Just a week ago, the Tampa Bay Rays had a 7.4% chance of making the playoffs as they just won seven straight games. Unfortunately, according to Fangraphs, they now have a 0.2% chance of making the playoffs, so they have lost five of their last six games.
Now, the Rays are 72-74, 6.5 games. The Seattle Mariners, who swept through the rays a week ago, suddenly won six championships and tied for Al West lead with the Houston Astros.
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So after putting the series to the White Sox, the Rays will stay in Chicago, where they will play three afternoon games in a row with the Chicago Cubs, who currently beat the Advanced Wildcard with an 83-63 record.
The Cubs are led by two of the best outfielders of baseball, Pete Crow-Armstrong and Kyle Tuckers. Crow-Armstrong is a top-notch defender and may run 30-30 at the end of the season. He currently hits .251/.294/.490 and has a 28-hour and 34 SB hit rate, registers 114 WRC+ and gets 5.4 FWAR. Meanwhile, Tucker is a free agent and has a great season, hitting .270/.381/.472 with 22 hours and 25 SB, earning 140 WRC+ & 4.7 FWAR. The Cubs also have several other players, such as Nico Hoerner, Dansby Swanson, Carson Kelly, Michael Busch, Ian Happ and Seiya Suzuki.
On the mound, Matthew Boyd is incredible. After five seasons of bad performances with injuries, Southpaw has presented the best season of his 11-year major league career. Entering Friday's game, he had 2.92 ERA | 3.44 FIP and got a 3.6 FWAR on 166 1/3 IP. The rest of the rotation is a weakness for the Bears, but the bullpen has Cade Holden, Kaleb Tilbar and Brad Keller all offer solid seasons.
Uncluttered
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The top players of their careers have played for the Rays and the Cubs:
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The Rays Best Player on Offensive End Against the Cubs All-time (Minimum. 10 pa): Aubrey Huff: .583/.615/.833, 0 hours more than 13 pa
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The next four are Ben Zobrist, Wander Franco, Carl Crawford, and Cliff Floyd
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Rays were previously mostly transferred with bears:
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7/28/2024: Light Trading Isaac Paredes Go to the Chicago Cubs Christopher Morel, Hunter Bigge and Ty Johnson
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Rays first deal with cubs
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5/12/00: Light Trading Dave Martinez Go to the Chicago Cubs Mark Guthrie
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Possible pitchers are cast by Fangraphs
The first game
Friday, September 12
2:20 PM ET
RHP Shane Baz vs LHP Matthew Boyd
The second game
Friday, September 13
2:20 PM ET
RHP Drew Rasmussen vs RHP Colin Rea
The third game
Friday, September 14
2:20 PM ET
RHP Adrian Houser vs LHP Shota Imanaga