4 ‘New Season’ resolutions for 2023 Rays
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ST. PETERSBURG — Three weeks into 2023, how are these resolutions coming alongside?
If the reply is just not so nice, simply use our excuse: The new yr doesn’t actually begin till pitchers and catchers report. With that in thoughts, let’s take a look at 4 new season’s resolutions the Rays could make earlier than Spring Training begins.
1. Balance the lineup.
Last yr, the Rays had a .711 OPS towards left-handed pitchers and a .678 OPS towards right-handers. Overall, their left-handed hitting was among the many worst in baseball, with a .630 OPS that ranked twenty eighth out of 30 groups.
Injuries to Brandon Lowe and Wander Franco performed an element, however Tampa Bay’s lefty bats struggled in nearly each method. Their left-handed hitters slashed a stunningly poor .198/.247/.278 towards southpaws but in addition simply .216/.293/.350 towards right-handed pitchers. For the sake of comparability, the Rays’ right-handed hitters produced a .252/.318/.396 slash line towards righties and a .271/.338/.419 line towards lefties.
Ideally, the Rays would have added (or finally will add) an skilled left-handed hitter whereas getting extra, when it comes to plate appearances and efficiency, from Lowe and the switch-hitting Franco. Without any main additions, they want different returning left-handed/switch-hitters to step up when introduced with seemingly favorable matchups.
It appears affordable to count on extra towards right-handed pitchers out of not less than Franco, Lowe (profession .858 OPS vs. RHP), Francisco Mejía (.566 OPS vs. RHP final yr, down from .731 in 2021), Jonathan Aranda (.626, in comparison with .901 for Triple-A Durham) and Josh Lowe (.735, in comparison with .878 for Durham).
2. Make fewer elementary errors.
If you watched typically sufficient final season, you understand.
The Rays led the Majors with 73 outs on the bases — the league common was 47 — and that stat doesn’t account for the 37 instances they had been caught stealing, the 12 instances they had been picked off or any outs on pressure performs. Aggressive baserunning is one factor, however they merely can’t give away that many outs.
Defensively, they weren’t a foul crew final season. But they had been surprisingly common, which felt like a drop-off contemplating their traditional run-prevention basis. They had been 14th in Defensive Runs Saved, their first time outdoors of the highest 10 in that class since 2014. They had been additionally sixteenth in Outs Above Average, in line with Statcast, and close to the center of the pack in errors (84) and fielding proportion (.985).
They can resolve to be higher on each fronts.
3. Keep the starters wholesome.
Easier mentioned than accomplished, clearly. This would require some restraint, managing workloads to make sure the highest beginning pitchers are wholesome down the stretch and in October. That may imply skipping begins. It may imply reducing outings quick. It may imply the occasional spot begin or opener/bullpen sport.
They did all that final season, placing them in good place with the foursome of Shane McClanahan, Tyler Glasnow, Jeffrey Springs and Drew Rasmussen (plus Corey Kluber) heading into the postseason. They’ll start the season with these 4 and Zach Eflin within the rotation, a powerful start line, however all 5 have well being/workload issues to observe.
McClanahan is coming off his first full MLB season and handled a late-season shoulder concern. Glasnow, again from Tommy John surgical procedure, has by no means pitched greater than 160 innings in knowledgeable season. Rasmussen is a two-time Tommy John man coming off an enormous enhance in innings. Springs pitched almost 100 extra innings final yr than in ’21. Eflin has a historical past of knee accidents.
The Rays may very nicely have the perfect rotation within the American League. Even their depth is admirable, with the strong Yonny Chirinos, the promise of prospect Taj Bradley and the still-untapped upside of Luis Patiño and Josh Fleming. They simply want to remain wholesome.
4. Make the following wave depend.
The lineup’s inconsistency overshadowed loads of different points, however one of the obtrusive issues with final yr’s crew was the dearth of significant contributions from the farm — particularly on the heels of a season when the Rays had three prime AL Rookie of the Year finishers in Randy Arozarena, Franco and McClanahan.
Shane Baz’s accidents created an enormous gap, as he may have been a legit Rookie of the Year candidate if wholesome. And to be honest, Isaac Paredes — not a rookie, however solely 23 years previous — hit 20 homers final season. But the Rays obtained a mixed minus-0.3 bWAR from Taylor Walls (2.5 WAR, just about all defensive worth), Josh Lowe (0.2 WAR), Aranda (-0.2), Vidal Bruján (-0.5), Patiño (-0.8) and Fleming (-1.5), all lately well-regarded prospects.
With so few additions this offseason, it’ll be key to keep away from related rising pains with the anticipated debuts of prime prospects Bradley, Curtis Mead and anybody else who makes the leap to the Majors.
