RaysUp - Tampa Bay Rays stellar start with Mat Germain & Mark

RaysUp Mat Germain BaseballBizOnDeck - Descript

[00:00:00] Mark Corbett: Welcome to BaseballBiz On Deck. I'm Mark Corbett your host, and with me today I have Mr. Tampa Bay Ray's analysts himself. And we're talking about, of course, Mr. Mat. How you doing today, Mat? I'm doing awesome. How about you?

Man? I'm having the time of my life. If you're a Rays fan, you gotta be having the time of your life right now. It's been nothing but excitement. It's been awesome. Geez. I mean, let's, let's, let's just take a quick look. Mm. 35 games of the season. Okay. Okay. As 22% of our way into the season. So we got 78% of it still left.

Uh, you know, I, I gotta keep reminding myself, it's only 22%, man. I mean, there's still another 127 games, I mean, but. You know, Mat, it's like there's this small child in, in the rear seat of my mind. It keeps, yeah. You know how it is. It's, it keeps saying over. Are we there yet? Are we there yet? You know, uh, uh, to, to, I'll look back to the back end of my mind and I say, no, [00:01:00] honey, the trips just started.

Mm-hmm. It it'll be a while. It'll be a while before we arrive , at Disney World. , and you can ride the Dumbo Flying Elephant ride when we get there and the kid replies, are we there yet? 

[00:01:14] Mat Germain: Rush the season along. And then when it's over, we're like, can we start over again? 

[00:01:20] Mark Corbett: Oh, absolutely. Have you, have you and the family ever been down to Disney World?

[00:01:26] Mat Germain: Yeah. Uh, yes, we have. And we're planning to go back, I think this time next year. Well, this around April. Uh, we, like that time of year, I find that there's less, uh, crowds and, uh, the, the weather's usually warm. You don't have to worry about hurricanes. But it's not blazing hot either. And smart move. 

[00:01:43] Mark Corbett: Yeah.

Yeah. It's, I'm glad, man. Maybe grab lunch one day when you come down here sometime in the future. Absolutely. But it, it's, it is like that though. It's like small child just continually saying, are we there yet? So anxious about enjoying this season. I mean, it's been fantastic And [00:02:00] I mean, think about it, quick side bar.

You remember the name Orlando Dreamers? Yep, I do. Yeah. Maybe, maybe we'll talk about them a little bit later in the show. Let's look at what's happening right now with those wonderful Tampa Bay Rays. Before we keep, let's step outta Disney World and come back to Tampa Bay and, and see what's happening.

What is happening, brother? I mean, this has been a stupendous opening for any team. 

[00:02:26] Mat Germain: I think what you're seeing is , a determination to be as disciplined. And, , steadfast in, in their jobs, a team as we've ever seen in Tampa Bay. And, and that's because I think they have lessons learned along the way, whether it's all the playoff runs they've had, whether it's the successes and failures, they've had, the injuries, everybody on that team right now has bought into what they're doing.

Everybody's mature enough to apply everything that they're being [00:03:00] fed, and they're at the point now where they're achieving what that plan is meant to achieve. And when you're seeing it all like a concert almost of, of just excellent baseball decisions. Last year I can remember I lost about half my hair.

With the base running mistakes that were going on, uh, there were silliness. They were trying to force themselves into winning instead of patiently letting baseball happen organically. And that's what you're, I think anyway, you're seeing this year where they're just organically playing the game as a unit in a very, very impressive 

[00:03:39] Mark Corbett: way.

Well, I get that. , as far as a team, like you said, organically, and it's all seem to be coming together and I think that there's such a thing as discipline. I think you mentioned that earlier, and you think about the plate discipline. And for the last few years I've looked at Yandy Diaz.

I said, look at how smart that man is at the plate. He may wind up [00:04:00] walking or he may be getting a base hit, who knows? But his ability to stay there and read and his commitment to wait for the ball that he wants is there. But now this year I see that more across, , all of the players who come up to , the plate.

[00:04:15] Mat Germain: Well, you look at Franco , and Isaac Paredes as two examples. They've always been excellent contact and zone awareness players all the way through the minors. And, and Isaacdidn't get the credit he deserved for the lowest strikeout rates that he had. I posted one tweet this off season where he was, , elite, like among the youth, , 22, 23 years old.

, in terms of not striking out. And when you're putting those kind of quality guys and then you have guys like la uh, Josh Lowe and Taylor Walls suddenly showing that same, you know, um, ability to limit the strikeouts. The entire lineups just starts chewing through pitches and they're getting to bullpens a lot earlier , as a result. And [00:05:00] it just puts pressure, you're like, you're finding pitchers in the opposition that are always seemingly in pressure situations, runners on runners stealing. There's, there's always something going on that they have to pay attention to. And a lot of times it has to do with their pitches per inning are, are just racking up.

Like, I don't know, every time I look it's 17, 18, 19, 20 pitches per inning. And that adds up over the course of a game. I think whatever they're applying to the zone awareness is paying off and, I'm just glad that they're not seemingly getting away from that 

so far. , 

[00:05:34] Mark Corbett: this year it's like all the pistons are lining up. Everything's hitting just the way you want it and, Well, I mean, we're in a record year. What we're being compared to teams from back in the 19, early 19 hundreds some of the time. And what was it, the mar Oh geez. I can't think of the maroons or whatever they 

were Yeah, they're having to go wave.

Yeah. , and we're all, as I keep thinking that Bugs [00:06:00] Bunny, what a maroon, you know? But, 

[00:06:03] Mat Germain: uh, back when, uh, the Egyptians were putting up the pyramids, there was a baseball team that it was like, okay, let's just, let's do the modern era and then, , Go backwards from there. So, 

[00:06:16] Mark Corbett: , but you think about the Egyptians, these are pyramids, these guys are, , creating this year, man.

I mean, it's, it's stone at stone, they're putting it together and rising up , just like in Egypt. But , I'm getting crazy here. But the thing of, it's, it is absolutely stunning. , one thing you kept doing , when, on your Twitter account, you may be posting things, well, you know, if they continue on and only win 50% more of their games, they're going to have X number, uh, by the end of the year.

And let's see, what's the math on that now? So now 

[00:06:47] Mat Germain: they're at, if they're, if they stay 500 the rest of the year, right now they're at 92 wins. Which is amazing and, you know, they're gonna beat that. , it's almost like Kevin Cash would , have to step away from the [00:07:00] game. Kyle Snyder would've to stop being the horse whisperer He is.

