Tampa Bay Rays Have an Offensive Consistency Problem

The Tampa Bay Rays have now lost three straight games, and while the pitching staff will receive some of the blame, there is another concern starting to become clear.

The offense needs to find more consistency.

In Saturday's 3-2 loss to the Baltimore Orioles, the Rays picked up eight hits and went just 1 for 8 with runners in scoring position. Liam Hicks provided one of the few highlights with his 17th home run of the season, but outside of that, Tampa Bay struggled to put together much offensively.

And it has become a concerning trend.

The Rays have shown throughout the season that this lineup can produce. They have found success playing small ball, hitting with two outs and producing with runners in scoring position.

However, when some of their best hitters aren't producing, the lineup starts to look much different.

Jonathan Aranda has been one of Tampa Bay's best hitters this season, but he has started to cool off recently. Junior Caminero has also carried a massive workload throughout the season and hasn't provided the same consistent production lately.

That puts even more pressure on the bottom half of the batting order.

On Saturday, Cedric Mullins, Richie Palacios and Taylor Walls combined for just one hit. When the middle of the lineup isn't carrying the offense, Tampa Bay needs players like Mullins, Palacios and Walls to find ways to create opportunities

It's not all doom and gloom, as Chandler Simpson continues to have a hot bat with his 13-game hitting streak. Liam Hicks, recently acquired from the Miami Marlins, continues to show his power improvement for the catching spot in the order. 

It's also why the Rays shouldn't allow Saturday's bullpen collapse to overshadow the bigger concern.

Kevin Kelly entered the game without allowing an earned run since July 7 before surrendering the game-tying two-run home run to Samuel Basallo. Bryan Baker has also been one of baseball's best closers this season before Baltimore finally got to him in extra innings, although it was the extra runner that scored. 

The bigger question is whether Tampa Bay's offense can consistently score enough runs when the pitching staff isn't nearly perfect.

The Rays still sit atop the American League East and have built themselves some breathing room after playing excellent baseball for most of the season. A three-game losing streak doesn't erase any of that.

But October baseball doesn't provide much room for offensive inconsistency. And the New York Yankees, they're right on their toes. 

If Tampa Bay wants to make a deep postseason run, getting the entire lineup producing again might be the biggest thing to watch down the stretch.