Most baseball fans know what the Rays are about: Making the most of a miniscule payroll and tormenting their rivals in the AL East — especially the Yankees.
This season has been more of the same — but to an even greater degree, and that’s in spite of the ban on shifts and other rules changes that were expected to negatively impact the Rays.
Despite opening with a $73 million payroll — ahead of only Baltimore and Oakland — the Rays have dominated the competition.
Not only did they go 12-0 in their first 12 games, but they entered Thursday having trailed in just two of them — and they won all but two of those games by at least four runs.
To be fair, they’ve taken advantage of a soft early schedule, with series against Detroit, Washington, Oakland and Boston — all in last place in their respective divisions on Wednesday.
But the reason the Yankees are facing a larger deficit in the AL East than at any time last year is because they find themselves behind a Rays team that is approaching the 1982 Braves and 1987 Brewers — both of whom opened 13-0 — for the best starts to a season in MLB history.
After finishing up a homestand against the Red Sox on Thursday, things will start to get tougher for Tampa Bay, as they visit Toronto, who entered Thursday 8-4 and tied with the Yankees for second place. Their first meeting with the Yankees isn’t until May 5 at Tropicana Field.
Let’s take a look at who has sparked the early success and who could potentially torment teams in the playoffs.
Lineup
The Rays’ offense has been sensational. Through 12 games, they lead the majors in homers with 30. The Dodgers, who’d played one more game, were well behind in second with 24.
They’d scored 92 runs — also best in the majors — with Los Angeles next again at 79 runs. Not surprisingly, the Rays paced the majors with a .945 OPS and the Dodgers were second at .858.
And no team has struck out less than Tampa Bay’s 85 times.
The offense has been led by one of their few known stars, Wander Franco. The 22-year-old (.340 BA, 4 HRs, 3 SBs) seems poised to have the kind of season that’s been expected of him since he was the top international prospect signed in 2017.
Randy Arozarena, who’s made a name for himself in the postseason, is hitting as well (15 hits, 15 RBIs) as he ever has before.
Yandy Diaz has gotten off to a very strong start (3 HRs, .400 OBP) after a breakout season in 2022.
Then there’s Isaac Paredes (.924 OPS) the infielder the Rays stole from Detroit in a trade a year ago.
Brandon Lowe (1.218 OPS) has also been excellent and shown signs of regaining the form he had two years ago, when he hit 39 homers.
Josh Lowe (1.198 OPS) looks like the latest Rays draft pick that’s ready to deliver.
And before being sidelined with a hamstring strain, Jose Siri (2 HRs, 8 RBIs in six games) was red-hot, as well.
Rotation
If anything has been more impressive than Tampa Bay’s offense, it’s their pitching, which had a collective ERA of 2.17 through Wednesday. The staff has held opposing batters to a .194 average and allowed fewer homers (five) than any other team. The Yankees are next, having given up seven.
Fueling the numbers are the likes of Jeffrey Springs and Drew Rasmussen, who have been virtually unhittable (0 ER in 13 innings each), and Shane McClanahan, who has been nearly as good, and leads the club with 21 strikeouts.
And while the team’s main big-ticket (relatively speaking, at $40 million over three years) addition last offseason, Zach Eflin, has been more human, he still was off to a 2-0 start before landing on the IL with back tightness.
Bullpen
Familiar faces — to some — like Ryan Thompson and closer Pete Fairbanks, have been superb, as have lefties Garrett Cleavinger and Colin Poche.
The schedule — and reality — will no doubt catch up to them at some point and the AL East will likely turn into its typical difficult test. For now, though, the Rays are the toast of baseball.
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The Islanders used a 4-2 win against Montreal on Wednesday to clinch a playoff spot on the last day of the regular season.
The white-knuckle finish was somewhat reminiscent of their scramble to reach the postseason in 2006-07, when the Isles won their final four games and earned a playoff berth with a 3-2 shootout win over the Devils in New Jersey in Game 82.
Then, it came down to goalie Wade Dubielewicz — filling in for Rick DiPietro, who was out with a concussion — stopping Sergei Brylin to give the Isles the victory.
“I’m pretty ecstatic,” Dubielewicz said after the game. “I can’t explain it. It’s pure happiness.”
It didn’t last long, as the Islanders dropped the Eastern Conference quarterfinals to Buffalo in five games, Dubielewicz in net for the opener before DiPietro returned for the final four matches.
With all the pitching problems the Mets currently have, the presence of a top prospect would be reassuring. Alas, Kumar Rocker made his minor league debut on Tuesday as the Rangers ninth-ranked prospect, according to MLB Pipeline.
He’s still a long way from the majors, with his five scoreless innings coming with High-A Hickory.
The 23-year-old pitched in the Arizona Fall League last year, when he walked 12 in 14 innings.
On Tuesday, though, Rocker didn’t walk a batter.
The Mets selected the former Vanderbilt star in the draft at No. 10 overall nearly two years ago, but declined to offer Rocker a contract because of concerns about his arm.
Those worries were not completely unfounded, as Rocker ended up undergoing shoulder surgery that September.
He then pitched for Tri-City in the independent Frontier League last year, re-entered the draft and was picked third overall by Texas, which was higher than most observers had predicted.
At the time of last year’s draft, Texas general manager Chris Young said, “We’re very comfortable with the medical review and that’s why we drafted him.”
The move may prove to be a wise one. The 6-foot-5, 245-pound Rocker threw in the upper-90s on Tuesday, and according to an AL scout in attendance, “had a sharp slider that made it look like he’d never been hurt.’’
Rocker wasn’t interested in rehashing his experience with the Mets when he spoke to The Post’s Jon Heyman at Rangers camp in February.
“I put it behind me,” Rocker said. “That’s their business. I have no communication with them. I didn’t have it then. And I don’t have it now.”