Breaking down 'special' Rays season after postseason exit

This story was excerpted from Adam Berry’s Rays Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

ST. PETERSBURG -- Gathering his team together earlier than anticipated, with a more somber mood than anyone would have liked, Rays manager Kevin Cash spoke briefly in the home clubhouse at Tropicana Field.

He thanked Tampa Bay’s coaches, support staff and mostly the players for “the way that they kind of held everything together” throughout a tremendous but often trying season that ended with the Rangers sweeping the Rays out of the American League Wild Card Series last Wednesday night.

“Certainly you guys know the adversity that I feel like they overcame. It’s a pretty special group,” Cash said afterward. “Want more for them than maybe what we got.”

Before looking ahead at what comes next, let’s look back on the Rays’ 2023 season.

Defining moments: Bookend streaks -- 13-0 at the beginning and 0-2 to finish.

The Rays were the talk of baseball back in April, jumping out to a record-tying undefeated start then winning 30 of their first 39 games. They sailed into July with a 6 1/2-game lead in the AL East, only to lose it to the Orioles during a brutal July skid. Despite a 99-win season, they were limited to the AL Wild Card Series, where they were dramatically outplayed by the Rangers in a two-game sweep.

In the end, we’ll remember this season for its unbelievably energizing start and its unexpectedly early ending.

What we learned: The Rays truly have an incredible ability to tap into their depth, get creative and employ their “next man up” mentality to overcome whatever is thrown their way in the regular season. They sustained a significant number of key losses and still finished with the Majors’ fourth-best record, behind only the Braves, Orioles and Dodgers. But it still wasn’t enough to win a challenging division or advance in October.

Best development: There were plenty to choose from, individually. Yandy Díaz put it all together as one of the AL’s best overall hitters. Isaac Paredes emerged as an underrated slugger. Josh Lowe put all his talents on display. Luke Raley was a valuable left-handed bat and would have been their seventh 20-home-run hitter if not for his season-ending injury.

And their pitching machine keeps humming along. Zach Eflin delivered on his contract as a top-of-the-rotation starter. Waiver claim Zack Littell developed into a key stretch-run starter. Robert Stephenson turned into an elite strikeout artist as part of a bullpen they remade on the fly midseason.

Area for improvement: This is easier said than done, obviously, but they need to have a season where the roster they finish with more closely resembles the one that got them there. More often than not, the playoffs come down to which team is the hottest and healthiest in October. Three years in a row now, the Rays haven’t been one or the other.

In 2021, the Rays essentially ran out of pitching in the postseason. Last year, their lineup -- down several key players due to injuries – went missing. This time, they entered October without Wander Franco (indefinite administrative leave while under MLB investigation), Brandon Lowe (knee), Jason Adam (oblique) and top starters Shane McClanahan, Jeffrey Springs and Drew Rasmussen (elbow), among others, and checked out early once again.

On the rise: It’s hard to pick against the Rays’ No. 1 prospect, infielder Junior Caminero, who debuted on Sept. 23. The 20-year-old didn’t exactly dominate with Tampa Bay, going 8-for-34 with a home run and seven RBIs in seven regular-season games then coming up hitless in a pair of postseason pinch-hit appearances, and his future defensively isn’t entirely clear. But everyone who saw him recognized his immense talent, and it won’t be long before we see it again in the Majors.

Team MVP: Díaz, no question. The All-Star first baseman led the team in bWAR, earned the Tampa Bay BBWAA chapter’s Don Zimmer Most Valuable Player award and put together a season that should earn him plenty of top-five votes for the AL MVP Award.

Díaz won the AL batting title with a .330 average and complemented that with a .410 OBP and .522 slugging percentage, good for a .932 OPS and a 158 adjusted OPS+. He hit 22 homers and 35 doubles, drove in 78 runs and scored 95. He only struck out 94 times in 600 plate appearances over 137 games.

For all the ups and downs and unexpected changes this season brought, Díaz was the same throughout -- steady, sturdy and stunningly productive.