Wikipedia

2020 Tampa Bay Rays season

The 2020 Tampa Bay Rays season was the 23rd season of the Tampa Bay Rays franchise. The Rays played their home games at Tropicana Field as members of Major League Baseball's American League East.

2020 Tampa Bay Rays
American League Champions
American League East Champions
LeagueAmerican League
DivisionEast
BallparkTropicana Field
CitySt. Petersburg, Florida
Record40–20 (.667)
Divisional place1st
OwnersStuart Sternberg
ManagerKevin Cash
TelevisionFox Sports Sun
Fox Sports Florida
(Dewayne Staats, Brian Anderson)
RadioTampa Bay Rays Radio Network (English)
(Andy Freed, Dave Wills)
WGES (Spanish)
(Ricardo Taveras, Enrique Oliu)
← 2019 Seasons 2021 →

On March 12, 2020, the start of the regular season would be delayed by at least two weeks in addition to the remainder of spring training being cancelled.[1] Four days later, it was announced that the start of the season would be pushed back indefinitely due to the recommendation made by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to restrict events of more than 50 people for eight weeks.[2] On June 23, commissioner Rob Manfred unilaterally implemented a 60-game season. Players reported to training camps on July 1 in order to resume spring training and prepare for Opening Day in late July.[3] The revised 60-game schedule was announced on July 6, with the Rays set to have Opening Day on July 26, and the regular season concluding on September 27. The revised Rays schedule was composed of 40 games against AL East opponents and 20 games against NL East opponents.[4]

Due to the pandemic and the shortened season, Major League Baseball instituted certain rule changes which included the use of a universal designated hitter, a runner on second base to start extra innings, and a revised schedule.[5] On July 30, the league and the union agreed that all remaining doubleheaders during the season would be seven innings.[6] On September 17, the Rays clinched a spot in the playoffs for the second straight year. On September 23, the Rays clinched their third American League East championship and their first since 2010. They swept the Toronto Blue Jays in the ALWCS and beat the New York Yankees in the ALDS. The Rays would then go on to defeat the Houston Astros in the ALCS and advanced to the World Series for the first time since 2008. They lost in the World Series to the Los Angeles Dodgers in six games.

Offseason

edit

Rule changes

edit

For the 2020 season, MLB instituted several new rule changes including the following:[7]

  • Single trade deadline – there would no longer be a waiver trade deadline later in the year.
  • 26-man roster – rosters expanded from 25 players, but no team may carry more than 13 pitchers.
  • Three-batter minimum for pitchers - a pitcher must face three batters in a game before they can be removed unless there is an injury or the end of an inning.

Further rule changes came into effect in response to the COVID-19 pandemic including the addition of the designated hitter in the National League, a shortened schedule, and in extra innings, a runner was placed at second base in each half inning.[8]

Regular season

edit

Game log

edit

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the regular season was shortened to 60 games, with teams playing 10 games against each other member of their division while also playing four games against each team in the corresponding division in the other league. The Rays played 10 games against each team in their division and 20 games between the teams in the National League East Division. On July 6, 2020, MLB announced the Rays' 60-game schedule, which began on July 24 and ended on September 27.[9]

