Series Preview: Rays vs Angels
Nine games down, one-hundred fifty-three to go
The 2025 regular season is swiftly moving along and the Rays are back home as they’ll take on the Los Angeles Angels in a three game set at George Steinbrenner Stadium.
The Angels are hoping for better things in 2025 as they just narrowly avoided losing 100 games last season. Overall, they were 63-99 and finished in last place in the American League West; the only team with a worse record in the American League was the Chicago White Sox. They did receive solid performances from their younger players as Zach Neto and Logan O’Hoppe appear on the verge of stardom and Jose Soriano turned into a solid year in the starting rotation.
Those three are still with the Angels and they of course still have future Hall of Famer, Mike Trout, who is entering his 15th year in the big leagues (he is only 33-years old).
The Rays are coming off a sweep at the hands of the Texas Rangers; the Rays have now lost four games in a row and have fallen to 4-5 on the season, last place in the AL East 1.5 games back of the division leading Yankees. The Angels meanwhile are off to a hot start, having won each series they’ve played thus far. Currently, the Angels are 6-3, 2nd place in the AL West, 1 game behind the Rangers.
Frivolities
The top players by career WAR to have played for the Rays and Angels:
- Scott Kazmir
- Troy Percival
- Alex Cobb
- Yunel Escobar
- Ken Hill
The Rays best player offensively against the Rangers all-time (min. 25 PA):
Bubba Trammell: .431.473/.745 with 3 HR over 55 PA.
GAME ONE
Tuesday, April 8th
7:05 PM EDT
RHP Shane Baz vs RHP Kyle Hendricks
GAME TWO
Wednesday, April 9th
7:05 PM EDT
RHP Ryan Pepiot vs LHP Yusei Kikuchi
GAME THREE
Thursday, April 10th
1:10 PM EDT
RHP Zack Littell vs RHP Jose Soriano