Jun 19, 2025; St. Petersburg, Florida, USA; Tampa Bay Rays starting pitcher Drew Rasmussen (57) throws a pitch in the first inning against the Baltimore Orioles at George M. Steinbrenner Field. Jonathan Dyer-Imagn Images

Rays Starting Pitching Rotation Undervalued in Power Rankings

Originally posted on Tampa Bay Rays on SI
By Kenneth Teape | Last updated Mar 26, 2026 7:00 AM ET

Opening Day is here for the Tampa Bay Rays, who will begin the 2026 MLB regular season on the road against the St. Louis Cardinals.

Heading into the campaign, there are still a few question marks surrounding the team, namely, how good their offense will be. Their top three of Yandy Diaz, Jonathan Aranda and Junior Caminero are excellent, but questions remain about the other six spots.

If the Rays are going to be competitive this year, they need positional players to step up at the plate. Right now, the strength of the team is the pitching staff, but even that group isn’t very highly regarded heading into the year.

Jim Bowden of The Athletic (subscription required) shared his starting rotation rankings ahead of the season. Somewhat surprisingly, Tampa Bay landed in the bottom third of the league.

Rays rotation ranked No. 23 in MLB

The former MLB executive has placed the Rays at No. 23, which feels low based on the known entities in the group.

Drew Rasmussen was an All-Star in 2025 and Ryan Pepiot emerged as a reliable option last year as well. Acquired from the Los Angeles Dodgers in the Tyler Glasnow deal, Pepiot has proven to be a strong middle-of-the-order arm with some upside.

What will help elevate this group is the performance of Shane McClanahan. A two-time All-Star right out of the gate in his career, he hasn’t pitched in a Big League game since August 2023 because of Tommy John surgery and a pinched nerve issue in his left elbow.

He looked excellent during spring training. If he can regain his previous form, even with an abbreviated workload, it would give Tampa Bay a strong top three.

Tampa Bay has good organizational depth on the mound

Rounding out the group are Stevn Matz and Nick Martinez. They are replacing Shane Baz, who was traded to the Baltimore Orioles and Adrian Hauser, who signed a deal in free agency with the San Francisco Giants.

Matz and Martinez don’t possess the upside of Baz, but fit the mold as reliable veterans that the Rays like to round out their pitching staff with. Both are set to begin the season in the starting rotation and could be trade chips come the summertime, depending on how things play out.

Joe Boyle is going to get some starts early in the season with Pepiot on a short injured list stint. He is one of the exciting young arms the team has knocking on the door of the Major Leagues, along with top prospects Brody Hopkins, Ty Johnson, JT Nichols and Anderson Brito.

Any of those four could be in line for Big League starts if the need arises, or veterans are traded, should the playoffs be unattainable.

Boasting two All-Stars, an emerging No. 3 and two solid veterans in the rotation with some exciting young depth, the Rays should have been higher than No. 23 on the list.

This article first appeared on Tampa Bay Rays on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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