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Welcome to the 2026 edition of Ranking the Rockies, where we take a look back at every player to log playing time for the Rockies in 2026. The purpose of this list is to provide a snapshot of the player in context. The “Ranking” is an organizing principle that’s drawn from Baseball Reference’s WAR (rWAR). It’s not something the staff debated. We’ll begin with the player with the lowest rWAR and end up with the player with the highest.

No. 45, Sterlin Thompson (-0.3 rWAR)

2026 was simultaneously a breakout season and a disappointing one for Sterlin Thompson.

The 2022 31st overall draft pick had spent the previous three seasons slowly working his way up through the minor leagues one level at a time. In 2025 he spent the entire season at Triple-A Albuquerque where he hit well (118 wRC+) but not so well that he earned a call up the Major Leagues given his defensive limitations.

This season, Thompson put up the best numbers of his professional career in 92 games at Triple-A… but failed to have those results translate in a month long stay on the Major League roster.

Early season dominance

Thompson started off the year absolutely raking in his return to Triple-A. By mid-May, he had hit .344/.491/.496 with four home runs and eight stolen bases in 38 games for the Isotopes.

The Rockies front office, as evidenced by an early June conversation with Paul DePodesta, were looking for indicators that Thompson’s process at the plate had improved beyond just PCL inflated surface stats.

Thompson made sure the front office could not ignore his performance in the early goings of 2026.

Through his first 38 games both Thompson’s walk rate and strikeout rate had improved from where they had been the year prior. His walk rate in particular had jumped from 10% in 2025 all the way up to 18% in the first couple months of 2026. Thompson’s plate discipline had gone from solid to elite and it elevated his entire offensive profile.

This was enough for DePodesta and company to give Thompson the call to the big leagues on May 15th.

A month in the big leagues

On May 15, Thompson made his Major League debut as a pinch-hitter against Merrill Kelly of the Arizona Diamondbacks. Kelly induced a one-pitch groundout to first in what would be indicative of Thompson’s short first stint with the Rockies big league club.

Four days after his debut, Thompson would be temporarily sent back down to the minors when Tyler Freeman returned from the paternity list.

That demotion was only a temporary setback, however, as he was clearly at the top of the minor league depth chart for the front office. Three days after being optioned to Triple-A, Thompson was once again called up to the Rockies after an injury to Mickey Moniak opened up a roster spot.

Late May was a very busy time for the 24-year-old outfielder.

Thompson’s second stint in the Major Leagues lasted a full month and allowed him an extended chance to settle into life as a big leaguer.

Having spent the early part of his minor league career being tried out at all of second base, third base, and the outfield corners it was an open question whether Thompson would be able to find a position where his glove would not be a liability. He managed to hold his own in the field with the Rockies and recorded only -1 Out Above Average in 86 innings split between left and right field.

At the plate, however, Thompson struggled to make an impact against big league pitching.

In total, Thompson hit for a .232/.312/.377 slash line in 27 games for the Rockies. Most concerning was that the plate discipline which had gotten him the call-up seemed to evaporate as soon as he arrived in the Majors. His 18% Triple-A walk rate fell to just 6.5% for the Major League club, and his strikeout rate jumped up to 27.3%.

Under the hood, however, it wasn’t hopeless for Thompson’s bat. His power numbers ticked upwards in June with a great 50% hard-hit rate on the month, which translated to a slugging percentage that spiked from .185 in May up to .500 in June.

This was elevated, in no small part, by his two home run game on June 17:

Ultimately, Thompson was not able to fully capitalize on that power due to a 52% ground ball rate paired with just a 16% line drive rate. Essentially, when Thompson was making contact, he was hitting it hard but on the ground.

This inability to get the ball off the ground mixed with his aforementioned plate discipline regression motivated the front office to option Thompson to Triple-A again on June 22 when Mickey Moniak returned from his stay on the injured list.

PCL All-Star

For some players, a return to the minor leagues can discourage and demotivate them. Thompson, however, picked up right where he left off with the Isotopes. Thompson’s OPS climbed in each of the final three months of the season at Triple-A from .912 in July all the way up to 1.194 in September.

As 2026 came to a close, Thompson was named one of the Pacific Coast League’s All-Stars for the season after hitting a combined .329/.475/.530 for a 153 wRC+ in 92 games.

