Baz proud to end season on good note after career-high 31 starts

BALTIMORE -- Looking ahead to his final start of the season, Shane Baz said Tuesday he was most proud of the fact that he went from start to finish in the Rays’ rotation. He made a career-high 31 starts, never skipping a turn, and threw enough innings to qualify for the ERA title for the first time.

Now, he can head into the offseason proud that he went out on a high note.

Baz worked four hitless innings to wrap up his season and set the tone for the Rays’ 6-2 win over the Orioles on Wednesday night at Camden Yards, which brought their record to 77-81. The right-hander will finish the season with a 4.87 ERA and 176 strikeouts in 166 1/3 innings over 31 starts.

“Definitely a good way to end it,” Baz said.

Baz’s performance helped the Rays carry a no-hitter into the seventh inning, as Edwin Uceta followed with a clean fifth and Garrett Cleavinger breezed through the sixth. Griffin Jax gave up a leadoff single to Tyler O’Neill on the second pitch of the bottom of the seventh inning, ending Tampa Bay’s longest no-hit bid of the season.

The Rays scored in six different innings on Wednesday night to support their pitching staff. Richie Palacios picked up three hits, Brandon Lowe doubled and hit his 31st home run of the season and Jake Mangum launched his second over-the-fence homer.

“We were all pumped. I don't know if he was excited about it, because then they were getting on him about not smiling,” manager Kevin Cash said of Mangum’s homer. “But we were all smiling.”

Baz is one of three Tampa Bay starters to make at least 30 starts this season, as Ryan Pepiot made his 31st in Tuesday night’s 6-0 loss and Drew Rasmussen will do so in Thursday afternoon’s series finale. It’s the first time the Rays have had three starters pitch at least 30 times since 2016.

Speaking before the game, Cash was particularly pleased with the way Baz’s stuff seemed to be “peaking kind of at the end of the year.” So did Baz, as he made three scoreless starts among his five outings while posting a 2.82 ERA in September.

“I'm very thankful and blessed that I'm able to still go,” Baz said. “I've changed a lot about my routine and just the stuff that I do in between starts [that] I think has made a big difference.”

Baz’s four-seam fastball averaged 97.9 mph and touched 100.4 in his final outing, and he forced the Orioles to whiff on nine of their 23 swings against him. He walked three batters but still got through four innings on only 49 pitches before being taken out of the game.

“I think that's encouraging for all of us that we’ve got guys with this type of workload that are showing that their stuff is sustained really at a high level,” Cash said.

That was indeed the case for Pepiot, too, as his average four-seam fastball velocity was higher on Tuesday night than his season average. Like Baz, Pepiot (3.86 ERA in 167 2/3 innings) finished his season feeling good about the work he did to stay healthy and strong over a full, six-month season.

“You've got to take the positives. I'm very hard on myself,” Pepiot said. “I definitely think there were a lot of things I left out there this year, but there's also been a lot of positives I can take from it and grow.”

Aranda rejoins team
Jonathan Aranda was back in the Rays’ clubhouse on Wednesday afternoon, ready to resume his injury-interrupted breakthrough season. The All-Star first baseman went through a pregame workout indoors and could be reinstated from the injured list for the final days of the season, although the Rays had not determined a plan for him as of Wednesday night.

Out since July 31 due to a fractured left wrist, Aranda completed his recovery and played in a handful of “bridge league” games to prepare for his return.

“It was something that I wanted. I wanted to finish the year, the year that I started,” Aranda said through interpreter Eddie Rodriguez. “It was something that I needed for myself just to go to the offseason with a better mindset.”

Front office change
Rays vice president/assistant general manager Carlos Rodriguez will leave the organization at the end of the season. He does not currently have another position lined up but said he felt it was “time for a new challenge” after 15 years with Tampa Bay.

Rodriguez joined the Rays as a scout in 2010 then served in different scouting/player development director roles before becoming vice president/assistant GM in 2022. President of baseball operations Erik Neander credited Rodriguez for being an “invaluable presence” who is “leaving a lasting impact” on the organization.

“His professionalism, teamwork and unwavering dedication have made him an exceptional colleague and a cherished friend to me and countless others at the Rays,” Neander said. “We are profoundly grateful for his contributions and the successes we’ve shared.”