Martinez, Not Rasmussen, Gets the Ball for Rays in Game 1

WHO:

ESPN - Nick Martinez signed a one-year, $13 million contract with Tampa Bay shortly before Spring Training.

MLB.com - Rays manager Kevin Cash said, “When Nick pitches, we win,” and called Martinez’s Game 1 assignment exciting.

MLB.com - Drew Rasmussen said the choice of Martinez “puts my mind at ease” and that he was confident Martinez would get the Rays “off in the right direction.”

MLB.com - Nick Martinez said the team was confident in whoever it called to the mound and that his job was to “rack up as many outs as we can.”

MLB.com - Nick Martinez made his Rays debut at American Family Field after struggling to get outs during Spring Training.

MLB.com - The Tampa Bay Rays selected Nick Martinez, their 36-year-old veteran right-hander, to start Game 1 of the World Series against the Milwaukee Brewers, instead of ace Drew Rasmussen.

MLB.com - Brewers ace Jacob Misiorowski is scheduled to start opposite Martinez.

MLB.com - Freddy Peralta, a former Brewer, is in line to start Game 3 for Tampa Bay.

MLB Trade Rumors - Rays manager Kevin Cash used Chandler Simpson, Ryan Vilade, and Liam Hicks as No. 3 hitters in three matchups against Cleveland.

MLB Trade Rumors - Rays star Junior Caminero closed the American League Championship Series batting cleanup after opening it in his usual No. 3 spot; he batted third in all three American League Division Series games.

MLB Trade Rumors - Newly appointed Brewers captain Christian Yelich was benched for National League Championship Series Game 1 and Game 3; Milwaukee manager Pat Murphy used right-handed Andrew Vaughn as designated hitter against left-hander Tarik Skubal.

WHAT:

ESPN - Drew Rasmussen recorded at least six innings in each of his playoff starts, allowing three runs over 21 innings.

ESPN - Martinez had never started a postseason game before this year; in Game 4 of the ALCS, he allowed one run on two hits over 5⅓ innings.

ESPN - Martinez finished the regular season 15-6, with 180 innings representing a career high.

MLB.com - Rays manager Kevin Cash has led Tampa Bay since 2015, taking the team to six playoff berths in eight years and his second World Series in seven seasons.

MLB.com - Tampa Bay tied for the Major League lead in saves, led the American League in steals, and used bunts more than any other team.

MLB.com - Yandy Díaz hit .330 to win the 2023 American League batting title; over the five seasons described, he hit 121 home runs for Tampa Bay and performed 34% above league average offensively.

MLB.com - Jake Bauers hit 26 home runs with an .874 OPS in 2026 and won NLCS MVP.

MLB.com - At 36 years and 79 days old, Martinez would be the oldest pitcher to make his World Series debut as a Game 1 starter since 2004, when Tim Wakefield and Woody Williams started opposite each other.

MLB.com - Tampa Bay’s rotation arrangement would also make Freddy Peralta and Griffin Jax available from the bullpen during the first two games; Peralta would get two additional days of rest after making two starts and one relief appearance in the ALCS.

MLB.com - Junior Caminero reached at least 80 mph of bat speed on 536 swings, more than the Brewers’ lineup combined, which recorded 499.

MLB.com - Martinez’s Rays debut was on March 30; he allowed two runs over six innings in Tampa Bay’s 3-2 victory, the team’s only win in that three-game series.

MLB.com - Drew Rasmussen’s Game 2 start would come on five days’ rest; 23 of his regular-season starts followed more than four days’ rest, as did all three of his postseason outings.

MLB.com - Jacob Misiorowski’s 105.5 mph season-best pitch was the fastest by a starting pitcher; his first pitch of the postseason reached 104.8 mph, a postseason pitch-tracking-era record.

MLB.com - The fastest World Series pitch tracked since 2008 was Aroldis Chapman’s 103.2 mph pitch in 2016; the fastest by a starter was Noah Syndergaard’s 101.1 mph pitch in 2015.

MLB.com - Misiorowski’s 354 four-seam swings-and-misses and 168 strikeouts were each second-most in a season during the pitch-tracking era, behind Gerrit Cole’s 2019 totals of 384 and 193.

MLB.com - Misiorowski’s four-seam strikeouts averaged 101.3 mph.

