RAYS POSTCAST: The Tampa Bay Rays SEASON ENDS vs the Toronto Blue Jays

RAYS POSTCAST: The Tampa Bay Rays SEASON ENDS vs the Toronto Blue Jays

[Music] This is the Rays Postcast, your instant game reaction for the Tampa Bay Rays, part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. Hello and welcome to the last Rays postcast of the season. My name is Jonathan Shields. Please you guys go follow me on Twitter, Johnny Shields. and the Rays end the season in a very uh antilimactic way to to say at the very least an unfortunate end to what’s been an unfortunate season really since June for for the most part. So, um yeah, the Rays lose 13-4. Blue Jays or 13 Yeah, 13 to four. Blue Jays really put on the Rays late and yeah, score just kind of got out of hand. But we’re going to talk about how uh the season’s over. What was your guys’ best moment of the season? If you guys are in here now, drop down in the comments below what was your guys’ best moment of the season. What will 2026 look like for this group? And we’ll look ahead to that. But first, we got to talk about the game. We got to talk about how it was just a poor all-around pitching performance. This is what you’ll be talking about. Yeah. Um, not great from Ian Seymour today. Seymour only goes three and a third, seven hits, six earned. Still somehow ended up with seven strikeouts. So, uh, you know, when you go three and a third, you get 10 outs. Seven of those outs were recorded via the strikeout. But anytime you give up a home run in the first inning, it’s tough to come back from that. And that’s why we’re going to that being the turning point in this one. Time to reveal where the game was won or lost. It’s the turning point. It’s that home grand slam by Andre um by Kirk in the in the first and then he had another two-run homer in the fifth. Uh, yeah, just just not great. Look, the the Blue Jays needed this game. They needed the sweep and they got it. You know, you have to credit Toronto. They were they were really good this entire series and now they get home food advances throughout the throughout the American League playoffs. And you know, Mark T said that the Rogers Center was rocking today and it’s one of the best home fields in baseball. So, I know that that was important to Blue Jays people, Blue Jays fans. And you know, they got it. They did what they need to do. Um it was it they just put on the raise and the raise to their credit responded. So you get Aronda continuing to uh continuing to to to show out. I mean Ronda comes back and has and has like five RBI’s in three games as he had the one in the in the first and the third and then Magnum singles um to make it four to five to four. So that was the Rays pushing back fighting all the way to the end. But then after that, Toronto really just opened the game up in that seventh inning was just an embarrassment of roaches from them. Tapped off by the George Springer homer and he’s really had a nice bounce pass season. Good to see George Springer have that bounceback year in his, you know, mid lower to mid-30s. Man, it was it was really um really impressive season for for George for George Springer today. But unfortunately, you know, that ends the race season and you know with with with Seymour um it obviously wasn’t good. But I do want to give a shout out to Jonathan Aronda who was our player of the game. This is the locked on player of the game. Yeah, it’s Jonathan Rhonda who is just a professional hitter. I’m excited to and hopefully he ends up playing, you know, 150 games next year instead of the um instead of just 105 he played this year. He uh he’s a special player. He’s just a professional hitter and he has he has really um really been great this year. And you know, it wouldn’t be at the end of a race season without Kevin Kelly giving up a home run, man. I mean, he uh just continues to wear it down the stretch. I mean, there really wasn’t a Rays pitcher that performed great today. You know, you have Usetta giving up the two runs. Kelly gave up four. His ear is going to end up right around six. Even Baker came in and allowed a run, but yeah, it’s just not great from any of the race pitchers today. And you know, and that’s kind of microcosm was caused the Rays the most problems. The Rays blew way more games than than than than really any time I can remember uh to be completely honest with you. But uh let’s start to look ahead to to what this season was. So again, we have a lot of new people in here now from at the beginning. So I want to ask you guys, what was the best part of the race season? What was your guys’ favorite moment? You know, what is your guys’ least favorite moment? You know, we’re going to go through all the ups and downs of the season. So, you know, obviously the season got out to a hot start with w with a walk-off um with a walk-off home run by Cam Eisner, but the the start of the year was a big struggle for the Rays. You know, when we first started doing the postcast, they were not great. So we our first postcast was April 19th and at that point they were 8 and 12 and the Rays fell all the way to 14 and 18 and then they were 16 and 21 and then they went on that stretch where they where they took took two out three from the Brewers took two out three from Toronto lost a series to Miami and then from them on that they’re on they were unbelievable they won six in a row and they kept stacking those ones they won four in a row and they just weren’t losing. That’s when they were the best team in baseball throughout the entire month of June and got to a season high 11 games over 500 Thursday, June 26th in Kansas City. But uh kind of from then then on everything went crazy. Obviously the 22 to8 game in Baltimore is probably the lowest point of the season for me just because that’s when that that’s when everything um that’s when everything turned around in a bad way for the Rays. Ever since then, they just didn’t they lost series to Baltimore, lost series to the A’s, lost series to Minnesota, lost series to Detroit, and then they got swept in a four-game series in