Rays return to Steinbrenner Field as visitors, and it 'feels a little weird'

TAMPA, Fla. -- Taylor Walls couldn’t shake the thought as he walked into George M. Steinbrenner Field on Friday afternoon.

“I’m like, ‘Man, this feels a little weird,’” Walls said.

There was nothing out of the ordinary about the ballpark, the setting or the game itself in the Rays’ 3-0 loss to the Yankees on Friday night. The strange part happened last year, when the Rays called Steinbrenner Field their home ballpark for a full season while Tropicana Field was unavailable and under repair after the dome’s roof was ripped off during Hurricane Milton in October 2024.

The Rays’ brief stay in the Yankees’ Spring Training park made their return on Friday a bit odd for the handful of players and staff on the trip who spent last season in the spacious, recently renovated home clubhouse that is once again occupied by the Yankees.

“It’s certainly a nice ballpark, and I think it probably is better suited for the Yankees,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said while sitting in the visitors’ dugout on Friday afternoon. “Glad they're back in it and [we’re] heading in a direction of getting back in ours.”

The Rays went to great lengths last year to perform the “incredible logistical feat” of transforming Steinbrenner Field into their home away from home. But you’ll find no evidence of their occupancy now, aside from the video boards the club installed on each side of the park.

But last season will forever live in the memories of the Rays who experienced it all, from the initial uncertainty about where they’d play to the relief that they’d remain in the Tampa Bay area to the sweat-soaked summer afternoons outside.

“I think 'interesting' and 'perspective' is the way I'm going to look at it,” starter Ryan Pepiot said earlier this week. “We got to play our games. We didn't have to move. There's a lot worse things that happened for other people than our stadium getting ripped apart. I don't think anyone was happy with how everything finished and turned out [on the field], but we did some good things.”

There were plenty of challenging aspects of the experience, whether it was the weather, the lack of a second seating deck, the Yankee Stadium-inspired dimensions or the scheduling adjustments required to play outdoors in Florida.

Asked what he’ll remember about last season, Walls began his answer simply: “Day games.” The early afternoon start times were just that draining, he said. While the Rays somehow avoided a rainout at home all season, Cash noted that the sweltering afternoons often limited their pregame work.

But they never used any of that as an excuse throughout the ups and downs of their disappointing 77-win campaign. Starter Drew Rasmussen said players made a concerted effort to stay positive, “keep things light and have fun” in their rental home.

“Yes, it was different. Yes, it wasn't our true home stadium. Yes, the elements played a factor, and the ballpark dimensions changed things,” Rasmussen said. “But I do think those who just embraced the opportunity to get to put on the uniform and had the understanding that the other team was dealing with the same variables, I think they really had the opportunity to make the most of it.”

Camp notes
• Left-hander Ian Seymour put together a dominant performance in his bid for a spot on the Opening Day roster, retiring all 10 batters he faced and striking out six. Seymour breezed through his relief outing on only 41 pitches (29 strikes) and forced the Yankees to whiff on nine of the 11 swings they took against his changeup.

Seymour said he had been working on a few pitches in his first two outings of the spring, practicing different grips and locations, but he took a more aggressive mindset into Friday’s appearance.

“Today the focus was just go compete the way I know how,” Seymour said.

• There was some good and bad for right-hander Joe Boyle, who allowed two runs on four hits and two walks while striking out six in three innings. The bad? He needed 68 pitches (42 strikes) to record nine outs. The good? He induced 13 swinging strikes and bounced back from a shaky second inning by striking out the side in the third.

“We want to see him take off. I mean, we see the ingredients. Everybody sees the ingredients,” Cash said. “Sometimes it's coming harder than it needs to for him.”

• Starter Nick Martinez threw four innings of live batting practice at Charlotte Sports Park on Friday. Relievers Kevin Kelly, Bryan Baker, Cole Sulser and Cam Booser each pitched an inning of live BP.

• Rasmussen, the Rays’ Opening Day starter, is scheduled to face hitters in live BP on Saturday, while No. 18 prospect Ty Johnson will start against the Red Sox in Fort Myers.