'Filling the Zone' the Ultimate Game of Cat-and-Mouse For Rays Pitchers

DETROIT, Mich — It's the middle of the day on June 21, and it's hotter than blazes at Steinbrenner Field in Tampa. Ryan Pepiot is pitching for the Tampa Bay Rays, taking on the equally hot Detroit Tigers, who have the best record in baseball at the time.

And there's a moment. A big moment.

The Rays have staked Pepiot a four-run lead in the first inning, and he wants to get his boys back in the dugout. He got two quick outs, but then walked Tigers center fielder Parker Meadows, and catcher Jake Rogers singled. There was traffic on the base paths, the kind of moment the Tigers have taken advantage of all season.

The lineup rolled over to pesky leadoff hitter Colt Keith, and Pepiot knew he couldn't mess around. He started the at-bat with a perfect slider at the bottom of the zone, and Keith let it go by for a called strike. Pepiot followed with changeup just off the edge, hoping that Keith would expand the zone a bit. He didn't. 1-1.

Pepiot then fired a 96 mph fastball up in the zone that Keith fouled off, taking the count to 1-2. He went back to the changeup low, and it was a great-looking pitch right at the bottom of the zone. Keith checked his swing, and Pepiot didn't get the call. It's 2-2.

Pepiot looked in at catcher Danny Jansen, and heard the call in his ear. Let's double up wth the changeup. Pepiot threw it again, the ball darting low and away, but still in the zone. Keith hit a soft dribbler to first base. Jonathan Aranda caught it, and stepped on first. The threat was over.

The Rays would go on to win 8-3 that day, their fifth straight win against the best team in baseball after having swept the New York Mets — who held the title at the time — the previous weekend. Pepiot was brilliant, allowing just one run and three hits in five innings of work.

The Keith at-bat was just one example of the cat-and-mouse game that Tampa Bay pitchers play every game. Their game plan every day, without fail, is to ''fill the zone.'' Long-time pitching coach Kyle Snyder preaches it, and the pitchers do their best to follow the plan. Their stuff is so good that they can get hitters out with their best stuff over the plate.

They pick and choose their spots, and their sequencing. They keep hitters off balance, even when they know the Rays like to throw strikes. Opposing hitters try to be aggressive, but it doesn't work very often. Rays pitchers — especially their starters who haven't missed a turn all year — usually win these battles.

There's a lot that goes into it, too. These two teams just played two weeks ago, so there is familiarity between pitcher and hitter. There is a lot of game-planning, and counter-punching. Every at-bat is a battle of wits.

"It’s like a chess match, especially just playing them a couple of weeks ago and seeing what they did,'' Pepiot said Monday about the Tigers. "Now, were there any tells? Was there something I did a few times that he might be looking for? That’s how it is when you play someone every couple of weeks. You look deeper into it, to see what you can do.

“It’s still the same game. We’re still just trying to fill the zone, like we always talk about, just to get them out as quick as possible. We don't always guess right, of course, and it still comes down to execution. You have to make quality pitches. I feel like we do that pretty well.''

Tight bond within the rotation

The Rays are the only team in baseball that's had five guys make 18 starts this season. Pepiot will start the round of 19 on Tuesday night against the Tigers as we steam toward the All-Star break. They've all stayed healthy, and the rotation of Pepiot, Zack Littell, Taj Bradley, Drew Rasmussen and Shane Baz has done a lot of big things this year.

They are a crazy-close group too, spending a lot of time talking pitching — and all the challenges that come with it. It's the best thing about being a starting pitcher, playing the chess match over and over again.

“I think those nuances are what make pitching fun for a starter,'' said 29-year-old right-hander Zack Littell, who's the oldest starter of the five. "You’re always thinking your way through each guy, each at-bat. Relievers might not say the same thing. They’re just trying to overpower hitters with their best stuff, going right at guys.

“I think that’s what starters really enjoy, that game inside of the game, and getting guys out in different ways.’’

Part of that, too, is getting guys out in the zone with your best stuff. That's the Rays way, and always has been. And it's something that Kyle Snyder, who's been the Rays' pitching coach since 2018, harps on every day.

“It’s always been the Rays’ philosophy to use your best stuff over the plate — and trust it,'' Littell said. "Our starting staff does a really nice job of trying to spot trends with what hitters are trying to do. We really communicate well with each other.

“We’re all very different. Me and Taj are light years apart, but sequencing doesn’t change. There’s a lot of overlap in that sense, and I think we cover everything. Everybody’s kind of learning. We’re still kind of inexperienced in regards of total innings, especially guys like Baz and Taj. They could just overpower guys in the minor leagues, and there’s a lot more that goes into it up here. But they’re always learning. They’ve made big strides with game-planning, and you can see that.''

Pepiot said talking about how to attack hitters and sharing what looks right and what doesn't is half the fun of working together as a rotation. They're always talking with each other.

“It’s been fun pitching with this group and bouncing ideas off of each other. We’re really close, and we have fun,'' Pepiot said. “And when you're getting ready to face guys for the second or third time, you definitely want to go through the lineup again with what you did the first couple of times through in the last game. You want to make sure you’re not going first-pitch fastball to the same guys again. See what their usage tendencies were last time, and what kind of adjustments we need to make.

“It’s a little location based with the fastball, but you also want to pay attention to where they do the most damage, and staying away from those areas. Even if I go up and in with fastballs a lot, it’s still about finding spots to get to where they can do the least amount of damage.’’

The Rays have been through a lot of that this year. They've played the Yankees, Astros, Red Sox, Blue Jays and Tigers all twice in a two-week window. So it takes a little more to be ready to battle each specific hitters. There's a ton of work that going into a scouting report behind the scenes.

“Seeing them so soon, it’s a lot like, as a starter, facing a guy say three times in a game. Each time through, you’re trying to pay attention to their shift in approach from at-bat to at-bat, or in this case, game to game,'' Littell said. "If you get a guy with the same pitch two or three times in the previous game, you know they are going to have that in the back of their minds. I’m not saying you can’t go back to it, but it’s got to be set up properly and executed a little better.

“But there are definitely things you see when you face people multiple times. You see that a lot in division. The scouting report is what it is. Whatever their weaknesses are, they didn’t fix those in two weeks. They probably still have that, and our strengths are our strengths. At the end of the day, we’re going to continue to do what we do well.''

Different pitchers, but same goals

All five Rays rotation arms have made 18 starts this season. Baz leads in wins (8), Rasmussen in ERA (2.82), Littell in innings (110.2), Pepiot in pitches per start (90.2) and Bradley fewest homers per nine innings pitched (1.10).

They all have strengths, but they all also get batters out differently. Still, they can learn a lot from each other. And they do it every day.

“We’re all a little different style wise, and stuff wise, with Pep having the changeup and me the splitter,'' said Littell. who always pitches the day after Pepiot in the rotation. "But I can tell when a lineup is trying to take that pitch away from Pep, that they’re probably going to try to take that pitch away from me too.

"Ras and I talk a lot about our cutter, and when we’re having success with it — or not having success with it. You go into a game where you might have to make adjustments. It’s the subtle stuff that changes from game to game, whether it’s sequencing or location. But at the end of the day, it still comes down to execution. If we can execute a pitch, even if they know it’s coming, theoretically we should still be able to get them out. If one starter can see what they’re trying to do, a lot of us can use that going forward in a series. It’s not always easy to see it, but we use it as carryover for sure.''

Tight bond within the rotation

Different pitchers, but same goals

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