Looking Forward

It would be easy to write off 2026 as proof that Thompson has been surpassed on the Rockies outfield depth chart. Players like Cole Carrigg and Zac Veen managed to make a larger splash and then stick with the Major League team longer than he did.

Thompson has, however, done enough at the Triple-A level to remain firmly in the Rockies’ crowded outfield conversation heading into 2027. Going into spring training, he will simply need to prove that he can elevate the ball and maintain, against Major League pitching, the plate discipline strides he showed off in Triple-A all season.

If he’s able to do those two things, he would force his way back onto the Major League roster, at least in a depth or platoon role, next season. If he isn’t, however, the future will be very uncertain for him as he already has nothing left to prove at Triple-A.

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MILWAUKEE –– Pressed on Monday morning about his glaring 1-for-19 slump at the plate to begin this year’s playoffs, Dodgers catcher Will Smith did his best to downplay the narrative.

“It’s been five games,” the three-time All-Star said. “Obviously, want the results to be a little better. But at the end of the day, it’s five games at the plate. No panic from me.”

The same can’t be said of the Dodgers’ fan base, where frustrations once focused on Shohei Ohtani’s injury-hampered form suddenly shifted to Smith’s even more dire struggles during a Game 1 loss in the National League Championship Series on Sunday, in which he went 0-for-3 and hit into a first-inning double-play.

Evidently, Smith’s slump has raised concerns among the team’s decision-makers, as well, as he was dropped from the No. 3 to No. 5 spot in the batting order for Game 2 on Monday.

“He’s not swinging the bat well,” manager Dave Roberts acknowledged Sunday night.

“Just [have to] do what I do, continue to work, try to grind it out in the cage, and figure it out,” Smith added.

Only, Smith insisted he doesn’t feel as bad as his numbers indicate –– even though he has the second-lowest average (.053) of all hitters with at least 10 at-bats this postseason.

The 31-year-old said his swing “felt really good” coming into the playoffs, after he finished an injury-plagued regular season (he missed almost all of June, July and August with a neck injury) batting .354 over his final 16 games.

He believes he has been “just barely missing some pitches” and played the “pitchers are making good pitches to me” card while explaining his cold spell.

“I still feel good up there,” he said. “Swinging at the right pitches, taking good pitches.”

Sunday’s NLCS opener did come with at least a few more signs of promise.

All three of the balls he put in play were hit 95 mph or harder; a threshold he had only eclipsed once during the NL Division Series against the Atlanta Braves. He didn’t strike out, snapping a previous three-game streak with multiple punchouts (seven total). His last time up, he even drew a walk, earning his first free pass of October.

However, despite Roberts indicating reluctance on Sunday night to dropping Smith in the order, the catcher swapped places with Teoscar Hernández for a Game 2 showdown with Brewers breakout rookie pitcher Logan Henderson.

“I feel like I’ve earned everyone’s trust here,” Smith said when asked about his place in the order. “It’s the postseason. It’s five games, so it’s a little more elevated. I really don’t think there’s much to it.”

Dodgers pitchers have praised Smith’s defensive work behind the dish, where he has shepherded the team’s staff to a 2.05 ERA in the playoffs.

“I don’t even know how he’s performing offensively, to be honest,” Game 1 starter Tarik Skubal said. “That’s not where my focus is with Will. My focus is what he’s doing behind the dish. He’s very important to calling games.”

Still, the Dodgers will need to his Smith’s bat going.

He was one of their most consistent producers in last year’s playoffs, collecting at least one hit in 12 of his 15 games (he batted .276 overall) while belting two home runs in the World Series (including, memorably, a go-ahead blast in extra innings of Game 7).

Right now, they will need that version of him again, especially against a Brewers pitching staff that limited the Dodgers to one run in Game 1 while stranding nine runners on base.

“I think it’s more so just the game of baseball,” Smith said of his sudden struggles. “There’s highs. There’s lows. When you’re not performing the way you want to, just continue to work, continue to try to get out of it quicker, and not stay hitting poorly.”

As Guardians fans, we invest a lot into this team and the team has rewarded those who have kept the faith this season.

In 2025, through 100 games, the Guardians were 50-50. They were busy trying to undo a 15.5 game lead the Tigers had managed at one point. And, of course, we all know they did it. The biggest comeback in MLB history was accomplished on the last game of the regular season, winning the Guardians the AL Central and a playoff berth.

