Last Updated on October 8, 2025 4:31 pm by Anthony Kates | Published: October 8, 2025

The Rays finished 2025 in the same ho-hum fourth place that they did in 2024 (record was three games worse, however), but the bigger story was how they got there.

Hurricane Milton destroyed Tropicana Field’s roof in October 2024 and the damage was not repairable prior to the 2025 season. The Rays needed a temporary new home so they “moved” just a few miles west to George Steinbrenner Field, the spring training home of the New York Yankees. Another oddity was that the Rays played a very unbalanced home/away schedule. By late May, the Rays had played 37 home games and just 18 on the road. That was because MLB front-loaded the schedule with home games to take advantage of Tampa’s drier spring weather and lighten the team’s exposure to the region’s frequent summertime thunderstorms. The Rays played many more road than home games during the rest of the season.

Despite playing home games in a much more hitter-friendly park, the Rays were a statistically average team. They ranked ninth in MLB in team batting average, 15th in runs scored and 16th in homers. They were fast, though, and ranked first in stolen bases with 194 (30 steals ahead of the Brewers!).

Looking ahead to 2026, the Rays plan to return to Tropicana Field and a normal home-away game distribution as stadium repairs are expected to be completed before the season starts on March 26.

Catcher

Nick Fortes was the primary catcher in 2025 but he was a non-factor in fantasy circles. In 97 games, Fortes hit .229 with five homers and 21 RBI to barely rank inside the Top 50 at his position. Look elsewhere for a fantasy catcher in 2026.

First Base & DH

It’s fun to witness a breakout year and that’s exactly what we saw from Jonathan Aranda. After shuttling between Triple-A and the Rays for the past three seasons and not hitting better than .234 in the majors, Aranda finally realized his potential by hitting .316/.393/.489 with 14 homers and 59 RBI in just 106 games. He would have had an even better season but fractured his left wrist and missed August and most of September. He returned for the season’s final weekend and showed no injury hangover by going 4-for-12 with two homers. Aranda may not produce at the same rate next year (after all, he had a high strikeout rate and ridiculously elevated .409 BABIP) but could be worth a Top 150 draft pick as long as he avoids another long absence.

Yandy Díaz was a pleasant surprise this year and ranked in the Top 10 at his position. He slashed .300/.366/.482 and set career highs in homers (25) and RBI (83) while playing in 150 games. Díaz continued to draw fewer walks than he did several years ago but he kept his strikeouts down and improved both his exit velocities and barrel rate. The 34-year-old’s expected stats closely matched his actual stats and he showed no signs of age-related decline. Díaz might slip a little next year by returning to The Trop but he should still be very productive again in 2026.

Second Base

Brandon Lowe was another pleasant surprise this year and, like Díaz, ranked in the Top 10 at his position. Lowe had the second-best year of his career by scoring 79 runs, hitting 31 homers and driving in 83 runs. He slashed .256/.307/.477 and his advanced stats showed that he could have been slightly better. In contrast to most previous years, Lowe stayed relatively healthy and managed to play 134 games. Lowe might not suffer much when the Rays return to Tropicana Field next year. He interestingly hit better in road games than he did at Steinbrenner Field this year and his career home/away splits are nearly even.

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Larry Vannozzi

Larry is a meteorologist who was fortunate to have a 36-year career “doing his hobby” with the National Weather Service. He’s a weather weenie who was fascinated by weather in elementary school and graduated with a degree in meteorology from Penn State. He obsesses about fantasy baseball, weather and the Phillies.

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