​How 1 glaring lineup problem could end Rays’ World Series hopes originally appeared on The Sporting News.
Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.The Tampa Bay Rays have a crucial four-game series approaching with the New York Yankees. The Rays, Yankees, and Boston Red Sox are the three best teams in the American League. Potentially, only one of those teams will advance to the ALCS. If Tampa Bay wants to earn its first World Series berth since 2020, the AL East club could use better production from the bottom of the order. Bleacher Report’s Kerry Miller wrote that the Rays likely wish they had made a trade for another bat at the deadline. “But that 7-8-9 of Cedric Mullins, Richie Palacios and Taylor Walls could be where rallies go to die,” Miller wrote. “(And the Rays sure have been minimizing Simpson’s impact by often batting him sixth ahead of that whatever the opposite of murderer’s row is.)” Junior Caminero, Yandy Diaz, and Jonathan Aranda are Tampa Bay’s top three hitters. Rookie outfielder Victor Mesa Jr. has been very hot at the plate, hitting .357 with four home runs in September. Still, the concerns over one-third of the Rays lineup are warranted. MORE: Brewers’ Jacob Misiorowski makes all kinds of MLB history with 1,000 pitches of 100 mphHowever, Mullins (CF) and Walls (SS) provide quality defense, so the Rays could take what they can get from them on offense. “If they could bring back Brandon Lowe right about now, we’d have a much easier time penciling them into the World Series,” Miller added. The Rays appear determined to make a deep run, but light-hitting players are going to have to contribute in some way. More MLB news:Tatsuya Imai predicted not to opt out of $36M Astros contractWhy Braves could trade Spencer Strider this upcoming offseasonMLB insider accuses Shohei Ohtani of misleading Dodgers about injury issuesFreddy Peralta gets bad news on free agency odds to land nine-figure contractPadres predicted to lose Michael King with $58M opt out likely