ST. PETERSBURG -- After the Rays’ regular-season finale last Sunday at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, manager Kevin Cash summoned his starting rotation for a brief meeting to run through their pitching plans for the American League Division Series.
Well, “brief” might not even do it justice.
“All he said was, ‘Hey, Ras, you’re starting [Game 1],’” ace Drew Rasmussen recalled Saturday night. “After that, it’s all hands on deck.”
The Rays declined to reveal their rotation plans throughout the past week, even though they had plenty of time to set it up however they liked heading into this showdown with the Yankees that began with a 1-0 win behind Rasmussen at Tropicana Field Saturday night.
There was a reason for that, and it became clear when they named veteran right-hander Freddy Peralta their starter for Game 2 on Monday night after their Game 1 victory.
Peralta was available to pitch out of the bullpen, if needed, behind Rasmussen. The Rays looked back on the way the Brewers used him in the 2024 National League Wild Card Series as an example; he pitched four innings as a starter in Game 1, then returned to pitch an inning out of the bullpen in Game 3.
Tampa Bay figured that could be reversed in this five-game series, which includes off-days after Games 1, 2 and 4. Thus, Peralta could have pitched in relief on Saturday night and been ready to start Game 3 at Yankee Stadium on Wednesday.
Rasmussen rendered all of that plotting and scheming unnecessary, of course. He pitched eight innings, closer Bryan Baker breezed through the ninth and the other 10 pitchers on Tampa Bay’s ALDS roster were free to enjoy the show and get ready for whenever their names are called the rest of the series.
“We got together, and we were all ready for tonight just in case. But we knew [the other starters wouldn’t need to pitch] when we were sure that Drew was going to be himself tonight,” Peralta said after Game 1. “I was available for any situation, but knowing and understanding that Monday probably was going to be my opportunity.”
Cash confirmed that was the case with Peralta shortly after Saturday’s game, and the righty made his way to the Tropicana Field interview room in street clothes to discuss his upcoming start before leaving the ballpark.
Breaking into a wide smile as he talked about his rejuvenation with the Rays after they acquired him from the Mets at the Trade Deadline and the honor of starting a postseason game for the top team in the AL, Peralta acknowledged this is a “very special” opportunity for him even after six trips to the postseason (and nine playoff appearances) with Milwaukee.
“Everything changed when I got traded. I said it before, that I've been treated here as a king, and I feel really good about it,” Peralta said. “For me and my family, this is a great opportunity to be able to be the pitcher for the second game in the ALDS.
“Since I got here, I felt something I was looking for, which is the energy, the way that the boys play the game. … When I talk about the defense, they are amazing, the way they come into the field, the way they take their at-bats, too. When I talk about the offense, it's amazing.”
Pitching coach Kyle Snyder said Peralta earned the honor with the way he pitched down the stretch. After a tumultuous tenure with the Mets, he made some important adjustments and rediscovered his traditional form with the Rays’ renowned pitching staff and went 5-0 with a 0.79 ERA, 27 strikeouts and only nine walks in 34 innings over his final six starts, all wins by Tampa Bay.
“It's a testament to him returning to form and kind of recapturing what he's always been,” Snyder said.
Peralta praised Snyder for turning his season around, saying his run as September’s AL Pitcher of the Month was the product of “the information and the way he communicated to me,” but Snyder was just as quick to deflect the credit, saying the entire pitching department simply put their heads together to find tweaks that “allowed him to return to being himself.”
“I wanted him to be himself again and not continue to chase the fix,” Snyder added. “It's a little difficult to hear, always, what's going wrong and what needs to be fixed. Once you share with him what he does well, what he used to do well, who he was -- and he wasn't that far removed from in 2025 being a top five Cy Young Award candidate -- I think we do a good job of … sharing with them what makes them unique. We went back to that.”