The Best Tampa Bay Rays Pitchers in Team History

Our focus here at Catchers Home is catchers.

Still, we enjoy taking detours every now and then to discuss other baseball positions, and another favorite position of ours are pitchers. After all, they do form the other half of the catcher's battery and work closely with those wearing the catcher's gear.

In this article, we take a deep dive into the careers of Tampa Bay Rays pitchers to identify the best to ever pitch for the club.

We begin our research in the not too distant past - 1998 to be exact, when the Devil Rays first joined the MLB.  

A Brief Note About Wins Above Replacement (WAR)

WAR is a well known statistic in baseball circles by now. Its purpose is to measure the overall value that a single player provides to a team. 

There are a wide variety of other statistics that quantify one specific aspect of a player's performance.  

WAR, on the other hand, differs in that it is comprehensive stat that's perfect for evaluating players against one another. Reflected in a WAR number is a compilation of other statistics across the defensive and offensive spectrum.

It's for these reasons that we think WAR is the best baseball metric to use for player comparisons. 

For this article, we ranked every pitcher for the Tampa Bay Rays according to each player’s highest career WAR and highest single-season WAR using the model developed by Fangraphs (also called fWAR).

Keep scrolling to learn who these top pitchers are…

Top 3 Rays Pitchers by Career WAR

Please note: The player must have a minimum of 40 games pitched as a member of the Rays to be eligible for the career WAR list.

#1. David Price, 42.5 career WAR

The best Tampa Bay Rays pitcher in franchise history according to career WAR is David Price.

Tampa Bay’s #1 overall pick in 2004, Price wore a Rays jersey from 2008 - 2014, and he has also spent time with the Detroit Tigers, the Toronto Blue Jays, the Boston Red Sox and the LA Dodgers.

Through the end of the 2022 season, Price has a 157 - 82 record with a 3.32 ERA and 2,076 strikeouts. He won the AL Cy Young while a member of the Rays, in 2012 - the first Rays pitcher to win the award.

Price has been a member of five AL all star teams, he has finished in the top 6 for the Cy Young award on four occasions, and he won a World Series ring with the 2018 Red Sox.   

#2. James Shields, 32.3 career WAR

James Shields was drafted by the Rays in 2000 and spent the majority of his MLB career with the team.

During his 13 years in the big leagues, Shields went 145 - 139 with 2,234 strikeouts and a 4.01 ERA. He was a one time AL all star (2011) and was a member of the Rays' 2008 pennant winning team.

Shields was a workhouse as a pitcher. He led the league in games started three times (2013 - 2015), in shutouts twice (2008 - 2011), and in complete games (2011), innings pitched (2013) and batters faced (2013) one time each.

#3. Charlie Morton, 26.7 career WAR

Although Charlie Morton only spent two years in Tampa Bay, his time with the team was impactful. He had an excellent season with the 2019 Rays (see more below) and was a key figure in the Rays' postseason run in 2020.

Through the end of 2022, Morton has pitched in 15 big league seasons. His career record is 116 - 101 with a 4.03 ERA and 1,697 strikeouts.

Morton is a two time all star (2018 and 2019), a two time World Series winner (2017 Astros and 2021 Braves) and he finished in the top 3 for Cy Young award once (2019).

Honorable Mentions

• Scott Kazmir, 25.1 career WAR

• Chris Archer, 20.8 career WAR

 

Top 3 Seasons by Rays Pitchers, Ranked by WAR

Please note: The player must have at least 20 games pitched in a single season with the Rays in order to be eligible for this single-season WAR list.

#1. 2019 - Charlie Morton (6.0 WAR)

The Tampa Bay Rays pitcher with the highest WAR in a single season is Charlie Morton with his 6.0 WAR season in 2019.

Morton pitched in 33 games for the 2019 Rays, making the AL all star team and finishing with a 16-6 record and a 3.05 ERA. He compiled a career high 240 strikeouts and had an MLB leading 0.7 HR9 that year.

Morton finished in the top 5 among AL pitchers in 2019 for strikeouts, ERA, wins and fielding percentage. He finished third in AL Cy Young voting behind Justin Verlander and Gerrit Cole of the Houston Astros.

#2. 2014 - David Price (5.6 WAR)

In 2014, David Price pitched 23 games with the Rays before being dealt to the Detroit Tigers at the trade deadline. He ended the season with a 15 - 12 record, a 3.26 ERA and an MLB leading 271 strikeouts.

In addition to strikeouts, Price led all big league pitchers in games started (34), innings pitched (248.1) and batters faced (1009).

Price represented the Rays at the 2014 all star game. He finished sixth in Cy Young award voting that season. 

#3. 2015 - Chris Archer (5.1 WAR)

Chris Archer had a great season with the Rays in 2015 despite only going 12 - 13. He led the majors with 34 games started and struck out a career high 252 batters in 212 innings pitched. 

The Clayton, North Carolina native had a 3.23 ERA in 2015 and was named to his first MLB all star team. He finished fifth in AL Cy Young award voting that season.

