The Rays are too good for Evan Roberts to believe.
The WFAN host suggested something was amiss with the AL East team’s blistering 29-7 start to the season in a rant on Monday.
“There’s something suspicious about that, by the way,” Roberts said after the Rays took two of three games from the Yankees in Tampa Bay.
“Yeah, they’re probably cheating,” co-host Craig Carton replied.
The two aren’t convinced that the performances they’ve gotten from journeyman-type players are for real.
“I didn’t say it. All I know is I am a baseball fan, I know baseball, I like baseball, I was very skeptical with what I saw this weekend,” Roberts said.
Perhaps Roberts suggests some garbage cans getting banged?
Though given the light crowds in Tampa Bay, it might be hard to disguise any noise above a pin drop.
The Rays rallied from a 6-0 deficit to take the series finale against the last-place Yankees and to improve to 19-3 at Tropicana Field.
They received clutch performances in the game from catcher Christian Bethancourt, who had three RBIs and a home run, and Isaac Paredes, who had two RBIs, including the game-winner in the bottom of the tenth.
Carton described their roster as “A bunch of journeymen outperforming their baseball cards.”
“Christian Bethancourt? HELLO. Taylor Walls? WHAT?” Roberts questioned.
What do the numbers say?
In April, Bethancourt hit .259, his best average for a month since 2016, while adding five home runs, easily the most he has hit in a month in his career.
As for Walls — career .192 hitter — he hit .306 in April.
In 2023, he has five home runs in 80 at-bats, compared to just nine home runs in his previous 559 career big league at-bats.
“You know what most of us do?” Roberts said. “We don’t know who the Rays are, so we say they’re brilliant. Here is the problem: I know who they are. They are not that good.”
The Yankees will get another look at the pesky Rays again when they travel to the Bronx for a four-game set starting Thursday.
“The Rays are 19-3 at home? Hello. Are you going to wake up when the article is written in The Athletic or are you going to wake up now?” Roberts said. “Sometimes you don’t need evidence, sometimes you gotta say what I am watching doesn’t make sense. So, I’ll do it. I am not a Yankees fan. What am I seeing in Tampa makes no sense. That’s all.”