Tampa Bay Rays
Record: 96-66 (AL East Champions, one game ahead of New York).
Batting Leaders
Batting Average: Carl Crawford (.307)
Home Runs: Carlos Pena (28)
RBIs: Evan Longoria (107)
On-base Percentage: Evan Longoria (.372)
Pitching Leaders
Wins: David Price (19)
Strikeouts: David Price (188)
Innings Pitched: David Price (208.2)
ERA: David Price (2.72). Bullpen- Joaquin Benoit (1.34).
WHIP: David Price (1.19). Bullpen- Joaquin Benoit (0.68).
Saves: Rafael Soriano (45)
Highlight of the Season: On the final day of the season, the Rays were able to clinch the AL East with a 3-2, 12 inning victory over the Royals in Kansas City. A Yankees loss to the Red Sox that same day would make the Division Title an outright one for the Rays. Another moment worthy of mention was Matt Garza tossing the first no-hitter in franchise history before a nationwide television audience on July 26 against the Tigers.
Lowlight of the Season: A season that appeared to be destined for greatness came to an abrupt end on October 12, as the Rays lost 5-1 to the Rangers in Game Five of the ALDS.
The Lowdown:
The writing was on the wall entering the 2010 season, as many people knew that the window of opportunity for Tampa Bay to win a championship was closing quickly. Many of their key players were about to become free agents, meaning that it was imperative that the team get off to a quick start in order to keep those people from being jettisoned off to wealthier contenders. The Rays did not disappoint though, as they got off to a fast start and never looked back, capturing their second division title in three years behind fantastic pitching and an offense that was good, despite their times of collective instability. Keeping the mighty Yankees at bay in the AL East is no easy task for a team with a payroll as small as Tampa Bay's, and in order to make 2010 a season to remember, they had to build off of the success they had in 2008 and win the World Series.
Unfortunately for Tampa Bay, they would be stymied by the fantastic pitching of the Texas Rangers during the Division Series. Even though the series loss was disappointing, the Rays did not go down without a fight, as they came back from a 2-0 deficit to force a Game Five at home. However, waiting for them in Game Five was Rangers ace Cliff Lee, and he was on top of his game that night, going all nine in shutting down the Rays 5-1. With many of their key players gone, it will be a difficult task to keep in the cutthroat AL East once again entering 2011.
Offense:
The Rays' offense last year was puzzling, to say the least. They finished third in MLB in runs with 802, 10th in on-base percentage at a clip of .333 and 12th in home runs with 160. However, they were one of the worst teams in baseball batting average-wise, finishing 27th in the bigs at a clip of .247. Their lack of contact hitting no doubt contributed to some of the outstanding pitching performances that were tossed against them, including Dallas Braden's perfect game, Edwin Jackson's no-hitter, and Brandon Morrow's 17 strikeout outing. Despite that, the Rays featured some great offensive weapons, including left fielder Carl Crawford, who made his final season in a Tampa Bay uniform a memorable one, hitting .307 with 19 home runs, 90 RBIs and 47 steals. The other offensive threat in the lineup was obviously Evan Longoria, who had another great campaign, hitting .294 with 22 home runs and 104 RBIs.
Other than that, there weren't many other eye-catching performers in their lineup. First baseman Carlos Pena had an absolutely bizarre season, hitting 28 home runs while driving in 84, in spite of a horrific .196 batting average. Outfielder B.J. Upton flashed some power, hitting 18 home runs, but his .237 average and .322 on-base percentage make you wonder if he will ever become the player many projected him to be coming out of the minors.
I suppose the lineup is effective, when you consider that there were only two teams in baseball that scored more runs (Boston and New York), but it's almost scary to think how many runs they would have scored if they hit better collectively.
Final Grade: B+
Pitching:
Tampa Bay's strong point last year was in their pitching, and the young David Price led the way, finishing 19-6 with a 2.72 ERA and 188 strikeouts in his second full big league season. His performance last year certainly earns him the right to be mentioned as one of the best pitchers in the American League right now, and if it wasn't for Felix Hernandez's outstanding season, Price could have been the first Rays pitcher to win a Cy Young Award. Even though James Shields, Jeff Niemann and Wade Davis were fairly average last year, Matt Garza put together a good performance on the hill, going 15-10 with a 3.91 ERA in 204.2 innings, while tossing the franchise's first no-hitter on July 26.
In the bullpen, the Rays had a stable of outstanding arms, and their collective ERA of 3.33 (third in MLB) certainly shows that. Manager Joe Maddon wasn't afraid to go to the bullpen with regularity, and you can see that in the stats, as five relievers made 60 or more appearances last year. The two major standouts in this great bullpen were easily Joaquin Benoit and closer Rafael Soriano, who finished with ERAs of 1.34 and 1.73 respectively. Both also featured WHIPs under one, as Benoit led the team with a 0.68 clip, while Soriano wasn't far behind him at 0.80. Simply put, there weren't too many people getting on base late in the ballgame with those two on the hill. Soriano also finished with 45 saves, good for first in the American League and third in MLB.
Overall, Tampa Bay finished eighth in ERA (3.73), third in quality starts (95), third in WHIP (1.26) and fourth in "batting average against" (.244). Well done!
Final Grade: A+
Wild Card: Oh those hitting woes
Much like old-school Christmas lights, it seemed as if Tampa Bay's lineup would collectively go out if one key player was not performing well. They were no-hit twice, first by Oakland's Dallas Braden on Mother's Day (a perfect game) then in the following month by Arizona's Edwin Jackson, who walked a whopping nine batters in his performance. They were nearly no-hit a third time in August, when Toronto's Brandon Morrow came within one out of history before Evan Longoria broke up the party. Morrow would still finish with a ridiculous 17 strikeouts, a MLB-high in 2010. Ouch.
Final Grade: D
Overall:
Was 2010 the last hurrah for the Rays? Time will only tell.
Final Grade: A
Check back soon for the report card on the Philadelphia Phillies!
