Let me ask you a series of questions:
(Don’t get mad, but I’m going to answer them, too.)
Do you feel confident about the ninth inning?
Of course you do. How could you not? Bryan Baker has a 1.52 ERA and leads the majors in saves. He hasn’t had a blown save since mid-May.
OK, are you also confident about the eighth inning?
Pretty darned confident, I would say. By no means is Kevin Kelly a hard-throwing, blow-'em-away reliever, but he’s been dominant without compiling a flashy supply of strikeouts. In the 21st century, there have only been a dozen relievers who posted a season with an ERA below 2.00, a WHIP below 1.0 and yet a nine-inning strikeout rate of 7.0 or less. Yup, Kelly is on pace to be one of them, along with guys like Mariano Rivera and Paul Quantrill.
While we’re on a roll, how do you feel about the seventh inning?
Pretty good, not bad, can’t complain. (Kudos to anyone catching the John Prine lyrics.) Between Cam Booser and Tyler Wells, the Rays have a lefty and a righty capable of punching out a hitter in a critical situation. Booser is averaging 11.3 strikeouts per nine innings, and Wells is at 13.5. And, of course, they’d be capable of pitching in the eighth inning as well.
You can’t possibly feel good about the sixth inning, right?
Well, this is where we begin to enter theoretical territory. The current roster includes Joe Boyle, Jesse Scholtens, Casey Legumina, Steven Matz and Garrett Cleavinger. I don’t think any of them has a lock on a postseason role, although Cleavinger and Legumina are probably safe. The Rays have Manny Rodriguez and Cole Sulser both expected to come off the injured list soon. And, if Freddy Peralta proves he deserves the No. 4 spot in the rotation, the Rays could also move Griffin Jax and Ian Seymour to the bullpen.
And, for a final wild card, pitching prospects Brody Hopkins and Ty Johnson have both recently moved to the Durham bullpen. That could simply be a way to control their innings or, in Hopkins’ case, to get him out of a funk. But you might recall, the Rays called up David Price for bullpen duty late in 2008 and Shane McClanahan made his big-league debut as a reliever in the 2020 postseason. Johnson and Hopkins aren’t on the same level, but it wouldn’t be a shock to see the Rays give them a test run in September.
If an FYI helps, Johnson has made five relief appearances in August and has thrown six innings of one-hit ball with 11 strikeouts. Hopkins, who began the season as Tampa Bay’s No. 1 prospect according to Baseball America, struggled in the rotation this season but has an upper-90s fastball and made a relief appearance on Saturday and went 1-2-3 with two strikeouts.
The point is, after Tampa Bay’s bullpen implosion in a 10-2 loss to the Orioles on Sunday, you might have had the nagging thought that the Rays are a little thin in that area. If this was a month ago, I would have agreed. But a month from now, it shouldn’t be an issue. By acquiring Peralta and Wells, the Rays were essentially able to lop off the final two spots in the bullpen. If Rodriguez is back to his full arsenal, that’s another spot. And while Sulser’s overall numbers aren’t strong, he had a 2.70 ERA and a 23:2 strikeout-to-walk ratio in his last 20 innings of work.
There’s enough quantity, quality and versatility in that group that you should not worry about seeing Boyle, Chris Roycroft, Michael Grove or Mason Englert in October.