List of All Rays Pitchers With a 3.0+ WAR Season

A season for a pitcher with a WAR that's 3.0 or better typically means that the pitcher had a good year. 

A number of Rays pitchers have met or surpassed the 3.0 mark since 1998, Tampa Bay's first year in the MLB. 

In the table below, we showcase all Tampa Bay Rays pitchers to have had a 3.0 WAR or better season.

[table id=68 /]

All Rays Pitchers over the Last 5 Years

Please note: the pitchers listed below are ordered based on the number of games pitched for the Rays per season. Pitchers who made the most appearances in a season begin at the top of the list. Players appear on this list if they made at least one appearance as a pitcher (which is why you may notice a few position players on this list!).

2018 Rays

• Sergio Romo
• José Alvarado
• Chaz Roe
• Ryne Stanek
• Diego Castillo
• Ryan Yarbrough
• Andrew Kittredge
• Adam Kolarek
• Blake Snell
• Hunter Wood
• Matt Andriese
• Alex Colomé
• Austin Pruitt
• Jaime Schultz
• Jonny Venters
• Yonny Chirinos
• Chris Archer
• Jake Faria
• Vidal Nuno III
• Jalen Beeks
• Tyler Glasnow
• Nathan Eovaldi
• Wilmer Font
• Chih-Wei Hu
• Hoby Milner
• Anthony Banda
• Jesús Sucre
• Ryan Weber
• Johnny Field
• Carlos Gómez
• Daniel Robertson

 

2019 Rays

• Chaz Roe
• Emilio Pagán
• Diego Castillo
• Adam Kolarek
• Colin Poche
• Oliver Drake
• Ryne Stanek
• Andrew Kittredge
• José Alvarado
• Jalen Beeks
• Charlie Morton
• Ryan Yarbrough
• Yonny Chirinos
• Nick Anderson
• Blake Snell
• Hunter Wood
• Austin Pruitt
• Pete Fairbanks
• Brendan McKay
• Tyler Glasnow
• Wilmer Font
• Casey Sadler
• Jake Faria
• Trevor Richards
• Cole Sulser
• Hoby Milner
• Anthony Banda
• Mike Brosseau
• José De León
• Ricardo Pinto
• Ian Gibaut
• Daniel Robertson
  
• Aaron Slegers
  

 

2020 Rays

• Pete Fairbanks
• Ryan Thompson
• Aaron Loup
• Diego Castillo
• Nick Anderson
• John Curtiss
• Jalen Beeks
• Oliver Drake
• Tyler Glasnow
• Aaron Slegers
• Blake Snell
• Ryan Yarbrough
• Chaz Roe
• Ryan Sherriff
• José Alvarado
• Charlie Morton
• Trevor Richards
• Andrew Kittredge
• Josh Fleming
• Anthony Banda
• Edgar García
• Yonny Chirinos
• Sean Gilmartin
• Cody Reed
• Mike Brosseau

 

2021 Rays 

• Andrew Kittredge
• Pete Fairbanks
• Jeffrey Springs
• Diego Castillo
• Collin McHugh
• Ryan Thompson
• J.P. Feyereisen
• Ryan Yarbrough
• Michael Wacha
• Louis Head
• Matt Wisler
• Josh Fleming
• JT Chargois
• Shane McClanahan
• Drew Rasmussen
• Rich Hill
• Luis Patiño
• Adam Conley
• Ryan Sherriff
• Tyler Glasnow
• Chris Mazza
• Hunter Strickland
• Cody Reed
• David Robertson
• Shawn Armstrong
• Dietrich Enns
• Nick Anderson
• Chris Archer
• Trevor Richards
• Shane Baz
• Brent Honeywell Jr.
• DJ Johnson
• Francisco Mejía
• Chris Ellis
• David Hess
• Joey Krehbiel
• Jordan Luplow
• Brett Phillips
• Evan Phillips
• Sean Poppen
• Chaz Roe

 

2022 Rays 

• Jason Adam
• Colin Poche
• Brooks Raley
• Ryan Thompson
• Shawn Armstrong
• Jalen Beeks
• Matt Wisler
• Jeffrey Springs
• Corey Kluber
• Shane McClanahan
• Drew Rasmussen
• Pete Fairbanks
• Calvin Faucher
• J.P. Feyereisen
• JT Chargois
• Ryan Yarbrough
• Ralph Garza
• Javy Guerra
• Andrew Kittredge
• Garrett Cleavinger
• Josh Fleming
• Luke Bard
• Phoenix Sanders
• Shane Baz
• Dusten Knight
• Luis Patiño
• Jimmy Yacabonis
• Christian Bethancourt
• Kevin Herget
• Cristofer Ogando
• Brett Phillips
• Tommy Romero
• Yu Chang
• Yonny Chirinos
• Tyler Glasnow
• Chris Mazza
• Cooper Criswell
• Robert Dugger
• Easton McGee
• David McKay

 

That’s a Wrap!

We hope you enjoyed this article. If you have questions, please feel free to reach out to us.

Thanks for stopping by Catchers Home.

 

Sources for this Article

• Baseball Reference

• Fangraphs

• Retrosheet 

• Tampa Bay Times