Rays have created a diverse offense that can strike in different ways

NEW YORK — Hitting coach Chad Mottola is among the most pleased to see the Rays racking up runs, and wins, over the last three-plus weeks as their soaring production helped save something very important to him.

Since early February, first to staff and then daily to players, Mottola has preached the same organizational plan about how the Rays needed to do better at the little things:

Putting the ball in play more and moving runners.

Extending innings with selfless, pass-the-baton style at-bats.

Converting chances that are presented and creating others.

Being aggressive using their speed and opportunistic in flexing their muscles.

“Said it enough times to where I don’t want to say it anymore,” said Mottola, “and lose my voice.”

At some point before Mottola went hoarse, the message got across.

After an inconsistent start, the Rays in recent weeks have shown a dynamic, diversified offense that also has ranked among the majors’ best.

“There’s a lot of potential with this offense, a lot of capabilities,” manager Kevin Cash said.

“Look, I didn’t think that we were going to lead the league in home runs. I thought that our speed was going to be a huge factor — that is one thing that doesn’t go away. We’ve got to find a way to get on base to really utilize that. The timely hits, we worked really hard in spring training, and have continued to work hard, on capitalizing in the moments when guys are on base. …

“That combination of speed and power, I think, is kind of what we were hoping for.”

That has really showed up over the last 3 ½ weeks (from May 20 through Wednesday), where the Rays — yes, the Rays — lead the majors in runs scored (119, 5.67 per game) and steals (35), while ranking second in homers (31), third in doubles (42) and fourth in OPS (.777).

Combined with one of the game’s best pitching staffs, the Rays over that span have the best run differential, at plus-57.

And, most importantly, despite losses Tuesday and Wednesday to the Red Sox, a 15-6 record that is third best.

“It’s been a blast,” catcher Danny Jansen said. “And it gives this fantastic pitching staff that much more room to breathe.”

What’s impressed is the variety of ways Rays have put up W’s.

They’ve done so by hitting five homers in a game. By rapping 18 hits. By logging five steals and racing around the bases — even some not-so-fast players such as Jonathan Aranda and Junior Caminero — leading the way.

By scoring first (23-8 when doing so) and rallying late (four wins when trailing after eight; five walkoffs, including one on a two-run infield single). By batting around in 11 innings. By having all nine starters get hits four times.

“It’s just a complete offense — there’s really no other way to say it,” veteran Brandon Lowe said. “There’s power in the lineup, there’s juice there, but that’s not the game we’re relying on. It’s not if we don’t hit three home runs, we’re not going to win. .. If it’s not home runs that day, then it’s a day that I think we get 12 hits and score our runs that way. And then some of the (recent) wins have been baserunning, really good baserunning.

“It’s just a testament to the guys. They’re doing their work. They’re understanding what they need to do to put ourselves in the best situation to win. And everybody’s playing for the guy next to them.”

There are some obvious improvements.

“The key to it,” said Cash, “is a bunch of guys going up there having good at-bats — not missing pitches that they can handle, not expanding on pitches that they can’t.”

And there’s little things that have made a big difference, such as increased communication between hitters on what they’re seeing from the pitchers, and in the dugout on when to be aggressive or make the opposing starter work.

An emphasis on putting the ball in play has paid off, with Mottola noting the example rookie Chandler Simpson set during his six weeks in the majors and still has impact even though he was sent back to Triple A on May 30.

The Rays’ overall speed thrills, in obvious ways as they lead the majors in steals, but also in how just the threat of them running confounds pitchers and compromises defenses.

“I think every team that plays us right now knows that it’s a part of our game,” Cash said. “They have to factor that in. Whether it’s more fastballs, or being quicker to the plate, or shortening up, or getting closer to the bag — all of those things probably help an offense.”

Overall, the Rays can present numerous challenges to an opposing staff.

Just ask Rays pitching coach Kyle Snyder, who sees it nightly.

“The diversity in which you can create runs is always going to create some level of panic,” Snyder said. “You’ve got guys with speed that doesn’t go in slumps and that rushes a lot of infielders. … That changes the mindset of the pitcher when there is a base runner at first base to where has to be some focus or attention on that runner, and that takes away from your attention at the guy at the plate.”

The Rays still are going to have quiet games — there’s been 16 in which they scored zero or one run — and nights when they get a lot of hits but not the big one when needed.

But given all the different ways they’ve shown that they can score, they like their chances.

“If we go back to the beginning of spring training, I think that was something they (Cash and Co.) kind of drilled home, and we’re seeing that happen now,” Josh Lowe said. “We’re using every single aspect of our roster to the best of its capabilities.”

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Rays have created a diverse offense that can strike in different ways

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