And they would have to do nothing at the trade deadline for them to be a, , 500 team. They're going to be well above 500. So you're already looking at a. I don't know, minimum of 96 wins and potentially more. And when you get into that territory, like yes, there's gonna be a losing streak at some point, right?

Yeah. But the thing that's most fascinating to me is that we're getting into that zone where normally you're looking at bringing up prospects, right? And so you're looking at the end of May, beginning of June, as that zone when. , you're no longer thinking about control for players and prospects, so now you can tap into that talent.

Well, the Rays don't even see that on the horizon really, other than fixing a hole in the bullpen or two. , they're really focused right now on getting Tyler Glasnow back, and so the rotation is fairly, solid and then their [00:08:00] offense is clicking at such high rates that you're not touching, that you're not bringing in somebody else.

Kyle Manzardo can keep gaining experience down in, in minors. Ruben Cardenas can, so can Vidal Brujan. All those guys are going to improve and get better and get more at bats in AAA so that when they do need them later on in the season, they can actually get , the, the best out of those players who'll be really hungry at that point to prove themselves.

And it's also where you have guys like Curtis Mead dealing with some injuries down there too. Right? So even though he would love to be like knocking on the door now, he's not as much in the rush cuz he is like, yeah, I could knock on the door all I want, but I'm not getting in there. So he gets the time to rest as he should , and then break, come back from the wrist injury at a good pace.

, I think all in all it's the organization as a whole is in a really strong position so that when they get to the trade deadline, they're able to make those, you know, additions. Like the last time I found [00:09:00] they were in this position, they got Nick Anderson right. And they gave up a top 100 prospect for 'em.

Right? I see that same kind of potential this year where they might add one or two relievers to, and pay a pretty costly price, but they'll get the guys that'll push 'em to another level 

[00:09:15] Mark Corbett: I think. I mean, they, they've always been smart. Mm-hmm. And in the past, I've always worried, by the time the, , the All-Star game comes around, everybody's experienced injuries at that point.

And , what is your team gonna look like? And Neander and Ben Dav, they've done well, making sure that we had a team the second half of the year, and I think that's gonna be the same this year. Mm-hmm. Uh, but, you know, and everybody cr , cries, injury injuries. Oh my gosh. I don't have Aaron Judge.

Oh my gosh. Who else? We don't have Giancarlo Stanton. , I hear the Yankees, , cry, and I was like, I say, well, I don't have Glasnow either, and now I've lost Cleavinger. Good lord. , but its, it takes a while. Not to mention, of course, , Pete Fairbanks, but just let's talk about pitching for a moment 

[00:09:58] Mat Germain: because Yeah.

And, and not only that, [00:10:00] but Jo uh, Jeffrey Springs was supposed to pitch one of those games and we had bullpen day as a result. So, you know, there's no, the Yankees have nothing to cry about. Thank you. 

[00:10:10] Mark Corbett: Compared. What did you think of the series? What, what were your an what'd you anticipate first? Um, 

[00:10:16] Mat Germain: I, I would think it was good for the Raysto get tested, and I think it was good for them to be emotional during a game again, because I felt like they were almost on cruise control, right?

And so when they started losing that cold game, I said, you know what? This is a good reality check. This is like one of those moments where, you know, you do a gut check, you say, okay, we've gotta stay focused and be at our real best when we're playing the top teams. But then they just come out and, and, you know, it's, it's, it's the same perseverance they showed by not, um, not laying off the gas pedal when they're playing the lower teams.

And that's why the, those sweeps were so impressive at the beginning of the year [00:11:00] because they were, it was just, the intensity was as if they were playing the best teams in the league when they were playing those lower teams. So it, it made it. It made it more impressive because of the tenacity that they showed all the way through.

And that's what we saw against the Cole. Most teams would've laid down and said, okay, well, you know, Cole's got us the Yankees, whatever, and they might not have been as intensely uh, involved in the game. But the Rays just showed and I think in, and what's really interesting to me is those last three innings in that game completely changed the rest of May.

Yeah, because. If they would've lost that game, it would've been like, oh, there you go. The Ray loses series against the Yankees who don't even have Stanton and Judge, and then y yada, and they got beat by the ace. And all this kind of rhetoric would've come out of, of, you know, the media in general. But now, instead you flip that where the Rays win the series, they beat Cole and they give [00:12:00] Shane McClannahan a better chance at the Cy Young Award as a result, and then they get to try it all over again so that when they go into the next series and Cole's facing the Raysagain.

He, he's gonna be in a completely different mindset now than he would've been otherwise. So it's really changed the whole month of May, where now they go into the Baltimore with good, you know, vibes. They don't have that pressure of, oh, we just lost a series against the Yankees. Are we gonna lose this one too?

And they get to go in there with a fresh slate and just say, you know what, we're gonna go win another series. So, uh, I really like the win. I, I just thought it was interesting that those three endings could have changed the entire, you know, month, in my 

[00:12:40] Mark Corbett: opinion. It was a hard game to watch until that point.

I mean, I, I had to walk outta the room where I could still listen to it because I could not look at it. I mean, it, it was painful to think that they were, that we would lose two to the Yankees, you know? And I can listen to games. Hard time watching it. 

[00:12:58] Mat Germain: It's hilarious you say [00:13:00] that. My dad's a, a passionate Montreal Canadians fan.

If they start losing, he turns the TV off. And then he'll walk away, do a couple of things, come back five minutes later, turn the TV back 

[00:13:10] Mark Corbett: on. Yeah, I'm a Fairweather fan. Or at least a, a faint-hearted fan. Well, give give your sympathies to my dad. I can relate to that completely. Yep. 

[00:13:20] Mat Germain: Exactly. Oh, gosh. 

[00:13:22] Mark Corbett: Yeah, 

[00:13:22] Mat Germain: it's good.

You have to be passionate about things in life, right? It's all right. 

[00:13:26] Mark Corbett: I hope so. I mean, if I didn't care. But, uh, it's, it's been nuts. And I love the whole thing with playing the Yankees too. It's always a blast here. Just for grins and giggles, I'm gonna tell you what the attendance was for the Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

They were here in town at the tr the attendance. You know, we've, I've been there when there's less than 10,000 people. Uh, not Oakland a, but its lean, uh, Friday, May 5th, playing the Yankees. 25,007 [00:14:00] people per them is, were in attendance Saturday. 27,078, Sunday, 32,142. Wow. 

