They won 25 games by the end of April, then hit the 40 win mark by the end of May. Once June hit, things started to balance out. July, the wheels started falling off. By the time of this writing the Rays are just 3-12 in the month, having lost their grip on first place in the East to the O's. They're on a five game losing streak and have lost seven of their last ten games.
What's wrong with the Rays?
Well for one thing is the bullpen. Not clue what exactly to put my finger on, or if we can even point a finger at one or two specific players. But as a unit, it looks like the pen is lost, not being able to really hold leads as of late. The starting pitching has been holding up fine, its just the pen can't hang onto the lead some nights.
Then there's what's going on at the plate. The offense just isn't clicking. too many strikeouts and way too many left in scoring position. The big hits aren't there as they were at the beginning of the season. Randy Arozerana isn't connecting with the power the way he was to start the year off.
Time to hit the panic button?
Not just yet. The Rays got off to such a hot start that they built a big enough pad. Now that pad has gone away and they need to get back to work. They've got a little over two months left in the season before we hit the playoffs. Barring a major drop off, the Rays should be there. If the Rays have to be hitting a slide, it's better for the team to be hitting it and working the kinks out now then hitting a slide right at the end of September rolling into playoff baseball. Not really worried too much, but its starting to creep into the back of people's minds.
Not all of this falls on Kevin Cash. There's only so much he can do, so many moves and lineup juggling he can do. he can't make the players hit, he can't make the players hustle. I can't see Cash going anywhere but between now and the August 1st trade deadline, I wouldn't be surprised if the Rays start making moves to better this team
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