Rays Keep Facing Elite Pitching. That's Good News Before October

The Tampa Bay Rays have spent the final week of the regular season facing some of the best pitchers in baseball.

That might be exactly what they needed.

Tampa Bay's recent stretch has included Carlos Rodón, Max Fried, Gerrit Cole, Cam Schlittler, and Cristopher Sánchez.

That's not exactly an easy way to finish a 162-game season. In fact, Tampa Bay was noted for having the toughest schedule to end the regular season. 

They succeeded against that competition in a big way. 

And with the Rays already securing the No. 1 seed in the American League, I'm not sure they could ask for better preparation before October.

Friday was another example.

The Rays picked up a 2-0 win over the Philadelphia Phillies on Friday, but the offense certainly didn't dominate. Tampa Bay finished with six hits and struck out 12 times, including 10 against Sánchez.

At one point, Sánchez completely settled into the game and Tampa Bay's offense struggled to generate anything against him.

Should that be concerning?

Maybe eventually.

But I'm not there yet.

Sánchez is one of the better pitchers Tampa Bay has faced this season, and the Rays still found a way to win the baseball game. Nick Fortes provided one of the biggest swings with a solo home run, while Freddy Peralta and the bullpen made two runs enough.

That's October baseball.

There are going to be nights when Junior Caminero, Yandy Díaz and the middle of Tampa Bay's lineup aren't putting five or six runs on the scoreboard.

Sometimes you have to find one big swing and let your pitching staff take care of everything else.

Fortes might also be making Tampa Bay's postseason lineup decisions a little more interesting.

Liam Hicks has been excellent since joining the Rays, but his struggles against left-handed pitching could give Cash another matchup decision to consider in October.

Fortes isn't suddenly replacing Hicks because of one home run.

But that's another option.

And that's what these final games should be about.

Tampa Bay is getting opportunities to test different players and different lineups while facing the type of pitching it will see next week.

The 12 strikeouts Friday are worth monitoring. As well as the nine strikeouts on Saturday, despite having an impressive 17 hits in the contest.

If the Rays continue striking out at that rate and can't consistently generate opportunities against elite starters, then we can start having a different conversation.

But struggling at times against pitchers like Rodón, Fried, Cole, Schlittler and Sánchez isn't some massive warning sign.

It's a challenge, as well as a reminder that baseball is a finicky game.

And I'd much rather the Rays receive that challenge now than get surprised by it next week.