Boston. And um the Rays went from 11 games uh in 11 games above 500. It’s only three games above 500 in a span of about almost three weeks. And then the second half of the season starts with a bang. You take two out of three from the Orioles and then a long a frustrating series against White Socks where you lose a series, you get swept by the Reds. You lose three straight to the Yankees. You lose a series to the Dodgers. You finally win a series out west in Anaheim. Then you get swept by Seattle. And another one of those gut-wrenching games was a Friday, August 8th game in Seattle where Griffin Jacks gave up that three-run home run to Cal Raleigh. That one was really a punch in the gut. The Rays dropped all the way to five games below 500 there. And then eventually after an August 21st loss to St. Louis dropped to six games under 500 on August 21st. But then they battled back, took took two out of three from St. Louis, won the first game in Cleveland, and right when you thought stuff was going right, the Rays get walked off in Cleveland. That’s another moment we look at where it’s like, man, um you know, the that that game, the game against the Phillies way earlier in the year where Kamano was playing first base and the uh the game against Seattle, the really three I pointed like, man, those are tough. And then they win seven in a row and they get to two games over 500. And then they end the game from September 5th to September 28th. They muster just let me find the spot I was just at. They muster just one, two, three, four, five, six wins. One, two, three, four, five, six wins. Yep. They go from 71 and 69 to 77 and 85. Uh they saved one of their worst stretches of the season for last. And that’s how this uh frustrating season kind of kind of came to an end. But um we’re going to have a lot more to talk about, but for the last time this year um we’ll take a break and we’ll when we come back we’ll look ahead to 2026. What’s 2026 going to look like in this last raise postcast. This episode is brought to you by 5Hour Energy. Caffeine just got a flavor upgrade. Five-hour energy shots deliver tasty caffeine and 17 bold flavors. Each 2 oz shot packs the caffeine of a premium 12 oz cup of coffee, plus B vitamins with nutrients and zero sugar, zero crashes. That’s what I love most. What I love most how portable they are. Big taste, tiny shot. You can take it anywhere and get that boost when you need it. 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So, um, we we got the kind of the highs and lows of the season. And then we talked about the best moment of the season before I you guys, I’ll say mine. Um, you know, the opening day walk-off or not the opening day, the opening day walkoffs up there, but when Jonathan Ronnie hit the walk-off the day of the first postcast, that will always be, you know, a special moment for me. uh Brandon Laau’s home run to tie the game at Baltimore and they in that game with that crazy comeback. Those are just a few that that stick out to me for sure. But you know what’s 2026 going to look like? Who’s going to be the shortstop? Um who are the Raids going to add in free agency? They got to add a few guys. What are what’s the rotation going to look like? What’s the bullpen going to look like in the back end? So yeah, it is a um a jam-packed a jam-packed off seasonason coming up for the Rays with the first under the new ownership. So, um, now it’s time to get to the comments for the last time. Again, if you guys are in here, please, uh, get into the comments. We’ll start with Gary, as we’ve done a ton. The Blue Jays were a team on a mission this weekend, and that mission was to win the AL East and they were not allowed about the Rays or anyone again. They’re like, “Congratulations to them.” Yeah, they played great baseball. Nothing bad to say. I love when Yankees fans comes in here and said um, that we costed them the the ALDS. The Yankees only winning 90 whatever games and losing the season series to the Blue Jays costed them the LDS. It’s just simple as that. You know, get to a place where you control your own destiny. It’s as simple as that. So, um Gary says, “No getting around it. Uh the Rays play very poorly for most the part of July, especially on the road. Get swept by Boston, Cincinnati, Seattle, and Toronto. That’s 0 and 13 right there.” Yeah. Um not pretty. As we go to our genius, he says, “Carson Williams call up plus his maiden. Major League home run. Favorite moment of season for him.” Love that. That that that is a great moment as well. I love Legos. Um he says, “Ian Seymour looked off. I hope he’s better uh than this next season. All through do think Shane Boss moved to the bullpen reliever. He’s been inconsistent this season. Not to start. He will not be he will be in the rotation next year to start the Rays. Uh our front office love his stuff.” So So yeah, we we’ll see on that. Dogs says, “Jonathan, thank you for everything this season. And it’s been a forum for us to openly discuss the ups and downs of the season. Appreciate the form you’ve created. Looking forward to the future. As a mine, thank you to all you guys for always joining in what’s been a crazy up and down season for the Rays. As we go to Mike Gage, he says, “Who’s a full-time shortstop next year?” Taylor of healthy. I I think the Rays are going to lean away from that. I think the Rays might go try to spend money for free on another short stop. I I don’t know. I don’t have the answer to that. If the answer was Carson Williams, Taylor Walls, or other, I would honestly lean other. I I don’t think the Rays are going to go to opening day with Carson Williams or Taylor Walls. as their starting shorts stop. So, um I don’t know that that that will be uh that that will be that that that would be interesting to see as I like says but I don’t know but I think of Ronda’s walk-off against the Yankees was the best. Yeah, I I mean I would tend to agree. Yeah, it um Mike Case says it was obviously during that six week period one of the hottest team in ball moment for him. Yeah, that that that was