Rays manager Kevin Cash at center of another controversial World Series pitching move

From a big-picture perspective, it is really hard to find much fault with Tampa Bay Rays manager Kevin Cash. 

The team has been wildly successful during his tenure, and 2026 was the second time he led his team to the American League pennant. 

But in both of those World Series appearances, he has been in charge of some key pitching decisions that have left him open to criticism. 

It played out that way again before and during their Game 5, 4-1 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers on Wednesday night.

Tampa Bay Rays' handling of Drew Rasmussen leaves them open to criticism

The Rays made the decision to start their ace and best starter, Drew Rasmussen, for Game 5 on Wednesday night, and on the surface that seems like the smart and sensible thing to do when your season is on the line. 

He's the guy you want on the mound in the biggest moment. 

The problem is the Rays had to pull him after just four innings and only 48 pitches because he was working on just three days' rest. At the time of Rasmussen's exit on Wednesday, he allowed just two hits, only one run, and had struck out four batters. He looked more than capable of going longer and giving his team a chance.

As soon as he was pulled in the top of the fifth inning, the Rays bullpen immediately started to implode and allowed three consecutive hits to the bottom of the Milwaukee lineup, and one run, before allowing two more runs in the top of the sixth inning.

At that point it was a 4-0 game, and for all intents and purposes, it was probably over. As well as the World Series. 

So why did the Rays have to remove Rasmussen so early? 

It's because he was only going on three days' rest, having started Game 2 of the series, instead of Game 1. 

And that is really where the whole situation started for the Rays.

The decision to start Nick Martinez in the opening game of the World Series instead of Rasmussen seemed a little curious at the time, and in hindsight it seems to have been a little damaging. The idea in starting Martinez was so that they could give Rasmussen an extra day of rest after a heavy workload through the first part of the playoffs. While that is a sensible argument, even if he had started Game 1, he would have still been going on his normal day's rest. The Rays ended up throwing the whole rest thing out the window on Wednesday by asking him to come back on three days for a very limited start.

If they had not overthought it in Game 1, they may have had an opportunity for Rasmussen to pitch deeper into Wednesday's game and maybe give them a better chance.

Would it have made a difference? Maybe not. They only scored one run, and it did not come until the bottom of the ninth inning. But it is a what-if question that can now be asked for most of the winter. 

It is especially tough for Cash because the previous time his team was in the World Series back in 2020, he was involved in the decision to pull starter Blake Snell in another elimination game when he was cruising through the game. The bullpen immediately fell apart upon entering the game, resulting in the Rays losing the World Series. It is not exactly an apples-to-apples comparison to this situation, but it is still something that is going to stand out given the stage, the circumstances and the results.