. The baseball gods did not smile that day, however, and Hanser Alberto led from the ninth goal with a routine ball to second base – with the exception of the Rays who were in a team with three infielders on the left side of the bag and the scorer of Alberto dribbles in the right field to ruin the perfect game. It was only Alberto's second win against a team of the season that was on the right side of the field.

The Rays won 4-1 and this match served as an exclamation mark on the performance of the Stanek / Yarbrough combination this season. Stanek opened the Rays circuit 26 times and excelled in that role: 41 innings pitched, 28 hits, 11 points, 13 goals and 46 strikeouts, with only two home runs, for a time of 1.98. The Rays are 17-9 when he starts and he put a zero 19 times. Perhaps the most impressive thing is that he's not just a start of the heat, he has two runs in 12 of his 26 starts, as he did on Sunday.

Yarbrough followed Stanek to the mound eight times and Rays are 6-2 in these games. In total, he is 8-3 with an average of 4.26 tie points between four starts and 11 relief appearances. Batters hit .223 against him with a .266 OBP. Among the pitchers with at least 60 innings, he conceded PUE in 11th place in the majors – after an EPM of 8.10 in April, which brought him back to Triple-A after four starts.

One of the reasons why the Rays' open strategy has worked is that both players are fully accepted and fully understand their roles. When I spoke to Stanek and Yarbrough at spring training, they told me that seeing Sergio Romo buy back last season – he was the first lifter in the first instance – was important – Romo was a veteran of long standing who had final of a world series.

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Stanek and Yarbrough, on the other hand, were young guys who were still trying to find their place in the majors. Stanek had made 21 appearances in 2017, but had an outstanding season in 2018 with a points average (2.98) and 81 strikeouts in 66. Yarbrough, who grew up as a Rays fan, is more of a southpaw finesse who scored 16-6 with a points average of 3.91 with a rookie. He is perfectly suited for the bulk role as a guy who can pass through the order twice:

First or second time: .203 average, .561 OPS, 22% write-off rate
Third time: average, 318, 0.979 OPS, 8% radiation rate

Interestingly, the Rays did not really use the first match as much as they would have liked during the spring training. Cash opened the season with three places in his rotation with Blake Snell, Charlie Morton and Tyler Glasnow, and even though Glasnow made only eight starts before being on the injured list, outside Stanek the Rays used Hunter Wood twice and Andrew Kittredge once.

Two things happened: the pen threw a lot of sleeves early in the season and Yonny Chirinos started so well that he went from one guy to a lap to a regular of the rotation. The addition of Brendan McKay, who looked impressive in his first three starts, now gives Cash four regular holders to accompany Stanek. Glasnow, who dominated before his injury, had a setback as he was re-adjusting his tension to the forearm and should be available until the end of August (putting on his season at risk).

Ryne Stanek treats during the Rays' attempt to pitch the first perfect match to several pitchers. Evan Habeeb-USA TODAY HUI Sports

The biggest question about the rays is it enough to catch the Yankees? Or do you want to be the best winner of the American League without division in 2019? The spokes are six games at the back of the The New York Yankees have not helped, but they start their biggest streak for years on Monday as they head to Yankee Stadium for four games. They will also play the Boston Red Sox six times on August 1st. The next two weeks will tell us a lot more about the resistance of the Rays.

Three important factors:

• They need Cy8 201 winner Blake Snell to get on a roll similar to last season. Hard to believe, but he was the worst of the Rays with an average of 4.70. Its peripherals are much better than that, but they do not win baseball games. He must avoid explosive starts, which means that he has an average of only 5.0 innings per point. It's better than that. It starts Monday with a chance to set the tone for the series.

• offensive coherence. The Rays are averaging 4.72 points per game, ninth in the AHL and well below the Red Sox's 5.64 (coming in on Sunday night) and 5.63 of the Yankees. They are 4 to 9 against the Yankees, as they averaged just 3.0 points per game in those 13 games. They could use another electric bat because their home race rate is better than that of the Orioles and the three teams at the bottom of the AL center.

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Maybe Nate Lowe will help. The first-base rookie, back for a second stint in the majors, conceded three goals over the weekend and had more hits on Sunday. Yes, that happened against the Orioles, but he also dominated in two of the last three games before the break of the all-star game against the Yankees.

• The back of the enclosure. The spokes were 19-9 at the end of April as Jose Alvarado and Diego Castillo looked like the best backup combo of the majors, with Alvarado's gifs throwing fast balls at 100 mph moving like Wiffleballs sweeping Twitter. Alvarado spent most of June on the casualty list, then dropped to 0-5 with the brutal defeat of the Orioles on July 3 after scoring six points in the ninth. He is back on the IL with an oblique strain. Castillo, on his side, has just returned from the IL. Others, such as Emilio Pagan and Colin Poche, have stepped up their efforts, but the Ray Pen must rediscover this April mojo.

Even if the Rays have just won a Wild Card from the American League, it's not a team to face in October, especially if Snell finds his exploits and starts the game of Wild Cards. Morton could win the Cy Young Award as he does, so maybe he start the joker game. And then there is the silent weapon of the Ryne / Ryan combo.

Of course, getting there is not safe either, with the A's, the Indians, the Red Sox and the Rangers breathing through their necks. Until now, the opening match and everything else has worked for the first 95 games of the Rays. Will everything continue to work for all 162?

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