Legend
  Rays win
  Rays loss
  Postponement
Bold Rays team member
2020 Game Log: 40–20 (Home: 21–9; Away: 19–11)
July: 4–4 (Home: 4–1; Away: 0–3)
# Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Record Streak/Recap
1 July 24 Blue Jays 4–6 Romano (1–0) Morton (0–1) Giles (1) 0–1 L1
2 July 25 Blue Jays 4–1 Anderson (1–0) Gaviglio (0–1) Drake (1) 1–1 W1
3 July 26 Blue Jays 6–5 (10) Roe (1–0) Yamaguchi (0–1) — 2–1 W2
4 July 27 Braves 14–5 Castillo (1–0) Foltynewicz (0–1) — 3–1 W3
5 July 28 Braves 5–2 Fairbanks (1–0) Wright (0–1) Drake (2) 4–1 W4
6 July 29 @ Braves 4–7 O'Day (1–0) Drake (0–1) Melancon (1) 4–2 L1
7 July 30 @ Braves 1–2 Fried (1–0) Yarbrough (0–1) Melancon (2) 4–3 L2
8 July 31 @ Orioles 3–6 Fry (1–0) Fairbanks (1–1) Sulser (2) 4–4 L3
August: 21–7 (Home: 8–4; Away: 13–3)
# Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Record Streak/Recap
9 August 1 @ Orioles 4–5 (11) Lakins (1–0) Drake (0–2) — 4–5 L4
10 August 2 @ Orioles 1–5 Phillips (1–0) Beeks (0–1) Sulser (3) 4–6 L5
11 August 4 Red Sox 5–1 Morton (1–1) Eovaldi (1–1) Anderson (1) 5–6 W1
12 August 5 Red Sox 0–5 Pérez (2–1) Yarbrough (0–2) — 5–7 L1
13 August 7 Yankees 1–0 Roe (2–0) Ottavino (2–1) — 6–7 W1
14 August 8 (1) Yankees 4–8 (7) Green (2–0) Glasnow (0–1) — 6–8 L1
15 August 8 (2) Yankees 5–3 (7) Fairbanks (2–1) King (0–1) Anderson (2) 7–8 W1
16 August 9 Yankees 4–3 Thompson (1–0) Britton (0–1) — 8–8 W2
17 August 10 @ Red Sox 8–7 Loup (1–0) Springs (0–1) Kittredge (1) 9–8 W3
18 August 11 @ Red Sox 8–2 Curtiss (1–0) Pérez (2–2) — 10–8 W4
19 August 12 @ Red Sox 9–5 Snell (1–0) Godley (0–2) — 11–8 W5
20 August 13 @ Red Sox 17–8 Beeks (1–1) Hart (0–1) Banda (1) 12–8 W6
21 August 14 @ Blue Jays[a] 4–12 Font (1–1) Thompson (1–1) — 12–9 L1
22 August 15 @ Blue Jays[a] 3–2 Loup (2–0) Romano (1–1) Anderson (3) 13–9 W1
23 August 16 @ Blue Jays[a] 7–5 (8) Loup (3–0) Font (1–2) Slegers (1) 14–9 W2
24 August 18 @ Yankees 6–3 Snell (2–0) Tanaka (0–1) Roe (1) 15–9 W3
25 August 19 @ Yankees 4–2 Fairbanks (3–1) Britton (0–2) Beeks (1) 16–9 W4
26 August 20 @ Yankees 10–5 Castillo (2–0) Ottavino (2–2) — 17–9 W5
27 August 21 Blue Jays 5–6 (10) Hatch (1–1) Loup (3–1) Romano (1) 17–10 L1
28 August 22 Blue Jays 2–1 (10) Banda (1–0) Bass (1–1) — 18–10 W1
29 August 23 Blue Jays 5–4 Fleming (1–0) Borucki (1–1) Curtiss (1) 19–10 W2
30 August 24 Blue Jays 4–6 Hatch (2–1) Loup (3–2) Romano (2) 19–11 L1
31 August 25 Orioles 4–2 Glasnow (1–1) Milone (1–4) García (1) 20–11 W1
