30-year old righty closer Rafael Soriano and 32-year old righty set-up man Joaquin Benoit have been slamming the door all year long for the Rays in 2010. Soriano has excelled in his first season as the unquestioned closer on a pitching staff (last year he shared the role with Mike Gonzalez in Atlanta). He has pitched in 62 games (0 starts) for the Rays this year and he is 3-2 with 44 saves, a 1.79 ERA and a 0.80 WHIP. He has only given up 35 hits while whiffing 54 batters in 60 1/3 innings which shows you what kind of stuff he has. Plus, Soriano pounds the strikezone refusing to beat himself with only 13 walks so far this year. Joaquin Benoit started the year in the minors and worked his way to Tampa. Early on with the Rays, they didn’t use him in pressure situations. But, Benoit was pitching so well that the Rays decided to start using him in the 8th inning and he has been impressive. Benoit has pitched in 60 games (0 starts) for the Rays so far this year and he is 1-2 with 1 save, a 1.41 ERA and a 0.68 WHIP. He has only given up 28 hits in 57 1/3 innings this season and he has a stunning 70 whiffs! Like Soriano, Benoit pounds the strikezone as he has only walked 11 batters so far this year. In essence, opposing teams only have 7 innings to beat the Rays.

24-year old starting 3B Evan Longoria is having another good year for the Rays. He has played in 147 games for the Rays this year and he is 164 of 558 (.294 avg, .879 OPS) with 93 runs scored, 21 homers, 99 RBIs and 15 stolen bases. He has now played in 426 games in his three years with the Rays and he is 450 of 1,590 (.283 avg, .881 OPS) with 260 runs scored, 81 homers, 297 RBIs and 31 stolen bases. Longoria is not just a great hitter as he is an excellent 3B defensively. He is also growing into a leader on the team as evidenced earlier this year when he got into B.J. Upton’s face about not hustling.

The Rays are 87-56 on the season which has them 1/2 a game ahead of the Yankees in the American League East. A big reason for the Rays’ success this season has been the starting rotation as all five of the regular guys have at least 10 wins in 2010. 24-year old lefty David Price has been the ace of the team this year. He has started 28 games for the Rays this year and he is 17-6 with a 2.75 ERA and a 1.21 WHIP. He is a serious Cy Young Award candidate this season and he is finishing the year strongly. 26-year old righty Matt Garza was outstanding early in the year before falling into a deep slump but he has rebounded big time lately when his team has needed him the most. Garza has pitched in 29 games (28 starts) for the Rays this year and he is 14-8 with 1 save, a 3.68 ERA and a 1.21 WHIP. Garza is a big game pitcher so I expect him to finish strongly just like Price is. 28-year old righty James Shields is having the worst year of his major league career but he still has a winning record. He has pitched in 30 games (29 starts) for the Rays this year and he is 13-12 with a 4.98 ERA and a 1.41 WHIP. Shields will have to pitch strongly the rest of this month if he is going to secure a spot in the playoff rotation. 27-year old righty Jeff Niemann has been pretty awful since coming back from the D.L. but his overall numbers still look pretty good. Niemann has started 26 games for the Rays this year and he is 10-6 with a 4.32 ERA and a 1.27 WHIP. Unlike Niemann, 24-year old righty Wade Davis has responded pretty well to his stint on the D.L. Davis has started 25 games for the Rays so far this year and he is 12-9 with a 4.24 ERA and a 1.40 WHIP. These five guys are one of the biggest reasons that the Rays are where they are right now as the starting rotation gives them a chance to win any time they take the field.

The Tampa Bay Rays have called up 24-year old lefty Jake McGee to help out in the bullpen. McGee pitched in 30 games (20 starts) in AA+AAA-ball this year and he is 4-8 with 1 save, a 3.07 ERA and a 1.19 WHIP. The Rays switched him to the pen in AAA and the results were eye popping. He pitched in 11 games (1 start) in AAA-ball this year and he was 1-1 with 1 save, a 0.52 ERA and a 0.69 WHIP. He only gave up 9 hits and 3 walks in 17 1/3 innings in AAA while whiffing 27 batters proving that his stuff is pretty nasty. He came into this season as the Rays’ #8 prospect according to Baseball America. He had Tommy John Surgery in 2008 but now he appears all the way back. McGee has pitched in 140 games (129 starts) in seven years in the minors and he is 34-36 with 1 save, a 3.45 ERA and a 1.22 WHIP. He only gave up 507 hits in the minors while whiffing 720 batters in only 620 2/3 innings. McGee will team with Randy Choate out of the pen in the match-up game and the Rays have needed a second lefty all year long.

The Rays have sent 23-year old righty reliever Matt Grogen to the D-Backs to complete the Chad Qualls trade. Grogen came into this season as the D-Backs’ #28 prospect and he’s showing why right now. Grogen pitched in 42 games (0 starts) in AA-ball for the Rays this year and he was 3-2 with 22 saves, a 1.65 ERA and a 1.12 WHIP. He has now pitched in 3 seasons in the minors working in 108 games (0 starts) in which he is 11-4 with 54 saves, a 1.45 ERA and a 0.97 WHIP. The Rays might regret making this trade if Qualls doesn’t start pitching better. He has pitched in 16 games (0 starts) for the Rays this year and he is 0-0 with a 6.57 ERA and a 1.70 WHIP.