[00:14:11] Mat Germain: Wow. 30 really? 32. 

[00:14:13] Mark Corbett: That's the number they posted.

[00:14:15] Mat Germain: Is that the, that's more than any game they had last year. It has to be, yeah. 

[00:14:19] Mark Corbett: And they opened up the third deck too. So that was the other thing. It's been closed, you know, most of the time. 

That 

[00:14:25] Mat Germain: says a lot. That 32,000 really makes it interesting because I think that's in the ballpark of where, you know, they want the attendance capacity to be the next stadium somewhere between 28 and 35.

So it gives validity to the fact that they can draw that many fans, , and I know it's the Yankees and there's lots of the Yankee fans , in town, but, , I think as the Rays continue, , winning and sign, being able to sign better players, assuming that , the stadium does draw better and they do develop around the area, then, , It's gonna be interesting to see what that looks like and whether or [00:15:00] not they can draw, , the numbers that they're expecting.

I think this is the test year, this is the marketing year where they finally , stepped up to the play with the marketing plan that actually makes sense and that shows that they've actually invested in a marketing plan of some sort. So I think that the fact that it's paying off and it's paying dividends without RandyLand and the rest of the ideas that they've come up with, , I think it's really good that it is paying off.

Cuz I think it's an indicator to them that Tampa is the area that they, or St. Pete obviously, uh, are the areas that they need to focus on and they can stick around and not go anywhere. 

[00:15:37] Mark Corbett: I want to talk about RandyLand in minute bef. I, I wanna take one last stab at Garrett Co. Hello, man, what can I say?

Two home runs. Okay. I'm sorry. No home runs for the year. Nobody's hit a home run on him and then the Rays come in and put Nacho two home runs on him in that game. Wolf,[00:16:00] 

[00:16:01] Mat Germain: I think the Ray might have the best scouting of what he's going to throw, , that you can hit out a and they might be sitting on that more than most other teams. Doesn't mean it's easy to hit, but it means that if you do have success against it, you'll do damage. , so I think that might be, you know, if teams want to see which pitch he they're hitting out on Jared, I almost would bet a lot of money that most times it's the same pitch and in , a similar location.

 Gerrit Cole you know, , , what should scare Yankee fans the most? He has a lot of innings on his arm. Hmm. He has a propensity to overthrow velocity wise over that's at some point there's going to be some wear and tear on that arm. And if they don't have Gerrit Cole, what are the New York Yankees?

Honestly, like what I, is it about that team that scares you at that point? They have an aging superstar in [00:17:00] Aaron Judge that's injury prone. They have another injury prone d h that I have no idea how he's getting paid. What he's getting paid. He is not worth half that money. So what are the Yankees, if Gerrit Cole gets injured and if you're Gerrit Cole, at what point do you get pissed off and just say, you know what?

Trade me. Cause I'm done with this. Like, you're not gonna build a team that makes sense and you're gonna just want to overpay a couple of guys, I don't need this. I want to go and win a championship somewhere. Like I could see Gerrit Cole demanding a trade from the Yankees and that would just blow my mind.

He did. It just would be like one of those things that you could never, you know, fathom in, in previous years. But the Yankees have put themselves in a really bad position. What they need to happen basically is for Volpe Cabrera and some other guys to become the stars. A lot of people predicted them to be, because if they don't, if that doesn't happen, wow, they're [00:18:00] going to be a bottom dweller in, in the Al East.

That's a tough division. For a few years, 

[00:18:06] Mark Corbett: Bader was looking pretty good the other night, the last couple nights actually. 

[00:18:09] Mat Germain: Yes, he's, as long as he is healthy, he's looked pretty solid. 

[00:18:13] Mark Corbett: Yeah. So we'll see how that plays. , but coming back to the Trop and Randy land, so Friday nights they got , that's a great marketing thing.

 All the excitement that Randy Arozarena built during the World Baseball Classic, was huge. The whole thing with the team from Mexico, the whole thing with the pose, as he has a hit, gets to on base or comes home, crosses those arms and looks out sternly to, to whoever.

It's such a bunch of pizzazz and excitement to the game. I love it. And then , the Tampa Bay Rays, they have the good sense to say, how can we capitalize on all this energy? Mm-hmm. And they put together a section in the, in the trop they put in together a section that's called Randy Land.

And any of you all who are watching the team, I'm sure have seen the [00:19:00] background there up in the stadium where all the things with Randy Lands got him there. It's got the, was it Del Luchador, uh, Mexican Wrestling Mask. 

[00:19:09] Mat Germain: Yep. Fans need those for him. He, he's embracing fans and they're embracing them back.

And I think that's just, it's so great to see , that interaction, , paying off , and it, even the Rays, Twitter has been promoting it like really well. Their Twitter game's really gotten better this year by significant margin. 

[00:19:32] Mark Corbett: Well, I'm glad to hear that the more they can engage the audience, the better.

The, the more the baseball in Tampa has a chance to continue to grow, and I'm looking forward to that. So kudos to all of them. Kudos to the front office actually doing something right. And so it's so easy and to be critical of them. So , I'm glad we're giving a little bit of a tip of the hat for that. So good news there. Now , let's go back though and take a look at our pitching. ? Who all is out at the moment? [00:20:00] Who's out? Yeah. , by then, I injured or on the IL, whether it be, , obviously Cleavinger.

[00:20:07] Mat Germain: Yeah, I saw the ACL injury. It sucks like it's Cleavinger. I think it the, his. Performance at the end of the year is why they were able to let Brooks Raley go and they knew they had Colin Poche as well and a couple of other lefties. 

 If freak entries like that can happen to anyone.

Yeah. Um, you just hope the best for him next year and hope that he can rebound. It's a knee, so knees they can usually, , heal up pretty well and, uh, I don't think it'll have much impact. Maybe, uh, he will come back even better for it next year cause now he's got the confidence and he'll still get a World Series ring if the Rayshappened to win it this year.

So if that's consolation that's, , but he would've much rather been on the field. We know that. Yeah. So now the Rays have a guy, a lefty, they've been bringing up as a, a starter recently called Joe LaSorsa. And I don't know if you remember, but during the World [00:21:00] Baseball Classic, , , he had one of the most epic strikeout celebrations.

For Italy when he was playing for them. He did so well during the World Baseball Classic and, and early on with the bowls that they saw a need in the rotation and with the bowls to, cuz they didn't wanna rush guys up from aa. Right. Um, so they put LaSorsa in there to kind of stretch 'em out the same, similar way as what they did with Jeffrey Springs.

