Series Preview: Rays vs Pirates

Three games down, one-hundred fifty-nine to go

The 2025 regular season is a weekend old and the Rays will now move on to face the Pittsburgh Pirates in a three game set at George Steinbrenner Field in Tampa.

Although the Pirates finished last in the National League Central in 2024, there is plenty of reason to hope as they have perhaps the best starting pitcher in all of baseball, Paul Skenes. The talented hurler took the baseball world by storm last season and ultimately won the Rookie of the Year award and finished in third for the Cy Young.

The Pirates also have an old friend on their roster in Tommy Pham as the veteran outfielder signed with Pittsburgh this offseason. He joins a lineup that features talented outfielder Bryan Reynolds and one of the more exciting players in baseball, Oneil Cruz. Andrew McCutchen, 38, looks to add to a potential Hall of Fame resume with another year in Pittsburgh.

During their first series of the year, the Pirates were competitve against the Miami Marlins with all four games being decided by a lone run; however, the Pirates lost three of the four. They are now 1-3, 2.5 games back of the Cardinals in the NL Central. The Rays meanwhile are 2-1, 1 game back of the Yankees in the AL East.

Frivolities

The best players to have suited up for the Rays and Pirates sorted by career WAR:

• Jose Bautista
• Chris Archer
• Matt Joyce
• Tommy Pham
• Roberto Hernandez (the original)

The Rays all-time best history against the Pirates by OPS (min. 10 PA):
Harold Ramirez: .500/.643/.800 with 1 HR over 14 PA

GAME ONE

Monday March 31st
7:10pm EDT

RHP Drew Rasmussen vs RHP Carmean Mlodzinski

Since making his Rays debut on June 19th, 2021, Drew Rasmussen has the 2nd lowest ERA in all of baseball. Of course, that’s with a qualifier of at least 270 IP. Rasmussen unfortunately missed the majority of the 2023 and 2024 campaigns after undergoing surgery. However, despite having three elbow surgeries, Rasmussen seems better than ever and the Rays rewarded him with a contact extension earlier this year. The 29-year old hurler managed to make it back to the Rays in a limited capacity last season appearing in 16 games (4 starts) and compiled a 0-2 record with a 2.83 ERA | 1.35 FIP with a 30.2 K% & 5.2 BB% over 28 2⁄3 IP.

The Pirates selected Mlodzinski, one of the top prospects of his class, with their CBA pick in the 2020 draft. The 26-year old made his big league debut in 2023 and over the past two seasons, has proven himself as a capable arm in the bullpen. Over that time, Mlodzinski has a 8-8 record with a 2.91 ERA | 3.64 FIP with a 22.2 K% & 10.2 BB% across 86 2⁄3 IP spread over 75 games — 5 starts. However, Mlodzinski managed to win the last spot in the Pirates rotation in Spring Training and will make his season debut on Monday.

GAME TWO

Tuesday, April 1st
7:05pm EDT

RHP Shane Baz vs TBD

Once one of the top pitching prospects in all of baseball, Baz had his promising career abruptly halted just as he reached the big leagues as he underwent Tommy John surgery in 2022. Baz made his return to the mound in 2024 and was the team’s best starting pitcher from July through the end of the season. Overall, he compiled a 4-3 record with a 3.06 ERA | 4.07 FIP with a 21.6 K% & 8.5 BB% over 79 1⁄3 IP across 14 starts.

As of Monday afternoon, the Pirates have not announced a game two starting pitcher

GAME THREE

Wednesday, April 2nd
1:10pm EDT

RHP Ryan Pepiot vs RHP Paul Skenes

On Friday, Ryan Pepiot delivered an excellent outing against the Colorado Rockies, starting his season off on the right note. The talented 27-year old Pepiot battled around bad defense and some tough luck, giving the Rays six innings and allowing two runs — one earned — on six hits, while he walked one and struck out eight.

As mentioned earlier, Paul Skenes is among, if not the best pitcher in all of baseball. The 22-year old was selected 1st overall in the 2023 draft and surged through the Pirates system to make his big league debut less than a year later. Overall last season, Skenes compiled an 11-3 record with a 1.96 ERA | 2.44 FIP with a 33.1 K% & 6.2 BB% across 133 IP spread over 23 starts. On Opening Day, Skenes faced the Marlins and allowed two runs on three hits, striking out seven and walking two over 5 1⁄3 IP.