Other than that energizing eighth inning on Opening Day, there hasn’t been much to get excited about four games into the 2018 Tampa Bay Rays season.
That’s how it goes with an offense hitting .190 combined and scoring just over two runs a game.
But it’s only four games, right? And it can’t get much more anemic than this, right?
The Rays are going with a new-look lineup this year after offseason trades and free agency shook up the roster. All fans could do was sit back and watch as last season’s top four power bats, among others, became members of other organizations.
Not that this should make Rays fans feel any better or worse, but no position player is doing particularly well with their new home team.
Here’s a quick look at how ex-Rays have debuted with their new squads.
- Tampa Bay shipped longtime face of the franchise, third baseman Evan Longoria, to the San Francisco Giants in December. Longo’s transition to the National League has looked like this: 0-for-15 at the plate in four games with five strikeouts and no walks. He also committed one of the Giants’ three errors.
- Logan Morrison, who led the Rays in home runs last year with 38, isn’t faring much better with the Minnesota Twins. He’s started the season 0-for-11 through four games, striking out four times and walking twice.
- Outfielder Corey Dickerson, a first-time All-Star in 2017, was designated for assignment in February and then sent to the Pittsburgh Pirates. He went 1-for-6 in his Pirates debut, knocking in a run and scoring once, but went 0-for-7 in the next two games.
- Fan-favorite Steven Souza Jr. was also traded in February, but his Arizona Diamondbacks debut will have to wait after injuring his right pectoral muscle during spring training.
- The Rays traded for first baseman Lucas Duda last summer. After hitting 13 homers and batting .175 over 52 games, he left for the Kansas City Royals in free agency. Duda’s gone 2-for-10 in three games with the Royals, hitting one home run and driving in five.
- And then there’s Tim Beckham. The Rays traded the polarizing infielder to the Baltimore Orioles last summer and Beckham responded by tearing the cover off the ball at his new home. He cooled off toward the end of the year, but still hit .306 with 10 homers and 26 RBI over 50 games in Baltimore. Rays fans probably are a little more familiar with Beckham’s production at the start of this season: 1-for-15 with five strikeouts and no walks. He did make the most of that lone hit, however, by cranking a two-run homer Saturday against the Twins.
Tampa Bay’s offseason moves weren’t limited to position players, of course.
- Jake Odorizzi joined Morrison in Minnesota after a February deal and became the Twins’ Opening Day starter. Odorizzi tossed six strong innings of two-hit, shutout ball. He walked two and fanned seven.
- Alex Cobb’s longer-than-expected wait on the free-agent market ended in late March when Baltimore offered a four-year, $57-million deal. Without a full spring in a major-league camp, Cobb’s beginning the season with the Double-A Bowie Baysox of the Eastern League. According to a report in The Baltimore Sun, Cobb the right-hander isn’t expected to join the big-league club until mid-to-late April.
- Former Rays closer Brad Boxberger was traded to Arizona in November and is now beginning the season as the Diamondbacks’ ninth-inning man. He saw his first action Friday and secured the win over the Colorado Rockies. Boxberger needed 20 pitches and walked one but gave up no runs or hits and struck out two.
