Rays Plan to Rely on Key Player With Series Against White Sox Looming

TAMPA, Fla. — On Monday night, the Tampa Bay Rays (52-48, fourth in the AL East) will face the Chicago White Sox (35-65, fifth in the AL Central) for the first time in the 2025 regular season.

Lucky for the Rays, they have someone familiar with the White Sox in catcher Matt Thaiss.

Tampa Bay acquired Thaiss from the White Sox in a trade on May 27 that sent minor league prospect Dru Baker to Chicago. After spending six of his seven seasons with the Los Angeles Angels, Thaiss’s stop in Chicago was brief, as he appeared in only 35 games. However, his knowledge will prove valuable when the White Sox travel to Tampa.

“I think they have a really good pitching staff, it’s a young rotation that has good arms,” Thaiss said in the Rays' clubhouse on Sunday. 

Thaiss also lauded Chicago’s hitters while highlighting veteran leaders.

“They got a good mix of some older vets that have been around, like Michael Taylor and Mike Tauchman, and then some prospects who can hit.”

Thaiss added that even though the Rays haven’t seen the White Sox yet, their level of preparation mostly remains the same.

It’s a sentiment Rays right-hander Shane Baz echoed, as he will be the first to toe the rubber against Chicago when he makes his 20th start of the season on Monday. Baz is 8-5 with a 4.17 ERA in 110 innings of work.

“I mean, [the preparation] is as extensive as it is for anybody else,” Baz said. “Young team, they've got some good players.”

Baz also plans to go to Thaiss for advice on their upcoming opponent.

“I’ll definitely pick his brain in the dugout,” Baz said. “He’s a really smart catcher. He’s been really impressive so far with his game planning and, obviously, he works hard and he’s a good player.”

“He’s very smart about how he wants to pitch guys; it’s nice to have that extra set of eyes.”

The Rays started the second half of the season on a high note after enduring a 4-12 slump in the weeks leading up to the All-Star break, earning their first series victory in nearly a month with a 4-3 win over the Baltimore Orioles on Saturday. 

Despite producing unsatisfying results, Thaiss and Baz believe the Rays will be fine moving forward.

“I think we were in every game, just couldn’t come out on top towards the end,” Thaiss said. “But, you know, nice to get back on track out of the break with these two games.”

“I feel like we kind of got a little reset button, which was awesome,” Baz said. “It seems like we kind of hit the ground running here, and I think we can get in another one of those grooves that we were in the first half.”