Rays could use resurgence from their All-Stars

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.

HOUSTON -- We're going to spend a lot of time over the next few days talking about who the Rays deal for, or don’t, before Tuesday’s Trade Deadline. But the Rays’ most important players at this critical point of the season are probably still their four All-Stars: Yandy Díaz, Randy Arozarena, Wander Franco and Shane McClanahan.

You could make a strong case for any of the four as Tampa Bay’s first-half MVP. Now, each player is facing notable adversity as the club has fallen out of first place in the American League East.

Arozarena and Franco have slumped badly, playing big parts in the lineup’s overall downturn during a 5-15 start to this month. Limited by a back injury before the All-Star break and frustrated by one rough inning last time out, McClanahan enters tonight’s series opener in Houston with a 7.02 ERA over his last four starts. And Díaz is dealing with left groin tightness, which left his availability uncertain heading into Thursday’s off-day.

We’ll start with Arozarena and Franco, two stars capable of reviving a Rays lineup that has scored three runs or fewer in 12 of 20 games this month. Franco is hitting just .162/.241/.270 with 18 strikeouts this month, while Arozarena is at .171/.210/.289 with more strikeouts (23) than total bases (22).

They’re hardly the only hitters slumping, but they are two of Tampa Bay’s most important players. What’s gone wrong? Manager Kevin Cash recently offered his assessment, concluding with the fact that he is “very, very confident both of them are going to do what’s needed to get going again.”

“I think with Randy … he’s kind of in that situation where maybe he’s taking strikes [while] swinging and expanding on balls,” Cash said. “Randy knows how important he is to our team, and he's probably put some added pressure [on himself] to go up there and do more than needed. You don't want to take that away from him, because he is such a big part.

“With Wander, I do think it's a little bit on Wander to try to find a way to make that adjustment and recognize that they're going to soft stuff below the zone. And he's got that ability to put everything in play. Sometimes you almost wish Wander would swing through it and/or foul it off rather than put it in play.”

Arozarena has seen a ton of breaking balls this month -- 40.1 percent of the pitches thrown to him, according to Statcast -- and he’s batting just .032 with 13 strikeouts and a 42 percent whiff rate against them. Meanwhile, Franco has combined a declining line-drive rate with rising swing, whiff and strikeout rates, losing the selective approach that made him such an all-around threat in April.

There is perhaps less concern regarding McClanahan, who looked excellent in his first start back from the injured list then dealt with an uncharacteristic five-run fourth inning against the Orioles on Saturday.

“You’ve got to have a quick memory. You can be frustrated, but it’s like a 24-hour rule,” the lefty said. “You get over it and move on, and you forget about it [and] get to the next one.”

Díaz struck a somewhat optimistic tone after undergoing an MRI on Wednesday, saying the imaging showed nothing serious. But he still felt tight and sore as of Wednesday afternoon and acknowledged the injury “might linger a little bit” even as he hoped to avoid the IL.

Díaz has been immune to the Rays’ July swoon thus far, hitting .328/.391/.500 with a team-leading 10 RBIs this month. That would make losing him for any sort of extended stretch that much more painful.

“I’m going to do everything I can to work and get the treatment so that I can avoid the IL and I can keep on playing,” he said through interpreter Manny Navarro.