Rays Key Relief Pitcher Getting on Track After Brutal Start

Early season struggles from a Tampa Bay Rays relief pitcher are beginning to be put behind him.

Apr 5, 2026; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Tampa Bay Rays relief pitcher Griffin Jax (22) throws to the Minnesota Twins in the seventh inning at Target Field. | Bruce Kluckhohn-Imagn Images

The Tampa Bay Rays got off to a rocky start this season in large part because of how much their bullpen was struggling.

On Opening Day against the St. Louis Cardinals, a six-run sixth inning was quickly undone by the bullpen, giving up eight runs in the bottom of the inning. In their second series against the Milwaukee Brewers, a 2-2 tie unraveled in the bottom of the eighth when six runs were surrendered.

It happened again in the series opener against the Minnesota Twins. A tie game quickly turned into a blowout with seven runs allowed in the bottom of the seventh.

A culprit in multiple meltdowns in the early going has been Griffin Jax. Acquired from the Twins in a trade ahead of the deadline last year, he was expected to be a major part of the Rays’ bullpen late in games.

Griffin Jax struggled mightily to start season

Sep 18, 2025; Tampa, Florida, USA; Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Griffin Jax (22) throws a pitch against the Toronto Blue Jays in the sixth inning at George M. Steinbrenner Field. | Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

But, after surrendering runs in three out of his first four outings, a change needed to be made. Some of his struggles were bad luck, with the defense letting him down at points, but he was never able to stop the bleeding, and things quickly snowballed.

Two saves were blown as he allowed eight runs, five of which were earned, in only 2.0 innings of work. In three out of four of those appearances, he failed to pitch a full inning, not getting a single out in the one against the Brewers.

Manager Kevin Cash seemingly wanted to give Jax a bit of a breather, and it has worked out magnificently for the talented right-hander.

He had three days of rest until his next outing and recorded two shutout innings against the Twins. Jax wasn’t called upon for four days until his next appearance in the series opener against the New York Yankees.

Griffin Jax finding rhythm on mound

Aug 27, 2025; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Tampa Bay Rays relief pitcher Griffin Jax (22) throws a pitch against the Cleveland Guardians during the tenth inning at Progressive Field. | Ken Blaze-Imagn Images

He came on in the sixth inning in relief of Steven Matz. For the second straight outing, he got the job done, firing a clean inning with two strikeouts, helping preserve a 3-2 lead at the time.

That is more like what Tampa Bay thought they would get when they acquired him from Minnesota. Jax has all of the tools to be a weapon out of the bullpen and is going to factor into the mix as a high-leverage and late-inning reliever.

Better days, more in line with the last two outings, are almost certainly on the horizon for him. In addition to the sometimes poor defense behind him, his batting average on balls in play is an unsustainable .375.

With an average exit velocity against of 82.7 mph and a hard-hit rate of 36.8%, both well below the MLB average, better days await Jax when the BABIP evens out.