Trent Reinsmith
The Tampa Bay Rays joined the Major League Baseball ranks in 1998 as the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. The team changed its name to the Tampa Bay Rays in 2008. Tampa missed the playoffs every year between 1998 and 2007. In 2008, the club made the postseason and went to the World Series, where they lost to the Philadelphia Phillies in five games. Since then, the team made the playoffs in 2010, 2011, 2013 and 2019-2021. The Rays have made it past the American League Divisional series once in those years and that was in 2020 when they lost in the World Series to the Los Angeles Dodgers in six games.
Tampa Bay finished the 2021 season as one of three teams to win 100 or more games. The AL East leading Rays were 100-62. However, the Boston Red Sox, who finished the season at 92-70 and earned a berth in the Wild Card game, where they beat the New York Yankees, eliminated the Rays in the first round of the 2021 postseason.
Tampa Bay has a winning record this year at 40-32, but the problem for the club is that the Yankees, Red Sox and Toronto Blue Jays all have better records in the AL East. With the expanded MLB playoff format in 2022, the Rays are a Wild Card team at this point. Will they be there when the 2022 MLB season ends?
Before we look at the Tampa Bay Rays’ chances of making the 2022 MLB Playoffs, check out our guide on World Series Betting, as well as the best sites for betting on MLB in 2022.
Tampa Bay Rays to make the 2022 MLB Playoffs Picks
| Team |  |  |  |
| Tampa Bay Rays Make Playoffs | -175 | -184 | -184 |
| Tampa Bay Rays Miss Playoffs | +145 | +148 | +148 |
Hitting
Tampa Bay does not have a single player in the top five in the American League in batting average, home runs, runs batted in or hits. Yandy Diaz is leading the team with a .260 average, which puts him at No. 33 in the AL. The team leader in home runs is Isaac Paredes. The second baseman has hit 10 round trippers, which ranks 29th in the American League. As for RBIs, Ji-Man Choi is the leader in that stat for the Rays with 35. He is in the No. 25 spot in the AL. Randy Arozarena is the team leader in hits with 69. Twenty-one players in the American League have more hits than Arozarena.
In short, if Tampa Bay needs to rely on its hitting to carry the team into the playoffs, they need to see some improvement.
Pitching
The Tampa Bay Rays have a Cy Young candidate on their hands in Shane McClanahan. The 25-year-old lefty leads the Rays in wins (8), ERA (1.77) and strikeouts (123). As for where he stands in the American League, McClanahan is third in wins, first in ERA and first in strikeouts. He is 8-3 for the team and has started 15 games His 91.1 innings pitched is 18 more than No. 2 Corey Kluber. In his most recent outing, McClanahan struck out 10 Pittsburgh batters.
McClanahan is the star of the 2022 Tampa Bay Rays.
Management
Kevin Cash has been the Tampa Bay Rays manager since 2015. He won the Al Manager of the Year Award in 2020 and 2021. Cash has done a great job with a team that does not come close to competing with the Yankees, Red Sox or Blue Jays when it comes to payroll. New York, Boston and Toronto are all in the top-11 in spending in the majors. The Rays check in at No. 24 in MLB payroll, the team’s current 26-man payroll is over $171 million lower than the Yankees 26-man payroll.
Our pick
Expect the American League East to be well represented in the 2022 MLB postseason. It looks like the Yankees will lead the AL and after that the Red Sox and Blue Jays will be in the wild card. With the expansion to three wild card teams in 2022. I think the Rays will make the playoffs as they are a stronger club than the Cleveland Guardians, who are next in line for an AL wild card spot.
Pick: Tampa Bay Rays to make the 2022 MLB Playoffs.
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