3–31-2025 – By Michael Castrignano – @412DoublePlay on X
You can’t win every game but you can’t lose every game either, hopefully. Sometimes, things don’t go as you plan and today’s opposing starter knows that all too well.
The Pirates head to the west side of the state to face the Tampa Bay Rays and Drew Rasmussen, who posted a 2.83 ERA over 28.2 innings last season in a multi-innings relief role but looks to return to starting games this year after injury temporarily derailed his career trajectory.
Drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers in the 6th round of the 2018 MLB Draft, Rasmussen made his MLB debut on August 19, 2020, posting a 5.87 ERA over 15.1 innings with 21 strikeouts to 9 walks.
He was relegated to the bullpen to start the 2021 season before a May trade to the Rays as part of the return in the Willy Adames deal provided new opportunities for Rasmussen.
Over the remainder of 2021 and 2022 he made some tweaks and utilized that Tampa Bay pitcher magic to become a dominant force as he threw 205 innings over that time, posting a 2.72 ERA with 173 strikeouts to 44 walks.
He started the 2023 season strong, posting a 2.62 ERA over 8 starts, allowing zero runs scored in 5 of those outings, before suffering a flexor strain injury which required internal brace surgery and missing the rest of the 2023 campaign.
Ramussen returned in 2024 with a vengeance as he posted career best rates for strikeouts (30.2%), walks (5.2%), barreled balls (0%) and average exit velocity (86.2 MPH).
In fact, although it was a small sample size, Rasmussen was arguably the best reliever in MLB over that stretch.
Looking at his pitch mix, he offers a high-90s 4-seamer which can touch 100, a mid-90s sinker which aids in his well above-average ground ball rate (career 48.5%), a high-80s cutter with sharp break down and away from lefties and a mid-80s sweeper that he will typically deploy down and in against right-handed hitters.
Big thing for Pirates batters today is going to be looking for heat up in the zone, specifically if he hangs his sinker. Among his other three offerings last season, none had a bating average higher than .250 or a whiff rate under 30% but the sinker was hit at a .316 clip and batters swung and missed less than 17% of the time.
Staying on the hard stuff and spitting on the breaking balls falling down and out of the zone will be difficult but necessary for any measure of success against Ramussen. He has REALLY a good arsenal of pitches, pinpoint control and serious deception that could get him Cy Young votes by end of the year.
Steel City Pirates 