Baltimore Orioles and the AL East Weaknesses
By Nate Wardle
Jul 12, 2015; St. Petersburg, FL, USA; Tampa Bay Rays left fielder David DeJesus (7), Tampa Bay Rays center fielder Kevin Kiermaier (39) ad Tampa Bay Rays left fielder Brandon Guyer (5) congratulate each other after they beat the Houston Astros at Tropicana Field. The Rays won 4-3. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
2 – Tampa Bay Rays – 3.5 GB – Offense
The Tampa Bay Rays have one of the top young rotations in baseball. As they seem to have every year. But, the problem is their lineup.
The Rays are hitting .240 as a team. They also have the third fewest hits, third fewest runs in the AL.
Their starting catcher is hitting .185, Rene Rivera. Their young right fielder, Steven Souza Jr., is third in the majors in most strikeouts. In a division that has a lot of offense, the Rays have less than 3.5 runs per game.
No matter how good the pitching is, when facing the Jays, Orioles, Yankees and Red Sox, you need to be able to score some runs. And this team doesn’t have a lot of run producers in the lineup.