ST. PETERSBURG -- Circumstances helped usher the Rays into a new bullpen era in 2015. Now some of those ideas have been adopted throughout the Major Leagues -- particularly during the past two postseasons -- and Tampa Bay is continuing to explore better ways to line up its pitching from starter to closer for any given game.
In Kevin Cash's first year as Rays manager in 2015, he experienced firsthand why skippers get gray hair as injuries put several starters on the shelf in the early going and Alex Cobb missed the entire season due to Tommy John surgery.