2023 Tampa Bay Rays

2023 Tampa Bay Rays / Franchise: Tampa Bay Rays / BR Team Page

Record: 99-63, Finished 2nd in AL Eastern Division (2023 AL) Wild Card

Clinched Wild Card: September 28, 2023

Managed by Kevin Cash

Coaches: Dan DeMent, Jonathan Erlichman, Rick Knapp, Rodney Linares, Jorge Moncada, Chad Mottola, Brady North, Chris Prieto, Kyle Snyder and Brady Williams

Ballpark: Tropicana Field

History, Comments, Contributions

The 2023 Tampa Bay Rays got off to a great start, sweeping their first two series to start the season 6-0 as the only undefeated team in the major leagues at that point. That included three-game sweeps of the Detroit Tigers at home and of the Washington Nationals on the road. While the opposition was not the strongest, the wins were impressive in that each by four or more runs, the longest such streak to begin a season by any team in baseball since the 1884 St. Louis Maroons who managed to do so an incredible 13 times in the Union Association. They outscored their opponents 44-13, scoring more runs than any other team, and posted a team ERA of 2.00 as all of their starting pitchers were clicking. In their next game, on April 7th against the Oakland Athletics, they extended their streak to seven games with a 9-5 win that featured no less than five homers. For the season at that point, they had hit 18 homers as a team - and given up a total of 18 runs! Only the surprising 2003 Kansas City Royals, who had got off to a 9-0 start, had started a season with more consecutive wins since 1994 - the start of the so-called "Wild Card Era". When they won the next day to get to 8-0, they started earning comparisons to all-time great teams. That win was by a score of 11-0, making the Rays the first team to win eight consecutive games by four or more runs since the 1939 New York Yankees, who had done so in ten straight games.

On April 9th, they completed a three-game sweep of the A's with an 11-0 blowout win. Pitchers Drew Rasmussen, Ryan Thompson and Jason Adam combined on a one-hitter, while their batters hit three more homers, including a grand slam by Brandon Lowe. The win tied them with the 2003 Royals, with the next figure being to match the 1987 Milwaukee Brewers, who had started their season 13-0. They extended their streak of winning by four or more runs to nine games, and their run differential of +57 after nine games was the best of any team since the aforementioned 1884 Maroons (+78) and the 1884 New York Gothams (+63). Win number 10 on April 10th was the toughest of the streak so far, as it ended the series of wins by four or more runs, but another great pitching performance led to a 1-0 win over the Boston Red Sox. The lone run came on a solo homer by Brandon Lowe in the 8th inning, and it provided the Rays' bullpen with its first save opportunity of the year, which underutilized closer Pete Fairbanks converted successfully. They were the seventh team to begin a season 10-0 since 1901. They were also now within two wins of the longest winning streak in franchise history, dating back to 2004, when they were still the "Devil Rays". After that one-game blip, they were back to winning emphatically on April 11th, defeating the Red Sox by a 7-2 score as they blasted four more homers, including one by Brandon Lowe in his fourth straight game. This gave them 29 long balls for the season, matching the 2000 St. Louis Cardinals for most by a team in its first 11 games. Another mind-boggling stat was that they had played 99 innings thus far, and had only trailed after five of these. Even having a starting pitcher make his big league debut - in this case, top prospect Taj Bradley making an emergency start in place of an injured Zach Eflin on April 12th - did not slow them down as they made it 12 straight wins with a 9-7 win over Boston, tying the longest winning streak in franchise history.

