Tampa Bay Rays Pitchers: 2015 Team Preview
Sep 5, 2014; St. Petersburg, FL, USA; Tampa Bay Rays starting pitcher Alex Cobb (53) throws a pitch against the Baltimore Orioles at Tropicana Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
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The ace of the rotation and probably the best SP in the division after Masahiro Tanaka (if healthy) is Alex Cobb who is coming off of two consecutive years of a sub 3.00 ERA. Cobb’s talents have been widely recognized, and it seems like he may only be going one or two rounds after some of the bluebloods. Then again, Alex Cobb was downright filthy in the second half of the season with a 1.79 ERA and 1.04 WHIP. Alex Cobb is a top 20 SP, and I would draft him accordingly as my SP2.
The real breakout candidate of this rotation is Drew Smyly who came over from Detroit in the David Price trade. Smyly is only 25 years old, but he pitched like a seasoned vet in his starts in 2014 for the Rays. In those seven starts, Drew Smyly went 3-1 with a 1.70 ERA, .76 WHIP, 4 K/BB, and struck out 44 in 47.2 IP. While Alex Cobb is now the staff ace, I expect Drew Smyly to not lag far behind.
Chris Archer and Jake Odorizzi both offer nice fantasy value and round out one of the better rotations in the game even without their former ace. The two righties offer a little less upside than Drew Smyly, but they will provide very positive contributions in almost all relevant pitching categories.
The Tampa Bay Rays have maybe the deepest staff outside of Washington, and Rays’ fans have to be excited about the fact that their quartet of starters are all between 25 and 28. I really like the fact that the top four Rays’ starters have a projected K% over 20%. While there may not be a marquee frontline starter leading the way, I think the Rays will finish in the top five in a multitude of pitching categories.
The ninth inning offers a little less clarity than the earlier innings due to the fact that Jake McGee will begin 2015 on the DL. Brad Boxberger is the logical candidate to fill in as the Opening Day closer, but this is a question that is not yet ready to be answered. If Brad Boxberger gets the gig, then he probably will be a top 10 closer when he is pitching in the ninth.
Tanner Bell of Smart Fantasy Baseball has created all of the projections seen in this post. You can read about how he develops his projections here. His projections are invaluable to this site. You can also visit his site at www.smartfantasybaseball.com.