 He was up to four innings pitches last time out and really looked solid, like honestly not much damage done against him playing some really good teams. So I think there's a chance that eventually if he doesn't come up as a starter, that they would consider using him as a, multi inning reliever, Cleavinger 

 Wasn't necessarily a one inning guy when he was coming in. A lot of times he was doing 1.1, 1.2, sometimes two. I think Joe LaSorsa as a guy to keep an eye on and the Ray have switched Louis Patino now back to relief as well. , so I think at some point he might get a couple more outings down in, in AAA [00:22:00] so that they can really hone in on how they want him to use this stuff in a relief role.

 He's going to be a guy that. You're talking about high leverage situations, if he can dial it up a little bit more and get to 98, 98 and a half , and start spotting it, , accurately, and then the right places, , he could be of impact for the depend. Cause to me, , the starting pitching is pretty evident and pretty, other than that hole that Tyler Glasnow is gonna fill pretty soon.

Yeah. , I think that everybody knows what the hierarchy is beyond that. Taj Bradley probably gets a first call and then, , people behind him. , Alvin Rodriguez had a, a good really hot start to the season. He's fallen off his last three starts have been pretty ugly. Cooper Criswell had some solid starts done in aaa.

 I really think that if you go beyond Taj Bradley and Joe LaSorsa that not, then you're getting into aa depth, in my opinion. Gotcha. Uh, if you are wanting to have somebody [00:23:00] steady in there, 

[00:23:02] Mark Corbett: Well, I would love to see Taj Bradley back up there, and I had not been paying a nu enough attention to LaSorsa, so I will definitely be taking a little bit closer look at that.

So thank you for sharing. No problem. All right, brother. , so pitchy wise, like I said, we got Glasnow coming back soon. I'm real excited. Everybody's excited about that. He's what? He's stretched out, done a couple of innings, I think in Durham the last few days. Mm-hmm. Yep. And done well. 

[00:23:28] Mat Germain: Yeah. I watched the start , and he looked like he was wanting to dial it up but didn't really push it too hard, is what it looked like.

He wasn't, he wasn't in beast mode. 

[00:23:41] Mark Corbett: He wants to get cut from man before he comes back out there. Full speeds. Geez. You know, and he is gotta be difficult coming back, you know, ev after you've been for, after all this time, if you've had surgery, if, if you're, you come back and maybe something else happens as you get strained a little bit more, but you know, the one guy I wanna see you come back soon and, and I [00:24:00] think he will be, , I think he's on the short il and that's Pete Fairbanks.

My gosh. He has gotta be one of the most intimidating pitchers I've seen. 

[00:24:08] Mat Germain: Yeah, he's, he's integrated the Raysplans for late in the season, so they want to make sure that he's, going strong by the end of it.

Because when they get to the playoffs, , he's one of those key cogs. 

[00:24:20] Mark Corbett: Oh yeah, . I mean, Nick Anderson. But Nick's, no, I don't think he's with us anymore. We've, , some other ones, but see who 

[00:24:27] Mat Germain: else doing great in Atlanta, , it's fun to see him do well, but it's also frustrating cuz you knew the Rays gave him such, so many chances and then yeah, they finally said, okay, we have to move on because this is enough.

And then now he's lighting it up in Atlanta and , they're enjoying that for sure. 

[00:24:45] Mark Corbett: Well, we've seen this before. Some guys leave here , and they get better. I mean, but usually on trades Neander's getting rid of somebody who's just hit their peak, ? I 

[00:24:55] Mat Germain: mean, but it's an important note though, honestly.

Uh, Mark, it's, it's one of those things [00:25:00] where, um, you look at Nate Eovaldi and Nick Anderson really too big in injury. Prone guys at the Ray Rehabed all the way back to health. And then, you know, they ended up having success elsewhere. But the Ray staff, medical staff needs to get credit for that. Yeah. Because they're taking care of a lot of two Tommy John injury guys.

Pete Fairbanks is one. Uh, Eovaldi was one. , the, they had, before that Johnny Venters was that one. No, listen to Johnny Venters, who is the other guy that had three Tommy Johns that they brought back? The hell, 

[00:25:37] Mark Corbett: Michael, that escapes me. 

[00:25:40] Mat Germain: Yeah, I don't know. Anyways, the Rays staff, , the Rays get criticized a lot because they have a lot of pitching injuries.

But I think if you talk to most of the guys on their team, they realize that the Rays are doing their best to try to mitigate those injuries by all means. 

[00:25:56] Mark Corbett: Well, you know, Mat, if you look at who Kevin Cash has [00:26:00] also with outfield and infield, it's strong enough with those players that he can give somebody a day's rest.

, you see Isaac Paredes, he may be offered day, but at the same token, Kevin's willing to bring in a player. He's given a day's rest in, in the eighth, ninth inning if he needs them. Mm-hmm. And have him fresh. But, , it hadn't always worked out, , seeing Josh Lowe all over the place. Not surprising there.

And there's one infielder. That I've been concerned about and I know a lot of fans have had a lot of things to say about him. And that's Mr. Brandon Lowe Lowe, Mr. Brandon Lowe. Oh Lord. I, I don't know. , some people are ready to say, get rid of him. He's injury prone. He lacks confidence.

He doesn't say he has the yip side. There seems to be bad streaks of him not being able to get a hit. I just think 

[00:26:57] Mat Germain: he, it's fine that they have him on, [00:27:00] on the team, that he's a continued important part. I just think they're overvaluing him for what he can provide right now because of his health.

And how he's not adjusting to how people are adjusting to him. So they're throwing him changeups and curve balls only basically sliders. But, but they're not giving him much in terms of fast balls. And that's what he feasts on. So if he's not able to lay off those pitches and pull a Yandy Diaz and really be patient when he does that, when he is able to be patient, they do end up being forced to pitch him in his own.

Cuz Ray's lineup is pretty deep. They, they like to, , run the table basically in terms of pitches, but you can't have him in the four hole when he is struggling the way he is. Yeah. And when he is obviously not in a healthy place, put him in the sixth hole, put him in the seventh hole. It's not an insult, it's just a Mater of, Hey, perform to your level, you can, and then , we'll bring you up to the top of the.

