The Tampa Bay Rays are off to a historic start. What’s behind it?

W ith their 9-7 win over the Boston Red Sox on Wednesday night, the Tampa Bay Rays became just the third team to win 12 straight games to open a baseball season since the dead-ball era more than a century ago. With one more win, the Rays will tie the 1987 Milwaukee Brewers and the 1982 Atlanta Braves as the only teams to begin a season with 13 consecutive victories since the 1880s.

The winning streak is the latest achievement for a team known for their modest payrolls, sparse attendance and excellent organizational development. Early adopters of the advanced analytic strategies that dominate contemporary baseball, the Rays have made the postseason for six years in a row despite playing in the same division as the famously deep-pocketed New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox.

In two of those six playoff seasons, the Rays had the lowest payroll of any team in the majors. In 2023, they have the third-lowest payroll of 30 teams and aren’t paying any player more than $11m this year, which is tied for the 127th-highest salary. The New York Mets – a team with a $344m payroll – have 11 players earning more than the Rays’ highest-paid player, pitcher Zach Eflin.

Even if the Rays have 150 scheduled regular-season games remaining, their phenomenal start should help their quest for a seventh straight playoff appearance. Of the seven teams to start a season with at least 10 consecutive wins, only one of them failed to finish with a winning record (the 1966 Cleveland Indians, who finished 81-81). Not bad for a club that most prognosticators tabbed for no higher than third place in the American League East behind the Yankees and Toronto Blue Jays.

Not only are the Rays winning, they’re dominating their opponents. Here is how.

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