The Tampa Bay Rays have been without a permanent home since Hurricane Milton ravaged Florida in October 2024. The Rays’ domed stadium, Tropicana Field, sustained severe damage when high winds ripped fiberglass panels off the roof. As a result, Tampa Bay played 2025 MLB home games at George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, the spring training home of the New York Yankees.

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On Sunday, March 22, a group of Rays outfielders returned to the refurbished Tropicana Field for the first time. The stadium will be ready for Tampa Bay’s home opener on April 6 against the Chicago Cubs.

In November 2025, the team’s X account shared a video showing the extent of the repairs. The cost was roughly $75 million.

Panel by panel, thank you to everyone who worked tirelessly to make @tropicanafield whole again.

With the placement of the last piece, yesterday was a massive step forward for us, The City of St. Pete and Rays fans everywhere. pic.twitter.com/VloIHETGhe

— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) November 21, 2025

Manager Kevin Cash and first base/outfielders coach Corey Dickerson hit fly balls to help the outfielders get used to the atmosphere. Rays infielders visit Tropicana Field on March 23.

Of the outfielders — Jonny DeLuca, Chandler Simpson and Ryan Vilade — only DeLuca had previous experience at the Trop. He noticed the new roof panels are darker, making it easier to pick up the white baseball.

“It was nice being back in the Trop,” Deluca said. “Last year was kind of weird, but it was fun to be back there.”

DeLuca continued, “It’s kind of nicer going in there, I mean, everyone, when they went in there, was like, ‘Oh, it’s brighter. It’s brighter.’”

As spring training winds down, the team’s X account shared a video of players commenting on what they’ll like most about returning to the Trop. Most mentioned the climate-controlled conditions inside the dome.

Although the Rays had a winning record at home last season (41-40), they endured a second straight losing season (77-85) after making the playoffs for five consecutive seasons.

Finally, Tampa Bay opens the regular season on March 26 in St. Louis against the Cardinals at 4:15 p.m. ET.

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