The so-called “Citrus Bowl” baseball series — which concludes on Sunday afternoon with the rubber match of the three-game set between the Miami Marlins and visiting Tampa Bay Rays — is known for a few things.
Aside from both teams being from Florida, Tampa Bay and Miami have other similarities. For example, both teams have bottom-five payrolls.
Tampa Bay comes in at No. 28 ($90.4 million) total payroll allocations, according to Spotrac. Miami is No. 29 of 30 teams ($67.3 million).
Another thing that connects these franchises is Peter Bendix, the Marlins president of baseball operations. He previously was part of the Tampa Bay front office and served as general manager for two seasons before coming to Miami.
In fact, the Rays made the playoffs in Bendix’s final five seasons in Tampa Bay.
Then, in 2024 — his first season in Miami — the Marlins acquired prospects by trading veterans such as Jazz Chisholm Jr., Luis Arraez, Tanner Scott, Josh Bell, A.J. Puk and Trevor Rogers.
Meanwhile, without Bendix last year, the Rays went 80-82, failing to make the playoffs for the first time since 2018.
“The Rays have the ability to maximize and get the most out of everybody on their roster,” said Marlins manager Clayton McCullough, who was hired by Bendix in Miami. “They continue to do a good job of bringing guys up through their system … and in some ways, they are like us.”
On Sunday, both teams will start right-handers. Shane Baz (3-2, 5.02 ERA) will get the nod for Tampa Bay, while Cal Quantrill (2-4, 7.00) will start for Miami.
Quantrill is 1-0 with a 2.31 ERA in four career starts/appearances against Tampa Bay.
He has zero quality starts this season, and he hasn’t lasted past 5 2/3 innings in any of those eight appearances.
Baz, who turns 26 in June, is 1-0 with a 0.00 ERA in his one career appearance against Miami. He started and tossed 5 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing just three hits and one walk with nine strikeouts in a 3-2 victory in September 2021.
A first-round pick (12th overall) by the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2017, Baz was acquired by Tampa Bay the following year in the Chris Archer trade.
Baz made his MLB debut in 2021 but missed the 2023 season due to elbow surgery.
He had his best season to date in 2024, making a career-high 14 starts and finishing 4-3 with a 3.06 ERA.
Baz has a plus slider and a fastball that tops out at 96 mph. This season, he is striking out 9.6 batters per nine innings, which is an increase from his 7.8 stat line last year.
Outfielder Kyle Stowers, 27, has been a force for the Marlins’ offense, as he leads the team in batting average (.304), home runs (10), RBIs (30), runs (23) and on-base percentage (.379).
Stowers was a second-round pick of the Baltimore Orioles in 2019 and was traded to Miami in July 2024 along with infielder Connor Norby for left-hander Rogers, an All-Star in 2021.
As for the Rays’ offense, they have an interesting player in Chandler Simpson, a rookie outfielder with great speed.
He is hitting .301 with a .671 OPS and nine steals in 11 attempts in just 25 games.
Simpson got hurt, however, in the ninth inning of Tampa Bay’s 4-0 win on Saturday, leaving the game after diving to home plate in an attempt to score.
Simpson, who was thrown out at home, hit his head and his upper lip.
“He’s OK,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said after the game. “I just talked to him.”
Simpson, a 24-year-old native of Atlanta, played two years at UAB and then led college baseball in batting average (.433) in his one season at Georgia Tech. That prompted Tampa Bay to draft him in the second round in 2022.
While he doesn’t slug many homers, Simpson hit .324 with 214 steals in 250 minor league games. He stole 94 bases in 2023 and 104 bases last year.
Despite not making his MLB debut until April 19, Simpson already leads the Rays with 10 infield hits.
“Chandler is young,” Cash said. “But there’s a lot of things he does that excite you.”
–Field Level Media
