Drew Rasmussen keeps piling up the kind of outings that force a second look, and somehow MLB Network’s Top 25 pitchers list still left him out.
That omission stood out even more after Sunday, when the Rays right-hander carved through six shutout innings against the opponent, gave up only three hits, and struck out five. It was another sharp line in a stretch that has been downright suffocating: Rasmussen has allowed just one earned run over his last 27 innings.
The numbers behind the run are hard to ignore. Rasmussen carries a 2.45 ERA, which ranks eighth in baseball, and an 0.87 WHIP across 92 innings this season.
And this isn’t a pitcher flashing for a few weeks and then fading away. Since 2021, he has posted the second-lowest ERA among starting pitchers with at least 500 innings, trailing only Shohei Ohtani.
That’s why his absence from Dan Plesac’s rankings hit so hard. Earlier this week, Plesac released his Top 25 starting pitchers in baseball, and while Rasmussen was nowhere to be found, two other Rays arms did make the cut: Nick Martinez at 9th and Shane McClanahan at 12th.
There’s a reasonable debate to be had about where Rasmussen fits compared with those names. Leaving him off altogether is another story.
He’s already in the American League Cy Young conversation and, by the way he’s throwing, has a legitimate case to be viewed as one of the best pitchers in all of Major League Baseball. For a Rays staff that has been under the microscope during the team’s seven-game winning streak and its climb to the top of the American League, Rasmussen has been the steady force at the center of it.
Health has always been the question with him. Now that he’s putting together a full season, he’s showing exactly why the Rays have believed in him all along.
He’s not just pitching like an All-Star. He’s pitching like one of the premier arms in the sport, and being left off a top-25 list feels like a miss.
In Other News...
Rays Fans Have Every Right To Be Furious Over Yandy Daz Respect
Yandy Daz has spent the last several seasons doing exactly what the Rays ask of their best hitters, showing up every day and producing with a level of consistency that has made him one of the most reliable bats in the sport. Since 2022, he has been one of Major League Baseballs most effective hitters, and this season he has kept right on rolling, sitting atop the American League batting race while continuing to rank among the leagues most productive overall hitters.
Even with that kind of track record, Daz still does not seem to get the national respect his game deserves, which is why the latest All-Star voting outcome landed with a thud around Tampa Bay. Inside the clubhouse, the appreciation is far clearer, with teammates and coaches repeatedly pointing to his pure hitting ability and steady approach, the kind of praise that says as much about his value as any award ballot ever could. [Read more 🡒]
National Spotlight Is Suddenly Closing In On Multiple Rays Stars
The Rays have spent plenty of this season living in the margins of the national conversation, but a few of their best players are starting to force their way into it. Drew Rasmussen has quietly built a case as one of the American Leagues most impressive arms, Nick Martinez has put himself in position to earn his first All-Star nod, and Junior Caminero has kept his name in the mix as one of the leagues most electric young hitters.
Camineros path is the most ambitious of the three, because the top of the AL MVP race is crowded and unforgiving, but the fact that he is even being discussed in that company says plenty about how far he has come. Rasmussens profile is more understated, Martinezs more dependent on recognition than flash, and both could still end up as the kind of Rays stories that catch the wider baseball world by surprise if the rest of the season breaks their way. [Read more 🡒]
Rays Keep Rolling With 8th Straight Win And Another Sweep
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Cedric Mullins supplied the biggest swing, and the Rays also flashed the kind of defense that has helped fuel this run. With the club now at 51-33 and sitting four games up in the division, the bigger question is how long this pace can hold as the schedule keeps moving and the pressure starts to build. [Read more 🡒]