Tampa Bay Rays: Difficulty Vs. Righty Pitchers Brought Season Down

With 13 games left to play, the Tampa Bay Rays sit at 72-77, just the fourth-best record in the AL East. As it turns out, they will end up not too far away from what experts predicted pending a blistering finish. Of course, the way that they arrived at that record was not what people expected–as we remember, they once led the AL East with a 40-30 record. Marc Topkin discussed what came apart from there, citing a failure to win close games, injuries, bullpen issues, and the Kevin Jepsen trade as factors to blame.

Topkin’s piece was a good one, but I would like to add one additional factor: the Rays’ issues against right-handed pitchers. A statistic that has often been quoted is how well the…