Rays series preview: The best team in baseball

The Rays have become the gold standards for small market teams. While they still haven’t won a championship, a lot of fans would take the current six-year run where they have won 59 percent of their games, including a pennant in 2020. This year they may have their best team ever, zooming out to the best record in baseball with the fewest runs allowed in the game, and the second-most runs scored.

The Rays have done all this winning with a payroll less than what the Royals are spending this year. Tampa Bay had an Opening Day payroll of just over $73 million, with just one player earning more than the $8.5 million the Royals will pay pitcher Jordan Lyles. The Rays have developed stars like Shane McClanahan and Wander Franco, but just eight players on their current 26-man roster are homegrown, and only player was signed to a multi-year MLB free agent contract - Zach Eflin, who signed a three-year, $42 million deal last winter. The rest have been acquired through shrewd trades - netting players like Randy Arozarena, Yandy Diaz, and Isaac Paredes - and picking up players let go from other organizations.

Kansas City Royals (20-54) vs. Tampa Bay Rays (52-25) at Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg, FL

Royals: 3.73 runs scored/game (29th in MLB), 5.32 runs allowed/game (28th)

Rays: 5.56 runs scored/game (2nd in MLB), 3.66 runs allowed/game (1st)

The Rays’ lineup has four of the top 30 most valuable position players in baseball, according to fWAR. Wander Franco is their all-world shortstop who is third in baseball with 24 steals and one of the lowest strikeout rates in the game. Post-season hero Randy Arozarena is third in baseball in wRC+ with one of the league’s best walk rates. Right behind him in wRC+ is Yandy Diaz, who has always had good hard hit rates, but is finally elevating the ball more.

Overall the Rays have drawn the most walks as a team, have hit the most home runs, and stolen the most bases. They are behind only the Rangers in OPS with runners in scoring position. They are third in Defensive Runs Saved, with Wander Franco playing like a Gold Glover at short. In short, they are a complete, well-rounded team with seemingly no weaknesses.

The Rays have been known for their ability to take seemingly any pitcher and turn them into a stud. Despite having starters Jeffrey Springs, Drew Rasmussen, Shane Baz, and Josh Fleming out with injury, they have a 3.19 ERA from their starting rotation, tops in all of baseball. Shane McClanahan leads all of baseball in ERA, and will face Royals opener Jose Cuas in a seeming mismatch on Thursday evening. McClanahan was taken 13 picks behind Brady Singer in the 2018 draft, and is tenth in baseball in strikeout rate with his 97 mph fastball. He has given up two runs or less in 13 of his 15 starts this year. Both McClanahan and Friday’s starter Zach Eflin boast some of the best curveballs in baseball. Eflin is also third in baseball in best strikeout-to-walk ratio and his 53 percent groundball rate is seventh in baseball.

Yonny Chirinos has one of the lowest strikeout rates in baseball, relying most on a sinker/slider combo. He gave up five runs in less than five innings his last time out and isn’t officially listed as the starter Saturday, so he could be a scratch. Hard-throwing Tyler Glasnow has struggled the last three seasons with injuries, and he gave up six runs in 4 ¹⁄₃ innings his last time out against Baltimore.

The Rays have had to scramble a bit with their bullpen, picking up Robert Stephenson, Zack Littell, and former Royals lefty Jake Diekman mid-season after their original teams had let them go. Peter Fairbanks still has 98 mph fastball velocity, but he hasn’t been missing bats this year and has dealt with hip discomfort. Former Royals pitcher Jason Adam - a Kansas City-area native - has a 1.90 ERA in 94 ²⁄₃ innings since joining the Rays.

This will be a reunion for Royals manager Matt Quatraro, who was a coach for the Rays from 2017 until last year. He may have welcomed an opportunity to manage for the first time in the big leagues, but it cost him a jump in the standings from the penthouse to the outhouse. The Royals may not be able to compete with the Rays much this weekend, but at least they can see up close what kind of organization they need to be.