The Rays tied the major league record for most wins from the start of the season on April 13th, when they recorded their 13th win, 9-3 over the Red Sox. The game featured a seven-run 5th inning from which the Red Sox were never able to recover. However, that win was marred by the early exit of starting pitcher Jeffrey Springs, who left the game while facing his first batter in the 4th, Justin Turner, after feeling an impingement in his throwing elbow. With Zach Eflin already injured and Tyler Glasnow also unavailable for a long period, the Rays were suddenly feeling a bit thin in the starting pitching department. With the modern record under their belt, the next target was the 1884 Maroons of Fred Dunlap and Buttercup Dickerson, whose status as a major league team is contested, and their 20 consecutive wins at the start of 1884. However the streak ended on April 14th when they were defeated 6-3 by the Toronto Blue Jays at the Rogers Centre. They were still unbeaten at home, though, and on April 22nd extended that streak to 12-0 with a ten-inning 4-3 win over the Chicago White Sox. They had also gone deep in all 21 of their games at that point, beating the record set by the 2019 Seattle Mariners, whose streak had ended after 20 games. They extended both streaks in a 4-1 win over the White Sox on April 23rd in Eflin's return to action, with Brooks Raley going deep. It tied the modern record for the longest winning streak at home from the start of a season with the 2009 Los Angeles Dodgers, trailing only a few 19th Century teams for the all-time mark. The 13 consecutive wins at home were also a franchise record and they were the first team to start a season 19-3 since the 1987 Brewers.

While the home run streak ended on April 24th, the home winning streak did not as the Rays defeated the Houston Astros, 8-3, giving them a home record of 14-0. Next up on their radar were the 1886 Detroit Wolverines, who had won their first 18 home dates, and the 1880 Chicago White Stockings, with a 21-0 start at home. In the 14th win, Franco made a spectacular play that ended up on all the highlight reels, racing almost 100 feet from his shortstop position to catch a pop-up with his back to the play - with his bare hand. On April 25th, the Astros beat the Rays, 5-0, to finally inflict them a defeat at home. Still, in spite of the occasional hiccup, the Rays kept on winning and on May 4th they reached 20 games over .500 when they won their 26th game against just 6 losses. It was the best start to a season since the 1984 Detroit Tigers hag gone 35-5, reaching the 20 game over .500 mark in two fewer games. The Rays slowed down a bit in May, going 17-12 during the month after finishing April at 23-6. They were also overtaken by an unlikely team, the Texas Rangers, for the best run differential in the majors. Still, their 4-3 win over the Chicago Cubs on May 31st made them the first team in the majors to reach 40 wins that year.

Awards and Honors

• All-Stars: Randy Arozarena, Yandy Díaz, Wander Franco and Shane McClanahan
• AL Silver Slugger Award: Yandy Díaz (1B)

Further Reading

• Adam Berry: "Home, sweet dome: Rays extend win streak to 13 at Trop: Team turns focus toward next test: World Series champion Astros", mlb.com, April 23, 2023. [1]
• Adam Berry: "Rays (26-6!) doing something not seen since '84 Tigers: Eflin's best start of '23 helps Tampa Bay move to 20 games over .500 after 32 contests", mlb.com, May 4, 2023. [2]
• Adam Berry: "'Another step to go': Rays clinch playoff spot, set sights on AL East crown", mlb.com, September 17, 2023. [3]
• Mark Didtler (The Associated Press): "Rays' 13-0 start a memory after losing 2 straight to Rangers for quick postseason exit", Yahoo! Sports, October 4, 2023. [4]
• Fred Goodall (Associated Press): "Following a historic start, the slumping Rays are suddenly playing catch-up in the AL East", Yahoo! Sports, July 24, 2023. [5]
• Sarah Langs: "13 incredible facts about Rays' historic 13-0 start", mlb.com, April 13, 2023. [6]
• Matt Monagan: "Rays now chasing a guy named Buttercup and 139 years of history: Buttercup Dickerson and the 1884 St. Louis Maroons are watching", mlb.com, April 14, 2023. [7]
• Bob Nightengale (USA Today): "Tampa Bay Rays are incredible for a reason. 'No secrets. No drama.'", Yahoo! Sports, July 2, 2023. [8]
• Jake Rill: "'We’re not done yet': O's clinch AL East title with win No. 100", mlb.com, September 29, 2023. Orioles Clinch
• Joe Trezza: "'Nasty' Rays rotation could be best in MLB", mlb.com, February 15, 2023. [9]

2023 MLB season by team