awesome. Very awesome. He says Gary says it’ll be an interesting off seasonason. Don’t miss the postcast, but look forward to next season. High of the year, the monster breakout season of Junior Rhonda Chandler and Carson Flynn. Yeah, a lot of great moments. Jonathan Rhonda and Junior coming having these type of seasons has uh to to be up there. As we are genius, he says, um the post cast was an unexpected surprise to be honest. Glad it happened. Very happy that you guys enjoyed it. I love doing it. As we Doug Batista, he says, “Yes, Kevin Kelly. Hate to have the guy, but it’s been rough. I’m still jarred by the home run against the White Sox where he imploded. Hope he gets it together.” Yeah, he was really bad this year. Um, simple simple as that. As we go to Gary says, “My World Series predictions.” Phillies over Mariners at six. Yeah, he has go ahead and drop your World Series predictions. Um, in there as we go to Mike, he says, “Who are the three outfield players next year?” I think Chandler would be there. The others, I don’t know, they would give Joshua another chance. Chandler will be there. I think Josh only plays against righties. If Josh is playing every day against lefties, he hasn’t proved over the course of career they can hit lefties. So, Josh is going to be a patoon bat. And then, I don’t know. I think Jake Magnum is going to be the fourth guy, but he plays more than like Chris Romero did as a fourth guy obviously today. So, um yeah, I I think they’re going to sign someone. They need a right-handed bat, whether that’s Giant Duca, whether that’s someone they sign, but we’ll see. That that is that that is um that that is my number one priority for this new um ownership group. As we Douglas, he says, “Need to have faith in the new FIFA new ownership group. They’re heavily vetted by MLB. They have signal they want to keep baseball hops together and hope they spend money to keep our guys.” Yeah, but their number one priority is going to be finding a stadium. So, I don’t know how much money um that they will that that they will spend in year one as my guy said, well, I come back occasionally to address news and moves. I don’t know. I I I don’t think so. But that’s why the the lockdown guys uh the the normal show does their thing. Um again, make sure you guys are checking them out as well. They’ve been fantastic. Let’s go. Lauren Kendrick, she says, “My World Series prediction, the Cubs will win.” Yeah, the Cubs they could get hot. They could definitely win. they they they’ve been really good um for a lot of the parts of this season. So um for the last time this year, you guys get any comments you have left in there. Make sure you guys leave a like and comment on this last postcast of the season. 140 postcast we did next year. Next year that number will be more than 155. We’ll have at least 15 more. Um obviously starting from from the beginning. So So yeah, we’ll have at least 160. you know, there’s already a few days off the top that uh that I won’t be able to do, but you know, the we’ll do more. The point is we did 140 stop in starting on starting on April 19th. So, we’re going to get right near if not surpass 160 episodes, right near 162 next year. So, um again, you guys any last ditch comments, please get them in. But again, I wanted to take this moment to you guys. Thank you guys for joining every single one of these postcasts. I mean, there’s guys like Gary who’s in here almost every night. I love Legos in here a ton. Um, you know, just a ton of people. Mike was in here talking. Delies Bautista in here a ton. So, I mean, this this is the you guys are a main reason of why I was able to do this. So, yeah, it it is it was a pleasure to be able to do this with you guys every single day. And again, you guys are what makes the Post Cast great. You know, we all love we all love the Rays and we will all continue to root for the Rays. But unfortunately, hopefully next year we’ll have some uh postseason postcasts. But you know, unfortunately this is the last one for 2025. But again, I wanted to take this last kind of minute here to thank you guys because everyone joining live. It’s been awesome and we’ve had great moments. Uh you know, the race coming back and being Baltimore, we had almost 50 people in here live to just the everyday people that are here that are in here every day. So, um again, I wanted to shout out and I know I’m missing people that are in here fairly regularly. our genius was in here a lot during the course of the season, but um just just again from the bottom of my heart, thank you guys uh for being in here and making this a thing. So, anyone that has been listening on audio um anyone that’s been listen just watching the replays, thank you guys as well. And for the last time this season, make sure you guys leave a like, comment, subscribe, and I will see you guys in March when the Rays are in St. Lewis to take on the Cardinals, opening up that season um with that 10ame road trip before they get back home. But again, uh for the last time this season and always raise up and I appreciate everything you guys have done uh to make this season unforgettable for me. Rays lose their last game of the season, the Blue Jays. But um it’s been a great first year of the postcast and I cannot wait to see you guys next year.

The Tampa Bay Rays wrap up their 2025 season with a 13-4 loss vs the Toronto Blue Jays. This one was ugly from the beginning. After Jonathan Aranda hit a RBI single to give the Rays a 1-0 the Blue Jays offense would explode. Toronto would score 5 runs in the 1st inning highlighted by a Grand Slam to make it 5-1. The Rays would show some fight in the 3rd inning. Jonathan Aranda hit a RBI single to make it 5-2. Then Jake Mangum would hit a 2 RBI single to make it 5-4. Toronto would add on more runs in a hurry. Kirk would hit his 2nd homer of the game to make it 8-4. Then a bevy of runs in the 7th inning saw the lead ballon to 13-4. The Rays finish the season at 77-85 and have a long offseason to look forward to.

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