Under The Knife 9/24/25

You Can Call Me Rays

The Rays sale was finalized on Monday with the league and will close later this month. I am very, very curious to see what the first few moves of Patrick Zalupski and his partners will be. If he was a player, I’d say he needs a nickname, but few owners get that unless they come in with something like “Colonel” already in place. Or earn something less printable from fans. I’ve said all along that a builder’s first move should be to lock up a stadium and I have to think he’s been quietly working on that in the time between the agreement and now. Formal approval was always a formality, though I couldn’t find much on meetings between the new ownership and Tampa, St. Pete, or maybe they could move east and let Brian and Mika build them a quick “100 Day Dream Dome.” (I have to stop watching so much HGTV.)

The new ownership has a basis — do they stay in St Pete, knowing that they didn’t draw well in Tampa, where everyone said it would be better? Do they stick with the plan and do something like build at or near Steinbrenner/Raymond James, or find their own plot? Could the new group say “none of these have worked” and do their own thing, like find something up eastern and more accessible to the Brightline? Do they pine for a rebirth of Boardwalks and Baseball? (That would be MUCH more east …)

That aside, the smarter move would be to lock up Erik Neander and anyone else he wants. A stadium isn’t likely to come quickly, plus the need to actually finance and build the thing makes it long term. Neander is now and with the Nationals and at least one other team waiting in the wings for exactly that kind of executive, Tampa’s new owners might signal which way they’re going with the team. Is this going to say a smart, savvy team that does more with less, or would they commit to a bigger payroll and maybe bring in someone splashy, if there is such an available executive.

It’s too early for the owners to say they’re spending money on Pete Alonso, Alex Bergman, or Kyle Schwarber, and none of those - or maybe all three together - don’t make the Rays instantly a 2026 contender. Chris Sale has local ties and maybe Justin Verlander really does want to be nearer the East Coast. That said, Zalupski’s group didn’t get past the vetting because owners thought he’d go Mark Cuban or Mark Walter on them.

I am intrigued and have a long history of hoping that the Rays can make it work. I like the area, I have a lot of friends there, and it should work, but while it often has on the field despite handicaps, it hasn’t off the field. But you don’t buy a team without thinking you can fix it, or move it. We’ll be learning a lot more about Patrick Zalupski soon and I keep thinking that we didn’t know who the heck Jerry Jones was when he bought the Cowboys. These kind of unknown billionaires are the ones that like headlines.

There is a very far-fetched rumor going around that Zalupski is functionally a stalking horse for the Orlando Dreamers, which are an expansion contender. The best evidence for this is that Zalupski’s home building company is named Dream Finders Homes. I don’t buy it and I’m unconvinced that Orlando is a better market than Tampa Bay. I know when I advocated for Las Vegas for all those years, people would tell me that tourists (and casinos) didn’t want to spend a couple hours at the ballpark. I think the same would be true with all the other things to do in Orlando, though like Vegas, there’s a sizable local population. Frankly, I’ve seen no evidence that a move to anywhere is in play.

Yes, I’ll have more on the move to the challenge system for next year on Friday. For now, let’s get to the injuries:

KYLE TUCKER, OF CHC (strained calf)

This feels a lot - a lot - like Mike Trout leaving the Angels and going to work with his own trainer. Yes, Kyle Tucker had good results after his weird leg injury last year and has a comfort level with his Florida based team, but here we are with less than a week left and … Tucker’s not making progress. Yes, the Cubs don’t need him and yes, they’re locked in to the playoffs, but no, they have no confidence in what Tucker they’ll get or even if they’ll get him at all right now. The clock is ticking.

Tucker came back to the team Monday and did some running, but it doesn’t appear he’s close to a return and if he did, he would be limited. One source tells me that while Tucker “did a lot of work” in Florida, there was no real progress. That’s very unusual for a simple muscle strain, raising the question about why this is not progressing on simple time and treatment. There’s a lot of reasons this happens but I’m guessing Tucker isn’t nutrient deficit, dealing with late-stage diabetes, or taking heavy antibiotics.

There was one suggestion I saw that Tucker is either dealing with Achilles involvement - possible, but unlikely given he’s running and had extensive treatment over the last week - or that he has a soleus strain instead of the more common gastrocnemius. I’ll assume that the Cubs can read an MRI so I’ll leave that last one where it deserves. The Cubs medical staff doesn’t have long to get him back and right now, it doesn’t seem any closer now than it did a week or two weeks ago.

TARIK SKUBAL, SP DET (no injury)

Tarik Skubal had a moment with his side a couple weeks ago and while he’s made every start since and has been good as advertised, is that September 12th start the difference in the AL Central? One game lost might not be the difference, but with less than a week left it might be.

But let’s look at the other side. Since coming back, Skubal has made two starts on four days rest. While the team didn’t win Tuesday, Skubal did his part with a solid outing. Joe Sheehan and others have pointed out how well Skubal has pitched in a small sample on four days rest, giving him one more chance (if needed) to pitch on the last day.

But wait there’s more! What if Skubal should have been pitching on four days rest the entire season. If that’s two or three, maybe four more starts over the course of the season, how many of those do the Tigers win in place of Dietrich Enns or Sean Gunther or even Charlie Morton? If that happens, are the Tigers in this position now or is there more cushion?

Most teams ride a five-man rotation like it’s etched in stone. But what if your ace is better with four days’ rest—fifth day on the calendar, not short rest—and everyone else thrives on the traditional schedule? There’s a way to do it without breaking arms or blowing up the clubhouse.

Start with a simple rule: Pitcher 1 goes every fourth game, not every fourth day. Everyone else waits their turn. The pattern that unfolds isn’t elegant, but it works: 1–2–3–4–1–5–2–3–1–4–5–2–1 … and so on. It keeps P1 on a true four-day cycle, while 2 through 5 rotate in a modified five-day loop, occasionally getting nudged. Yes, it’s not perfect and yes, there’s off days but those only make it easier. Even with rainouts and travel, this is doable and knowable.

Run that out over a 162-game season and you’ll get 41 starts from your ace - Skubal - every fourth game. Ten more starts from the best pitcher in the game and optimized to how he pitches best? Sign me up. The rest of the rotation settles in with 30 to 31 each, depending on where the season ends. No one goes short rest. No bullpen days outside of the occasional. You’re just threading your best arm through the cracks in the calendar, like a team that actually wants to win.

It’s not a trick. It’s not a gimmick. It’s how you make the math work when your best pitcher gives you more. You let him. Every fourth game. All year.

I’ve got more for you. To see it, I need you to value the work, like many others have. I can’t do this for free, as much as I’d like to, so I’ll ask for the absolute minimum Substack will let me - five bucks a month.