FLUSHING, NY — Prior to their Friday night come from behind 7-5 win over the Mets at Citi Field, the Tampa Bay Rays’ last eight games had been decided by two runs or fewer. They lost their last two at Boston and were hanging in there with the first place Yankees in the American League East.
But it’s always been unexpected pitching and good defense that have been a trademark of the Rays, it seems every year they are in contention and as the season almost approaches the midpoint it’s no different. As a team, the Rays don’t hit many home runs but unexpectedly are tied for second in the league (31) since May 20.
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However the Rays know how to take the extra base. They get on base, tend to cause opposing pitchers to force two disengagements, excel at getting the steal, and putting runners in scoring position. Kameron Misner gave the Rays a league leading 97th in the eighth, 10 more than the Brewers and on pace with 228 which would be most in the majors since the 1993 Montreal Expos.
They must be doing something right. Manager Kevin Cash attributes stolen base success to a roster makeup of eyeing down the pitcher, common denominator of a cat and mouse game. Seriously, the Rays seem to be winning with the fundamentals of base stealing. It has led to late inning wins, a team that could be the Yankees closest threat or at best vying for an AL wild card.
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They weren’t expected to be here, (37-32) a game behind the second place Blue Jays. Only 5-½ games separate the Rays from the Yankees. Sure there is plenty of season left and stealing bases makes for interesting baseball.
And coming to a city near you because a majority of their games in the second half will be played on the road as their temporary home in Tampa (George Steinbrenner Field) is not conducive for an arid climate and constant threat of storms.
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Doesn’t matter to the Rays. Get on base, a lineup that gets the green light to run and steal.
“Two is huge,” says Rays José Caballero about a rule change that was implemented three years ago, also a MLB strategy of decreasing game time length. He also attributes bigger bases with an extra inch and video replay review.
“Kind of helping a lot,” he said about the rule changes “Big thing is disengagement, only two times have to play mind games,” referring to the pitcher and batter. Pitcher surpasses two (disengagement) and a balk is called that automatically advances the runner.
And apparently the rules are playing perfect for Caballero, the 27 year old Panamanian leads the majors with 25 steals in 67 games and outpacing the Pirates’ Oneil Cruz (24) as of Friday—now tied at 25 before play on Saturday. Only Carl Crawford has reached that pace faster in franchise history. Caballero is on pace for 60, a record Crawford set in 2009.
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In April on their first visit to Yankee Stadium, the Rays swiped a season-high six stolen bases. Caballero produced a run in the second inning with a single to right. He would advance to second on a fielder’s choice and later steal third, scoring on a sacrifice fly to center.
It’s those little things he refers to that win ball games. The Mets have led baseball in preventing the steal, though attributed to backup catcher Luis Torrens who received a bulk of playing time when starter Francisco Álvarez went down with an injury and missed significant time.
But it all comes down to winning ball games, the steal has moved the Rays to a different level.
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Perhaps old school baseball instead of swinging for the fences and driving in multiple runs. The rules have changed and base stealing for the Rays is reminiscent of Hall of Famer and all-time stolen base leader Rickey Henderson.
“Try and be in scoring position and score runs is main purpose,” says Caballero, the 2024 American League leader in stolen bases. “Though my goal if It, reach it try to get a little more?
And as he said, helping the Rays to generate runs is a main goal.
Rich Mancuso is a senior writer and contributor at LatinoSports.com – X: @Ring786, Facebook.com/Rich Mancuso
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