ST. PETERSBURG -- Following Tuesday's Grapefruit League game, a 9-3 win over the Tigers, the Rays turn their focus to the regular season, beginning with the Opening Day matchup on Thursday against Justin Verlander and the Astros. MLB.com caught up with senior vice president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom to get his thoughts on Tampa Bay's 2019 outlook.

MLB.com: What's your overall take on the Opening Day roster?

Bloom: We think it's a really deep group. A really talented group. It made it difficult at the end of camp. We felt we had more deserving Major League players than we had spots, which is exactly the position we want to be in. It's a position we put ourselves [in] all winter. It makes for some tough decisions, but we know that over a long season, and especially in our division, that depth gets tested and it's going to allow us to win some games that we might otherwise not.

MLB.com: Was this one of the deepest camps that you guys have had in the last couple of years?

Bloom: I think so. We were talking about it and said it on the first day of camp. When you look at the room, it might be the most talent we've had in that room in the time that we've been here. Obviously a lot of that is potential and this season will show us just how much of that [potential] is realized, but you can't help but be excited about the talent and the upside that this group has.

MLB.com: Did anything surprise you over the last six weeks of camp? Maybe a specific player or any type of situation?

Bloom: I wouldn’t say we were surprised, but knowing how strong the chemistry was the last two months of last season, it's not a given that you're going to hold that when you come back after the winter, and the feeling around this group is pretty much the same. They're very loose, they care about each other, they're on the same page and that's really encouraging.

MLB.com: I'm sure the roster will change as we move along this season, but what are some of the strengths and weaknesses of this Opening Day roster?

Bloom: I think the depth of our group is a strength. It's going to require some selflessness from everybody, because we have a club where it could be a different guy every night propelling you to a win, but we think that's a good thing. This group is athletic. They're young. The flip side of that, obviously, is that they don't have the experience. But so much of what went right last year came because we were willing to give opportunities to guys with talent even if they lacked experience, and they ran with it. We would be silly to not continue with that this year knowing what the group did with the opportunity we gave them in 2018.

MLB.com: It seems like everyone has been talking about having high expectations heading into this season. Do you feel that you're finally at that place with the roster where you could welcome some of those high expectations?

Bloom: As far as external expectations, those are things we can't worry about. If they're there, great. I think that means that people see our group as a dangerous club. But internally, yeah, we expect a lot of ourselves. The players expect a lot of themselves. You look back at how we finished last year, even though we had a lot of ground to make up and ultimately couldn't do it, but the entire second half of the season, we felt like we were in the playoff hunt. When you finish the season with that feeling, you're going to come back with some really high expectations [of] what you can accomplish.

MLB.com: What do you think is the most important thing for a young group in the first month of the season?

Bloom: Momentum is so important and obviously you want to get [off] to a good start, although we showed last year that it isn't a requirement in having a good season. But every win matters. I think [we want] consistency over the course of the season. It's something a lot of young players struggle [with] as they're looking to establish themselves. I think you can bolster that by having a good atmosphere where guys have each others' backs. Where nobody feels like it's on one guy's shoulder because everybody is going to pick each other up, and that, I think, can help any player, but especially a young player, ride the roller coaster of a six-month season.

MLB.com: I know you guys have a great understanding of the farm system, but did any prospects stand out to you over the last couple of weeks either in big league camp or Minor League camp?

Bloom: As a group, they impressed. Brendan McKay got a couple of tastes of big league action [and on the back fields], he looked very good. Both sides of his game have been very impressive this spring. There are some guys like Garrett Whitley, who missed all of last year, and now just looks to be in great shape and as loose and fluid and strong as he's probably looked the entire time that we've had him. There are many exciting names in the back fields, and it's fun every day to get to see guys that get to come over and show what they can do on this stage.