Of the lineup. And even beyond [00:28:00] that, I don't think he should be in there against lefties. I think he should be in there only against RS , and for a while and just get him to the right place against Rs. And then after that, if he's gets hot, then you throw 'em in all the time. But there's, there are better left-handed hitters right now on the Raysthat need more playing time.

 Josh Lowe needs to be in that four hole today. Today. He should have been in that four hole, not Brandon Lowe, in my opinion. , and I know it sucks to say he can have hot streaks and carry the lineup and in certain occasions, right, like the beginning of the year, he was really hot. People were all over it.

 They were loving it. And they were saying, , see, we can, he's backs basically. But, but I think you're right. He does beat himself up. I remember in the winning streak, There were moments where Brandon Lowe was like having a hard time with certain days and he would be cursing and smashing his bat down.

They're winning nine to one. Yeah. And he's cursing himself out with, because he struck out, like, I don't [00:29:00] understand the mentality of that. I know there's an intensity to Brandon Lowe, but, but it's not conducive to somebody that's going to be, , a consistent player. And to me, your number four hitter should be a consistent player and have consistent at bats, not be a black hole in the lineup for, for two months or a month at a time.

That's not what you're looking for in a four spot. So I think Josh Lau is, uh, Josh Lowe is now the guy that you want in the four hole for the Rayswhen you're facing a writing. He is that guy. 

[00:29:34] Mark Corbett: He's been amazing. We had his brother a couple years ago, Nate, and it was great to watch him.

He's out there with the Rangers now, but Josh is just blown up and mm-hmm. Yes. I, I definitely believe he should be in that four hole as well. , I, I feel for Brandon and I see him come back out to the dugout sometimes, and he looks like he wants to just have his head down, not even, , meet the eyes of his [00:30:00] brethren in the dugout, so to speak.

I don't know. It's, it is, it's kind of like there's a little cool feeling there and Kevin Cash, you know, he knows, he lives this breezes every day. Here I am playing your back, uh, Monday morning, quarter back, so to speak, and trying to second guess him, but I think, like you, I think Brandon probably in a six spot would, would be a better option today and mm-hmm.

Give him the hope that yes, Brandon, you're still playing in this game and we have hope for you and we think you can give back up to that four spot, but let's make it happen. Right? 

[00:30:35] Mat Germain: I think it's the way to go, but the Rays are extremely stubborn. They stuck with him through thick and thin when he was like the most frustrating player in the world to watch at the end of the, I can't remember , what timeframe it was, but there was just periods of time where they will not, they refuse to move him down in the lineup.

And it's the same thing with Colin Poche. [00:31:00] They have him as a high leverage reliever regardless of what the performances point to. So there. It's one of their strengths that they're stubborn and it's also one of their weaknesses in certain spots. , I think when you look at the Blake Snell poll, when you look at the use of Brendan Lowe, when you look at certain things that they've done, , the, you , that's when you sh you need that dusty baker voice in the background, right?

Saying Trust the baseball. Oh, gods, there you go. Don't, you know, don't, uh, don't think that the data that , you're using to make these decisions, , is, is always going to be accurate for you. And in some point is points in the game. You have to trust your gut. And my gut tells me that Brandon Lowe is not a number four hiter for the Rays

[00:31:48] Mark Corbett: right now.

Well, he's, he's gonna have to prove himself again. That's all there is to it, and mm-hmm. I cannot believe, , we're gonna let him beat for now, but yeah, , he needs some leg room, but, , and they're giving you [00:32:00] plenty of it. Let's just hope he's able to come back and show us more. It is Monday, may the eighth and while Mat, Jermaine and I here are talking, one of the things you should know also is the Raysfinished up their home stand and starting out, , the first game with a series in Baltimore.

And see right now they are up one to zip and I think the only thing that Scoring's been there that came from Josh, uh, Josh Lowe with the home run. So we'll see how that progresses. I'll try to keep eye on that as well. That brings me back to something else looking at right now. The standings.

Yes, the Tampa Bay Rays or there at the top, but if you look at the top five teams as far as who's winning, come on man. Only one of 'em is not an American League East. 

[00:32:49] Mat Germain: Yeah, we're in the beast of a division. It's, yeah, it, I don't, it's a self feeding division, almost. Like they're, they're challenge challenging each other.

Like, I dare you to be [00:33:00] better, and then they dare each other and 

[00:33:02] Mark Corbett: Yeah. I, I don't know. I was wondering when, and still too early, till surprising. Uh, I'm still wondering if as this season progresses, what we're going to say about the balance schedule and maybe its impact. But right now, looking, everybody except the Yankees, and I think the, the Yankees I think are 14th right now.

But in the top five, you got us, , we'll see. Who is it that you got the second place, obviously , the National League, east Atlanta, Braves, Boston is fifth, Toronto's fourth. And the guys were playing tonight, , they're in the number three slide, so, It's just stupifying to think that this particular division continues to have one of the strongest group of players, one of the str strongest group of teams to play in the game.

So I, I don't know. We'll, I still have a big question mark on how this balance schedule's gonna impact all of that balance. 100. They're gonna make 

[00:33:58] Mat Germain: the, if they're gonna make the [00:34:00] balance schedule like this, they need to get rid of divisions and just make it American League and National League. To me, , that's the way they should go.

There's no need for divisions anymore. , just pick , the top teams that you want in the playoffs from the top and that's it. You don't need divisions like this. This whole divisional thing is, is antiquated, to be quite honest. Yes, you can play more games against certain teams, but I, I even think it'd be fun if that changed year to year, which teams you're playing most against.

Right? , I know that then people would cry foul because you could end up with lucky years and, and unlucky years, but the same thing can happen in division. So, , , now if you're gonna make the balance schedule, the point is that travel costs , and piece of travel no longer is, a consideration, right?

, I think, I it's fun. It's, I really enjoyed the pirates coming into town , and, , having the teams that you're gonna see all your. , round, like , that's what [00:35:00] baseball should be. You should be able to enjoy all of the stars, see all of the teams, , regardless of where you live in the country, if you move, you should get to see your team.

[00:35:09] Mark Corbett: Right? Yeah. Agreed. , and I mean, that means every two years within a two year period, you're gonna see every team come to your stadium. So that's exciting. Yeah. So it's exciting, but I think, do we lose some of the rivalries? , if you see a team several times through a year, is, is that rivalry somewhat, uh, diminished if you get rid of the divisions?