32 August 26 Orioles 4–3 Sherriff (1–0) Givens (0–1) Castillo (1) 21–11 W2
— August 27 Orioles Postponed (2020 American athlete strikes) Makeup: September 17
33 August 28 @ Marlins 2–0 Fairbanks (4–1) Bleier (1–1) Castillo (2) 22–11 W3
34 August 29 @ Marlins 4–0 Fleming (2–0) López (3–2) — 23–11 W4
35 August 30 @ Marlins 12–7 Snell (3–0) Alcantara (1–1) — 24–11 W5
36 August 31 @ Yankees 5–3 Glasnow (2–1) Cole (4–2) Castillo (3) 25–11 W6
September: 15–9 (Home: 9–3; Away: 6–6)
# Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Record Streak/Recap
37 September 1 @ Yankees 3–5 Tanaka (1–1) Thompson (1–2) Chapman (1) 25–12 L1
38 September 2 @ Yankees 5–2 Curtiss (2–0) Montgomery (2–2) — 26–12 W1
39 September 4 Marlins 5–4 Fleming (3–0) López (3–3) Anderson (4) 27–12 W2
40 September 5 Marlins 3–7 Alcantara (2–1) Snell (3–1) Kintzler (9) 27–13 L1
41 September 6 Marlins 5–4 (10) Curtiss (3–0) Kintzler (1–3) — 28–13 W1
42 September 7 @ Nationals 1–6 Scherzer (4–2) Morton (1–2) Hudson (8) 28–14 L1
43 September 8 @ Nationals 3–5 Sánchez (2–4) Yarbrough (0–3) Hudson (9) 28–15 L2
44 September 10 Red Sox 3–4 Weber (1–2) Fairbanks (4–2) Barnes (5) 28–16 L3
45 September 11 Red Sox 11–1 Snell (4–1) Hall (0–3) — 29–16 W1
46 September 12 Red Sox 5–4 Glasnow (3–1) Walden (0–2) Castillo (4) 30–16 W2
47 September 13 Red Sox 3–6 Pérez (3–4) Fairbanks (4–3) Barnes (6) 30–17 L1
48 September 15 Nationals 6–1 Yarbrough (1–3) Sánchez (2–5) Anderson (5) 31–17 W1
49 September 16 Nationals 2–4 (10) Hudson (2–2) Anderson (1–1) McGowin (1) 31–18 L1
50 September 17 (1) @ Orioles 3–1 (7) Castillo (3–0) Valdez (1–1) — 32–18 W1
51 September 17 (2) Orioles[b] 10–6 Fairbanks (5–3) Sulser (1–5) — 33–18 W2
52 September 18 @ Orioles 2–1 Glasnow (4–1) Cobb (1–5) Sherriff (1) 34–18 W3
53 September 19 @ Orioles 3–1 Morton (2–2) López (2–1) Thompson (1) 35–18 W4
54 September 20 @ Orioles 1–2 Means (2–3) Yarbrough (1–4) Valdez (2) 35–19 L1
55 September 21 @ Mets 2–1 Fleming (4–0) deGrom (4–2) Anderson (6) 36–19 W1
56 September 22 @ Mets 2–5 Lugo (3–3) Snell (4–2) Díaz (5) 36–20 L1
57 September 23 @ Mets 8–5 Glasnow (5–1) Wacha (1–4) — 37–20 W1
58 September 25 Phillies 6–4 Anderson (2–1) Morgan (0–1) Curtiss (2) 38–20 W2
59 September 26 Phillies 4–3 Fairbanks (6–3) Wheeler (4–2) Slegers (1) 39–20 W3
60 September 27 Phillies 5–0 Fleming (5–0) Nola (5–5) — 40–20 W4
Legend:        = Win        = Loss        = Postponement
Bold = Rays team member

