About this time last year, many Rays fans were excited about the slew of top young arms coming up through the system.
Jose De Leon made his MLB debut with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2017, and was the centerpiece of the Logan Forsythe trade. Anthony Banda was the main piece in the Steven Souza Jr. trade with the Arizona Diamondbacks. And of course, Brent Honeywell (Jr.) was making his way through the Rays’ system, finishing as an MVP in 2017’s Future All Stars game, and being invited to 2018 Spring Training.
With only Chris Archer, and Blake Snell as true locks for the rotation, it seemed there were a lot of spots up for grabs Then, the darkest timeline happened.