SB Nation • 4 min read

Series Preview: Tampa Bay Rays vs Toronto Blue Jays

We have reached the final series of the 2025 MLB regular season and the Tampa Bay Rays are fighting to stay out of last place.

That’s not the only story to watch though as Junior Caminero looks to achieve

some Rays history as he is currently two homeruns shy of Carlos Pena’s single-season mark set in 2007. Jake Mangum and Chandler Simpson are looking both hit over .300. Jonathan Aranda may be returning to the Rays lineup for the first time since being injured on July 31st.

Then you have the Toronto Blue Jays who are currently tied with the New York Yankees for the division lead. These next three games are crucial for Toronto as they’ll determine whether they play a best of three Wild Card series or if they’ll pass right onto the American League Division Series.

George Springer has been Toronto’s best player this season, hitting .303/.392/.551 with 31 HR and 16 SB, registering a 162 wRC+ and accruing 4.8 fWAR over 137 games. Alejando Kirk (111 wRC+ | 4.1 fWAR), Vladimir Guerrero Jr (140 wRC+ | 4.0 fWAR), and Bo Bichette (134 wRC+ | 3.8 fWAR) have all been excellent as well.

On the mound, Kevin Gausman is the team’s ace with a 3.47 ERA | 3.45 FIP over 189 1/3 IP.

Frivolities

The top players by career bWAR to have played for the Rays and Blue Jays:

Fred McGriff
Jose Bautista
Kevin Kiermaier
David Price
Jose Canseco

The Rays best player offensively against the Blue Jays all-time (min. 25 PA):
- Felix Escalona: .520/.538/.760 with 0 HR over 27 PA
  - The next four are Mikie Mahtook, Kelly Johnson, Avisail Garcia, & Bubba Trammell
The Rays most previous transacation with the Blue Jays:
- 1/23/25: Rays claim Brandon Eisert off of waivers from the Toronto Blue Jays
The Rays first transaction with the Blue Jays:
- 7/31/00: Rays trade Mark Guthrie & Steve Trachsel to the Blue Jays for Brent Abernathy