We usually think of their payroll and Tropicana Field when the Tampa Bay Rays’ penny-pinching habits come up, but it’s time to bring Kevin Cash into the conversation.
Look, we like Cash as much as the next person, but he has some of the greatest job security we’ve ever seen. He’s been the Rays’ manager since 2015, yet this year marks only Tampa Bay’s second trip to the ALCS in that span. His over-reliance on analytics and reluctance to trust his gut — which is especially perplexing, given that he spent parts of eight seasons as a big-league catcher — is a key reason for the team’s lack of playoff success.
If you expected Cash to change things up this postseason, we’re not sure what would have brought about that line of thinking.
Between strange lineup choices and absurd pitching decisions, the Rays’ ALCS-opening loss to the Guardians felt inevitable. Only when you step back and evaluate the bigger picture do you ask whether Cash — and, by extension, one of the sport’s most stubborn organizations — will eventually realize their longstanding strategies don’t work.
We need to talk about Tampa Bay Rays manager Kevin Cash’s questionable decisions
The issues started before first pitch, when Cash sat speedy outfielder Chandler Simpson against left-hander Foster Griffin. We don’t understand the reasoning in sitting someone who hit .306 with a league-leading 46 stolen bases and six triples and reached base at a .333 clip during the regular season.
Although Simpson only went 1-for-9 in the ALDS, you’d think the Rays would want their tablesetter in the lineup. Righty Ryan Vilade hit cleanup, went 0-for-2 with a walk and was replaced by pinch runner Cedric Mullins in the sixth inning. Simpson pinch-hit for shortstop Taylor Walls in the ninth inning and promptly grounded out.
Cash and the Rays’ supposed “new-school” mindset channeled the old school by leaving Drew Rasmussen in to start the seventh inning. We’re all for pitchers working deep into games, but the two-time All-Star allowed a game-tying homer to catcher Patrick Bailey on the first pitch of the inning … and was pulled immediately.
“I felt good enough to go back out, and so I went out there and I aggressively attacked the big part of the strike zone, like I do countless times, over and over again,” Rasmussen said. “Unfortunately, it wasn’t in our favor.”
Cash has been around professional baseball for nearly 30 years, yet he had no problem taking his starter out after only a single pitch in the seventh inning. Why keep Rasmussen in the game when Tyler Wells and Cam Booser were ready to go?
Kevin Cash’s bullpen logic helped the Tampa Bay Rays lose Game 1 of the ALCS
Booser did his job perfectly upon relieving Rasmussen, recording all three outs on eight pitches. Sending him back out for the eighth would have been the smart move, seeing as he had a 1.98 ERA and allowed only six walks over 41 innings.
Cash instead turned to Wells, who posted a 1.50 ERA in 18 regular-season innings but hadn’t pitched since Sept. 12. Much to no one’s surprise, the veteran right-hander gave up two quick hits before inducing a ground ball to second. Rather than stick with Wells or go to another trusted arm, Cash brought Ian Seymour — he of the 4.21 ERA over 132.2 innings — in to preserve the 2-2 tie.
Oops. Cleveland first baseman Nathaniel Lowe drove both runners in with a single, which proved to be the difference long before the Guardians added three in the ninth. Nothing says keeping things close than having Cole Sulser, who had a 4.31 ERA and -0.3 bWAR across 56.1 innings, enter in a 4-3 game.
Playing in the Trop is bad enough, but Cash’s Game 1 management should have Rays fans deeply concerned about what lies ahead. But hey, at least they made it this far with such a minuscule payroll!
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