ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - The Rays are coming off a 1-5 road trip in which they were swept by what was a 3-22 White Sox club and scored four runs while going 1-for-15 with runners in scoring position in losing two of three to Milwaukee.
The abysmal showing has the Rays (14-18) heading into their nine-game homestand beginning Friday evening against the Mets hitting .238, which shockingly is not worse than 17th in MLB. A .229 average with runners in scoring position is 23rd. Their .301 on-base percentage is also 23rd and .653 OPS ranks 24th.
The Rays have scored four or fewer runs 12 times in their last 14 games, a stretch in which they are 4-10.
Read: Rays Kevin Cash Not Panicking Yet With Arozarena And Diaz Slumping
“That big hit is really tough to come by right now, to put some runs on the board and keep us in games,” said manager Kevin Cash, following Wednesday’s 7-1 loss to the Brewers. “There is no denying our approaches are not very good right now. We have to put our heads together to collectively make an adjustment as an offense.”
Not everybody is frigid at the plate. Isaac Paredes is hitting .291 with a team-high seven homers, Ben Rortvedt is batting .333 while platooning behind the plate with Rene Pinto, and Richie Palacios checks in at .310 with a .430 on-base percentage.
However, core players such as Yandy Diaz (.211, .556 OPS) and Randy Arozarena (.139, .455 OPS) cannot seem to shake their prolonged struggles. Since collecting five hits in the season’s first two games, Diaz is hitting .184. Arozarena’s average is next-to-last among qualified MLB batters. He has 11 hits and a .108 average since the season-opening four-game series against Toronto.
Read: Rays Newcomers Pulling The Weight At The Plate While Others Struggle
Jose Siri? Maybe his antics would be tolerated if he put the ball in play a little more frequently. Instead, the centerfielder, who has to serve one more game of his two-game suspension resulting from Tuesday evening’s skirmish with Brewers’ pitcher Abner Uribe, is at .186 with 41 strikeouts in 86 at-bats.
Harold Ramirez was hitting a respectable .255, though with only three extra-base hits in 106 at-bats. Curtis Mead has only two extra-base hits in 83 at-bats while hitting .217. Even Amed Rosario, who was scorching through the season’s first few weeks, is in the midst of a 3-for-27 funk.
“They are wearing it right now,” said Cash. “They feel it and they are frustrated by it. We just have to stay at it.”
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