The Tampa Bay Rays, despite proving to be one of the most well-run organizations based on their use of analytics and getting the most out of their players, were accused of cheating by a New York radio host.
The Rays are off to a historic 29-7 start in 2023. They recently took two out of three games from the New York Yankees, which is where the accusation in question stems from. WFAN Sports Radio’s Evan Roberts, despite having no evidence, accused Tampa Bay of cheating during a recent show, per WFAN Sports Radio on Twitter.
Is something fishy going on with the Tampa Bay Rays? @EvanRobertsWFAN shares his suspicion… pic.twitter.com/SNy0kWl6WV
— WFAN Sports Radio (@WFAN660) May 8, 2023
“There’s something suspicious about that by the way. I didn’t say it… but all I know is I’m a baseball fan, I know baseball, I like baseball, I was very skeptical with what I saw this weekend,” Roberts said of the Rays, before admitting that he has “no evidence.”
Roberts went on to name Rays players who aren’t exactly the most well-known players in the sport to back up his argument.
“You know what we do… we don’t know who they are so we say ‘oh the Rays are brilliant,’” Roberts continued. “Here’s the problem, I know who they are. There not good. 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? Sometimes you don’t need evidence, sometimes you gotta say ‘what I’m watching doesn’t make sense.’”
Accusing a team of cheating is a lofty accusation. The Rays have been known for their ability to win games despite not having household names on their roster. Sure, Tampa Bay features some stars like Shane McClanahan and Randy Arozarena. However, they didn’t go out and sign players to massive contracts like teams such as the New York Mets and San Diego Padres.
For now, with there being no evidence, we can trust that the Rays are simply performing well because of their talent and clever use of analytics. It will be interesting to see if the organization responds to Roberts’ claim.
The post Rays accused of cheating by New York radio host despite literally no evidence appeared first on ClutchPoints.
