Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Drew Rasmussen dominated during his spring debut on Monday, showcasing sharp command and potent pitches. A healthy start to the spring simply fuels excitement for his Opening Day start on March 26 in St. Louis.
PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. — Even though it's still February, it's already been a good spring for Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Drew Rasmussen.
He reported to camp in Port Charlotte a few days early and he's been getting in a lot of good work. It's all very important after having a healthy 2025 season, where he pitched in 31 games without missing an outing, the first time that's happened since 2022.
Rasmussen made his spring training debut on Monday, allowing one hit in two scoreless innings against American League East rival Boston. He also had three strikeouts in just 23 pitches. The Rays won, 2-1.
Rasmussen's command was great for a first time out. Sixteen of his 23 pitches went for strikes. He said the focus wound up being on his three primary pitches — a four-seam fastball, a cutter and the sinker — which was all good for the first time out against opposing hitters.
"I got six outs, and that's a good place to start the spring,'' Rasmussen said. "It was nice to get our feet underneath us. I had all these great ideas of how we were going to use everything and see what we got with it, but after the third pitch, I started shaking. Used my primary pitches that I attack with, and we didn't really do anything after that. For the first outing, it was efficient.''
Rasmussen — who has already been named the Rays' Opening Day starter — hit 95 mph and he said he's already ''tapped out higher than that,'' in live batting practice sessions. He's had a good offseason, too, and has come to camp healthy.
That means a lot since getting an elbow injury in 2023 and not returning to the mound until August of 2024. He was kept to strict innings restrictions all of last year, and capped out at 150 innings.
This year, the goal is to throw without restrictions and still match last year's numbers — or improve on them. The 2025 All-Star had a 2.76 ERA and allowed one run or less in 17 of his 31 starts.
"I flew out a couple of days earlier before the report date and I get a live BP in that Friday or Saturday before,'' Rasmussen said. He said he's working on some new things, too, and may pitch on back fields instead of actual spring training games a few times just to work more specifically on things.
"It's just so much easier to do that on back fields,'' he said.
The Rays are back in action on Tuesday, taking on the Minnesota Twins in Port Charlotte. Joe Boyle and Christian MacLeod are projected to pitch for the Rays.
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