MLB.com - Junior Caminero’s home run off Cade Smith was the first home run Smith had allowed on his splitter in the major leagues.

MLB.com - Tampa Bay’s record in Martinez’s starts was 24-9. In the regular season, he posted a 3.10 ERA over 180 innings and 31 starts, earning his first All-Star selection; in two postseason starts, he allowed three runs, seven hits, and three walks over nine innings.

MLB.com - Martinez had a 2.38 ERA in 16 regular-season road starts, compared with a 3.90 ERA at Tropicana Field. In his Rays debut at American Family Field, he allowed two runs in six innings in a 3-2 win over Milwaukee.

MLB.com - Rasmussen was to receive an extra day of rest before Game 2. Twenty-three of his regular-season starts followed more than four days’ rest, as did all three of his postseason outings.

MLB.com - Peralta had a 1.45 ERA in seven starts at Tropicana Field after joining Tampa Bay at the trade deadline.

MLB.com - Martinez would join Scott Kazmir (2008) and Tyler Glasnow (2020) as the Rays’ World Series Game 1 starters.

MLB.com - Misiorowski averaged 100.6 mph on his fastball, the highest among starting pitchers; Caminero averaged 79.4 mph in bat speed, the highest among hitters. Caminero had a Statcast “fast swing” of at least 75 mph on 84% of his swings.

MLB.com - Misiorowski threw 1,211 fastballs at 100 mph or faster, topped out at 105.5 mph, and recorded 354 swings-and-misses and 168 strikeouts with his four-seamer. Caminero recorded 954 “fast swings” and reached at least 80 mph on 536 swings.

MLB.com - In the Rays’ ALCS-clinching win, Caminero hit a home run off Cleveland closer Cade Smith on a splitter with an 81.2 mph swing.

MLB Trade Rumors - Milwaukee’s rotation is right-handed-heavy and rarely uses openers; Tampa Bay’s rotation is entirely right-handed. The article said those circumstances favored Caminero batting third and Yelich playing in the World Series.

WHERE:

MLB.com - Game 1 is at American Family Field in Milwaukee; Tampa Bay’s Game 3 is scheduled for Tropicana Field.

MLB Trade Rumors - Milwaukee is the location of World Series Game 1.

WHEN:

MLB.com - The Brewers’ 26-player World Series roster was due by 10 a.m. CT on Friday.

WHY:

MLB.com - Tampa Bay had some rotation flexibility after finishing the ALCS in six games, although the Rays were less rested than Milwaukee.

MLB.com - Misiorowski’s 105.5 mph pitch was a velocity Chapman had exceeded; no starting pitcher had come within two mph of it. Justin Verlander and Jordan Hicks were the only other pitchers to reach 103 mph.

MLB.com - Tampa Bay chose Martinez for Game 1 to give Rasmussen additional rest before his Game 2 start.

MLB Trade Rumors - Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic proposed holding Rasmussen until Game 2 to give him extra rest; the article reported Rays officials were “deliberating over how to proceed.”

HOW:

ESPN - Martinez organized team dinners at every road city during the season and held a team dinner at a local steakhouse the night before learning he would start Game 1.

MLB.com - Misiorowski’s fastball made up two-thirds of his pitches, and two-thirds of his fastballs reached at least 100 mph. In their only prior matchup, on April 1, he threw Caminero three four-seamers and five sliders across two at-bats; Caminero struck out once and lined out once.

The Tampa Bay Rays have named veteran right-hander Nick Martinez their Game 1 starter against the Milwaukee Brewers, choosing him over ace Drew Rasmussen. The opener is at American Family Field, where Brewers ace Jacob Misiorowski is scheduled to pitch opposite him. Tampa Bay is giving Rasmussen extra rest before his Game 2 start. Martinez, 36, finished the regular season 15-6 with a 3.10 ERA across a career-high 180 innings, and the Rays won 24 of his starts. He has allowed three runs in nine postseason innings, including one run over five and a third innings in his ALCS start. Misiorowski brings a fastball averaging 100.6 miles per hour and a season-high of 105.5. Freddy Peralta is lined up for Game 3 at Tropicana Field, while Junior Caminero’s power and exceptional bat speed are another key matchup for Tampa Bay.