Beyond the fact that they play their home games at Tropicana Field, Junior Caminero and the Tampa Bay Rays are loving life ahead of the American League Championship Series.
The AL East champions not only get home-field advantage, but they’ll also face either the Guardians or the White Sox, who will close their Division Series on Saturday night. Both teams are exhausted and have depleted their pitching staffs throughout the last week, and the results include a significant number of runs and walks allowed; Chicago allowed 25 walks over the series’ first 36 innings, and the Guardians’ 19 free passes weren’t much better.
Regardless of what happens in Game 5, neither team should feel overly optimistic about beating the Rays.
The Tampa Bay Rays already have a significant ALCS advantage over the Cleveland Guardians or Chicago White Sox
For as much as we objectively dislike the stadium and its catwalks, there’s no denying the Rays looked fully comfortable upon returning to the Trop. Kevin Cash’s club went 55-26 at home during the regular season and took both ALDS games from the Yankees.
Tampa Bay took four of six games from the White Sox, including a three-game sweep in April at Rate Field. Rays manager Kevin Cash praised the South Siders on Friday, noting that the team they faced in a July 31-Aug. 2 home series looked far different than who they saw in April.
The Rays had far fewer issues with the Guardians, outscoring them 20-8 and winning five of the six games. However, don’t dismiss Cleveland’s offense, even if it only mustered the league’s fifth-worst OPS; José Ramírez missing a month with a fractured left hamate bone certainly didn’t help matters, nor did his uncharacteristic .688 OPS.
"As far as the Guardians go, it feels like it’s kind of like a Yankees series where they’re always tight ballgames,” Cash told reporters. “Very well-played. Very well-pitched. Big, timely hits.”
You never look past a team that ranked seventh in walks and steals, especially not with Ramírez finally resembling his usual self. He opened the postseason going 4-for-15 with a homer, five RBIs, and a 1.056 OPS over the ALDS’ first four games.
We’re still amused that the NLCS features the heavy-spending Dodgers and the immensely talented Brewers. Meanwhile, the penny-pinching Rays will face either the scrappy Guardians or a White Sox team only two years removed from an MLB-record 121 losses.
We live in interesting times, don’t we?
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