ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – A year ago, this scenario could have trended in opposite directions. That was for the opening five months of the celebrated six-month protracted baseball season.
This tale of two teams, the Tampa Bay Rays and Arizona Diamondbacks, fit a prescribed pattern of recent seasons. The Rays ascended to the top of the American League East while the Diamondbacks struggled in a highly competitive NL West.
In this context, the Rays headed straight to their fifth consecutive post-season engagement in 2023. Conversely, the Diamondbacks appeared mired in the National League West and sandwiched between mediocrity and the mighty Los Angeles Dodgers.
Both succeeded to land entry into the post-season promised land. In contrast, the current season began within a changed environment. Advantage here Diamondbacks. That’s because of the unexpected National League pennant and qualification into the World Series.
From opening day this season, the Rays and Diamondbacks languished out of the gate and each team appeared to slow to a treadmill crawl. While the Rays continued to sputter, the Diamondbacks caught fire, and heading into a series featuring these teams at Tropicana Field in mid-August, the trends were telling.
Coming into the series, the Diamondbacks had won six straight, and 14 of their previous 16 games. This surge help reach with two games of the first Los Angeles Dodgers in NL West. Conversely, the Rays had dropped seven of their previous nine games before the Arizona series and fell two games under .500 at 59-61.
Despite the Rays’ 5-4 come-from-behind win over the Diamondbacks before 21,613 at Tropicana Field on Aug. 16, the Rays faced the consequence of remaining a non-factor down the stretch. Granted, the club was six and one-half games behind Kansas City for the final AL wild-card spot. However, inconsistencies within the starting pitching and lack of power at the plate are factors for the Rays’ fall from grace.
“As a team, we.re really excited about the position where we are,” said Rays’ pitcher Drew Rasmussen, who came off the IR on Aug. 7 from right elbow surgery. “We feel we are really competitive and have the ability to do something really special here over the next six weeks. We have to pitch the way we are and playing defense that we can. We need a timely hit here or there but there has not one thing which has been a real problem. This comes down to a timely hit or a good bounce. Sometimes, you need the chips to fall your way and right now, I don’t think that’s happening.”
Still, the confidence level remains strong and a solid, competitive nature permeates the club.
“I like the mood right now of our club,” said Rays manager Kevin Cash before before the Diamondbacks series began. “I like to think we can win some more games, and the guys have done well. There is a good vibe in (the clubhouse), and they’re pulling for each other. We need to find that stretch where we go eight out of 10, nine out of 11 and that’s easier said than done. We have not done that to date and if we were able to do that, we would probably find ourselves in a little bit of a better situation.”
One factor has been the lack of offensive production. In a six-game stretch coming into the Arizona series, Tampa Bay hit just .153 (29-for-190) and only two home runs. That included hitting .172 with runners in scoring position.
The Diamondbacks are trending in the opposite direction. From July 1 to Aug. 16, the team compiled a 28-10 record, and the 28 wins were the most in the majors. In that period, Arizona led the majors with a .285 team batting average and averaged 6.58 runs per game.
“Right now, our confidence level is high,” said Arizona starter Brandon Pfadt before the Rays series. “Coming into the season, we had high confidence, and how we have been playing lately, this has just grown. It certainly will grow the rest of the season. From top to bottom of the lineup, we’ve been mashing the ball. We’ve paired that with the pitching we have and the depth on both sides of the ball and that’s why we are playing good baseball.”
All of these resonate with Torey Lovullo, the Arizona manager. Before Friday’s series opener against the Rays, Lovullo explained to reporters that his team “is very motivated,” and, added, “the mood in the clubhouse is very positive and they deserve to feel that way. They deserve to be where we are.”
