Drew Rasmussen delivered a postseason preview as the Tampa Bay Rays clinched the AL East against the New York Yankees. Rasmussen threw a career-high 114 pitches with 11 strikeouts, showing Kevin Cash may be ready to unleash his ace without restrictions in the MLB playoffs.
The Tampa Bay Rays have spent the majority of the season being careful with Drew Rasmussen.
Tuesday night may have shown us why.
Rasmussen delivered one of his best performances of the season when the Rays needed it most, carrying a no-hitter into the seventh inning of Tampa Bay's 6-1 victory over the New York Yankees to clinch the American League East.
But it wasn't just the 11 strikeouts or one hit allowed that caught my attention.
It was the 114 pitches.
That was a career high for Rasmussen, and Kevin Cash allowing him to go that deep into his pitch count might have provided a preview of how the Rays plan to handle their ace in October.
Tampa Bay has been cautious with Rasmussen throughout the season. There have been plenty of nights when Rays fans probably wanted to see him pitch another inning, only for Cash to turn things over to the bullpen.
Tuesday was different. He trusted his ace, and he delivered with the franchise's 5th division title and first since 2021.
Rasmussen dominated the Yankees, and instead of worrying about a traditional pitch count, Cash kept giving him the ball.
That's exactly what I want to see in October. It's most likely what will be needed to get through the tough teams they are likely to face on their way to potentially their first World Series title.
And the Yankees could be the first team they see.
There could be a postseason game where Rasmussen reaches 90 pitches in the sixth inning with Tampa Bay holding a one-run lead. At that point, the question becomes pretty simple.
Would you rather have Rasmussen throwing his 100th pitch or immediately turn the game over to a fresh reliever?
The Rays manager is no stranger to controversy when it comes to pitching changes in the postseason, but Tuesday gave us an indication of what Cash's answer might be.
And the entire doubleheader provided a pretty good example of what October baseball could look like for Tampa Bay.
Carlos Rodón completely shut down the Rays in a 2-0 loss during the opener. A few hours later, Tampa Bay had to face another difficult starter in Max Fried.
This time, the Rays found another way.
They didn't hit a home run. Instead, Tampa Bay manufactured offense with singles, walks, aggressive baserunning, and Taylor Walls laying down a bunt that helped create another run.
The Rays aren't going to score six or seven runs every night against postseason pitching. There will be games where one or two runs need to be enough for the starting pitcher to hold the line.
That's what Rasmussen did Tuesday.
Maybe all those carefully managed starts earlier in the season were preparing him for exactly this.
Because October is right around the corner, and it certainly looks like Cash is finally ready to take the training wheels off his best pitchers.
