ST. PETERSBURG -- While the Rays have had some good offensive players throughout their history, the organization has made it very clear that its success is built on stellar pitching and run prevention. That shows season after season, especially when the Rays are at their best.
Though the team has dominated as one unit, there have been some stellar single-season performances that have stolen the show, from Cy Young Award winners to historic bullpen performances. Let’s take a look at the Rays’ five best single-season performances by a pitcher.
1. Blake Snell, 2018
At the beginning of the season, Snell told pitching coach Kyle Snyder that he was going to win the Cy Young Award. Coming off a 4.04 ERA season in 2017, Snell bounced back to accomplish his goal, winning the Cy Young Award over Justin Verlander.
En route to winning the award, Snell set franchise records for a starting pitcher with a 1.89 ERA and 21 wins. Right-handed hitters hit just .188 against Snell in ‘18 and left-handers hit an abysmal .135. Not only did Snell have the best single-season performance by a Rays pitcher, but the left-hander executed one of the most flawless seasons in MLB history.
2. David Price, 2012
Before Snell broke nearly all of his records, Price’s 2012 season was easily considered the best single-season performance by a Rays pitcher. Like Snell, Price won the AL Cy Young Award, becoming the first Rays pitcher to accomplish the feat. His 20 wins and 2.56 ERA that season are both career bests.
3. James Shields, 2011
Big Game James, as fans affectionately called him, had a lot of good seasons with the Rays, but his 2011 season was probably his best. Shields set career highs with 16 wins and a 2.82 ERA. His ability to log 249 2/3 innings was also impressive, especially when you consider the workload of pitchers around the league. Shields finished third in the Cy Young Award race that season, finishing behind Verlander and Jered Weaver.
4. Charlie Morton, 2019
When the Rays signed Morton to a two-year, $30 million deal before the 2019 season, most people agreed that having the veteran right-hander would be a perfect fit for a young, hungry clubhouse that was ready to take the next step. But nobody expected Morton to put up career numbers as a 35-year-old pitcher.
As the Rays dealt with injuries to Tyler Glasnow, Yonny Chirinos and Snell, the one constant in the rotation was Morton. He made a career-high 33 starts, won a career-best 16 games and finished with a career-low 3.05 ERA. Morton’s superb season earned him a third-place finish in the AL Cy Young Award race, finishing behind his former teammates Verlander and Gerrit Cole.
5. Drew Rasmussen, 2026
Rasmussen only finished fourth in the AL Cy Young Award voting after the most dominant season of his career, which came in his second full season back from a third major elbow procedure, but that does not fully capture how incredible he was for Tampa Bay, especially after pitching in the All-Star Game for the second straight year. Rasmussen finished the season with a 2.67 ERA, the fourth-lowest single-season mark in franchise history, and a 159 adjusted ERA+ that ranked behind only Snell’s 2018 campaign. Rasmussen finished 16-5, but the Rays won 21 of his 30 regular-season starts -- including each of his 12 in the second half. Fittingly, Rasmussen was on the mound for the Rays’ postseason clincher and their division-clinching game. He was also great in the postseason, posting a 2.20 ERA in 28 2/3 innings over five starts, although Tampa Bay only won two of them.