The Rays will start Drew Rasmussen in Game 5 of the World Series against the Brewers on Wednesday night. ESPN reported he will pitch on three days' rest, trying to stave off elimination. Sportsnet called it a must-win start. Yahoo Sports described him as the club's ace and noted it was his second straight All-Star season. MLB.com's Adam Berry carried the same news. The feed summaries we have don't say what Rasmussen did on his previous turn or why Tampa Bay chose short rest, so we won't guess at either.
The case for him is in his 2026 numbers. He made 30 appearances and threw 172.0 innings with a 16-5 record, a 2.67 ERA and 174 strikeouts. That is more than a strikeout per inning, in a season in which he was the Rays' most dependable arm. Our game log for him is incomplete, so we can't say how he has pitched on short rest. Taking the ball with the season at stake is what you would expect of a pitcher with that record.
He has also faced Milwaukee this year. On April 1, in the regular season, he threw five innings against the Brewers, allowing three hits and one earned run, with one walk and eight strikeouts. It was one start in the opening week, and it doesn't predict anything about Wednesday.
The Rays need a result at Tropicana Field after a lopsided middle game. They won 98 games and finished first in the AL East. In this series they lost 5-4 at Milwaukee on Saturday, Oct. 24, then lost 10-1 at home on Monday. On Tuesday they won 4-3 at home, so they come into Game 5 with a one-game edge in momentum. The streak column still reads L1 in our table, so we are leaving that discrepancy for the record to settle. The point is that two of the three most recent games were decided by a single run, and Monday's blowout was the exception.
| G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30 | 172.0 | 16 | 5 | 2.67 | 174 |
A win would send the series back to Milwaukee. Game 6 is scheduled there for Friday, Oct. 30, and Game 7 for Saturday, Oct. 31. A loss ends the Rays' season. Rasmussen's start is tonight's game in Tampa Bay.
Discussion