I really 

[00:35:30] Mat Germain: don't think so. I think it amps them up. If anything, right now, the Rays just had the little tiff with , the Yankees and , they're only gonna see them another 10 games this year. So they've gotta, they know they, they only have a, a limited window of time to quote unquote, , get payback.

, by winning, I mean, I don't mean by hitting anybody, but. I think the intensity is bigger when you only have a certain timeframe to actually act on it. And, , [00:36:00] it's one of those things where it doesn't take much more than one moment in a series to make it a rivalry. Like there, there are certain things, like, I'll give you an example.

The Jays and the Rays were maybe one of the blandest rivalries on until Kevin Kiermaier stole that card, he stole that card, and all of a sudden, boom, it's a rivalry. They're cheating, , they're stealing the card, they should've given it back, blah, blah, blah. And then the rhetoric built from that, right?

, and it was only the one game before that. They'd seen each other 19 times a year. And , they, there was no rivalry really. It was just like, oh, you don't really care who wins because they're both nice teams sort of thing. Right. , it always seems like the Red Sox and the Yankees get more of that evil empire , outlook from fans.

, and I think that you look , at teams like, , I don't know, the Royals , and the Cardinals for instance, they're right next to each other. They should see each other more often. And I guarantee you that rivalry is probably going to be just as intense as it would be with the Cubs. [00:37:00] Maybe not, , it would still be a rivalry of sorts, from people that have families that might be cheering for both or one or the other.

And, , so it's, it'll be interesting. What I'm more interested in is when they do the move of the Oakland A supposedly to Las Vegas, how do they realign things and where are they going to expand and how is that gonna impact everything over 

[00:37:23] Mark Corbett: time? Yeah. Tell me about it. I mean, I cannot imagine being an Oakland A fan right now.

There's why, you know, why, why would you bother? Why would you get invested in a team that's not gonna be there? And some Ray fans have some worries and are are watching What's happening with that? Cuz it, it's, it could, it could be a similar thing here. I, I hope not. But to kinda leap off of this from a second met, it does make me think about what's happening in Orlando.

Man, there was a, back in 2019, there were whispers and rumors from the, uh, [00:38:00] one of the, one of the managers like, I dunno if he's an owner as well, or not Pat Williams with the, the magic, the Orlando Magic. He said, Hey, you know, maybe, maybe we should get a baseball team here. He left the magic. And now he has been trying to get all this rumbling away and there's still some new news out there , as we live and speak.

[00:38:19] Mat Germain: Saw that article today. Yeah. Where they wanna, I, I don't know. Like to me, I don't know how this is decided. Okay. So this is my take is when you're looking at TV markets, right? I don't know how that applies anymore, especially with what's going on with all the local networks and whatnot.

When you're looking at the Tampa St. Pete region, I don't believe it includes Orlando and that is the one that's the higher value, the value of the Orlando TV market is much lower. So I don't know how that applies now. Would the Rays. In theory still keep the Tampa St. Pete market and then just add the Orlando one.[00:39:00] 

And does that Orlando market take away from the Marlins? So are you devaluing one franchise by, I don't know how that exactly works out, but what I will tell you is if somebody is willing to pay money, cash to build a stadium, then there might be a story there. , so really the onus is on the politicians and whether or not they're going to actually allow for payment of the stadium to a certain degree, whatever that is, that Stu has put the line in the sand.

Right? , so regardless of where it goes, whether you're Orlando, Tampa, St. Pete, and to me St. Pete has the best area growth potential because they can dominate there with soccer and. Um, baseball all in one location. He owns both teams. , he can leave Tampa to Vinik and, the rest of the groups that are there.

, , and I think St. Pete is hung to have a franchise there. They're, they are like, , they're the hungriest that'll open up the wallet a little bit and [00:40:00] kind of say, we need this for the development purposes, yada, yada, yada yada. And they can sell it a little bit better , than other jurisdictions could.

Um, but it probably is putting pressure on Tampa politicians who are mostly Yankee fans, to be honest. So are they going to open up their wallets? I really doubt it. I really 

[00:40:20] Mark Corbett: do. Well, you know, it's funny you say that about 'em being Yankees fans, cuz that's, that's kind of true. , I have time, and again, I've talked about when I worked over the trap years ago and when I, the Yankees would come to town, it was sad because you would hear more Yankees fans cheering and booing than you could hear , Rays fans in the building.

But as of the other night, I would say they were equally matched and maybe the Rays were getting a little louder. So, uh, but yeah, I, I do get it that I don't think the Tampa government's gonna step up and say, yeah, let's, let's, uh, come out with a billion bucks for Mr. Mr. Stu there. I don't think it's gonna happen.

[00:40:55] Mat Germain: I don't think that's what he's asking though, because I, I think when you're looking at the stadium cost, [00:41:00] the a quarter of it should be paid by franchise, sorry, by the stadium naming rights. Right. So right off the bat you're only talking about, I say only you're talking about three quarters of a billion dollars.

And I would assume that Stu would take care of at least one third of that. Right? There you go. There you go. Would, so you're talking about a half and half sort of deal, really in, in truth or a little bit more, a little bit less, depending on what they can, sign aside. But I think that to me, it's almost the way it should be if you're gonna have a team, like a large business entity like that, and a stadium, and I'm sure it'll have benefits other than the Raysto the city as a whole, events, concerts, you know, whatever they can throw on there.

So, to me, the, if the, if the politicians in the area have enough vision to make the most of it, when it's not being used for baseball, they can make. It a really good selling [00:42:00] point to fans to the point where it's palatable, but they have to have that vision. And I'm not sure if there's politicians that do, but uh, yeah, we, we'll hope for the best anyway.

I hope it does stay in St. Pete to be quite 

[00:42:15] Mark Corbett: honest. Well, I think the people there have invested a lot. I mean, as far as fans and such, but yeah, we'll see me personally, just cuz where I live, I, I'd like to have it over in Tampa, but I don't see the engagement from the politicians and companies to make that happen there.

So. Mm-hmm. Let's keep 'em strong in St. Pete for now. And I can't complain. 72 degrees and no rainouts, so people may not like the way it looks, but, uh, 

[00:42:41] Mat Germain: geez, man, you know what? I was toying it, the idea the other day, cause this is something for real, uh, the Olympic stadium in Montreal was going to be part of the 2026 World Cup, right?

And all they were going to do is take the roof off and put a clear roof on, and that was going to be like [00:43:00] 400,000 to 500,000 uh, dollars. All right? Okay. So what did the Trop did the same. Why, what if they just took the, the roof off and put that translucent roof on it? Right. The one that had like the Rays look to it, like the, I can't remember the one that they had in, um, for Ybor site.

