PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. – Those around the game of baseball tend to wax poetic and offer universal explanations to explain essential components. When identifying important tenets of winning, strong, starting pitching, a devastating bullpen and solid defense remain the usual refrain.
At the same time, the need for offense is essential and the necessity of production looms beyond critical.
In 2024, “offense” for the Tampa Bay Rays was absent and deficient. As early as the end of last season, Erik Neander, the Rays’ president of baseball operation, identified the need to gain more production at the plate and generate more offense.
The recent decline in offense from the Rays’ quiet bats produced a litany of confusion and bewilderment. Here’s a team that banged the baseball around Tropicana Field with clockwork regularity, Homers and run production came easily and helped propel the Rays to five consecutive postseason appearances.
Then, a prolonged and nasty draught.
For the 2024 season, the Rays scored 604 runs, the lowest for a full season in franchise history. Home runs declined from 230 in 2023 to 147 last season, RBIs fell from 827 in 2023 to 564 last season and batting average dropped from .260 in 2023 to .230 a season ago.
“The effort to get back to where we were starts today,” said outfielder Josh Lowe in the Rays’ clubhouse Feb. 17, the day position players reported to camp. “I think putting an emphasis on the things we need to focus in important. There’s the factor of the lineup that (manager Kevin Cash) puts out there and we can’t control that. On our end, I think we can do a better job of developing our approach every, single day, staying committed to whatever that approach may be, and just executing.”
One feature which may help improve numbers is a new venue.
Because of severe damage to Tropicana Field through two, significant October 2024 hurricanes, the Rays are forced to find a temporary home. For the 2025 season, they will relocate to George Steinbrenner Field in nearby Tampa, and the spring home of the New Yankees. The 11,000 seat facility was constructed to monitor the original dimensions of old Yankee Stadium, constructed in 1923. That includes a short right-field porch, and left-handed hitters appear to savor the moment.
The distance from home plate to the right field foul pole is a mere 318 feet and a very comfortable 385 feet to right center.
“I feel it’s like a 180 turnaround from what we had at the Trop,” said second baseman Brandon Lowe, a left-handed hitter who topped the Rays in home runs with 21 last season. “Hopefully, it’s a little easier to hit (at Steinbrenner Field) and guys around the batting cage keep yelling, ‘that’s a Steinbrenner homer.’ Really, there are no cheap homers and you’ll still have to get them. If anyone flies out to right this spring, we’ll yell ‘Steinbrenner, outta here,’ and could have been a homer.”
Amid an unknown commodity of playing in an outdoor venue, the Rays appear to be playing “a guessing game.” Given that dimension, Josh Lowe merely told reporters, “at the end of the day, baseball is baseball, right? We’ll adjust to playing outside but the main focus is winning baseball games.”
Elsewhere … with the full squad reporting Feb. 17, manager Kevin Cash said all who were expected to be at the Charlotte Sports Park training facility are there. No player encountered visa or immigration issues. … beginning with the first day and through camp, Cash said, “comradery is really important. I like to see the interaction among players and see them healthy and ramped up.” … light drills characterized the opening day. In one drill, Cash had runners properly tag from third and release on a sacrifice fly while pitchers on a neighboring field went through covering the bag on a grounder to first … the Rays open their spring slate Feb. 21 against the New York Yankees at Steinbrenner Field and their home opener is scheduled for Feb 22 against the Boston Red Sox.
