ESPN's MLB Insiders Make Case For Tampa Bay Rays as Hottest Team in Baseball

TAMPA, Fla — After a 9-14 start to the season, the Tampa Bay Rays are emerging as one of the best teams in baseball. Now, the national media is taking notice.

In a recent episode of ESPN's Baseball Tonight, MLB senior writer Buster Olney said the Rays might be the best team in baseball, and ESPN's Paul Hembekides broke down why.

"I wrote down three reasons why I'm betting big on the Tampa Bay Rays, the first of which is, this is an infield performing like a top 5 unit in all of baseball," Hembekides said.

Hembedikes emphasized the .829 OPS of Jonathan Aranda, Brandon Lowe and Junior Caminero, the highest in the league.

"Now, I very conveniently left out shortstop because, of course, Taylor Walls can't hit at all, but he leads the major leagues among all players at all positions with 14 defensive runs saved," Hembekides said.

Hembedikes also applauded Tampa Bay's starting rotation, citing their durability and production as his second reason why he's betting big on the organization.

"The Rays rotation is giving them bulk," Hembedikes said. "418 innings through Wednesday lead the major leagues amongst starting pitching. Why is that such a phenomenal number? Because across the first 10 seasons of Kevin Cash's tenure, no team in baseball got fewer innings from their starting pitching than the Rays."

3 reasons I’m betting big on the Rays:
✔️ Infield performing like a top-5 unit
✔️ Starters providing innings in bulk
✔️ Head-to-head dominance vs best teams pic.twitter.com/60wT751CPM
— Paul Hembekides (Hembo) (@PaulHembo) June 21, 2025

Finally, Hembedikes praised Tampa Bay's record.

"We have proof of concept; this team was five games under .500 as recently as May 19. Since, they've won 20 of 27 with a +78 run differential," Hembedikes added.

Currently, the Rays have the best record in the MLB since May 20 at 22-8. Moreover, their run differential is now +76 after Saturday's 8-3 win over the Detroit Tigers.

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