Yep. You put that on it and then you just build up the rest of the, stadium and do a makeover, sort of like what, what Rogers just did to theirs. You could feasibly do that. I just don't know if the infrastructure supports that, , , in net stadium, if it just makes it harder, engineers would probably pull out their hair and say, no, you can't do that.

But, , it wouldn't be a bad idea really. In reality, cuz it is sad to see buildings get torn down when there's, you know, however many thousands of seats already set up and Yeah. And the base is already 

[00:43:52] Mark Corbett: built. , it is. I, I don't know though. I mean, some fans or maybe some players wouldn't like to see the change in the [00:44:00] dome because right now, players who come and visit, they can't find the freaking ball that's popped up out there.

That's 

[00:44:09] Mat Germain: hilarious, isn't it? It's, it's, 

[00:44:11] Mark Corbett: it's ridiculous. Yo, you see a popup go out there and you've got that gray dome and that ball just gets lost right up there. And it's like, you see some of these poor guys that are visiting, and it happens to our guys occasionally too, but old visitors, they have a hell of a time sometimes on a popup, you know, where is it?

Where is it? Where's, and I'm not surprising, surprised to see collisions and balls being just bobbled. You know, they fall from the sky at the Trop. Mm-hmm. 

[00:44:36] Mat Germain: Uh, It is funny to watch though, cause you know, when they're coming, especially the young guys, the older guys, they've had some time. They've adjusted, but it, it's a pretty special place.

I do like what they did with the lights, with the flashing and all that and the themes. I think that was a good idea. Uh, but it does look almost dirty sometimes, right? Like where it's got some shadings and which kind of throws you off when you're [00:45:00] looking at it. That's so I get it, but I, I still amm not a big fan of the Texas style one either.

That looks like a warehouse, like you're playing in a large warehouse, right? Like that's not any better. 

[00:45:11] Mark Corbett: What is it where they slide the roof back on this, uh, platform? Yeah, it feels industrial, that's for sure. What, yeah. Yeah. Crazy. All right, brother. Well, what are we looking here? What are we expecting here over the next week or so?

We're, we've got, we're gonna play Baltimore here. Let's see, right now. What's, how's that game coming along? Um, 

[00:45:30] Mat Germain: they're still, they're, they're putting pressure on, they got two runners on, and , Randy at the plate, so hoping that he can, uh, let's put three on the board right here and go to four.

Nothing lead. I think that would be good. All right. 

Yeah. I'm curious to see how the Rays are when they get their next day off.

To be honest, to me that's the, that's gonna be a key moment in the month to make is they get to kind of take a deep breath after, uh, a couple of tough series, but they're gonna be going after this to, to New York. Four, [00:46:00] four against the Yankees, which will be intense, right? And then they kind of have a day off.

They get to wander around New York. Now, I don't know what you do when you're in New York as a ray and, and you know, do you trust the food that they're cooking for you when you're going to restaurants or, you know, are, are you thinking they're gonna try to put some Ex-Lax in there? Oh, oh, but oh, he ended up walking.

Bases is loaded though. Not bad. Brandon Lowe is up. So we'll see if he can, , make me look bad tonight. Yeah, 

[00:46:30] Mark Corbett: I hope he does, man. I mean, I hope he does too. Oh, oh, for two, that's far tonight. So let's see what comes up with that. I'll tell you. Hey, I'm gonna go ahead and I'm going to complain. No, not me. , I'm gonna call this Mark's pithy party, being concise.

What's the definition? Forcefully expressive. And, uh, here, here's my little thing here. Wake up M L B E Network. Get the names right. I am so freaking tired of people thinking that [00:47:00] Wander Franco is Franco. I'm sorry, wasn't that a dictator long ago? But Wander Franco, people get it. Okay. These are professional people, broadcasters, announcers, analysts, whatever being paid, , hopefully well, you know, and they can't even check the MLB pronunciation guide.

Come on people. It's Frahn-co. Uh oh. Let, let, well, lemme tell you one more thing about that too. I was watching, again, this was all at the same time, the same conversation. I was checking out MLB network on YouTube cuz I refused to add cable to my bill. , but one, yeah, well know one of the guys. He referred to our fantastic pitcher, Shane as Shane McClellan.

McClellan, not McClanahan.

I mean, I've always, I think Raysd fans have always felt disrespected by, by national media, and this just continues to, to take that attitude and burn it into [00:48:00] the ground. So I, this, again, this is Mark's little pithy party and I'm saying, wake up MLB network. Get it Right. You know what 

[00:48:08] Mat Germain: I find interesting about that is that, let, let's put it this way, okay.

If, if Vin Scully was misnaming people, , like, it would've been like national news. People would've been , what is going on with vin? Right? Yeah. If Bob Eer does, they laugh about it and they probably joke about it and they probably, you know, make, make, uh, some sort of, they, there's Hamilton, there's a whole bunch of other guys that can kind of play that comedy.

Kind of role about it where yes, they might not be perfect, but they have personality. They know the players, they know what they're talking about so they can kind of feed off that, right? So to me it has a bigger impact and a bigger insult when, you know, it's so far off that they're not even fans of the game, they're not even watching, other people.

That's when it becomes insulting because then it's like you should know better. Like this is [00:49:00] pretty regular, , not casual fan. Cuz as a broadcaster, you're not a bro, uh, , you're an intense fan at that point. Whether or not you're actually cheering for a team, you are an M l B intense fan at that point.

So you should know, you know, you should have heard somebody mention that name. You should be watching m l B Network. You should be watching the highlights and hearing the name said properly, to which point you should know how to pronunciate them. 

[00:49:25] Mark Corbett: Right. Amen, brother. Amen. You know, and you know, and I, I share this wisdom with you and everyone else out there as I, I cast these dispersions, these, uh, imaginary stones, if you will, from this perennial glass house that I live in.

So, 

[00:49:41] Mat Germain: so Brandon Lowe did not shame us into, yeah. Yeah. I have no comment. Okay. That's, that I needed to say. 

[00:49:54] Mark Corbett: We'll, we'll let that stand. Anybody else wants to see, check your box scores and you'll know as well. [00:50:00] It's what we're feeling at this moment. So, my gosh. Well, what else you got planned? You got any other excitement expectations for this season, 

[00:50:09] Mat Germain: for the rest of the season?

