The Tampa Bay Rays are an elite baseball team, regardless of the outcome of the American League Championship Series against the Cleveland Guardians. They won 98 games in the regular season, and they swept the New York Yankees in the AL Division Series.
Much like the Guardians, they are excellent at player evaluation and making the most out of a limited payroll. They have been like that since their introduction to the league in 1998.
Kevin Cash, their manager, is one of the longest-tenured skippers in the league, having taken the Rays job in 2015. Few people understand the modern game like him, so when he praises a player, you listen.
Ahead of Game 4 in Cleveland, Cash had nothing but positive things to say about the Guardians’ two most important pitchers these days: starter Gavin Williams and closer Cade Smith.
Cash certainly witnessed each one’s dominance on Thursday. Williams limited Tampa to two runs in five innings, striking out nine. He could have gone even longer, since he was removed with 70 pitches, but manager Stephen Vogt saw his velocity diminish and decided to take him out with the dreaded third time through the lineup coming. He is currently on a historic run, though, striking out people left and right.
Smith, who had tossed a scoreless frame in Game 1’s win for the Guardians, notched a four-out save on Thursday to give his team a 2-1 lead in the series.
“They were excellent,” Cash said. “From what I’ve seen and watched on TV coming into our series, they’ve been pretty electric, both of them. A lot of power from Gavin Williams, and he sets a tone with a fastball, then he goes heavy offspeed. He can go either way. With Cade Smith, he’s really tough to square up. He’s been like that since he evolved into this dominant closer role, and he’s doing it now in the postseason again.”
Smith’s overpowering fastball and filthy splitter-sweeper combo is just a lethal combination, almost unfair. He has been untouchable in the regular season and even better in October, and will keep giving Cash and the Rays plenty of headaches. Additionally, there’s a chance Tampa hasn’t seen the last of Williams during the series.
The Rays are excellent. The Guardians, however, have two pitching weapons capable of stopping them.
NEXT: Guardians Reliever Has 'Unfair' Expectations For Cade Smith
