Rays Make Surprising ALDS Roster Decisions Before Yankees Series

The Tampa Bay Rays will begin the American League Division Series on Saturday with Game 1 at Tropicana Field against the New York Yankees. 

Earlier today, both teams announced their rosters, with some surprises on each side. 

For Tampa Bay, they have made the decision to go with 14 position players and 12 pitchers. Both Garrett Cleavinger and Tyler Wells found their way on the roster after dealing with injuries. That wasn't the case for Shane McClanahan, as he was left off the ALDS roster as he continues to work his way back from an injury as well. 

Some other notable names that were not placed on the Tampa Bay roster for the ALDS were Casey Legumina, Manuel Rodriguez, and the promising pitching prospect Brody Hopkins. Hopkins might be the most surprising for Tampa Bay, as he gives a different style of pitching with his velocity compared to the rest of the pitching staff. However, Hopkins' walk rate has been higher than most and could be seen as a concern for Kevin Cash and the coaching staff. 

These definitely weren't easy decisions, and Tampa Bay Rays President of baseball operations Erik Neander made that very clear earlier this week when he spoke with local Tampa Bay radio, "We are going to have to make some tough calls." 

As for the New York Yankees, the obvious big report is that outfielder Aaron Judge will not be on the ALDS roster. Judge is dealing with a right calf strain and did not play in the Wild Card series against the Boston Red Sox, which the Yankees swept earlier this week. The only way Judge can find himself in this series is if another player is removed due to injury, but that seems very unlikely, as the Yankees outfielder has not played since September 16th. 

New York does welcome back pitcher Ryan Weathers and will only go with 11 pitchers on their roster and 15 position players, with the absence of their slugger Aaron Judge. 

Saturday's game is very important to get the advantage moving into the rest of the series, as the winner of Game 1 in a best-of-five postseason series has gone on to win the series 73% of the time in MLB playoff history. 

Drew Rasmussen will get the ball to start for the Tampa Bay Rays. He will face New York Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole in Saturday's matchup. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 pm Eastern.