Press Box Documents › bit.ly/3f0l9jz TAMPA BAY RAYS (6-9-0) at PITTSBURGH PIRATES (8-7-1) RH Tyler Glasnow (0-0, 3.18) vs. RH Mitch Keller (0-0, 12.00) Wednesday, March 17, 2021 First Pitch: 1:05 p.m. Location: LECOM Park TV: MLB Network Radio: None Spring Game No.: 16 vs. AL Opponents: 4-7-0 vs. NL Opponents: 2-2-0 Home Games: 5-3-0 Road Games: 1-6-0 Day 28 of Spring Training 15 Days Until Opening Day—Thursday, April 1 at Miami Marlins (4:10 p.m.) PRONUNCIATION GUIDE To hear Rays coaches and players pronouncing their names in their own voices, visit raysbaseball.com/pronunciation. UPCOMING PROBABLE PITCHERS & BROADCAST SCHEDULE Upcoming Games Time (ET) Probable Pitchers (Rays vs. Opp.) TV & Radio Wed., 3/17 at PIT 1:05 p.m. TB—RH Tyler Glasnow, RH Nick Anderson, RH Chris Mazza, RH Chris Ellis, RH Stetson Allie, LH Brian Moran, RH Louis Head; MLB Network PIT—RH Mitch Keller, RH Chase De Jong, RH Richard Rodriguez, RH Michael Feliz, RH Kyle Crick, RH Clay Holmes Fri., 3/19 at BOS 1:05 p.m. TB—TBD; BOS—TBD None Sat., 3/20 at MIN 6:05 p.m. TB—TBD; MIN—RH Kenta Maeda, RH Hansel Robles, LH Brandon Waddell, LH Andrew Albers WDAE 95.3 FM/620 AM ROSTER MOVES—Yesterday the Rays made their second round of spring Ê In 2020, three players who entered spring training as non-roster cuts, reassigning RH Joe Ryan to minor league camp and optioning nine invites made the Opening Day roster…incl. postseason, nine non- players to minor league camp: INF Vidal Bruján, RH Brent Honeywell roster invites spent time on the Rays active roster last season. Jr., OF Josh Lowe, LH Shane McClanahan, LH/1B Brendan McKay, INF Kevin Padlo, RH Luis Patiño, RH Drew Strotman and INF Taylor Walls… SPRING THINGS—The Rays have won back-to-back spring games on the these moves reduce the spring roster to 53 active players. heels of a 5-game losing streak…this matches March 3-4 vs. PIT, at MIN for their longest winning streak of the spring, and today they will be at- SINGLE-GAME TICKETS—The Rays have announced single-game ticket tempting to win three straight for the first time since March 3-5, 2020… information for the first two homestands…tickets will be available in so- the Rays are one of two Grapefruit League teams (Braves) without a tie. cially distant seating pods of up to six seats…to accommodate 6 feet of Ê Yesterday the Rays defeated the Orioles, 7-1, in a game reduced separation between pods, the 300 Level of Tropicana Field will be re- to 7 innings…all 7 runs came in the 2nd inning, including a 3-run opened, and the overall capacity will be limited to about 9,000 fans. homer by C Mike Zunino over the tiki bar in left-center…LH Ryan Ê Season members have access, based upon their tenure and mem- Yarbrough started and got the win with 3.1 scoreless innings. bership level, to purchase tickets through an exclusive online pre- sale…single-game tickets for the first two homestands will go on RAYS vs. PIRATES—This is the second of two meetings between the two sale to the general public on Friday, March 26, at 10 a.m. in the MLB clubs this spring, following a 3-1 Rays win on March 3 at home…the Rays Ballpark app and at raysbaseball.com, subject to availability. haven’t faced the Pirates in the regular season since going 1-2 at PNC Park Ê Fans will be asked to participate in health and safety measures by in 2017…the Rays were scheduled to host the Pirates on Opening Day in wearing face masks at all times, except while actively eating or 2020 until the COVID-19 shutdown resulted in a revised schedule. drinking in their seats, and washing hands frequently. Ê Pirates Manager Derek Shelton is one of three current managers Ê This morning the Rays announced Drive to Opening Day, a new who are former members of Kevin Cash’s coaching staff, along drive-thru event in the Tropicana Field parking lots that replaces with Charlie Montoyo (Blue Jays) and Rocco Baldelli (Twins)…he the team’s annual Fan Fest…see separate release for more info. spent parts of seven years on the Rays staff as the hitting coach. ON THE WEB—The 2021 Rays Media Guide is now available at mlbpress- TODAY’S STARTER at PIT—RH Tyler Glasnow (0-0, 3.18 ERA) box.com (login required), rayspressbox.com (using