When the Tampa Bay Rays needed someone to steady October, they kept handing the ball to the same man. Drew Rasmussen starts Game 1 of the World Series on Friday night in Milwaukee, the latest chapter in a postseason that has made the right-hander the face of the Rays’ run.
The numbers explain the trust. Rasmussen went 16-5 with a 2.67 ERA in the regular season, then delivered three quality starts in the playoffs, including the ALCS duel with Cleveland’s Messick that turned the series. Tampa Bay does not have the biggest payroll or the loudest stars; it has Rasmussen, and on Friday it will need him at his best against the Brewers’ Jacob Misiorowski.
Built for the big start
There is a particular quality to pitchers who thrive in October, and Rasmussen has it. He works quickly, pounds the zone, and seems unbothered by the calendar. The Rays have ridden that steadiness all month, and it is no accident that the biggest start of the franchise’s season goes to him.
The matchup is a study in contrasts. Misiorowski brings elite velocity and a 1.80 ERA; Rasmussen brings precision and the lowest heartbeat in the ballpark. The Brewers are minus 162 for the opener and swept the Dodgers to get here, a run that put the Brewers one win from the World Series behind Bauers’ heroics. Rasmussen’s job is to spoil the coronation.
The man, not the metrics
What teammates talk about is not the ERA but the demeanor. In a clubhouse that has lived on the road and in the headlines all month, the ace sets the temperature. If the Rays are going to win the first championship in franchise history, it will be because their most reliable man was reliable one more time.
Friday’s first pitch is at 8 p.m. ET on FOX. Sports Illustrated’s odds breakdown has Milwaukee favored, but Tampa Bay has spent all October proving that the favorite does not always win. Rasmussen intends to prove it again.