Cleveland then lost a three-game series to Detroit, undoing some of the goodwill they’d managed to acquire in their comeback. Yet, they still had the experience to fall back on… this is the kind of manager and team that finish strong and can overcome immense odds. Fans could reasonably hope that the relentless and resilient mindset established last season would continue in future difficult circumstances.

The 2026 team didn’t make this easy. The difference for me, come 100 games and a 51-49 record, was that I had little doubt the Guardians would make the playoffs but had seen nothing to make me think they would be able to complete another comeback to take a 5.5 game lead from the White Sox. Additionally, I was firmly on team “Get a new hitting coach from another successful organization.”

I believed in common punching bags like Stephen Vogt as a strategist, Hunter Gaddis, Matt Festa, Foster Griffin, Brayan Rocchio and Travis Bazzana. I defended the organization for signing Rhys Hoskins and acquiring Craig Yoho, Jo Adell, Nathaniel Lowe and Griffin as they kept aggressively promoting prospects and giving them a run at improving the team. I never wavered that given time Jose would recover hand/wrist strength and be his old self again and it was worth keeping him in the top of the order and on the field if he felt he was healthy enough to manage it (I wrote a piece saying he should feel frew to take an IL stint in August if he felt it would help). I even reluctantly understood not promoting Ralphy Velazquez and riding with their guys. But, it turns out even that level of faith was not enough for this memorable Guardians team.

They somehow managed to do just enough to secure the AL.Central from the upstart White Sox, Pope Superfan and all, on the second-to-last day of the season. This time, they secured the second seed in the AL and a first-round bye. And, obviously, they overcame a 0-2 hole from losing two home games to come back and win the ALDS from the White Sox. Since 2005, Chicago has been my second-least favorite team aside from the Yankees. Their fans are seemingly universally obnoxious on social media and maybe it’s their Yankee pinstripes that make me just despise playing them. The only way this playoff run would be a disappointment to me is if the Guardians had again besmirched an amazing comeback with a loss to a division rival in the playoffs.

Instead, here we are… in the ALCS. Jose Ramirez put up a 211 wRC+ against the White Sox in a playoff performances that will be a highlight in his Hall of Fame montage. Gavin Williams was absolutely nails to end game four and to start game 5. Cade Smith was a force of automation unknown to man. There were heroes up and down the roster who redeemed their poor home start with a win at Progressive Field that sold-out crowd and fans at home will remember the rest of their lives.

Do I still wish ownership would have gone nuts and signed Pete Alonso? Yes. Do I think it would have been reasonable to sign another more high leverage proven arm to accompany Shawn Armstrong? Of course. But, give credit where credit is due. This organization has made the smart decisions to get back to a doorstep away from the World Series. They deserve our faith and loyalty.

That’s a good feeling to be able to say that. It doesn’t feel like there are many public entities left who deserve our faith. It certainly doesn’t mean that the Dolans, Antonetti, Chernoff and co. aren’t capable and guilty of big mistakes (see: Junior Caminero statting tonight for the Rays). But, overall, they have 100% proved they have the ability to do, consistently, the hardest thing in professional sports- field a competitive baseball team annually in a small market. I am so happy I root for an organization like that and I am going to remember that when I feel compelled to offer criticism in the future.

I am very glad life allows me to write about the baseball team I love. It’s a privilege to oversee this community. But, it is important before we embark on this next part of the 2026 baseball journey to pause for a second and remember how fortunate I am to root for the Cleveland Guardians. We can acknowledge that we have a nearly 80-year title drought that we can justly wish ownership to show more urgency to end while also acknowledging that the entire baseball ops group has done everything in their power to give these guys a chance to do what the 1995, 1997 and 2016 teams BARELY missed the chance to do.

Now, bring back GuardsFest and don’t make us lose games during the lockout and promote Ralphy for Opening Day and sign Ty France and extend Steven Kwan and… Ope, my bad, I know you guys know what you’re doing (on the field – GuardsFest canceled and the lockout are undoubtedly stupid) and I hope you know my wishes and suggestions come from a place of trying to guess how you’ll do the magic of playoff baseball again in 2027. Thanks, Guardians! You are the best. Now, whaddya got for us next?

Sometimes, Dave Roberts likes to mess with Pat Murphy a little bit.

