Outside The Confines: Unstoppable

A lot has been said about the Tampa Bay Rays. People love to call them cheap. They love to call them small market. People make fun of their stadium, and their propensity for trading their players. But rarely have people called them “historically good.”

The Rays have actually been excellent the last few seasons, advancing as far as the World Series in 2020, but what they’ve done so far in 2023 is prove themselves to be darned near unstoppable. As of Sunday, following an 11-0 destruction of the A’s, the Rays are now 9-0 to start the season. That hasn’t been done since 2003. The Rays will now hope to join a very small group — six teams to be exact — who have started a season 10-0 as they play host to the Boston Red Sox this week.

Those aren’t the only impressive numbers to consider, however. The Rays aren’t just winning games by a little. So far they have won every game by four or more suns. They’re the first team since 1884 to have a run differential higher than +50 through nine games.

All this to say: the Rays are having quite the start. And one fan made it pay dividends with a remarkable $50 bet on one of the Rays’ games that ended up paying out $45,000.

Now on to today’s links!

• Adam Berry dives into the stats of the Rays’ hot start.
• Melissa Lockard spotlights an adorable Dodgers fan who dreams not of becoming a player, but an umpire. (The Athletic subscription required.)
• Just Angels things.

• Michael Baumann looks at the return of Brian Anderson.
• Anne Rogers spotlights the new Royals’ broadcast team with a 57-year age gap between them.
• Jordan Walker’s nine-game hitting streak is certainly one way to start an MLB career. Story by John Denton.
• Dan Gartland breaks down the numbers of how the new rules are impacting gameplay.
• As I post this link I make a plea that there be no unkind comments regarding it, as many other readers (and writers of this blog) struggle with their mental health daily. Tigers’ outfielder Austin Meadows has been placed on the 10-day IL in order to focus on his anxiety and mental health, with the full support of his team. Story by Patrick Andres.
• Orioles players might have had the best home opener post-party as several members of the club followed up the game by attending a Bruce Springsteen concert. Story by Dan Connolly. (The Athletic subscription required.)
• Gotta love weird baseball.

• Ben Clemens reviews the hits and misses of the first full week of baseball.
• Talk about ugly baseball, during the Pirates/White Sox game this weekend a nasty slide ended Oneil Cruz’s game (and maybe season) and resulted in a bench-clearing brawl. Story by Justice delos Santos.
• Eric Hosmer’s still got it. Story by Andy Nesbitt.
• Everyone loves a good home run celebration, so what are the best props teams are using so far this year to celebrate homers? (ESPN)
• Don’t worry about Juan Soto, his slow start may be at an end, shares Dennis Lin. (The Athletic subscription required.)
• Seth Borenstein looks at how climate change is adding 50 home runs a season.
• LOL.

And tomorrow will be a better day than today, Buster. Make it so.