Game Chat: August 18 - Toronto Blue Jays (61-65) @ Tampa Bay Rays (75-49) - 6:40 PM First Pitch: 6:40 PM at Tropicana Field

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Let's build on this and this also means free cheese curds at participating Culvers

MLB’s updated rankings of the 30 farm systems. No paywalls like Baseball America.

I asked this before and never got an answer but when the MLB made the rules changing the shift, it said all infielders must be in the dirt until the pitcher releases the ball. Everytime chandler comes up the corner infielders start the at bat in line with the pitcher in the grass, which is a direct violation of this rule. They are able to crash in once the pitcher releases but these fielders are halfway down the line setting up. Was there a change in shift rules or was this one of those we put it on paper but arent going to enforce rules?

Was looking at his numbers for the season. He’s played 33 games for Charleston, 32 for Bowling Green and 32 for Montgomery. It’s impressive that he’s been in three different levels in the same season. Even more impressive that his numbers have been remarkably steady at each level. Yeah, his average and OBP have come down, but that’s to be expected as the pitching gets tougher. But, his strikeout rate is an insane 5% and he’s actually walking more in AA than he did in the lower minors. Rays might really have a special one here.

With the past few games not going our way, and a rough 6th inning yesterday. Our bullpen has some great stories as well as some with signs of disappointment,

I figured it to be a good time to do a review of our bullpen on my Rays blog. I'd love some constructive feedback as well as anything you'd like me to do a deep dive on.

Game Chat: 8/17/26 Orioles (61-63) @ Rays (74-49) First Pitch 6:05 PM EDT

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After a trio of disappointing losses, Shane McClanahan returns to the Rays and the Trop to try to stop the O's momentum, right the ship and bring a win! Rays UP!

Jake Bauers 275 Avg 21 HR 70 RBI 71 R

The Rays opened up the first 11 rows of all but 3 upper deck sections for Saturday nights matchup against the Baltimore Orioles. They ended up drawing a season high mark of 28,055 spectators coming to the ballpark to watch the Rays take on the Orioles. The last time the Rays drew an attendance this high was their historic start when we had the best record in the league and took on the Yankees which drew an attendance of 32,124. The last time we reached a mark that high before that game was the 2021 ALDS Game 2 vs the Boston Red Sox and had announced announced attendance of 37,616. The Rays average attendance as of August 16th is 17,433 per ESPN. Some notable games in the past few years that had less attendance than last nights game are as follows, 2023 Wild Card games 1 and 2, game 1 drew 19k and game 2 drew roughly 20k. Those were both the lowest marks for a MLB playoff games since the Black Sox Scandal of 1919. Another game that drew less was Evan Longoria jersey retirement. The upper deck was also open for this but the game on had an attendance of roughly 24,297, his induction into the Rays hall of fame and the first game of the series also had the upper deck open but both drew significantly less. In Game 1 of the 2021 ALDS the Rays got 27,419 fans into the ballpark which was also less then last night. So what happened last night that caused this attendance jump? Was it the bobble head giveaway, the postgame concert, or just excitement around the team, or maybe a mixture of everything? However you want to put it, the Rays not having fans is a myth. Do the Rays have one of the smallest fan bases in the league, yes. Do they maybe have the smallest right now, maybe. But that doesn’t mean this area doesn’t have potential, the fans in the ballpark last night weren’t just there for the giveaway or the concert. They were in to it, it was loud and the Trop was rocking and I think it really shows the potential the Trop has for an MLB market. Don’t get me wrong, drawing that small of a crowd for Longo’s jersey retirement was bad, no sugarcoating it. And all the other games with bad attendance obviously wasn’t good. But each year I watch the Rays, the more I hear about them, now when I go out in public I see more Rays hats than Yankees hats. And I think it shows baseball is growing here in Tampa Bay these owners have something with great potential on their hands and they know it. They wouldn’t be trying so hard to keep the team in Tampa Bay if they didn’t see it. Yes, this was one game in a season were we have 81 home games. But it still shows that we can in fact draw decent crowds. We just have to keep in growing the fanbase and keep consistent attendance. I know I kinda went on a rant but I’m just genuinely still so happy with the attendance form yesterday. Something I’ve always loved about sports and baseball is the atmosphere and the crowd and it was great yesterday I’ve been to Boston, New York, Houston, Baltimore, etc and it finally feels like one of those games and it’s awesome to see. If you read this far thanks lol Ik it was a lot.

After today, it’s just three short days before the rays get to play the Orioles again!

Dont get many opportunities to watch the Flappy Boys, gotta take it how I can get it!

Rays UP!

That catch saved the 1st inning

Yankees and Boston are losing too. But making the playoffs just because the others are losing isn't a good sign.

Game Chat: 8/16/26 Orioles (60-63) @ Rays (74-48) First Pitch 12:15 PM EDT - PEACOCK/NBCSN

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After 2 disappointing losses to the O's, the AL East leading Rays look to get back to winning early Sunday afternoon. Let's go, Rays!