Rays' back-end relievers look strong in spring debuts

PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. -- Had it been the regular season, Pete Fairbanks would have probably been resting easy in the bullpen, knowing the Rays wouldn’t burn him during a blowout loss.

This was a Monday in Spring Training, though, and Fairbanks and Colin Poche were slated for their Grapefruit League debuts during Tampa Bay’s 9-2 loss to Toronto regardless of the score. So instead of trotting out to a high-leverage situation, Fairbanks was simply excited for his first appearance of 2024.

“I would like to have located the fastball up a little better, but I was pleased with everything,” Fairbanks said. “I felt good, and now it's just dealing with the added stress level, the intensity and making sure we're ready to go win some ballgames once the year starts.”

Crunch time or not, Fairbanks’ results were the same: He hit 98 mph with his fastball and sat down the Blue Jays in order, collecting two swinging strikeouts during his perfect ninth. Poche, his setup man, was similarly efficient, fanning the first two batters he faced and coaxing a weak groundout from the third during his tidy eighth.

"It's always good to get back out there, pitch against someone not wearing a Rays uniform and get the juices flowing," Poche said. "Coming out of the first one healthy is really all I can ask for. I felt good today, so I'll call it a win."

Guys like Poche and Fairbanks were a big part of why Tampa Bay’s bullpen was so revered last season, and it makes sense that the Rays are protecting their arms early after the work they logged in 2023: Tampa Bay’s relief corps threw the third-most innings in MLB last season (658 1/3). The staff wasn’t just full of innings-eaters: The Rays’ bullpen had the most strikeouts (657) and fourth-most saves (45) in the American League and tied with the O’s for the most wins with 44.

Rotation, rotation
Zach Eflin worked a career-high 177 2/3 innings in 2023 so the Rays are also monitoring his workload. One of the club’s tactics is to provide extra rest between outings so far, but Eflin still feels like he’s right where he needs to be at this point in Grapefruit League play.

Spring stat lines, of course, don’t mean nearly as much as properly preparing for the season, and with eight MLB seasons under his belt, Eflin knows exactly which boxes he needs to check to enter Opening Day at full speed.

His debut, against the Braves on Feb. 29, was dedicated to working the corners. On Monday, his breaking ball looked especially sharp despite a final line that included eight runs (four earned) on eight hits (two homers) across four innings.

“The curveball was definitely better today. I’ve been working on that the past couple of weeks,” Eflin said. “It was nice to get that back to where it was last year.

“We’ll just continue to refine pitches, get them better and move forward.”

The Rays’ rocky defense also provided a good test of Eflin’s endurance, forcing him to weather a lengthy second frame followed by an ugly third during which Tampa Bay committed four errors to extend the right-hander’s time up during his 63-pitch outing.

Jet lag?
After all the fanfare of the weekend series against the Red Sox in the Dominican Republic, there were a few bumps as the Rays returned home.

Tampa Bay committed five errors against Toronto, all coming within the first three innings. It marked the most miscues by any team this spring and the second most in club Spring Training history. (The Rays committed six errors on March 4, 2007, also against the Blue Jays.)

“We've got to do a little bit better job of securing the baseball, certainly when Zach Eflin's out there [because] he's such a contact-oriented guy,” manager Kevin Cash said. “... We've got to be ready to make some plays behind him.”

Though Spring Training stats only date back to 2006, Monday marked just the third time in club history (including postseason play) that Tampa Bay was charged with five errors. The last time it occurred was May 12, 2012, against the Orioles.

The Rays have never had more than five errors in a regular season or postseason game.

He said it
“You get those little jitters, but at the end of the day, we've Pavloved ourselves into knowing what we're supposed to do, at least. Doing it is the hard part.” -- Fairbanks, on spring debuts