How effective were the Tampa Bay Rays at manipulating matchups and getting the most out of their roster? They had 18 players with at least 100 plate appearances. Only four players exceeded 500 PAs (Tommy Pham, Austin Meadows, Willy Adames, and Avisail Garcia).
The Rays’ philosophy refuses to replace an injured started with an inning-eating filler who will bloat the ERA. They come up with creative ideas like using a series of relievers since they put up better numbers than one plodding pitcher just eating up the innings.