Series Preview: Rays vs Brewers
Thirty-seven games down, one-hundred twenty-five to go
The Tampa Bay Rays just cannot figure out how to win at George Steinbrenner Field.
After taking two of three from the Yankees in New York over the weekend, the Rays came home and were promptly swept in three games by the Philadelphia Phillies. The three consecutive losses have put the Rays five games under .500 with a 16-21 record and are now five games back of the New York Yankees for the division lead.
The Rays will now welcome the Milwaukee Brewers into town for three games; the time these two teams met up, it resulted in Jose Siri skirmishing with the Brewers bullpen. Milwaukee enters play on Friday with a record of 19-19, tied for second place in the NL Central and are three games back of the Chicago Cubs.
Milwaukee’s best player thus far in 2025 has been Brice Turang; the three year veteran second baseman is currently hitting .318/.383/.409 with 3 HR over 150 PA, registering a 125 wRC+ and accruing 1.1 fWAR. Two part-time players (Eric Haase and Jake Bauers) have provided plenty of offensive support; Rhys Hoskins and Sal Frelick have also been above average offensive players for the Brewers.
The Rays are fortunately missing out on facing the Brewers top two starting pitchers, Freddy Peralta and Chad Patrick. In the bullpen, look for the Brewers to use Abner Uribe, Jared Koenig, and Trevor Megill in high-leverage situations.
Frivolities
- The top players by career WAR to have played for the Rays and Brewers
- Greg Vaughn
- Julio Franco
- Carlos Gomez
- Willy Adames
- Nelson Cruz
- The Rays best player offensively against the Brewers all-time (min. 25 PA):
Ben Zobrist: .304/.360/.522 with 1 HR over 25 PA - The Rays most previous transacation with the Brewers:
7/3/2024: Traded RHP Aaron Civale to the Brewers for INF Gregory Barrios - The Rays first transaction with the Brewers
3/24/03: Traded OF Jason Conti to the Brewers for C Javier Valentin
GAME ONE
Friday, May 9th
7:05 PM EDT
RHP Zack Littell vs LHP Jose Quintana
GAME TWO
Saturday, May 10th
4:10 PM EDT
RHP Taj Bradley vs RHP Tobias Myers
GAME THREE
Sunday, May 11th
1:40 PM EDT
RHP Drew Rasmussen vs TBD