If there’s any team that can take the New York Yankees’ throne in the American League East, it is the Tampa Bay Rays.
Tampa Bay enters the 2020 season still with an impressive rotation led by Blake Snell and Charlie Morton along with key players like Brandon Lowe, Willy Adames and Austin Meadows.
Snell didn’t exactly have a stellar 2019 season as he was coming off an American League Cy Young award win. He posted a 4.29 ERA with 147 strikeouts in 23 games. Morton was a bit better, recording a 3.05 ERA and a career-high 240 strikeouts. Those two pitchers will be huge during their games against division opponents.
Meadows broke out last season with 33 home runs, a .291 batting average and a .922 OPS. He earned his first All-Star Game appearance and will likely be the anchor of the lineup. Lowe and Adames will be relied upon for keeping their slugging pace up during the season.
The Rays added Hunter Renfroe and Yoshitomo Tsutsugo to the lineup in the offseason.
Tampa Bay will be a threat in the AL East for sure. The Yankees can’t get sloppy given the star power they have in the lineup because the Rays will be lurking.
The team was 37-23 through 60 games in 2019.
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2019 finish: 2nd AL East
2019 record: 96-66
Manager: Kevin Cash
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Projected Starters
C: Mike Zunino
1B: Ji-Man Choi
2B: Brandon Lowe
3B: Yandy Diaz
SS: Willy Adames
OF: Hunter Renfroe
OF: Kevin Kiermaier
OF: Austin Meadows
DH: Yoshi Tsutsugo
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Projected Rotation/Closer
SP: Charlie Morton
SP: Blake Snell
SP: Tyler Glasnow
SP: Yonny Chirinos
SP: Ryan Yarbrough
CL: Nick Anderson
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2020 Schedule