This story was excerpted from Adam Berry's Rays Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
TAMPA -- Drew and Stevie Rasmussen met in the fall of 2014 at Oregon State University. Stevie had just moved onto campus, and she was friends with a girl who knew Drew’s roommate. When they first met, Stevie didn’t know Drew was a baseball player.
"But very quickly after that," Drew said, "she did.”
Stevie has been making the Rasmussens’ life in baseball work as seamlessly as possible ever since.
They’ve overcome three major elbow surgeries for Drew, including one that cost him a chance to sign with the Rays out of Oregon State and another that disrupted his remarkable transformation into a reliable starter. They’ve been traded from Milwaukee to Tampa Bay and signed an extension with the Rays. They’ve handled all the ups and downs, the busy nights and weekends and the summers spent flying around the country.
And they’ve taken on the joy and challenge of parenthood. Their son, Rhett William, was born in September 2022.
“From a support standpoint, she's everything for me and my son,” Drew said. “Thomas Rhett has a song basically saying, like, 'Thank you for living this dream I know you never had.' She never takes any of the credit. She never gets any of the credit that she deserves. But I mean, my life gets to run seamlessly and flawlessly because of all the sacrifices she makes and just everything she does, day in and day out.
“She does everything, and she does it really well. Without her, none of this would be possible.”
Well, what better time than Mother’s Day to give that credit where it’s due? And fittingly, Drew will start Sunday’s series finale against the Brewers with Stevie and Rhett in attendance at George M. Steinbrenner Field.
He’s pitched on Mother’s Day before, and it proved to be a memorable day. Then a reliever with the Brewers, Rasmussen worked a scoreless 10th inning in Miami on May 9, 2021, to record his first Major League save.
Quite a bit has changed professionally for Drew since then. A new team, a successful move from the bullpen back to the rotation, another elbow procedure, years of experience. As he’s often said, Stevie went through it just as much as he did, with the added job description of being what he called a “pseudo-therapist” when he needs to vent.
(Stevie memorably sweated out his perfect game bid in 2022 while pregnant with Rhett and asked probably the best question he heard afterward: “If you could face [Jorge] Mateo again, would you do anything different?”)
As amazed as Drew has always been by Stevie’s ability to handle everything thrown her way, it’s reached a new level these past 2 1/2 years.
“It's the greatest thing ever,” he said. “Anytime Rhett mumbles something in gibberish, I can just look to her, and she knows exactly what he said, what he needs, what he wants. She has him absolutely down to a science, and it's absolutely unbelievable just how good she is at being a mother.”
And one of the most challenging moments of Drew’s career turned out to be one of the best experiences they could have asked for. During a dominant start at Yankee Stadium on May 11, 2023, Rasmussen sustained an elbow injury that required an internal brace procedure and kept him off a big league mound for nearly 15 months.
As devastating as long-term injuries are, and as monotonous as the rehabilitation process can be, Drew got to spend that time at home with Stevie and Rhett.
“The third one, she might actually tell you, was one of the happiest years of her life. We spent so much time together, and we took advantage of the time,” Drew said. “We were grateful for all that the world of baseball has provided to us, but we grew closer as a couple. We grew closer as parents.”
Of course, it’s been different since Drew came back healthy and as effective as ever. They’re back in the grind now, traveling the country and living life according to a baseball schedule.
How’s Stevie handling it with a 2-year-old boy in tow? How else?
“She does all of that flawlessly,” Drew said, smiling. “I mean, she's a rock star. It's incredible what she does, day in and day out. She doesn't expect any credit, but she deserves it all.”