Series Preview: Tampa Bay Rays vs Chicago Cubs

Exactly one week ago, the Tampa Bay Rays had a 7.4% chance of reaching the postseason as they had just won seven straight games. Unfortunately, they have dropped five of their last six games to all but kill their season as they now have a 0.2% chance of making the playoffs according to FanGraphs.

Now the Rays are 72-74, 6.5 games back in the Wild Card chase. The Seattle Mariners, who the Rays swept just a week ago, have suddenly won six in a row and are tied with the Houston Astros for the AL West

lead.

So after dropping the series to the White Sox, the Rays get to remain in Chicago where they’ll played three consecutive afternoon games against the Chicago Cubs, who currently cntrol the top wild card spot with a 83-63 record.

The Cubs are led by two of the best outfielders in baseball, Pete Crow-Armstrong and Kyle Tuckers. Crow-Armstrong is superb defender that will likely have a 30-30 campaign by the season’s end; he is currently hitting .251/.294/.490 with 28 HR & 34 SB, registering a 114 wRC+ and accruing 5.4 fWAR. Tucker meanwhile is a free agent to be and is having an excellent season, hitting .270/.381/.472 with 22 HR & 25 SB, registering a 140 wRC+ & 4.7 fWAR. The Cubs also have several others players having solid years such as Nico Hoerner, Dansby Swanson, Carson Kelly, Michael Busch, Ian Happ, & Seiya Suzuki.

On the mound, Matthew Boyd has been incredible. After five seasons of injury plagued poor performance, the southpaw is putting forth best season of his 11 year big league career. Entering play on Friday, he has a 2.92 ERA | 3.44 FIP and has accrued 3.6 fWAR over 166 1/3 IP. The rest of the rotation has been a weakness for the Cubs, but the bullpen has Cade Horton, Caleb Thielbar, and Brad Keller all delivering solid seasons.

Frivolities

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

Ben Zobrist
Fred McGriff
Carlos Pena
Steve Trachsel
David DeJesus

The Rays best player offensively against the Cubs all-time (min. 10 PA): Aubrey Huff: .583/.615/.833 with 0 HR over 13 PA
- The next four are Ben Zobrist, Wander Franco, Carl Crawford, & Cliff Floyd
The Rays most previous transacation with the Cubs:
- 7/28/2024: Rays trade Isaac Paredes to the Chicago Cubs for Christopher Morel, Hunter Bigge, & Ty Johnson
The Rays first transaction with the Cubs
- 5/12/00: Rays trade Dave Martinez to the Chicago Cubs for Mark Guthrie
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    First trades in Tampa Bay Rays history: “With the Chicago Cubs”