 When I took a look at the schedule for the Rays, , the intense moments were the month of May and the month of September. Right. Those are the two toughest months for the Raysto me. If they come out of May. With, you know, they win the majority of the series that are left, you're going to see a 104 win season ish or better.

, if the wheels fall off, it's because of injuries at that point. I, yeah, I would imagine. , but what I also find interesting though, , and this is the first year that I've said that I think in the, , Eric Neander era, there is a weakness that we're seeing at the lower levels of the Rayssystem right now when it comes to pitching, especially, , and some of the bets that they're being on, bats aren't working [00:51:00] out.

So there's a slow start in Charleston and Bowling Green to the likes I've never seen in the last five years. , And they've recently changed their attitude and their way that they're gonna be drafting. So to me, I'm really curious to see the draft that's coming up, whether or not they change that again and start drafting high, , higher pitching again, , and not focus so much on the bats.

, because it seems to really be having an impact all the way down. Now, you can always have underperforming players year after year. You never know who's gonna, and they could end up having hot endings to their year. , so it's not to say that there'll be a drastic change. I just find it interesting that two years after they've done this focus on hitting, hitting, hitting, hitting at the top end, all of a sudden you're seeing a major drop off when it comes to the pitching performances.

So it's something to watch. So I like the draft. I think , it's fun to ramp up to the draft and see who they're gonna bring in, because then all of a sudden it opens up possibilities of who they might move at the deadline as well, right? [00:52:00] Oh yeah. And you get this. Who's hot and who's not. A couple of things I'm keeping an eye on are like, Colby White.

Why hasn't he thrown yet? Why isn't he in, , he's on the 40 man roster and, there's a question mark of is he going to pitch at all in 23? Is he, and if he does, to what effectiveness is he what, because he would be a really intriguing piece for the bullpen if he does come out and does well.

Right. So that's one major piece that I'm looking at. I'm, , wondering, okay, Durham, when you're going to have an update on Colby White, , there's another, you know, Evan Reer is another one that, that should be, uh, coming through pretty soon and he can move up pretty quickly. So I'm keeping an eye on him and his progress.

 There's a bunch of prospects. I'm working on a different list right now , , for prospect rankings and I think guys like Greg Jones and a couple of , Guys that we had high hopes for will get the slide are the ones who get to move up. One name that I would keep an eye on that I think you'll hear a lot, you know in the next few years is, uh, Chandler Simpson and to me, he's one [00:53:00] of the more electric players.

They have down the lower minors. Uh, he plays center field, wicked speed, pretty quick bat. I think he'll steal a ton of bases. So if he can make enough contact and, and get a little bit of power in there as well. He's gonna be a really interesting player to watch Ray's a really strong and center field all the way through their minors.

 Which again, he could become a corner out field fielder from there, right? So, , it's, it's a really interesting battle to watch cuz they all want a play centerfield. So, you know, when you have Brock Jones fighting for Centerfield time with, uh, with Chandler Simpson, it's like, uh, does it really Mater which one is in there?

Well, you can have a, a really outstanding outfield as a result, , So, yeah, that's what I'm looking at is basically the system, how it can support and what pieces they might be able to trade. Because if you do have weakness down to Minors, well how do you sell that to other teams in trade? They have to buy into that player, right?

So it makes it a little bit tougher for them , to use some of those pieces in trade. Cuz I do want them to [00:54:00] add one or two big pieces at the deadline. , I want them to go for it this year. This is the year they have the seasoning, they have the playoff experience, they have the cash, they have uh, the horse whisperer.

They have the record. They know they're gonna be in the playoffs. Please for the love of Pete, go get major impact pieces please. 

[00:54:23] Mark Corbett: Oh, now I don't think they'll open the wallet for Ohtani, but there's definitely some good pieces to be gotten out there. Oh my gosh. Well, Mat, thank you again, brother. I always a pleasure talking with you and, and seeing what's going on with the Rays and, and seeing what's coming up too.

And I appreciate that. Pointing toward, uh, Chandler Simpson. Folks check that out and, and time and again on the show, I remind people, go to the minor league games, you're gonna , see some great talent there. And it's always neat to me. I mean, would you see like early on whether you're seeing the Vidal Brujan, even Wanda Franco early on and you're saying, well Franco, you knew we were gonna [00:55:00] come up, but they're gonna see other talent coming up and say, my gosh, there they were.

I saw 'em then. And then bam, here they are in the big leagues. 

[00:55:08] Mat Germain: It's exciting. Give me a better appreciation for the game, in my opinion. Yeah, because you, you have to see where they came from. Like I've, I've seen some guys turn their whole careers around from the, from a ball all the way up through AAA to the point where you're like, nobody saw this coming.

Like, you just, you kept plugging, like Kevin Keer Myer's a good example, right? He nobody gave him a chance. No, never on the rankings, never, you know, made anything. And then boom, he's in, you know, gold Glover multi, you know, 10 years with the team. So you never know what you're gonna see when you're down there.

And I think they're fun outings, right? If you go as a family, it's not expensive for the most part in the minors. No. So make , an outing out of it and your kids might , end up loving baseball as a result. That's your biggest risk right there. 

[00:55:56] Mark Corbett: All right, man. Thanks again, buddy. I was glad to have you here on Baseball Biz [00:56:00] On Deck, my friend.

All 

[00:56:01] Mat Germain: right, sounds good man. Anytime. 

[00:56:03] Mark Corbett: Okay. You've been listening to Baseball Biz On Deck. We're glad to have you here today. And remember, you can find us here, the, like us, love us, subscribe to us, and also you can find us on baseball biz on deck.com. , special thanks to x take UX for the music rocking forward.

All right, man, that was great. 

[00:56:25] Mat Germain: Right on. We'll chat again soon. 

[00:56:27] Mark Corbett: All right. Take care, Mat. Cheers.

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Tags: Tampa Bay Rays, RaysUp, Kevin Cash, Mat Germain, Cleavinger, Glasnow, Yankees, Gerrit Cole, Kyle Monzardo, Ruben Cardenas, Vidal Brujan, Curtis Mead, Wander Franco, Randy Arozarena, Josh Lowe, Brandon Lowe, Disney World, Orlando Dreamers, Chandler Simpson, Taj Bradley, Shane McClanahan, Yandy Diaz, Baltimore Orioles, Joe LaSorsa, Trop, Isaac Paredes, Manuel Margot, Taylor Walls, Luke Raley, Rays