ST. PETERSBURG -- When the Rays gathered inside the visitors’ clubhouse at Busch Stadium for a meeting before their Opening Day matchup with the Cardinals, nobody seemed to be expecting much of them.
Nobody, that is, except for themselves.
Widely picked to finish last in the American League East after a pair of disappointing seasons and a typical Tampa Bay offseason, the Rays felt from the beginning that they were going to be more competitive than anticipated. They believed there was too much talent on their roster and too much chemistry inside their clubhouse to fade away like they did the previous two years.
President of baseball operations Erik Neander vocalized those sentiments in a rare preseason speech to the team in St. Louis.
“It was sincere. Just shared a message that we believed. That was it,” Neander said. “Don’t do it every year, but felt it was important to let them know.”
On Friday night, a season that began with confident speeches took a turn toward champagne showers. With a 3-1 win over the Astros at Tropicana Field capped by Junior Caminero’s 40th home run of the season, an electrifying walk-off shot into the left-field seats, the AL-leading Rays became the first team in the Majors to clinch a spot in the postseason.
Do you believe in them now?
“They might have thought I was an idiot, but we did have a genuine belief that this team was a lot tighter with the other four [AL East] teams than certainly the public had it,” Neander said. “No matter what happens from here, they’ve proven that to be correct.”
Before the Rays popped some bottles, poured beer all over each other and danced around their clubhouse, manager Kevin Cash reminded the team of Neander’s preseason message and congratulated it on validating that belief.
“Very excited. Very impressed and proud and encouraged with this group. It’s been pretty consistent all season long how special we thought this group was, and they’ve just gone out on the field, night after night, and backed it up,” Cash said.
“The guys are pumped in there, rightfully so. We’re in. I think they all acknowledge we want to continue this, but we’re going to celebrate the heck out of it tonight.”
The Rays still have bigger goals, namely holding off the Yankees and Red Sox to win their first AL East title since 2021 and making a deep run into October after three straight early exits from 2021-23. But they have secured a place in the playoffs for the 10th time in franchise history and the first since ‘23.
The Rays have often said they do their best work when little is expected of them. Add this season to the evidence in favor of that argument, even if they were higher on their own odds than the publicly available projections and predictions.
“I think it instilled a lot of confidence in where Erik stands, where the front office stands and this coaching staff stands. I think that's great for players,” said starter Nick Martinez, who has made an incalculable impact on the mound and in the clubhouse since signing with the Rays in February. “And they were, from the beginning, expecting us to win and be a good ballclub. I think that set us off in the right direction.”
“Shoot,” added starter Drew Rasmussen, “it’s one of those things that has unfolded the exact way they were talking about it Day 1.”
The Rays (88-59) hold a three-game lead over the Yankees (85-62) in the division with 15 left to play, including four at Yankee Stadium to begin the final week of the season. But if the season ended today, Tampa Bay would be the top-seeded team in the AL field.
“Really, really happy. This feels a lot more special than some of the other ones, just because of everything we’ve gone through,” veteran DH Yandy Díaz said through interpreter Kevin Vera. “Look, the job’s not finished. We still have a big title in mind with winning the division.”
Nobody can argue that they haven’t earned their place in the postseason. The Rays have spent 116 days leading the AL East, and they’ve held the AL’s best record for a franchise-record 115 days and counting.
“We haven’t made the postseason the last two years, but it feels great to be back,” Caminero said through Vera. “It’s just such a great feeling. This group is so special.”
And remarkably well-constructed, even if nobody else seemed to realize it in Spring Training.
The top of their lineup is loaded with talent, led by an AL MVP candidate in Caminero and the perennially underrated Díaz. The bottom of the order is a relentless combination of contact hitting and speed, both personified by Chandler Simpson. With Rasmussen at the front of the rotation and All-Star closer Bryan Baker at the back end of the bullpen, Tampa Bay’s pitching staff has been one of the best in the game.
Neander and the Rays’ front office bolstered their roster with a trio of key Trade Deadline additions in catcher Liam Hicks, starter Freddy Peralta and reliever Tyler Wells. And their unheralded acquisitions have delivered key contributions, like the game-tying homer Victor Mesa Jr. hit in the fifth inning of Friday night’s clincher.
They have benefitted greatly from a return to a rebuilt Tropicana Field, their home dome, after the damage caused by Hurricane Milton forced them to spend last season outdoors at Tampa’s George M. Steinbrenner Field. That made it all the more meaningful to clinch at home, which they hadn’t done since 2021.
“I’m so thrilled for this whole group. It’s been a special group all the way since Port Charlotte,” said Rays CEO Ken Babby, part of the ownership group that assumed control of the club over the offseason. “Erik and Kevin, the whole staff, they’ve just done an incredible job. It’s just the beginning for this group.”
And the camaraderie the Rays saw as early as Spring Training has sustained them throughout the season, breeding positivity and a selfless style of play that has translated into the franchise’s sixth postseason appearance since 2019.
“The way it’s played out is something we spoke about in the spring,” Neander said, “but it’s still hard to go out and do it.”
Now, the goal is to keep doing it in October.