The Los Angeles Dodgers manager said he might, from his own dugout, keep an eye on Murphy in the Milwaukee Brewers dugout, see what he’s doing – and mirror him.

“I study and watch, and we’ll kind of look at each other across the field when he’s giving his numbers to the catchers,” Roberts said on Sunday, Oct. 11 before Game 1 of the National League Championship Series.

“And I’ll kind of mirror that – when it doesn’t even matter – just to see him watching me. We have kind of little interactions.”

He laughed a little. This game within the game happens only because the two managers seem to have great respect for each other, and the way they run their teams.

Accustomed to the role of the favorites throughout their history, the Yankees were not favored against Tampa Bay in the ALDS and indeed bounced out early from the 2026 postseason, leaving the Rays, Guardians, Dodgers, and Brewers as the four clubs still battling for a championship.

Finding a rooting interest after your team is eliminated can be a tricky thing, and everyone has their process. Opting out is perfectly reasonable in its own right if it’s just time for you to begin the offseason baseball hiatus. But for those who watch, the Yankees left their fans in the role of cheering for the underdog on either side of the bracket. Generally, that’s the case for most people, but here it ties into the specific relationships with each of these teams, not because of who they are, but because of who they’re facing.

Before getting to the specific points regarding the Brewers and Guardians, it hit me just now that they represent the two other organizations one of the more recently honored Yankee legends played for in CC Sabathia. Inducted into Monument Park in September, Sabathia started his career with Cleveland before a brief and incredibly successful period in Milwaukee, ultimately signing with the Yankees and being an integral part of that 2009 championship-winning squad. (CC’s son, Carsten, was also drafted by the Brewers this past July.) The Hall of Famer has already stated his obvious enthusiasm for his two former clubs who are still contending for a title.

Interestingly, although the Rays are a division rival, one could argue the rivalry with the Guardians would be even more latent—after all, no teams from the same league have played each other in the postseason as often as these two. Nevertheless, the seven playoff meetings between New York and Cleveland—five of them finishing with the Yankees advancing, including the last four—haven’t built as much animosity as you’d expect between these two franchises.

It’s kind of hard to hold a grudge against a team they’ve been able to beat three times in the playoffs since the 2020 campaign and once more not so long ago in 2017. One might even argue some of the best Yankee memories in the postseason since winning their last World Series have come against Cleveland. Furthermore, this is such an odd Cleveland team that’s confusing, reminding you of the University of Iowa football team, continuously finding ways to win despite excelling in very few areas, far from overpowering on either side of the ball.

On the other side, the resentment towards the Rays could not be higher, spending nearly the whole year trailing them in the fight for the AL East—a fight that was more theoretical than put into practice, only to lose the ALDS excruciatingly. It’s not just about what the Rays did, but what the Yankees did and did not do. So it’s easy to root against them the same way most Yankees fans cheered against Toronto in the ALCS last year, when they narrowly beat Seattle for the pennant.

When it comes to the National League, few teams can claim such lengthy periods of success in the 21st century without a World Series title to show for it. As much as a title from anyone apart from the Dodgers might further expose Yankee management and its blown opportunities to compete for the ultimate trophy because it shows it could easily be done—even now, it’s far easier for a fan to sympathize with the low-profile Brewers. The City of Milwaukee hasn’t seen a World Series champion since 1957, when the Brewers didn’t exist and the Braves had not yet moved to Atlanta. That’s not as long as Cleveland’s drought, but it’s not far off.

Although the Brewers and Yankees have been common figures in the postseason over the last 10 seasons or so, they haven’t come close to facing each other in the World Series during this period. Whenever one was on the LCS, the other wasn’t. The playoff track record between them comes from when the Brewers were a part of the AL East; they met the Yankees in the 1981 postseason due to a midseason strike creating a split season. New York advanced in a best-of-five (3-2) and eventually lost the World Series to … the Dodgers. It always comes back to them, doesn’t it?

Who would Yankees fans pick if both underdogs prevailed and made it to the Fall Classic? It’s hard to say. But honestly, most would probably be content if they were told that even one of the Dodgers or Rays got knocked out to create an easy Fall Classic rooting favorite.

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After seven-straight playoff losses to the Los Angeles Dodgers, dating back to 2018, the Milwaukee Brewers have finally added one to the W column.

