When you think of pitching, you think of legends like Sandy Koufax of the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers, or the Atlanta Braves' three-headed monster of Greg Maddux-John Smoltz-Tom Glavine. Even closers like Trevor Hoffman, Jonathan Papelbon, and most notably Mariano Rivera. However, one franchise that often gets overlooked when it comes to a rich history of pitching is the Tampa Bay Rays.
The Rays' inaugural season was 1998, known as the Tampa Bay Devil Rays at the time. At this time their pitching staff wasn't great whatsoever. Their best pitcher was 29-year-old rookie Rolando Arrojo who went 14-12 with a 3.56 ERA. He did make the All-Star team and finished second in the Rookie of the Year voting, but his career lasted five seasons and finished his career with a 40-42 record and 4.55 ERA.
However, everything would change starting in 2006 when a young rookie by the name of James Shields made his Major League debut.
JAMES SHIELDS
Drafted 466th overall in the MLB draft in 2000 by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, James Shields would make his MLB Debut on the 31st of May in 2006. He would gain his first win over the Los Angeles Angels, and in 21 starts he would 6-8 on the season with a 4.84 ERA. After a rather lackluster first season, at the age of 25 in 2007, Shields picked up 12 wins and in the final month of the season he went 2-0 with a 1.64 ERA.
Shields would go on and play with Tampa for seven seasons, tied for longest stint of a Rays starters. Shields holds multiple franchise records, including wins (87), games started (217), innings pitched (1,454.2), and strikeouts (1,250).
"Big Game James" would leave Tampa in 2013, as he would head on over to Kansas City in a trade with fellow pitcher Wade Davis for Jake Odorizzi, Wil Myers, and two prospects. James Shields is considered by many Tampa fans to be the greatest pitcher in franchise history, as him and Matt Garza led the pitching staff to the World Series in 2008. Tampa went 97-65 and won the AL East and the AL Championship in 2008, before losing to the Philadelphia Phillies in five games in the World Series.
James Shields is the most impressive player in franchise history. This season, Tampa released the Franchise Four at the All-Star game and James Shields along with Evan Longoria, Ben Zobrist, and David Price represented the franchise as the four best players in their history.
MATT GARZA
First round pick for the Minnesota Twins in 2005, Matt Garza was traded to Tampa Bay after the '07 season. In his first season, Garza would go 11-9 with a 3.70 ERA in 20 starts, while leading the league in shutouts with two.
Garza would play in Tampa for three seasons before being traded to the Chicago Cubs in an eight-player deal. Within in those seasons he would go 34-31 with a 3.86 ERA, while recording 467 strikeouts. On July 26th, 2010, in his last season with Tampa Bay, Garza would throw the first no-hitter in the franchise's history against the Detroit Tigers.
Prior to this, in 2008, he would start Game 7 of the ALCS against their biggest rivals, the Boston Red Sox. He would lead Tampa to the win by pitching seven innings where he allowed one run on two hits, while striking out nine batters. Garza would win the ALCS MVP as he went 2-0 with a 1.38 ERA. Unfortunately, in the World Series he wouldn't be as affective as he allowed four runs in six innings in his only start. Though his time with Tampa was short, he left a long-lasting impact on the franchise, which leads to his appearance on this list.
DAVID PRICE
David Price - other than Evan Longoria the most recognizable name in Tampa Bay history. He is also the most successful pitcher to leaves the Rays and have success, as he is one of the top pitchers in the entire game.
David Price would make his Tampa debut in 2008, and made an immediate impact in the postseason that year as he was the closer that shut the door on the ALCS clinching game that led them to the World Series against the Phillies.
The next year, his first full year in the league, he picked up his first MLB win against the Twins. Within the 23 starts of the '09 season, Price would go 10-7 with a 4.42 ERA and struck out 102 batters. In 2012, Price would become the youngest pitcher to gain 20 wins in a season since 2004, at age 27, while gaining his first and only Cy Young Award.
On the last day of July in 2014, Price would be part of a three-team deal that involved the Seattle Mariners and the Tigers. Rays fans were saddened when David Price went to the Tigers. To this day, Price is still one of the most dominant and beloved pitchers in Tampa Bay Rays history.
Currently on Tampa's pitching staff, they have some really good, emerging pitchers. All-Star right-hander Chris Archer leads this bunch as he is becoming one of the best starters in the game. This season, Archer has gone 12-10 with a 2.78 ERA, while striking out 223 batters in 181 innings pitched. Nathan Karns is in his first full season and has gone 7-5 with a 3.69 ERA. Tampa also has some pitchers such as Matt Moore and Alex Cobb who have dealt with injuries the past couple of seasons and have shown they are frontline starters. Could any of these pitchers bump any or all of these three of the list? Will have to wait and see.