We didn't know how it was going to happen, but we just knew it was coming.
The Tampa Bay Rays are atop the American League East.
As great a story as the Red Sox' resurgence has been -- with Alex Cora's club waking up Monday tied with the Rays for the division's top spot -- it truly is remarkable to sit here and once again classify Tampa Bay as one of baseball's top teams.
After 48 games, both the Sox and Rays stand at 29-19. Through the same number of contests a year ago, Tampa Bay was 31-18. The year before, in 2019, that it carried the same mark as it currently owns, 10 games over .500.
The point is ... there is a reason why the Red Sox have no problem hoping Chaim Bloom can duplicate the Tampa Bay way in Boston, and it has nothing to do with payroll. This is all about finding a way to win.
Case in point: What we're witnessing with this latest version of the Rays.
The Yankees (who sit 1/2 game back of the two top teams after winning their sixth in a row), they have a payroll of just more than $200 million with one player (Gerrit Cole) making up 18 percent of their payroll.
The Blue Jays, who have slipped to 4 1/2 games back, had everyone giddy coming into 2021 thanks to youngsters like Vlad Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette, who were teaming up with big-money acquisitions Hyun-Jin Ryu, Marcus Semien and George Springer.
But Tampa Bay? Like the Yankees, it also has one player making up 18 percent of the team's payroll. The difference is that Kevin Kiermaier makes $11 million this year compared to Cole's $36 million.
Yes, the Rays are paying their entire ream just $27 million more than the Yankees' No. 1 starter.
That dynamic, however, has always been the case. What put doubts in some minds heading into this season was the absence of two players -- Blake Snell and Charlie Morton -- who some believed was propping up this whole Rays way of doing thing.
Well, both pitchers are gone ... and the Rays are still in first-place.
What is fascinating about what Tampa Bay is doing this time around is the reality that it is being accomplished without the eye-popping statistics the likes of Snell and Morton have been usually giving the Rays. Sure, they have an in Tyler Glasnow, but after that ... Rich Hill, Josh Fleming, Shane McClanahan, Ryan Yarbrough and Michael Wacha have gotten the brunt of the starts. That group after Glasnow is costing the Rays right around $10 million.
The scary thing is that the arms are to keep on coming, with the Rays getting back two premier pitching prospects (Luis Patino, Cole Wilcox) in the Snell deal.
When you face the Rays, the arms just keep coming. Starter. Bullpen. It doesn't matter. And they also usually make the most of what they have, as is evident by the resurgence of Jeffrey Springs. In case that names sounds familiar, he was a pitcher the Red Sox DFA'd before dealing him to Tampa Bay. Springs has pitched in 19 games, owns an ERA of 3.20 while striking out 23 and walking just four.
It also doesn't hurt that the Rays' defense is elite, carrying the majors second-best fielding percentage.
The offense? It is just good enough. The Rays' hitters strikeout a ton, more than any group in baseball, in fact. And their numbers across the board -- batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage -- are all sort of middle-of-the-road. Heck, they don't have a single regular hitting .300.
But Tampa Bay scores runs, the fourth-most in baseball. And isn't that what counts.
The Rays have won 10 in a row, with the victories coming in all shapes and sizes. And it has left Kevin Cash's team once again in a spot it has become all too familiar with.
Surprised? At this point, you shouldn't be.
