If it’s October, then it is Major League Baseball Playoffs, and the Rays are at home to face the No. 5 seeded Texas Rangers. Today’s game at Tropicana Field will start at 3 PM and it will be broadcast nationally on ABC.
According to the latest MLB Power Rankings the Rays are No.3 with a 99-63 second best in all the American League. Despite not winning the AL East, the Rays finished the season strong, perhaps serving notice that they plan on being one of the toughest outs this postseason, first-round bye or not. This is a team we’ve all gotten pretty used to seeing in the playoffs the past few years … and as we all know, they’ve got a guy in Randy Arozarena who can carry a team a long way in October.
The skinny: The Rangers are led by the stellar middle infield combo of Marcus Semien and Corey Seager, who could both finish in the top 5 of AL MVP balloting. Outfielder Adolis Garcia also had a big year. The pitching staff doesn’t have a lot of big names who are healthy but has been steady with Dane Dunning, Andrew Heaney and Nathan Eovaldi. The Rays were the hottest team in baseball in the early weeks but got caught by the Orioles around midseason. Tampa Bay continues to thrive despite one of the lowest payrolls in the league. The balanced lineup includes Yandy Diaz, Isaac Paredes and Randy Arozarena. Zach Elfin and Tyler Glasnow lead the pitching staff.