The 103-win Brewers go into today’s NLCS Game 2 with a 1-0 lead as the defending two-time World Series champ Dodgers will aim to even things up.

Game 1 was a low-scoring affair with solid pitching at the center of it. After taking a 2-1 lead in the fifth inning, the Brewers’ bullpen ensured that the Dodgers wouldn’t tie things up.

The Dodgers come into Game 2 with their ace on the mound. One year ago, Yoshinobu Yamamoto threw the first complete game of his career in Game 2 of the NLCS. In these 2026 playoffs so far, Yamamoto struck out ten over seven innings.

After Game 2, the series moves to Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles for Games 3 and 4 on Wednesday and Thursday.

Here’s how to tune in to the Game 2 of the NLCS for free without cable.

Dodgers vs. Brewers start time

Game 2 of the Dodgers vs. Brewers NLCS is scheduled to begin today, Oct. 12 at 2 p.m. PT / 5 p.m. ET.

How to watch Dodgers vs. Brewers NLCS Game 2 for free

If you don’t have cable, you’ll need a live TV streaming service to stream the NLCS for free.

DIRECTV is our favorite service for trying live TV for free. Right now, you can take advantage of a five-day free trial before saving $30 on your first month. We recommend the Choice plan, which includes FOX as part of its 125+ channel options.

Dodgers vs. Brewers starting pitchers

Yoshinobu Yamamoto (14-9, 2.53 ERA) will start for the Dodgers, while Logan Henderson (11-3, 2.47 ERA) is on the mound for the Brewers.

Dodgers vs. Brewers NLCS schedule

• Game 1: Brewers 2, Dodgers 1
• Game 2: Oct. 12, 2 p.m. PT / 5 p.m. ET (FOX)
• Game 3: Oct. 14, 5 p.m. PT / 8 p.m. ET (FS1)
• Game 4: Oct. 15, 6 p.m. PT / 9 p.m. ET (FS1)
• Game 5: Oct. 16, 6 p.m. PT / 9 p.m. ET (FS1)*
• Game 6: Oct. 18, 5 p.m. PT / 8 p.m. ET (FS1)*
• Game 7: Oct. 19, 5 p.m. PT / 8 p.m. ET (FOX or FS1)*

*if necessary

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The past and future stars of third base in the American League could decide the pennant in 2026.

José Ramírez wasn’t an All-Star this year. It was the first time the Guardians veteran failed to earn the nod since 2019. Ramírez got off to a sluggish start, broke the hamate bone in his left hand in June, and slumped mightily in the second half after returning from the injured list. He hit .235/.320/.368 (92 wRC+) on the year as a whole. It was definitively the worst performance of his career, snapping a decade-long run as one of the best and most consistent players in the majors.

But Ramírez enters the ALCS on Monday on something of a hot streak. He surged over the final two weeks of the regular season, and helped carry the Guardians back from down 2-0 against the White Sox in the ALDS. He already has five hits this postseason, including four for extra bases. His two-run home run in Game 5 on Saturday secured Cleveland’s spot in the ALCS.

This trend is crucial. It could be what tips the scale in a highly competitive series on paper. The Guardians outlasted the White Sox in the AL Central (and ALDS) on the strength of their rotation and bullpen, but they’ve lacked depth in their lineup all year. If Ramírez is back to being one of the best hitters in the league, he provides the fearsome middle-of-the-order bat the Guardians need.

That’s not to say their lineup is totally desolate. Chase DeLauter was strong at the plate in his rookie year, as was Travis Bazzana. Steven Kwan has been finding more grass of late with his slap-hitting approach. Angel Martínez provides a little bit of everything on the field, even if his style of play lends him to being a bit streaky (and currently 0-for-15 in the playoffs).

Still, while there are a handful of useful role players, there just hasn’t been that legitimate thump at the top of the order, to advance runners and apply pressure and make opponents sweat. Ramírez renewed presence changes that. In a postseason bereft of offense league-wide, the Guardians 93 wRC+ is second behind only the Brewers, with Ramírez himself ranking fifth with a 211 wRC+. This group now looks competitive at the very least.

And competitive is all they really need to be, as we saw in Game 5, when the Guardians shutout the White Sox with 21 strikeouts. That wasn’t a total outlier, either: No pitching staff struck out more batters in the second half this season than Cleveland.

