The Tampa Bay Rays haven’t had the success this season they’ve grown accustomed to over the last fifteen years. 2024 hasn’t been particularly kind, but they enter the MLB All-Star break at an even 48-48.
Rays relief pitcher Pete Fairbanks spoke candidly during a postgame interview on Sunday afternoon. With the All-Star break now here, Fairbanks assessed how Tampa Bay has fared this season. He had to escape a jam to shut the door, and he was honest about how things went.
“I think it could have been avoided had I executed a little better, but, outs are outs. Saves are saves,” Fairbanks said. “I’ll take being right at .500 with how we were to start the year going into what should be a good reset for all parties.”
I will never miss a Pete Fairbanks interview pic.twitter.com/oukPXbxhbF
— Bally Sports Sun: Rays (@BallyRays) July 14, 2024
“I mean, I thought we were generally terrible for at least part of it,” Fairbanks bluntly said on the team’s first half. “We were good for part of it. I think we ended it on eight of nine?” He asked, before calling to the PR guy, who corrected him. “I should have never doubted you, Mark, seven of eight series to head into the break. So I think we’ll take that, barring the haunted house in Arlington.”
Fairbanks is referring to Globe Life Park, where the 2024 MLB All-Star Game will be played. It also hosted the 2020 World Series, which the Rays lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
About Chris Novak
Chris Novak has been talking and writing about sports ever since he can remember. Previously, Novak wrote for and managed sites in the SB Nation network for nearly a decade from 2013-2022