By the time the regular season wrapped up last year, the Tampa Bay Rays had clocked a 77-85 overall record.
This placed them second-to-last in the American League East, just barely ahead of the Baltimore Orioles (75-87).
The ballclub looks entirely different this year, and former MLB player Alex Avila identified the piece they were missing.
Tampa Bay Rays Successfully Found Their Missing Piece
Alex Avila played 13 years of Major League Baseball, behind the plate and around the diamond.
Despite retiring in 2021, Avila remains active in the baseball world and now works as an analyst for the MLB Network. During his latest on-air appearance, Avila highlighted the Rays’ success this season.
“This is probably one of the more balanced Rays teams that is contending that I’ve seen in a while, and I remember playing against the Rays during my time going into Tropicana Field,” he said.
He added, “They’ve always had really good teams, but they were always lacking in some aspect that ended up hurting them either in a playoff run or actually in the playoffs, but when you look at this team, the depth that they have, not just in the pitching staff, because they’ve been pitching the ball really well all season long, but their offense, which is always something we’ve talked about with the Rays in previous years, that’s not the case anymore.”
Tampa Bay has historically struggled to build momentum at the plate, but now their batting average (.260) leads the Majors. Their boost on offense has truly been the missing piece.
The Los Angeles Dodgers (.258) and the Milwaukee Brewers (.255) come in second and third, respectively.
Rays’ Success Is Largely Attributed to Their Young Infielder
Leading the league in batting average is a significant milestone for the franchise, but it’s also worth noting that 23-year-old Junior Caminero is fourth overall in home runs (37). He is tied with Yordan Alvarez of the Houston Astros and Matt Olson of the Atlanta Braves.
Caminero holds down the hot corner and is exceptionally talented on offense.
At the time of this writing, he is slashing .282/.369/.539 with a .908 OPS through 136 games. He’s logged 20 doubles, one triple and 87 RBIs.
“Caminero is a real superstar, a guy in the middle of their lineup that they’ve never really had,” Avila stated. “I know Evan Longoria was an incredible player for the Rays, but Caminero is at a different level. Watching him hit is incredible — the kind of bat speed he generates.”
He followed up with, “But then you have Díaz in there; Simpson brings in an added dynamic. Acquiring Hicks was another really good quality Major League hitter that puts up a good at-bat with some damage and some power. Aranda has been swinging the bat well and can have some pop on the left side, so overall, I think this is one of the more balanced teams we’ve seen that’s contending for the World Series.”
Caminero aside, the Rays have newfound depth this year. Díaz has the second-most homers, 20, of the franchise this season, while Arana trails with 17.
Tampa Bay has been leading the AL East for quite some time, and they’re back on a four-game winning streak with no signs of slowing down.