Gavin Williams got the start in Game 5 and picked up the first 11 of those strikeouts. He’s quietly been one of the best starting pitchers in the majors this year, and only Jacob Misiorowski and Dylan Cease struck out batters at a higher rate. Then there’s rookie Parker Messick, who finished the season top 10 in fWAR with an outstanding 2.56 ERA. Foster Griffin, who starts Game 1 on Monday, brings a “kitchen sink” approach from the left side and has occasionally dominated deep into games this year. The Guardians rotation is surprisingly deep for a group without a true “ace.”

The bullpen is really where they shine. If Cade Smith isn’t the best reliever in baseball, he’s at least the best remaining in the postseason (with Mason Miller recently eliminated). Erik Sabrowski is a solid 1b choice as one of the best lefty relievers in the game. But it’s the depth of the bullpen that serves to impress, with seven different relievers posting a FIP under 3 in the second half of the season. Expect Cleveland to use lots of different pitchers in this series — and expect them to be effective in doing so.

Still, they have a tough path ahead against the AL’s winningest team in Tampa Bay. The Rays are led by All-Star third baseman Junior Caminero, who hit 42 home runs this year and posted a .276/.360/.524 slash line with a 142 wRC+. Caminero, just 22, finished his second straight season among the top 25 players in the majors by fWAR, and has perhaps replaced Ramírez as the premier third baseman in the AL.

Caminero’s success is in part brute strength. Nobody swings harder at a scintillating 79.5 mph average bat speed. When he connects, he really connects.

But Caminero isn’t a free swinger taking massive upper cuts and aiming for the fences. He has a patient approach with a cautious eye, and takes nice, level swings to get the ball in play consistently. His 18.4% strikeout rate was four points below the league’s strikeout rate of 22.1% in 2026, which is rare for a player who swings so hard.

That’s sort of the theme with this Rays lineup. While Caminero is the only true star of the group, their lineup is chock-full of batters who simply refuse to whiff. The Rays 18.8% strikeout rate in 2026 was the lowest in the majors. It’s not just that they get the play in, either. The contact they make is generally on the ground and to the opposite field, going against the recent trend of pulling the ball in the air and chasing home runs. This all-fields approach shifts defenses out of position, especially with runners on base, and forces them to make plays they’re not always equipped to make. The Rays lack of power is why they ultimately finished middle of the pack in run scoring, but their “pesky” approach puts tons of pressure on opponents, and occasionally makes them crack, as we saw with the Yankees error-filled ALDS.

On the mound, the Rays aren’t quite as deep as the Guardians. Drew Rasmussen is perhaps the secret ace of the league, finishing top 10 in fWAR with a 2.67 ERA. He gets strikeouts, he doesn’t give up walks or hard contact, and his broad arsenal keeps batters off balance deep into games. When he’s on, Rasmussen is a joy to watch, and could be the difference in any game he starts.

The issue for the Rays is there isn’t a ton of depth beyond him. Freddy Peralta was the Brewers long-time number one starter, but he took a step back this year, often struggling to put batters away and keep the ball in the yard. Nick Martinez has found success here and there as a sort of wily veteran, but he’s not likely to deliver big innings in this series. On days Rasmussen doesn’t start, expect the Rays to lean heavily on their bullpen.

This ultimately looks like a fairly even matchup, despite the Rays winning 13 more games in the regular season. It’s worth pointing out they were the “luckiest” team in the majors this year, winning eight more games than implied by their run differential. The Rays hold a slight advantage at the plate, but the Guardians have the deeper the rotation.

That’s why I think this series could come down to the positional matchup at third base: the AL’s longtime star of the position versus its future star. I rarely view baseball  in individual terms like this, but in a series sure to be played at narrow margins, these two could be all the difference. If Ramírez stays hot, maybe that’s what the Guardians need to squeak across a few runs for their pitching staff. If Caminero can find the barrel, maybe he gives the Rays some rare power to counter Cleveland’s great pitching. If both players are on their game, well, this should be a fun series.

For the first time in nearly twenty years, the League Championship series is back at Tropicana Field.

Over the past two decades, the Tampa Bay Rays have been one of the best franchises in all of baseball. Since the start of the 2008 season, the Rays have the 3rd highest winning percentage in the game and have been to the playoffs 10 times. They have won two pennants, falling just short of winning the World Series both times.

