My Two Cents: Nothing Tougher on Baseball Fans Than Dealing With Shaky Bullpen
The usually reliable Tampa Bay Rays bullpen is the worst in the American League so far this season, and the daily drama — good or bad — is tough on the heart. Emotions run high in close games for fans, and it's a tough way to survive every day.
One of the things that makes baseball so wonderful is that all the drama plays out on a daily basis for six months or more. You live and die every single day with your team, from April to October.
Every. Single. Day.
A lot of times, that daily follow of your favorite team can drain the life right out of you. The emotional roller coaster is real — very real — and it's not just on full display in October during the postseason. It's just as painful in April, too.
And what hurts the worst? There's no question that's watching a starting pitcher deal a gem over a couple of hours, and then have the bullpen come in and blow the game in a matter of minutes. It sucks the blood right out of you.
And that's just the way it works.
Take the case of the Tampa Bay Rays bullpen, and especially closer Pete Fairbanks, for instance. This is his seventh season in the big leagues, and he had 25 saves last year. He's been good, and was a big reason why the Rays made the playoffs again in 2023, advancing to the postseason.
This year, there's already been a few epic disasters, and it's been so bad that folks — including the Rays themselves — are questioning whether he can be trusted.
Here's two examples. On April 5 in Colorado, the Rays had one of the most thrilling rallies in recent memory. They scored five runs in the top of the ninth to take a 7-6 lead over the Rockies. Fairbanks came in to close out the deal, a sure win after a stunning rally. But he walked three straight batters, throwing 12 balls on 17 pitches and got yanked. Jason Adam came in, threw one pitch — one lousy pitch — and third baseman Ryan McMahon hit a grand slam for a 10-7 win.
Fairbanks then had three straight saves in four days, and a scoreless inning in Tampa Bay's 13-inning win over the Angels, and all seemed right with the world again.
That is until disaster struck.
Again.
On Wednesday night at Tropicana Field, the Rays once again rallied late, scoring twice in the bottom or the eighth to take a one-run lead over the Los Angeles Angels. So fun. Fairbanks came in, though, and gave up three singles and a walk and the Angels won 5-4.
It hurt so bad.
Fairbanks, who's a bit off the wall in a good way — a closer's tradition through the years — had a terrific interview after the loss. It was classic.
“No, I thought it generally sucked,'' Fairbanks said when asked about his performance. "I didn’t think it was a specific suck, I thought it was like an all-encompassing type of suck. We're going to try to rectify that, but for now I'm going to be pretty pissed about it.
"I'm not going to let it beat me up. I'll maybe give it until 10 (p.m.) It's 9:44 right now, so I'll give it 16 minutes of sulk and then get back on the bump and figure it out.''
But dealing with the disaster was not a 16-minute thing. It's been four days now. The Rays have played nail-biters on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, and Fairbanks has yet to make an appearance. Tampa Bay won Thursday afternoon, beating the Angels 2-1. Starter Ryan Pepiot pitched six great innings, allowing just one run and three hits, and Garrett Cleavinger, Phil Maton and Colin Poche all pitched a scoreless inning to seal the deal. Poche, not necessary a fan favorite either, got his second save of the season — and Rays fans exhaled.
On Friday in New York, starter Tyler Alexander pitched 5 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing just two hits. The Rays led 1-0 heading into the bottom of the seventh, and Chris Devenski came on to pitch. He allowed a walk, but then was a victim of two straight errors by the usually reliable Tampa Bay defense, allowing the tying run to score. Instead, Yankees shortstop Anthony Volpe had a two-run single and Juan Soto hit a two-run homer and the game got out of hand
Five unearned runs, and the Yankees won 5-3. Devenski wasn't good, but the errors didn't help, either.
There were more high blood pressure moments on Saturday. Starter Zach Elfin pitched six scoreless inning, allowing just three hits, but the game remained scoreless until the 10th inning, when the Rays scored twice and won 2-0. The bullpen was fabulous, with Poche, Maton, Adam and Cleavinger each pitching a scoreless inning, and allowing just one combined hit. Adam got the win, and Cleavinger the save.
Fairbanks didn't pitch at all. He's not feeling well, and didn't come to the park on Friday and Saturday for the showdowns with the Yankees. One day after another continues to pass. You need your closer. Fairbanks isn't there right now.
“Pete was dealing with some stomach issues (Friday) and didn’t even come to the ballpark,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said Saturday. “Then (Saturday), I think he just felt a little bit dead arm, dead body. Just not feeling good. So we felt like it was probably in our best decision to give him a blow, and let’s see how he comes in (Sunday).”
The high stakes bullpen drama has either been great or terrible, Rays fans are spoiled by all the success they've had through the years, making the playoffs for five straight seasons thanks to great pitching. Every day wears you out now, taking the good with the bad at the end of games.
They are 12-10 at the moment, 2.5 games behind the Yankees in the American League East race where all five teams are two games over .500 or better. It's kind of surprising, really, that they Rays have been as successful as they have so far.
And why?
Well, the Rays' bullpen has a 5.54 ERA, worst in the American League. The relievers have given up 15 home runs and 52 walks, both also worst in the league. That is NOT Tampa Bay Rays baseball. It can be so stressful, especially this week, with five straight games decided by two runs or less, and all with late rallies — win or lose.
It's going to be interesting to see when Fairbanks gets thrown back into the fire. The Rays need him, just like they also need guys like Cleavinger, Poche and Adam to get big outs late.
With their offense struggling a bit, too, the Rays are going to play a lot of close games this season. So they are going to need their bullpen to be better — much better. Great one day and terrible the next is a tough way to live.
If they are at their best again, Rays fans can breathe a little easier. And that's a good thing.
