DUNEDIN, Fla. -- Rays starting pitcher Drew Rasmussen and reliever Jason Adam, each coming off of breakout campaigns in 2022, are looking forward to big things this season.
And this weekend.
While Adam will depart from Rays camp on Sunday to join Team USA ahead of the start of the World Baseball Classic next week, Rasmussen will spend the day at the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, which marks the beginning of IndyCar season.
Even better, he will be the person who gets to wave the green flag that signifies the start of the storied race.
“Yes, I am!” Rasmussen declared confidently when asked to confirm his role.
Although the 27-year-old Rasmussen has never attended a race before, he said it was an opportunity to engage in the community that was too good to turn down.
“Excited to get there, see what it’s all about and take it in as a spectator,” he said.
The green flag dropped on Rasmussen’s 2023 spring season on Friday, in the Rays’ 7-6 loss to the Blue Jays. He allowed three runs on three hits and two walks over 1 2/3 innings and 38 pitches.
“I thought [my] stuff was pretty good,” Rasmussen said. “Execution not so much.”
But there were also flashes of the pitcher who ended last season with a 2.84 ERA over 146 innings. For instance, a first-inning strikeout of Daulton Varsho on a 90 mph cutter that took a nosedive right as it reached the plate.
“It's still really fun to face hitters,” said Rasmussen. “… You try and mimic it in bullpens, but you can’t create it. It’s one of those things that’s organic and develops on its own. You just have to get in there and actually feel the atmosphere a little bit.”
After registering 91 1/3 innings through his first two big league seasons, Rasmussen logged 146 innings in 2022. He said one of his goals for this year, after never topping 97 pitches in any outing during that season, is to make sure his effectiveness never wavers as his pitch count rises.
Manager Kevin Cash has no doubt Rasmussen can achieve that.
“He’s as prepared and as hard-working as any pitcher on our staff,” Cash said. “If that’s a goal of his, so be it. We want him out there as well for 30 starts.
Adam’s first action of Spring Training came in the sixth inning of Friday's contest, and it was a familiar frame for Rays fans who watched him transform into one of the game’s best relievers last year.
Sixteen pitches, 12 strikes, including a strikeout on a nasty 91 mph changeup and a couple of ground balls. The only mistake was a pulled slider that hit Toronto’s Addison Barger in the foot.
“I was telling my wife, I can’t wait to throw in a game,” said Adam, who posted a 1.56 ERA last year while limiting batters to a scant 27.5% hard-hit rate. “Because you throw bullpens all offseason to face hitters. And just to see how your stuff is playing, that’s the ultimate test -- to see how hitters respond.”
Adam will now get to test his stuff against some star-laden teams in the Classic, which gets underway on Tuesday. Team USA will begin its 2017 title defense versus Great Britain on March 11.
He said he dreamed of pitching for the United States, but never actually thought it would come to fruition.
“I can’t wait to go represent my country for Team USA, and be around some guys who are historic greats in the game, just pick their brains about how they have success and just watch them do their thing,” Adam said. “It’s an honor to be going. I can’t wait. And I think it will prep me well to go right into competition for the season and go deep into October.”
So, which pitcher does he want to talk shop with most?
“All of them.”
Actually, it’s a hitter with whom Adam needs to have a word first.
“I would like to confront [Mike] Trout for taking me, like, 480 feet to left field last year,” he said with a smile.
Trout's homer off Adam actually traveled 405 feet -- but they'll have time to review the details in the coming days.
Brian Murphy is a reporter for MLB.com.