There have been two Cy Youngs (Blake Snell and David Price), four Rookie of the Year winners (Randy Arozarena, Wil Myers, Jeremy Hellickson, and Evan Longoria), and numberous Silver Sluggers and Gold Glovers as well Managers of the Year (Joe Maddon and Kevin Cash both winning two).

Factually speaking, this is the team’s third time making it past the Division Series but the 2020 season muddles things as it was only 60 games and each postseason game past the Wild Card rounds were moved to a central locations to try and keep the players safe from COVID (well sort of safe, thanks Justin Turner). The Rays defeated the Houston Astros in seven games in San Diego to move onto the World Series and face the Los Angeles Dodgers in Texas.

So with all their successes, it’s crazy that the Rays will be just playing in their second ALCS at Tropicana Field.

Cleveland’s pitching staff was taxed during their five game series against the Chicago White Sox but the Guardians were able to win out in the end. It was a bittersweet situation for Cleveland during the final two games of the ALDS as they were able to start those games with their two best starting pitchers but that leaves them at a disadvantage with the bottom end of their rotation going against the Rays ace.

So on Monday night at Tropicana Field, instead of Gavin Williams or Parker Messick taking the mound, Cleveland will instead call upon 31-year old southpaw, Foster Griffin.

It’s been a whirlwind of a career for Griffin as he was originally a first round draft pick, selected at 28th overall by the Kansas City Royals way back in 2014 ranking as one of the top high school arms in the country. He and an up-and-down prospectdom with some years appearing as an ace and others as a neverwill. Eventually, the Royals gave Griffin a cameo in the big leagues as a reliever but ultimately he would only toss 6 innings for his drafting team before being traded to the Blue Jays ahead of the 2022 deadline; Griffin would only throw two innings for Toronto and was released in November.

Following his release, Griffin ventured overseas and pitched for the Yomiuri Giants from 2023 through 2025 and performed quite well, regaining his status as a starting pitcher. Over those three seasons, Griffin compiled a 2.57 ERA spread across 315.2 IP.

The Washington Nationals signed Griffin to a one year, $5.5M deal ahead of the 2026 campaign and the changes Griffin made to achieve success in Japan easily transferred state side as he excelled with Washington. Over the first several months of the season, Griffin compiled a 3.06 ERA | 4.10 FUP with a 22.1 K% & 5.7 BB% over 129.1 IP. In need of pitching for their playoff aspirations, that Guardians acquired Grffin from the Nationals at the trade deadline.

The results for Griffin have been inconsistent since landing in Cleveland. There are a couple of outings that heavily skew his 5.19 ERA and his 3.54 FIP suggests that he has been unlucky. Griffin made 9 regular season starts for Cleveland and allowed 3 runs or less in seven of them but also only compelted six innings, three times.

Going to the mound for the Rays in game one will be Drew Rasmussen.

The 31-year old hurler was nearly perfect the last time he toed the rubber for the Rays back on Saturday, October 3rd, during the first game of the ALDS against the Yankees. Rasmussen delivered eight innings of dominance against New York, striking out ten hitters and walking just two; he was just four outs away from a no-hitter when Austin Wells drilled a ball into the right field corner. This looked like a possible turning point in a 1-0 game, but a questionable baserunning decision and elite Rays defense resulted in Wells being thrown at third to record the final out of Rasmussen’s brilliant 8 inning outing.

According to Baseball-Reference’s GameScore (developed by Bill James), this start was the best of Rasmussen’s career as he registered an 88 GameScore. Rasmussen’s previous high (85) was an outing from earlier this season in which he struck out 13, allowing just two hits over 7 scoreless innings against Boston. It was easily the best postseason performance from a Rays starting pitcher, surpassing Matt Moore’s (77) stellar postseason debut in 2011 and Matt Garza’s (75) 2008 ALCS game 7 performance.

The Tampa Bay Rays managed to sweep the New York Yankees in the ALDS despite receiving a less than stellar performance from their offense. As a whole, the offense hit .208/.255/.344 with a .599 OPS which is the second lowest all-time for a team that swept their opponent in the LDS. However, they did have to face one of the toughest pitching staffs in all of baseball so that needs to be taken into consideration as the Yankees led the league in ERA.

The game begins tonight at 8pm with Rays Hall of Famer Carl Crawford tossing out the ceremonial first pitch.