{"id":641949,"date":"2026-03-25T03:59:01","date_gmt":"2026-03-25T03:59:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/641949\/"},"modified":"2026-03-25T03:59:01","modified_gmt":"2026-03-25T03:59:01","slug":"rays-set-to-open-season-on-rays-tv","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/641949\/","title":{"rendered":"Rays set to open season on RAYS.TV"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The Tampa Bay Rays will open the 2026 season with right\u2011hander Drew Rasmussen on the mound, marking his first career Opening Day start. The Rays <\/a>face the St. Louis Cardinals, who counter with left\u2011hander Matthew Liberatore, also making his first Opening Day appearance.<\/p>\n

MORE SPORTS \u2013 SPORTS TALK FLORIDA<\/a><\/p>\n

The matchup carries symbolic weight for both pitchers. Liberatore was originally drafted by the Rays in 2018 before being traded to St. Louis in the deal that brought Randy Arozarena to Tampa Bay. Rasmussen\u2019s assignment comes after a remarkable comeback from three major elbow surgeries, culminating in an All\u2011Star season and a 2.76 ERA across 31 starts in 2025.<\/p>\n

Rasmussen\u2019s Journey Leads to a Major Milestone<\/p>\n

Rasmussen returned to the Rays\u2019 rotation in 2025 after recovering from an internal brace procedure and delivered one of the most consistent seasons in the American League. He relied on a mix of fastballs, a sweeper, and a curveball to limit hard contact and avoid big innings. His performance made him the clear choice for Opening Day, a decision Rays president of baseball operations Erik Neander communicated directly to the staff.<\/p>\n

Rasmussen called the opportunity humbling and said he looks forward to taking the ball to begin the season.<\/p>\n

Liberatore Leads Cardinals Into a New Era<\/p>\n

Liberatore enters 2026 as the Cardinals\u2019 No. 1 starter after a strong spring and a breakout 2024 bullpen stint that helped him refine his command. He allowed only one walk in 13 1\/3 exhibition innings and embraced the chance to pitch the first game of the season.<\/p>\n

At 26, he anchors a rotation reshaped by offseason moves, including the departure of Sonny Gray and Miles Mikolas.<\/p>\n

Rays Announce New Cable and Satellite Deals for 2026<\/p>\n

As the Rays prepare for Opening Day, the organization also unveiled expanded cable and satellite distribution for the 2026 season. The new agreements strengthen the team\u2019s statewide reach and support the continued rollout of Rays.TV.<\/p>\n

The deals ensure that Rays games will be available across Florida\u2019s major cable and satellite providers, giving fans consistent access from Fort Myers and Naples up through Tampa Bay, Orlando, Daytona Beach, Jacksonville, and Tallahassee.<\/p>\n

The expanded footprint includes:<\/p>\n

\u2022 Major cable systems in Tampa Bay, Orlando, Daytona Beach, and Gainesville \u2022 Full coverage across Jacksonville and Northeast Florida \u2022 New and expanded carriage in Fort Myers, Naples, and the Southwest Florida coast \u2022 Panhandle and Tallahassee distribution through regional cable partners \u2022 Satellite availability statewide on DirecTV and Dish Network<\/p>\n

These agreements position the Rays as one of the most widely distributed MLB teams in the Southeast.<\/p>\n

Rays.TV Extends Streaming Access Across Florida<\/p>\n

Rays.TV continues to grow as a central part of the team\u2019s media strategy. The service offers in\u2011market streaming, pregame and postgame programming, and full game replays. The 2026 rollout includes enhanced statewide availability and improved integration with cable authentication.<\/p>\n

Fans from Fort Myers to Jacksonville and from Tallahassee to Orlando\u2013Daytona Beach will have access to Rays.TV, giving the franchise a unified digital platform that complements its cable and satellite partners.<\/p>\n

A Strong Broadcast Foundation for a New Season<\/p>\n

The combination of new statewide TV deals, expanded Rays.TV access, and a compelling Opening Day matchup gives the Rays a strong media foundation entering 2026. Rasmussen\u2019s story, Liberatore\u2019s connection to Tampa Bay, and the franchise\u2019s growing broadcast footprint all set the stage for a high\u2011visibility start to the season.<\/p>\n

The Rays open their 29th season with momentum on the field and a significantly larger audience off it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Tampa Bay Rays will open the 2026 season with right\u2011hander Drew Rasmussen on the mound, marking his…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":570873,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2377],"tags":[5,82112,1999,82113,82114,82115,1453,4,58671,82116,297,82117,82118,82119,74777,82120,82121,2550,68,2551,2549],"class_list":{"0":"post-641949","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tampa-bay-rays","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-cardinals-opening-day","10":"tag-drew-rasmussen","11":"tag-florida-cable-coverage","12":"tag-fort-myers-sports","13":"tag-jacksonville-sports","14":"tag-matthew-liberatore","15":"tag-mlb","16":"tag-mlb-2026-season","17":"tag-orlando-daytona","18":"tag-rays","19":"tag-rays-cable-deals","20":"tag-rays-opening-day-2026","21":"tag-rays-satellite-deals","22":"tag-rays-tv","23":"tag-statewide-sports-broadcasting","24":"tag-tallahassee-sports","25":"tag-tampa-bay","26":"tag-tampa-bay-rays","27":"tag-tampabay","28":"tag-tampabayrays"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116287813858916223","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/641949","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=641949"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/641949\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/570873"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=641949"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=641949"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=641949"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}