The Tampa Bay Rays hosted the New York Yankees last week for a three-game series. The Rays, who are off to a flying start this season, absolutely crushed the Bronx Bombers with all-round play. They exploited the Yankees struggling offense to put them under early pressure and went on to capitalize on it by not allowing them a chance to bounce back.
Overall it was a dominating performance from the Tampa Bay Rays, who are surprisingly too good this season. With a record of 29-8, the team sits at the peak of the American League East Division. They have outperformed the likes of the Blue Jays, Orioles, and the Yankees since the start of the 2023 season. Naturally, many MLB fans and analysts alike are wondering what changed for the Rays this season.
MLB Analysts Accuse Rays Of Cheating Against The Yankees
The Tampa Bay Rays have been by far the best team in MLB this season with a highly impressive record of 29-8, which has earned them the top spot on the highly competitive East table. However, the results are surprising for a team with no big and notable names. The same question arose in the mind of a couple of MLB analysts who raised suspicion about Ray’s successful run in 2023. Evan Roberts Craig Carton of the WFAN accused the Rays of cheating during the recent series against the New York Yankees.
The duo said that they know what the Tampa Bay Rays are capable of as a team, and they are sensing some suspicion over the team’s recent success. Craig even went on to claim that the team is probably cheating. Their point is that they know how baseball as a sport works, and they are skeptical over the things that panned out last weekend between the Rays and the Yankees. The Rays have never ever been this good in the history of the league. Moreover, for the team to suddenly gain results without any strong names raises obvious suspicion. The duo clarified that they are not Yankees fans and have no bias toward them, but what they saw over the series did not make much sense.
Bombers Stumble All The Way Down To The Bottom
Meanwhile, the New York Yankees are on the edge way too early this season. With just one month into the league, the Bombers have dropped down all the way to the bottom spot of the American League East Division table with a poor record of 20-17. After enjoying a good series win streak, the Yankees hit a slump and could not recover. The main factor contributing to the downfall is the excessive injury concerns. The likes of Giancarlo Stanton and Carlos Rodon have been serving time in IL for way too long now.
On top of that, the Yankees’ offense has failed to step up. In the absence of Aaron Judge, who missed out on more than 10 games due to a hip injury, no batter took the responsibility to deliver for the team. All the big names flopped, and as a result, the Yankees found themselves in this deep mess. In the next stretch, the Bombers will play four games each with the mighty Rays and the Blue Jays, which could further hurt their 2023 campaign.