After the first quarter in 2017, Rays showing they're a competitive club

After taking 2 out of 3 on the road against the defending AL champion Cleveland Indians, the Tampa Bay Rays have begun to show me and the rest of their fans that they can be competitive in 2017. In 2016, the Rays had a poor showing against the Indians, dropping 5 of 6 while only scoring an abysmal 11 runs on 26 hits in those 6 games. In this first series of 2017 against the Indians, they scored 20 runs on 33 hits, 10 of those hits were home runs. Quite the improvement.

The Rays have continued to have solid pitching, defense, and timely hitting to keep them in games and have them competing in the AL East. Corey Dickerson has been the MVP for the Rays through this first quarter, hitting 9 home runs and driving in 18 RBI's while hitting for a .335 avg and has a .609 slugging percentage. If his solid performance at the plate continues through the 1st half, he may just be the Rays representative for the 2017 All Star Game in Miami coming up in July. Four of the Rays starting pitchers have at least 3 wins to start the season, with the only one not recording a win being Blake Snell, who was sent down after his last start against the Red Sox. Chris Archer has been looking more like the ace in 2015 than 2016; his ERA is at 3.70 with 65 strikeouts so far this season, and is only 140 away from recording 1,000 strikeouts for his career. Kevin Kiermaier is still a commanding presence out in center field, and with robbing Indians All Star second baseman Jason Kipnis of a home run to end Wednesday's win and to take the series, it looks like he will continue to be in the running for a 3rd straight gold glove. Tim Beckham and Brad Miller were a solid middle infield combination (before Miller's injury) and once he comes back, they will continue to be a formidable defense up the middle. Tim Beckham has proven to be a surprise at the plate and in the field, hitting .279 with 7 home runs and driving in 23 runs, while also recording a .973 fielding percentage.

If the Rays can continue this type of play with the solid pitching, offense, and precise fielding, the Rays will definitely be making some noise in August and September, and perhaps even make a playoff run.