Season standings

edit
AL East
Team W L Pct. GB Home Road
Tampa Bay Rays 40 20 .667 — 20‍–‍9 20‍–‍11
New York Yankees 33 27 .550 7 22‍–‍9 11‍–‍18
Toronto Blue Jays 32 28 .533 8 17‍–‍9 15‍–‍19
Baltimore Orioles 25 35 .417 15 13‍–‍20 12‍–‍15
Boston Red Sox 24 36 .400 16 11‍–‍20 13‍–‍16


Division Leaders
Team W L Pct.
Tampa Bay Rays 40 20 .667
Oakland Athletics 36 24 .600
Minnesota Twins 36 24 .600
Division 2nd Place
Team W L Pct.
Cleveland Indians 35 25 .583
New York Yankees 33 27 .550
Houston Astros 29 31 .483
Wild Card teams
(Top 2 teams qualify for postseason)
Team W L Pct. GB
Chicago White Sox 35 25 .583 +3
Toronto Blue Jays 32 28 .533 —
Seattle Mariners 27 33 .450 5
Los Angeles Angels 26 34 .433 6
Kansas City Royals 26 34 .433 6
Baltimore Orioles 25 35 .417 7
Boston Red Sox 24 36 .400 8
Detroit Tigers 23 35 .397 8
Texas Rangers 22 38 .367 10


Record vs. opponents

edit
2020 American League record

Source: MLB Standings Grid – 2020

Team BAL BOS NYY TB TOR NL
Baltimore — 5–5 3–7 4–6 2–8 11–9
Boston 5–5 — 1–9 3–7 5–5 10–10
New York 7–3 9–1 — 2–8 5–5 10–10
Tampa Bay 6–4 7–3 8–2 — 6–4 13–7
Toronto 8–2 5–5 5–5 4–6 — 10–10

Opening Day starters

edit
Name Pos.
Yandy Díaz 1B
Hunter Renfroe RF
Yoshi Tsutsugo 3B
José Martinez DH
Manuel Margot LF
Mike Brosseau 2B
Willy Adames SS
Kevin Kiermaier CF
Mike Zunino C
Charlie Morton SP

Player stats

edit

Batting

edit

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs; H = Hits; 2B = Doubles; 3B = Triples; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; SB = Stolen bases; BB = Walks; AVG = Batting average; SLG = Slugging average

Player G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB AVG SLG
Brandon Lowe 56 193 36 52 9 2 14 37 3 25 .269 .554
Willy Adames 54 185 29 48 15 1 8 23 2 20 .259 .481
Joey Wendle 50 168 24 48 9 2 4 17 8 10 .286 .435
Yoshi Tsutsugo 51 157 27 31 5 1 8 24 0 26 .197 .395
Manuel Margot 47 145 19 39 9 0 1 11 12 13 .269 .352
Kevin Kiermaier 49 138 16 30 5 3 3 22 8 20 .217 .362
Austin Meadows 36 132 19 27 8 1 4 13 2 17 .205 .371
Ji-man Choi 42 122 16 28 13 0 3 16 0 20 .230 .410
Hunter Renfroe 42 122 18 19 5 0 8 22 2 14 .156 .393
Yandy Díaz 34 114 16 35 3 0 2 11 0 23 .307 .386
Mike Brosseau 36 86 12 26 5 1 5 12 2 8 .302 .558
Michael Pérez 38 84 7 14 3 0 1 13 0 7 .167 .238
Mike Zunino 28 75 8 11 4 0 4 10 0 6 .147 .360
José Martínez 24 67 10 16 4 0 2 10 0 9 .239 .388
Nathaniel Lowe 21 67 10 15 2 0 4 11 1 9 .224 .433
Randy Arozarena 23 64 15 18 2 0 7 11 4 6 .281 .641
Kevan Smith 17 31 3 8 3 0 1 8 0 5 .258 .452
Brett Phillips 17 20 2 3 0 1 1 3 3 5 .150 .400
Brian O'Grady 2 5 2 2 1 0 0 0 1 0 .400 .600
Team Totals 60 1975 289 470 105 12 80 274 48 243 .238 .425

Source:[1]

Pitching

edit

Note: W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; SV = Saves; IP = Innings pitched; H = Hits allowed; R = Runs allowed; ER = Earned runs allowed; BB = Walks allowed; SO = Strikeouts

