All-Star Break Coming at Perfect Time for Rays Ace

The All-Star Break could not be coming at a better time for a Tampa Bay Rays pitcher.

Jul 4, 2026; Houston, Texas, USA; Tampa Bay Rays starting pitcher Drew Rasmussen (57) pitches against the Houston Astros in the first inning at Daikin Park. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The first half of the regular season has featured several incredible performances from Tampa Bay Rays players.

Third baseman Junior Caminero has garnered a ton of headlines with his historic slugging at the plate. Designated hitter Yandy Diaz continues to dazzle with the bat. Closer Bryan Baker is having a career year, thriving in his new role.

All three of those players will be heading to the 2026 MLB All-Star Game this year. They will be joined there by ace Drew Rasmussen, who has to be thrilled that the All-Star break is on the horizon given his recent performance.

Heading into his start against the Houston Astros on July 4, Rasmussen was dealing. He had just won the American League Pitcher of the Month Award in June, giving the Rays a clean sweep with Caminero winning the Player of the Month Award for hitters.

Drew Rasmussen running out of steam to end first half

Jun 28, 2026; St. Petersburg, Florida, USA; Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Drew Rasmussen (57) throws a pitch against the Arizona Diamondbacks in the first inning at Tropicana Field. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

However, the Tampa Bay ace looks to be running on fumes, as his performance in July has been on the opposite end of the spectrum from what he was doing in June. A 2.45 ERA through his first 16 starts and 92 innings pitched has been inflated in his last two outings of the first half.

The Astros tagged him for five earned runs in five innings of work. He gave up six hits, but two of them were home runs to Yordan Alvarez and Yainer Diaz. That raised his ERA to 2.78, but an opportunity to get back on track was on deck.

Most times, pitchers don’t want to see the New York Yankees on their schedule. That isn’t the case for Rasmussen, who has dominated the Bronx Bombers in his career, producing a 0.89 ERA in 50.2 innings, surrendering only five earned runs.

That amount was more than doubled when he took the mound on July 9 in the final game of their four-game set. The Yankees rocked Rasmussen, recording seven hits in 2.1 innings pitched, producing six earned runs against him.

Drew Rasmussen's career numbers against the #Yankees are just stupid:

His 0.89 ERA (50.2IP, 5ER) in his career against the Yankees is the fourth-lowest mark by any pitcher against a single AL/NL opponent since earned runs became an official statistic in 1913.

— Ryan Bass (@Ry_Bass) July 9, 2026

After cruising through the first two innings, he ran into trouble in the third. Max Schuemann started things off with a double, which Ryan McMahon followed with a double of his own. After Austin Wells flew out, Trent Grisham had an RBI single and then Ben Rice took him deep for a two-run home run.

Already facing a 4-1 deficit, Rasmussen surrendered three consecutive singles to Jasson Dominguez, Cody Bellinger and Jose Caballero before manager Kevin Cash lifted him from the game in favor of Cam Booser.

The poor outing raised Rasmussen’s season-long ERA to 3.26, going up nearly a full run in his last two starts. This break could not have come at a better time, as it looks like he could use some time to regroup and rest up with some time off.