Series Preview: Tampa Bay Rays vs Chicago White Sox

The Tampa Bay Rays are doing it. They are actually doing it.

That was my lead in sentence to the series preview on Thursday when the Rays were getting set to take on the Cleveland Guardians. Now, the Rays will need to win nearly every matchup from this point onward in order to have any hope of reaching the postseason after dropping three of four to Cleveland.

It will generally take around 87 wins to reach the playoffs; for the Rays to reach that plateau they’ll have to win at least 16 of their next

19 games, a .842 winning percentage. So at least there’s still a chance.

As for the actual standings, the Rays are 71-72, 4.5 games back of the Wild Card and have three teams between them and the Seattle Mariners.

Now the Rays schedule has them spending a week in Chicago where they’ll take on the south siders and north siders over a six game stretch starting with the White Sox. Chicago took two of three from Tampa Bay following the All-Star break but currently are the worst team in the American League with a record of 55-89.

The Rays will get to see former top prospect Curtis Mead with his new team; the Aussie infielder is hitting .274/.324/.337 with 0 HR for Chicago since being traded for Adrian Houser at the deadline. The White Sox have a roster filled with slightly above replacement level players and a budding core that could propel them to success in the near future. Colson Montgomery has been excellent over 53 games (128 wRC+ | 2.0 fWAR) as has Kyle Teel over 62 games (131 wRC+ | 1.8 fWAR). Those two players are the key to future success for Chicago.

The pitching is a mess and it is what’s currently holding the White Sox back from being more respectable. The staff is currently led by Shane Smith, who has turned in a solid season. Mike Vasil and Brandon Eisert, two players the Rays had on their 40-man roster entering spring training, are a pair of arms the White Sox use in high leverage situations. Jordan Leasure has taken over the closing duties.

Frivolities

The top players by career bWAR to have played for the Rays and White Sox:

Manny Ramirez
James Shields
Jose Canseco
Julio Franco
Wilson Alvarez

The Rays best player offensively against the Orioles all-time (min. 25 PA): Mallex Smith: .579/.680/.737 with 0 HR over 25 PA
- The next four are Luke Scott, Austin Meadows, Delmon Young, & Mikie Mahtook
The Rays most previous transacation with the Whte Sox:
- 5/27/25: Rays trade Dru Baker to the Chicago White Sox for Matt Thaiss
The Rays first transaction with the Orioles
- 5/31/00: Rays trade Tony Graffanino to the Chicago White Sox for Tanyon Sturtze
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    First trades in Tampa Bay Rays history: “With the Chicago White Sox”