The Tampa Bay Rays are still, almost three months into the 2023 season, the best team in baseball.
Their 51-24 record beats the second-best in the majors, held by the Atlanta Braves, by a whopping 3.5 games.
Tampa started off the season white-hot and basically never took the foot off the gas.
They have largely avoided bad streaks and are good and deep.
The strength of their team, however, rests on the abundance of quality arms at their disposal.
These starting pitchers have been thoroughly dominant and have returned, by far, the best ERA in baseball as of Monday afternoon.
Starter ERA:
3.11 TB
3.36 HOU
3.46 TEX
3.71 MIN
3.89 ATL
3.92 SF
3.96 CHC
3.98 MIL
4.06 TOR
4.08 SEA
4.11 SD
4.24 MIA
4.36 PHI PIT
4.37 NYY
4.38 LAD
4.44 CLE
4.45 CWS
4.52 WSH
4.61 BAL
4.64 LAA
4.72 ARI
4.82 STL
4.90 BOS
4.97 DET
5.03 NYM
5.54 KC
5.78 CIN
6.29 COL
6.47 OAK— Codify (@CodifyBaseball) June 19, 2023
There are just three teams in the league with a collective ERA below 3.50: the Texas Rangers (3.46), the Houston Astros (3.36), and in a tier of their own, the Rays with their excellent 3.11.
The best thing about Tampa is that, in the vast majority of the cases and with a few notable exceptions, they have developed their own pitching stars.
They traded for Tyler Glasnow and Drew Rasmussen back when they were still inconsistent pitchers, they developed Taj Bradley, Shane McClanahan, Jason Adam, and many others; making them what they are today.
They have mixed those names up with one or two quality free agent signings, such as Zach Eflin.
The organization has achieved an enviable level of sustainability when it comes to developing their own arms with a specific set of pitches and pitching philosophy.
Their pitching prowess is definitely not new: it has been that way for a few years now and it has enabled Tampa to perennially contend even with limited financial resources.
NEXT: Rays Pitcher Reveals The Source Of Hilarious Injury
