Glasnow Hear This

So, phase 3 of the new, cool, strange-as-hell Rays is underway, and...yeah, so far the first two were a little better.

A lot of the zaniness of previous  years has been toned down. Former long-man Ryan Yarbrough is now just a plain  old starter, no openers have been used yet, Oliver Drake is closing games in lieu of Diego Castillo, Jose Alvarado and Colin Poche, Charlie Morton's given up 8 earned runs over 2 starts, and we're only using one Lowe. Where's the fun in that?

So far, some of the new additions, like Jose Martinez, Yoshi Tsutsugo and Hunter Renfroe, are doing alright, and Brandon Lowe, Willy Adames and Kevin Kiermaier are continuing their usual routines. It's still a concise lineup, and I still think they should have kept Pham, but Renfroe isn't too much  of a downgrade. Meanwhile, Snell, Glasnow and Chirinos are stellar, the bullpen is as strong as ever [why did the Marlins give up Nick Anderson again?], and even Morton's losses still garner strikeouts.

Despite some recent losses, this is still a sharp team, and there's still a lot of depth to it, with people like Joey Wendle and Jose Alvarado doing solid auxiliary work. It's early, and the Yankees are still strong, but I expect the Rays to be among the AL's 8 playoff teams. Despite not being entirely to the caliber of the last two teams, they've still got enough of a spark to keep me watching.

Coming Tomorrow- Last year's home run champ. He's only got 1 so far.