username rays\media Ê 2020 Regular Season: 5-1, 4.08 ERA (57.1-IP, 26-ER) in 11 starts and password R@ys1998#) and bit.ly/3t73SkH (no login necessary). Ê 2020 Postseason: 2-3, 6.28 ERA (28.2-IP, 20-ER) in 6 starts Ê In 2020, led the Rays with 57.1 IP and 91 SO and tied for 2nd with 5 INCHING CLOSER—Two weeks from tomorrow the Rays begin defending wins behind RH Pete Fairbanks (6)…went 5-0 with a 3.00 ERA (42- their third AL East title and second AL pennant, with a season-opening IP, 14-ER) and 64 SO in his last 7 starts beginning Aug 19 at NYY. 6-game road trip to Miami (3) and Boston (3)…it marks the first time the Ê His active 5-game winning streak is his longest since winning a Rays open on the road since 2009, ending the AL’s longest current streak career-high six straight decisions from March 30–May 3, 2019. of Opening Day games at home…it will be the first time the Rays face a NL Ê His 91 SO were 4th in the AL behind CLE Shane Bieber (122), CWS opponent on Opening Day, after the COVID-19 pandemic prevented the Lucas Giolito (97) and NYY Gerrit Cole (94)…min. 50 IP, his 14.28 Rays from opening the 2020 season against the Pirates…it will be only the SO/9 IP ratio led the majors and ranked 2nd in franchise history. fifth time the Rays will face a club outside of the AL East on Opening Day. Ê Held batters to a .120 avg. (10-for-83) in at-bats ending with the Ê The Rays begin a 7-game homestand on April 9 vs. NYY, the fifth curveball, 5th in the majors (min. 25 AB)…recorded 48 SO on a time the Rays host the Yankees in their home opener…seventeen swing-and-miss against his curveball, most in the majors…totaled 58 of the Rays first 29 games of the season will be at Tropicana Field. SO with the pitch, 2nd in the majors to HOU Framber Valdéz (60). Ê This morning, Manager Kevin Cash announced Tyler Glasnow as Ê The Rays won his first 3 starts of the postseason and lost the last the Rays Opening Day starter (April 1 at MIA)…it will be his first three…yielded 9 HR, a major league record for a single postseason… career Opening Day start, fifth consecutive Opening Day roster in Game 2 of the ALDS vs. NYY, recorded a Rays postseason-record and fourth as a member of a starting rotation…he started the Rays 10 SO…started the decisive Game 5 of the ALDS opposite Gerrit fourth game in 2020, third game in 2019 and opened the 2018 sea- Cole…faced the Yankees once through the order and did not allow son in the Pirates bullpen after starting their sixth game in 2017. a run or hit, but walked two and got 2 outs on 3-0 pitches. TWO DISTINCT ERAS—Since becoming the Rays in 2008, the Rays own MINOR MATTERS—The Rays enter the 2021 season ranked by Baseball the 5th-best record in baseball at 1,081-924 (.539) and have made six trips America, Baseball Prospectus, ESPN and The Athletic as the No. 1 farm to the postseason, incl. three AL East division titles (2020, 2010, 2008) and system in the game…the Rays will attempt to complete the sweep when two World Series appearances (2020, 2008)…during this span, only three MLB.com releases their organizational rankings in mid-March…MLB.com clubs (Dodgers, Yankees, Cardinals) have reached the postseason more placed eight Rays prospects on its preseason Top 100, most of any team. often, and only two (Dodgers, Giants) have competed in more World Se- Ê INF Wander Franco is the consensus No. 1 overall prospect in the ries…the Rays have seven 90-win seasons since 2008, a number matched minors…he became the fourth player to rank as Baseball America's by only three other teams in baseball: Dodgers (8), Red Sox (7) and Yan- top prospect in consecutive years…he followed OF Bryce Harper kees (7)…this success comes after the Devil Rays amassed the majors’ (2011-12), C Joe Mauer (2004-05) and OF Andruw Jones (1996-97). worst record at 645-972 (.399) over the club’s first decade of existence. Ê Last month, MLB announced a modernized minor league sys- Ê The Rays enter the 2021 season on the heels of the second AL pen- tem, with each major league club providing players and staffs to nant in team history…in 2020, the Rays went 40-20 (.667), the best their four affiliates—one at each of the Triple-A, Double-A, High- winning pct.