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Here’s everything you need to know about the 2020 Tampa Bay Rays from a fantasy perspective.
You can find all of our 2020 fantasy baseball MLB team previews here.
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Starting Lineup
| # | NAME | POS |
| 1 | Austin Meadows | LF |
| 2 | Brandon Lowe | 2B |
| 3 | Yandy Diaz | 3B |
| 4 | Ji-Man Choi | 1B |
| 5 | Hunter Renfroe | RF |
| 6 | Yoshi Tsutsugo | DH |
| 7 | Kevin Kiermaier | CF |
| 8 | Mike Zunino | C |
| 9 | Willy Adames | SS |
- Better in OBP formats: Choi, Nate Lowe
- Worse in OBP formats: Meadows, Tsutsugo
- Better than his ADP: Meadows (45), N. Lowe (386), Choi (518), Zunino (436), Adames (338)
- Worse than his ADP: Renfroe (227), Tsutsugo (316)
- Bench bat(s) worth rostering: N. Lowe, Manuel Margot, Jose Martinez in 15-team leagues and deeper.
- Player(s) most likely to lose a starting spot: Choi, Tsutsugo, Kiermaier
Pitching Rotation
| # | NAME | R/L |
| 1 | Blake Snell | L |
| 2 | Charlie Morton | R |
| 3 | Tyler Glasnow | R |
| 4 | Ryan Yarbrough | L |
| 5 | Yonny Chirinos | R |
- Better than his ADP: Chirinos
- Worse than his ADP: None
- Starter least likely to stick in the rotation: Chirinos
- Non-starter most likely to enter the rotation: Brendan McKay
Bullpen
- Projected closer: Nick Anderson (Job Security: LOW)
- Top backup: Diego Castillo
- Premier holds option: Castillo
- Sneaky holds option: Colin Poche, Oliver Drake, Chaz Roe, Jose Alvarado
Prospects
- Relevant in 2020: McKay
- Worth a look for 2021 and beyond: Wander Franco, Vidal Brujan, Shane Baz, Brent Honeywell, Josh Lowe
- Don’t believe the hype: N/A – the Rays are typically great with their prospects
Other Helpful Fantasy Info
- Park Factor: 91 (league average is 100)
- Green Light Rating: HIGH
Likeliest 2020 roster moves: McKay will eventually come up, likely at the expense of an injury to a very injury-prone rotation. First base and DH will likely be a rotating cast of characters. Nate Lowe should eventually force his way into the lineup with his big power, despite his recent demotion to Triple A.
Bold Fantasy Prediction: If Yandy Diaz can stay healthy and play 85% of the season, he will finish the season as a top-100 hitter. His progressively higher lift in his swing should result in a HR/FB% rate of 17%-ish, and he will have plenty of run and RBI opportunities hitting in the top third of the lineup regularly.
Bland Fantasy Prediction: Three Rays (Anderson, Castillo, Alvarado) notch 90% of the team’s saves, but none of them accumulate more than 40% of the team’s saves individually. Anderson ends up being the highest-ranked reliever on the virtue of his elite ratios and dominant K-rate.
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Carmen Maiorano is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Carmen, check out his archive and personal fantasy blog, and follow him @carmsclubhouse.