Tampa Bay Rays relief pitcher Jason Adam. Nathan Ray Seebeck-USA TODAY Sports

Rays historic start paints promising picture for team's potential this season

By Adam Gretz | Last updated 5/4/23

After completing a sweep of the Pittsburgh Pirates on Thursday, the Tampa Bay Rays are off to one of the best starts of the modern era. The fast start paints a very encouraging picture for what the team could be capable of this season.

With Thursday's 3-2 win, the Rays are 26-6 through the first 32 games and four games better than any other team in the league. It is the type of start that baseball has not really seen in its history, and especially not recently.

Consider this stat from ESPN's Jeff Passan after Thursday's game.

The Tampa Bay Rays are only the seventh team in baseball history to start a season 26-6 or better -- and just the second since 1939. Five of those teams won 100-plus games. Four of them won the World Series and another lost in the World Series.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) May 4, 2023

The last team to get off to this strong of a start was the 1984 Tigers, who went on to win the World Series.

The Rays are so impressive because they have not shown any sort of a weakness so far.

Their +114 run differential is 45 runs better than any other team in the league, while they possess a dominant lineup and pitching staff.
Their 64 home runs are tops in the league, and 10 more than the second-place Los Angeles Dodgers. Their .875 team OPS is also 65 points higher than the second-place Atlanta Braves.

When the Rays are not dominating at the plate, they boast one of the league's best pitching staffs that still has the return of Tyler Glasnow looming at some point this season. They lead the league in ERA (2.96) and are the only team with an ERA below 3.52, while they allow just 1.11 walks and hits per inning (WHIP), also the best mark in the league.

History says Rays fans have plenty to be excited about.

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