Player W L ERA G GS SV IP H R ER BB SO
Tyler Glasnow 5 1 4.08 11 11 0 57.1 43 26 26 22 91
Ryan Yarbrough 1 4 3.56 11 9 0 55.2 54 22 22 12 44
Blake Snell 4 2 3.24 11 11 0 50.0 42 19 18 18 63
Charlie Morton 2 2 4.74 9 9 0 38.0 43 21 20 10 42
Josh Fleming 5 0 2.78 7 5 0 32.1 28 10 10 7 25
Trevor Richards 0 0 5.91 9 4 0 32.0 44 24 21 11 27
Pete Fairbanks 6 3 2.70 27 2 0 26.2 23 9 8 14 39
Ryan Thompson 1 2 4.44 25 1 1 26.1 29 15 13 8 23
Aaron Slegers 0 0 3.46 11 1 2 26.0 18 10 10 5 19
Aaron Loup 3 2 2.52 24 0 0 25.0 17 9 7 4 22
John Curtiss 3 0 1.80 17 3 2 25.0 21 7 5 3 25
Diego Castillo 3 0 1.66 22 0 4 21.2 12 4 4 11 23
Jalen Beeks 1 1 3.26 12 0 1 19.1 21 9 7 4 26
Nick Anderson 2 1 0.55 19 0 6 16.1 5 2 1 3 26
Yonny Chirinos 0 0 2.38 3 3 0 11.1 14 4 3 4 10
Oliver Drake 0 2 5.73 11 0 2 11.0 7 8 7 6 7
Ryan Sherriff 1 0 0.00 10 0 1 9.2 6 0 0 2 2
Chaz Roe 2 0 2.89 10 0 1 9.1 10 4 3 3 9
José Alvarado 0 0 6.00 9 0 0 9.0 9 7 6 6 13
Andrew Kittredge 0 0 2.25 8 1 1 8.0 8 2 2 2 3
Anthony Banda 1 0 10.29 4 0 1 7.0 10 9 8 5 4
Sean Gilmartin 0 0 8.31 2 0 0 4.1 7 4 4 4 5
Édgar García 0 0 10.80 4 0 1 3.1 3 4 4 4 1
Cody Reed 0 0 0.00 2 0 0 2.2 1 0 0 0 2
Mike Brosseau 0 0 0.00 1 0 0 0.1 0 0 0 0 1
Team Totals 40 20 3.56 60 60 23 527.2 475 229 209 168 552

Source:[2]

Postseason

edit

Both games of the Wild Card Series were held at Tropicana Field, by virtue of the Rays being the higher-seeded team. In all succeeding rounds, all games were played at neutral-site ballparks in order to isolate the players during the pandemic. Each game of the Division Series and the American League Championship Series was played at Petco Park in San Diego, California.[10] World Series games were played at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, and were open for roughly 11,500 fans to attend.[11]

2020 Postseason Game Log
# Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Location Series
1 September 29 Blue Jays 3–1 Snell (1–0) Ray (0–1) Fairbanks (1) Tropicana Field 1–0
2 September 30 Blue Jays 8–2 Glasnow (1–0) Ryu (0–1) — Tropicana Field 2–0
# Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Location Series
1 October 5 Yankees 3–9 Cole (1–0) Snell (0–1) — Petco Park 0–1
2 October 6 Yankees 7–5 Glasnow (1–0) Happ (0–1) Fairbanks (1) Petco Park 1–1
3 October 7 @ Yankees 8–4 Morton (1–0) Tanaka (0–1) — Petco Park 2–1
4 October 8 @ Yankees 1–5 Green (1–0) Thompson (0–1) Chapman (1) Petco Park 2–2
5 October 9 Yankees 2–1 Castillo (1–0) Chapman (0–1) — Petco Park 3–2
# Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Location Series
1 October 11 Astros 2–1 Snell (1–0) Valdez (0–1) Castillo (1) Petco Park 1–0
2 October 12 Astros 4–2 Morton (1–0) McCullers Jr. (0–1) Anderson (1) Petco Park 2–0
3 October 13 @ Astros 5–2 Yarbrough (1–0) Urquidy (0–1) Castillo (2) Petco Park 3–0
4 October 14 @ Astros 3–4 Greinke (1–0) Glasnow (0–1) Pressly (1) Petco Park 3–1
5 October 15 @ Astros 3–4 Pressly (1–0) Anderson (0–1) — Petco Park 3–2
6 October 16 Astros 4–7 Valdez (1–1) Snell (1–1) Pressly (2) Petco Park 3–3
7 October 17 Astros 4–2 Morton (2–0) McCullers Jr. (0–2) Fairbanks (1) Petco Park 4–3
# Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Location
Attendance		 Series
1 October 20 @ Dodgers 3–8 Kershaw (1–0) Glasnow (0–1) — Globe Life Field
11,388		 0–1
2 October 21 @ Dodgers 6–4 Anderson (1–0) Gonsolin (0–1) Castillo (1) Globe Life Field
11,472		 1–1
3 October 23 Dodgers 2–6 Buehler (1–0) Morton (0–1) — Globe Life Field
11,447		 1–2
4 October 24 Dodgers 8–7 Curtiss (1–0) Jansen (1–1) — Globe Life Field
11,441		 2–2
5 October 25 Dodgers 2–4 Kershaw (2–0) Glasnow (0–2) Treinen (1) Globe Life Field
11,437		 2–3
6 October 27 @ Dodgers 1–3 González (1–0) Anderson (1–1) Urías (1) Globe Life Field
11,437		 2–4

