Now it’s time for Rays’ real battles with the start of AL East play (2025)

TAMPA — It seems like a blink since Kameron Misner’s opening day, walkoff homer, but the Rays already have played nearly 10% of their schedule.

The real challenge, in a way, begins Monday, when they will host the Red Sox in the first of 52 games against division opponents, with the Yankees — yes, as the visitors at Steinbrenner Field — to follow.

The American League East has been considered the toughest and most competitive division for a while (with some chatter about the NL West, despite the Dodgers dominance), and there is potential for every member to be a playoff contender this year.

“I think all five teams are very talented,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. “I think that if you catch them at the right time, it can be even that much more challenging.

“As we sit right now, the Yankees are the team for what they accomplished last year. A little bit different roster with them. It feels like a little bit different roster with the Red Sox. But I expect that the AL East will be very difficult and that we will have a lot of good head-to-head matchups.”

Each team made some notable offseason roster moves, each has had some early surprises and each has looked good and bad. That all five were within 2 ½ games of each other through Friday is probably a sign of what’s to come.

“It’s going to be a really, really close season,” said second baseman Brandon Lowe, the most veteran Ray. “There’s really not a weak link in the East right now. So, it’s just play your game.”

Closer Pete Fairbanks also sees it as “a pretty even bunch” that will stay tight and “test themselves” against each other. Some of the Rays’ most competitive and contentious games have been against their AL East foes.

“It’ll be fun,” said catcher Ben Rortvedt, a former Yankee. “There’s a lot of baseball to be played, but each game’s extremely important, especially when it comes to division rivals.”

As for the Yankees returning to their spring stadium Thursday as guests and walking into the spartan visitors clubhouse compared to their plush, state-of-the-art accommodations on the first-base side?

“I know that I’d love to throw some joking complaints if I were in their shoes, so I’m sure that there might be some grumbles,” Fairbanks said. “I liken it to when I went to college and my sister immediately took my room at home. So then I’m at home, but I’m not at home. So it is what it is. It’s part of the gig. This wasn’t a choice. This was very much a Hurricane Milton-inspired turn of events for all parties. …

“But I feel it’s only natural that there’s at least a couple grumbles about it.”

Pulling the pin

You may have noticed when a Rays player gets on base with a hit, he gestures to the dugout, mimicking pulling the pin and tossing a grenade.

As part of their push for more team-wide uniformity, the Rays decided to adopt a common celebration for hits, with homers still up to the individual.

The grenade toss idea came from Rortvedt, with an assist from Josh Lowe.

Rortvedt explained that he and fellow catcher Danny Jansen had been talking about being in a foxhole with the pitchers and having that mentality, which led to discussing “going to war for your guys.”

So, when discussing celebration options in a hitters meeting, Rortvedt brought up that theme, said something about jumping on a grenade for the team, and Lowe suggested using the grenade toss.

“Pretty simple, actually,” Rortvedt said. “It wasn’t too deep.”

Ticket tales

Friday was the Rays’ 10th game at Steinbrenner Field and the 10th time they announced a sellout of 10,046.

Skeptics have noted empty seats, sometimes full rows, and suggested creative accounting or conspiracy theories for announcing those games as sellouts. Also notable, a fair amount of tickets sometimes are still available on the team website at game time.

How can that be? Absent full transparency into the Rays’ process, there are a couple of factors to consider:

MLB policy is to count tickets distributed, not actual people in the building (and there are no-shows at all events); the Rays are required to set aside a certain amount of tickets for both teams, umpires and MLB personnel that may go unused or returned late and then listed for sale; some fans may be hanging out in social areas rather than their seats; there are heavily discounted tickets on resale sites for some games, suggesting fans had other plans or scalpers misjudged the market; the high-demand/low-capacity thing is new for the Rays, and they are making adjustments to pricing and process as they go.

Rays rumblings

Angels star Mike Trout, who uncharacteristically misplayed a ball in rightfield Tuesday, told reporters the low Steinbrenner Field lights were a factor: “It’s dark, for sure. No doubt. Once the balls go above the lights, it’s dark.” … CNBC joined the franchise valuations business, pegging the Rays at $1.4 billion, ahead of only the Marlins ($1.2 billion). Forbes had the Rays at $1.25 billion and also 29th. … Bleacher Report’s one-word description of the Rays’ start to the season: “lacking.” … Social media video of self-promoting ball hawker Zack Hample taking pictures and GoPro video of the Steinbrenner Field scoreboard video of his seeming (though not official) interference with Christopher Morel’s attempted home run-robbing catch Tuesday is a bit much. … The last time before this season the Rays started 5-7 or worse was 2021, and they won 100 games. … Outfielder Aidan Smith, acquired from Seattle in July’s Randy Arozarena trade, joined MLB Pipeline’s Top 100 prospects, the sixth Ray on the list. … Former Rays manager Joe Maddon and PR chief Rick Vaughn are doing a books signing event April 21 from 6-8 p.m. in Ybor City; see tampabaseballmuseum.org. … In what presumably is not an official sponsorship, the Scores Gentlemen’s Club & Prime Steakhouse near Steinbrenner Field is promoting itself as “Tampa Bays baseball headquarters.” … The Rays, who already had three presidents, now have 19 vice presidents, with Brennan DiChiara (business strategy & analytics) and Sandy Sternberg (concessions & retail) reaching that level in recent promotions/title changes. Also retitled: Kenzie Dill, director, public affairs & corporate communications; Jason Gray, senior director, financial planning & analysis; Kat Lucas, director, game presentation; Karen Sanborn, senior director, accounting; and Kaitlyn Young, director, video production.

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