{"id":669171,"date":"2026-04-07T22:29:29","date_gmt":"2026-04-07T22:29:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/669171\/"},"modified":"2026-04-07T22:29:29","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T22:29:29","slug":"bryan-baker-emerges-as-rays-closer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/669171\/","title":{"rendered":"Bryan Baker Emerges as Rays’ Closer"},"content":{"rendered":"

Got story updates? Submit your updates here. \u203a<\/a><\/p>\n

\"AA cubist interpretation of the Rays’ new closer, Bryan Baker, captures the dynamic movement and energy of his pitching motion.Today in Tampa<\/p>\n

After several appearances in the closer role, Bryan Baker has solidified himself as the Tampa Bay Rays’ go-to option in the ninth inning. Baker’s arsenal of a 97 mph fastball, plus changeup, and slider has proven effective, and he’s already earned his first save of the season.<\/p>\n

Why it matters<\/p>\n

Baker’s emergence as the Rays’ closer is significant news for fantasy baseball managers, who can now confidently roster him as the team’s primary ninth-inning option. It also represents a shift in the Rays’ bullpen, which had previously been operating with a closer-by-committee approach.<\/p>\n

The details<\/p>\n

Baker’s stuff has played extremely well in high-leverage situations, with his 97 mph fastball, plus changeup, and slider giving him a well-rounded repertoire to neutralize hitters from both sides of the plate. His usage pattern in recent games has clearly indicated that manager Kevin Cash views him as the team’s top closing option moving forward.<\/p>\n

On April 6, 2026, Baker earned his first save of the season in the Rays’ home opener.Since January, analysts on the Rays blog Draysbay.com have been advocating for Baker to take over the closer role.<\/p>\n

The players<\/p>\n

Bryan Baker<\/p>\n

A right-handed relief pitcher for the Tampa Bay Rays who has emerged as the team’s primary closer.<\/p>\n

Kevin Cash<\/p>\n

The manager of the Tampa Bay Rays who has been utilizing Baker in the closer role.<\/p>\n

Got photos? Submit your photos here. \u203a<\/a>
\n What they\u2019re saying<\/p>\n

\u201cBaker’s arsenal is pretty straight forward: 97 mph at the top of the zone with plus vertical movement, a change up at the bottom of the zone that’s particularly deadly for the opposite handed hitters, and a slider he’s able to work with more variable drop this year.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014 Danny Russell, Writer<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile Baker only has one save for Kevin Cash, that hasn’t stopped others from taking notice of his potential to be the Rays star reliever this season.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014 Danny Russell, Writer<\/p>\n

What\u2019s next<\/p>\n

With Baker firmly established as the Rays’ closer, fantasy managers will be keeping a close eye on his performance and any potential changes to the team’s bullpen hierarchy.<\/p>\n

The takeaway<\/p>\n

The Rays’ decision to hand the closer role to Bryan Baker represents a clear shift in their bullpen strategy, and it could pay dividends for the team and for fantasy baseball managers who roster the hard-throwing right-hander.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Got story updates? Submit your updates here. \u203a A cubist interpretation of the Rays’ new closer, Bryan Baker,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":669172,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2377],"tags":[5,4,297,2550,68,2551,2549],"class_list":{"0":"post-669171","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-mlb","10":"tag-rays","11":"tag-tampa-bay","12":"tag-tampa-bay-rays","13":"tag-tampabay","14":"tag-tampabayrays"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116365793476652228","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/669171","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=669171"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/669171\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/669172"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=669171"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=669171"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=669171"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}