Postseason rosters

edit
Playoff rosters
American League Wild Card Series
American League Division Series
American League Championship Series
World Series

Roster

edit
2020 Tampa Bay Rays
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders Manager

Coaches

Farm system

edit
See also: Minor League Baseball
Level Team League Manager
AAA Durham Bulls International League
AA Montgomery Biscuits Southern League
A-Advanced Charlotte Stone Crabs Florida State League
A Bowling Green Hot Rods Midwest League
A-Short Season Hudson Valley Renegades New York–Penn League
Rookie Advanced Princeton Rays Appalachian League
Rookie GCL Rays Gulf Coast League
Foreign Rookie DSL Rays 1 Dominican Summer League
Foreign Rookie DSL Rays 2 Dominican Summer League

References

edit
  1. ^ Mark Feinsand (March 12, 2020). "Opening Day delayed at least 2 weeks; Spring Training games cancelled". MLB.com. Major League Baseball. Retrieved March 14, 2020.
  2. ^ "Opening of regular season to be pushed back". MLB.com. Major League Baseball. March 16, 2020. Retrieved March 16, 2020.
  3. ^ Feinsand, Mark (June 24, 2020). "Play Ball: MLB announces 2020 regular season". MLB.com. Retrieved June 24, 2020.
  4. ^ Toribio, Juan (July 6, 2020). "Rays unveil schedule for 2020 season". MLB.com. Retrieved July 6, 2020.
  5. ^ Daniels, Tim. "MLB Rules, Format Changes for 60-Game 2020 Season Due to COVID-19". Bleacher Report. Retrieved June 24, 2020.
  6. ^ "MLB reduces doubleheaders to 7 innings for '20". ESPN.com. July 31, 2020. Retrieved August 10, 2020.
  7. ^ "Report: Single-trade deadline, 26-man roster, 3-batter minimum among changes in next 2 years". masslive. March 14, 2019. Retrieved June 24, 2020.
  8. ^ Daniels, Tim. "MLB Rules, Format Changes for 60-Game 2020 Season Due to COVID-19". Bleacher Report. Retrieved June 24, 2020.
  9. ^ "Rays Announce Modified 2020 Regular-Season Schedule" (Press release). St. Petersburg, FL: Tampa Bay Rays. July 6, 2020. Retrieved October 12, 2020.
  10. ^ Acquavella, Katherine (September 27, 2020). "MLB Rules, Format Changes for 60-Game 2020 Season Due to COVID-19". CBS Sports. Retrieved September 27, 2020.
  11. ^ Axisa, Mike (October 18, 2020). "MLB will allow fans to attend 2020 World Series, NLCS at Texas Rangers' Globe Life Field". CBS Sports. Retrieved September 30, 2020.
edit
Retrieved from "https://en.wiki.x.io/w/index.php?title=2020_Tampa_Bay_Rays_season&oldid=1257396423"