Who’s Going To Round Out This Rays Rotation?

ST. PETERSBURG—Drew Rasmussen will take the ball on Opening Day, and if Shane McClanahan’s post-injury progress holds, Tampa Bay will trot out a top-heavy rotation that already looks formidable. Yet the Rays have built their reputation on depth, and the final two slots behind Rasmussen, McClanahan and No. 2 starter Shane Baz remain wide open. With McClanahan’s workload likely capped, the pitchers who claim those jobs could decide whether the club returns to the postseason in 2026.

General manager Peter Bendix and the analytics staff spent the winter importing arms who fit the Rays’ trademark template: plus command, swing-and-miss potential, or the flexibility to toggle between rotation and bullpen. The two headline additions—right-hander Nick Martinez and left-hander Steven Matz—check every box.

Martinez, 35, arrives on a two-year deal after logging 161 2/3 innings for the Cubs in 2025. He attacks hitters with a six-pitch mix, each thrown at least 10 percent of the time, headlined by a cutter, four-seam fastball and changeup. The changeup rated 112 on Stuff+, while his 6.1 percent walk rate and 90th-percentile hard-hit suppression underscore why Tampa Bay views him as a stabilizer. The only wart: a modest whiff rate that the Rays believe they can boost by trimming his repertoire in shorter stints.

Matz, signed to an incentive-laden one-year contract, offers a contrasting look. The 34-year-old southpaw fired his sinker and curve a combined 80 percent of the time last season, inducing grounders at the 76th-percentile clip and posting a plus-8 run value on the sinker alone. He walked just 3.6 percent of batters faced across 53 relief appearances for St. Louis, and manager Kevin Cash could deploy him as either a traditional starter or bulk reliever behind an opener.

Behind the veterans sit two high-upside wild cards who spent the bulk of 2025 at Triple-A Durham. Joe Boyle, 26, pumps 98-mph gas and pairs it with a bender that earned a 128 Stuff+ score. The 6-foot-7 righty fanned 40.5 percent of batters in the International League while holding opponents to a .258 expected wOBA, but he also issued free passes at an alarming rate. The Rays will give him every opportunity to refine his command this spring, believing the payoff could be a front-of-the-rotation weapon through the remainder of the decade.

Left-hander Ian Seymour offers the antithesis of Boyle’s power profile. The 25-year-old worked six pitches down in the zone, walked only 5.6 percent of hitters and recorded a 23.7 percent put-away rate on his changeup across 130 1/3 innings in 2025. Neither his fastball nor change surrendered a batting average above .230, and his durability makes him the safest bet among the bubble candidates should McClanahan require extra rest.

Cash has already hinted at a fluid plan: Martinez as a traditional starter, Matz piggy-backing openers, Seymour soaking up middle innings and Boyle headlining a taxi-squad shuttle whenever a swing starter is needed. The configuration will evolve—Tampa Bay’s always does—but the Rays believe they have assembled the quantity and variety of arms to survive the grind of a 162-game slate.

How the back end of the rotation coalesces this spring will determine whether the Rays have merely a strong front three or the deepest staff in the American League East.