PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. — Pitching has been the heart of the Tampa Bay Rays’ success in recent years.
But this season, they’re set for another transformation — a new look starting rotation.
“Personally, the hardest thing to see is just how full our rehab room was last year,” Rays’ pitcher Drew Rasmussen said. “It’s something you never want to see.”
Right-hander Rasmussen and lefty Jeffrey Springs are both rehabbing until at least July. The team’s ace, Shane McClanahan, will miss the entire season after surgery.
“You want everyone to be in good health; you want everyone to succeed on the field,” Rasmussen added. “It’s really hard to do that when you’re rehabbing. Seeing other guys go down, that’s the hard part.”
With Tyler Glasnow traded away to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the offseason, now the hard part is assembling a pitching staff to compete in a loaded American League East Division.
The top three starters are expected to be Zach Eflin, Aaron Civale, and Zach Littel. Young pitchers Ryan Pepiot, acquired in the Glasnow trade, and Taj Bradley are expected to round out the pitching staff.
“Taj, he’s special,” manager Kevin Cash said. “What he can do with the baseball, the power he generates with the fastball, the type of off-speed pitches. When he’s right, he’s got four of them that can get Major League hitters out. It’s just a matter of him bottling them up and doing everything he can to get deep in ball games. He is very motivated and very driven to contribute in big ways.”
Bradley has good reason to be motivated and relaxed. He played a more significant role in 2023 than most people expected, as injuries ravaged the rotation.
“I learned that the game is pretty much the same, but some hitters are more experienced and more advanced,” Bradley said. “They hit the mistakes and stuff like that. Even if it’s a good pitch, they’ll get to it. I had to get over those rough times and make the innings not so hard like I did last year. One inning always beat me in those bad outings.”
Bradley made 21 starts last season after his early call-up to the big leagues. His numbers, quite frankly, weren’t pretty, with a 5.59 earned run average. But he’s ready, and the Rays need him to take that sophomore leap.
