While the sting likely hasn’t gone away in Central Florida, the 2026 campaign was excellent for the Tampa Bay Rays. The Rays won their third American League pennant, rolling through the regular season before dispatching the Yankees and Guardians. How did the Rays do it? Well, it truly was an all-around effort.
The Offense
| Stat | Number | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| Runs Scored | 736 | 12th |
| Home Runs | 169 | 22nd |
| OPS | .728 | 8th |
| Whiff% | 20.7% | 1st |
| Hard Hit% | 34.6% | 29th |
The Pitching
| Stat | Number | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| Starters’ ERA | 3.51 | 3rd |
| Relievers’ ERA | 3.99 | 14th |
| Strikeouts | 1322 | 19th |
| Whiff% | 24.6% | 18th |
| Chase% | 32.8% | 2nd |
The Good
The 2026 Rays offense had a much different look to it, compared to 2025.
Tampa Bay finished middle of the pack in home runs and runs scored, with the likes of Brandon Lowe and Yandy Diaz having big power years at Steinbrenner Field. However, one of those players didn’t return in 2026, as Tampa Bay shipped Lowe to Pittsburgh in December 2025.
It marked the start of a real shake-up for the Rays. Tampa Bay traded away Josh Lowe later in the winter, and power-hitting prospect Carson Williams — a good defender but a big swing-and-miss hitter — didn’t see much time at all in the Majors. Instead, it was more of a hit-over-power team for Tampa Bay.
The Rays finished with the lowest Whiff% in the Majors, embodying the model of chaos, as opposed to embracing the power. No regular among the Rays had a swing-and-miss rate above 26%, and the only one who did was Jorge Mateo. Mateo joined the team late as a defensive/speed bench option.
You can’t start discussing the Rays’ new model without talking about Yandy Diaz, part of the old guard. Diaz, an efficient hitter thanks to his ability to make contact and drill singles and doubles, finished the regular season with an AL-high 180 hits. Right behind him were Chandler Simpson (175) and Junior Caminero (174).
Simpson, who finished with the third-most hits in the Junior Circuit, was the only player with 350+ plate appearances to have not had a home run. And yet, he affected games in so many ways. He swiped an AL-best 46 bases, didn’t overswing and found holes at every avenue, and batted .344 after the All-Star break.
Then, there’s Caminero. For a hitter who has a naturally long swing and plus-plus bat speed, you’d expect a lot of swing-and-miss. But Caminero has a unique swing and approach. That helped in many different facets.
Caminero hit 42 games in a complete year, playing in every single regular-season and playoff contest. He also had one of the most impressive turnarounds in terms of patience; his BB% saw a net change of +5%, one of the best in baseball this season.
Those three were joined by Jonathan Aranda, who had yet another impressive season in 2026. Aranda slashed .274/.358/.434 with 22 home runs in the year.
As for the pitching staff, it was deep and headlined by Drew Rasmussen.
Rasmussen was one of the best starting pitchers, and the metrics — no matter which one you looked at — confirmed that. The right-hander won 16 games, posted a stellar 2.67 ERA, posted the fourth-best opponents’ wOBA (.243) among starting pitchers, finished fourth in BB/9 (1.67), and top 20 in HR/9 (.73).
Did we miss anything else? Well, Rasmussen was pretty good at expanding the zone, too, thanks to a booming fastball/cutter combo that neutralized hitters and cut down the walks. But what’s crazy is that Rasmussen was just one of several Rays to be able to force hitters outside the zone.
The vast majority of the Rays’ bullpen is here. And while that bullpen wasn’t filled with household names per se, it was one of baseball’s most effective.
Manager Kevin Cash was able to throw a laundry list of different looks, including the funky sinkerballer Kevin Kelly, Casey Legumina, Cam Booser, and closer Bryan Baker. Baker found himself in that role after Pete Fairbanks was not retained and Edwin Uceta went down with an injury. The ex-Oriole tied Cade Smith for the most saves (41) in the MLB this season.
Getting back to the rotation, the Rays hit gold with Nick Martinez, who found a home in St. Pete with a different approach and a permanent role in the rotation. Freddy Peralta, who got a lot of chase and saw an uptick in velo on the fastball, also did very well. Plus, Shane McClanahan got nearly a full year in after missing all of 2024 and 2025.
The Bad
Could you argue that there wasn’t enough swing-and-miss for the Rays last season? Perhaps, although that is not why Tampa Bay lost in the World Series.
It is kind of interesting to see Wells atop all pitchers in terms of Whiff%, although the filter for swings here is a tad low.
The Rays were still able to give opposing teams fits on the mound. And while the Rays did find harmony in the rotation after Griffin Jax and Ian Seymour entered it, Steven Matz didn’t pitch well as a starter.
It didn’t start that way, however. Matz allowed two or fewer runs in six of his first eight starts. However, he was hit hard against the Orioles and Tigers in late May and early June, respectively. That pushed him out of the lineup.
As for the offense, Taylor Walls only hit two home runs and was a well-below-average hitter. The defense, though, was his saving grace. Walls played exceptionally defensively, which earned him an AL Gold Glove in November.
Early Projected Lineup for 2027
- C: Liam Hicks
- 1B: Jonathan Aranda
- 2B: Richie Palacios/Ben Williamson
- 3B: Junior Caminero
- SS: Taylor Walls
- OF: Chandler Simpson (LF), Jonny DeLuca/Jack Suwinski (CF), Victor Mesa Jr./Ryan Vilade (RF)
- DH: Yandy Diaz
- SP: Drew Rasmussen, Shane McClanahan, Ryan Pepiot, Griffin Jax, Ian Seymour
- RP: Bryan Baker, Tyler Wells, Kevin Kelly, Casey Legumina, Garrett Cleavinger, Mason Englert, Brody Hopkins, Edwin Uceta
Assuming no one gets traded away, the Rays can bring back nearly their entire team from 2026.
The starting rotation will look different, as Nick Martinez and Freddy Peralta went to free agency. But the Rays could get Ryan Pepiot back at some point next season. Pepiot went on the IL in late March with hip inflammation and ultimately required season-ending surgery later on in the year.
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