ARLINGTON, Texas — Following a very exciting Opening Weekend for the Rangers, they head off for their first road series against a familiar October foe in St. Petersburg, Florida. Now that all the pomp and circumstance surrounding rings and banners has been immortalized, the Rangers immediately get a taste of baseball without their freshly hung banner beaming above them.
During the first series of the season, Texas showcased their strengths with pop, defense, and determination against the Cubs, and for the most part, they kept right on basking in the afterglow of 2023. The Rays present a stiffer challenge, however, especially in their home park where they went 53-28 a season ago.
The team that led the AL East for much of the 2023 season has some fireworks of their own, although not quite at the level that produced a championship.
Texas Rangers (2-1, 1st Place AL West) @ Tampa Bay Rays (2-2, 3rd Place AL East)
Previously, for Tampa Bay…
The Rays, as they usually do, had a stable of under-the-radar talent blossom throughout the 2023 season, but they were also one of the teams plagued the most by injuries. In the second half of the season, Tampa Bay had lost a near rotation’s worth of starters with Shane McClanahan, Drew Rasmussen, Jeffrey Springs and Shane Baz out with various elbow surgeries. During the offseason, they traded away Tyler Glasnow. This eliminates a lot of the pitching threats that could pose problems for the power-packed Rangers’ lineup.
Tampa Bay did not have an off day after Opening Day like Texas. Instead, the Rays hosted the Toronto Blue Jays at home for four games, which means they don’t have any traveling to do before the Texas series.
Over the four-game set against the division rivals, they bookended two wins with losses in the opener and finale. None of the games ended up being particularly close, with the smallest margin coming in the Saturday contest, with the Rays winning 5-1. That also happened to be the game with the most drama.
In the bottom of the seventh inning, Blue Jays reliever Genesis Cabrera took exception with how Rays runner Jose Caballero apparently looked at him as he was jogging off the field after an inning-concluding out.
Cabrera would shove Caballero, prompting the benches to clear and earning the reliever an ejection. None of the excitement spilled over to the next day, but it certainly showed that there is no love lost within the ever-hotly contested AL East.
The Rays got a notable performance by former Round Rock Express reliever Zack Littell, who went six innings and allowed up just four hits while striking out six in the win on Saturday. All in all, Tampa Bay finished out the opening series 2-2 and was outscored by Toronto 20-17.
What to watch for
● Game 4, 5:50 PM CT - RHP Dane Dunning (12-7, 3.70 ERA, 140 K in 2023) vs. RHP Ryan Pepiot (2-1, 2.14 ERA, 38 K In 2023)
● Game 5, 5:50 PM CT - LHP Andrew Heaney (10-6, 4.15 ERA, 151 K in 2023) vs. RHP Zack Eflin (0-1, 9.53 ERA, 5 K)
● Game 6, 12:10 PM CT - RHP Nathan Eovaldi (0-0, 3.00 ERA, 3 K) vs. RHP Aaron Civale (1-0, 1.50 ERA, 6 K)
Texas and Tampa Bay will have two pitchers making their season debuts in the opener. Dane Dunning, fresh after being named Rangers’ Pitcher of the Year last season, will toe the rubber for Texas, while Ryan Pepiot, who has never faced the Rangers before, will go for the Rays.
Dunning faced Tampa Bay once last year, during an impressive run after Jacob deGrom went down for the season. In that game, Dunning tossed seven innings of two-run ball in a close victory for Texas.
Pepiot, the spoils of the Glasnow trade to the Dodgers, didn’t reach the big leagues until mid-August last year, but pitched nicely for Los Angeles down the stretch, making three starts and five relief appearances for the club with a composite 2.14 ERA and 38 strikeouts over 42 innings.
Zack Eflin starts the second game, after a disappointing Opening Day outing. The Wild Card Game 2 starter for Tampa Bay from last October gave up six runs over 5 ⅔ innings, including three Blue Jays homers. Meanwhile, Andrew Heaney will make his first start of the season for Texas after exercising his player option to stay with the team.
Heaney was shifted to the bullpen down the stretch run for the Rangers last season after having difficulty making appearances that lasted for longer than 75-80 pitches. As a member of the rotation, Heaney started 28 games, earning a 4.08 ERA with hitters slashing .252/.332/.437 against him.
Finishing out the series before another day off for Texas will be Rangers’ Opening Day starter Nathan Eovaldi and Aaron Civale, who started the second game of the season for Tampa Bay. Eovaldi shoved on Opening Day, allowing just two runs to the Cubs over six innings while striking out three. Civale was just a little better than Eovaldi against the Blue Jays, allowing just one run in six innings in Tampa Bay’s first victory of the year.
Tampa Bay, a team that has often been a pitching and defense-first franchise, now finds itself in a position where the offense will potentially be called upon to carry the team. In 2023, the Rays ranked fourth in the AL in homers with 230 and were second in team OPS at .776. They still feature names like Randy Arozarena, Yandy Diaz, and Isaac Paredes. The firestarter Caballero, recently acquired from the Mariners, is riding a four-game hitting streak to start the season. Nathaniel’s brother, Brandon Lowe, meanwhile, swatted a grand slam on Friday night in a victory.
In a loaded division, the Rays will be relying on hitting prowess, power, and speed instead of just pitching and defense to compete. It should prove to be a fireworks-filled start to the week for both teams.
Last season, Texas faced Tampa Bay six times in the regular season, going 4-2 against the Rays before, of course, sweeping them 2-0 in the Wild Card round.
Do you think the Rangers will earn a road series victory in Tampa Bay? Share your predictions with Matt on Twitter @FisherWritesMLB.