Drew Rasmussen DVOA, Advanced Stats, & Fantasy Rankings

Tampa Bay Rays starting pitcher Drew Rasmussen was dominant once again on Tuesday, shutting out the Texas Rangers for five frames in a 5-1 win. Rasmussen was electric in this one, allowing just one hit and walking none while punching out eight. It was his fourth straight outing without allowing a run, a stretch of 23 innings. The only negative is that the Rays haven't extended Rasmussen at all this year, with his most pitches thrown being 86. The 29-year-old will have to remain uber-efficient in order to keep racking up quality starts and wins, which can be a tight line to walk. Still, he's been excellent at that so far this year, going 5-4 with a 2.14 ERA, 0.87 WHIP, and 56 strikeouts in 63 IP. Rasmussen should be rostered and started in all leagues right now. His next start is a juicy one, as he gets the Miami Marlins at home on Sunday.

Tampa Bay Rays starting pitcher Drew Rasmussen pitched a quality start and earned the win in Wednesday's 5-0 victory over the Twins. He didn't allow a run over six innings, allowing only one hit and one walk while striking out five. This is now the third straight start where he has pitched six shutout innings. In that 18-inning span, he's allowed nine hits and one walk while striking out 13. The 29-year-old has been as steady as they come, with only one start this season in which he allowed more than three earned runs. He'll carry a 2.33 ERA into his next outing, which is lined up to be against the Rangers.

Tampa Bay Rays starting pitcher Drew Rasmussen pitched six scoreless innings in his team's 3-1 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays. He allowed four hits, issued two free passes, and struck out three to earn his second straight win and quality start. The Oregon State product was solid again, yielding exactly four hits and no runs in each of his last two starts. He's done a decent job limiting hard contact, but it's at least mildly concerning that he's toed the rubber six straight times without piling up double-digit swinging strikes. He had a paltry three on Friday. Still, he's been effective -- letting up three earned runs or fewer in all but one of his ten appearances. Rasmussen will carry a 3-4 record into his next outing, a home matchup with the Minnesota Twins early next week.

Tampa Bay Rays starting pitcher Drew Rasmussen threw six scoreless innings in his team's 4-0 win against the Miami Marlins. The 29-year-old righty yielded four hits and struck out five to collect his first quality start of 2025 -- improving to 2-4. Two of the four hits against him came in the first inning (singles), but he quickly shut it down and would settle in for a few frames before allowing a double in the fourth and sixth. Rasmussen has been solid through nine starts, bolstering a 2.93 ERA and 1.00 WHIP in 46 innings (40 strikeouts). That's pretty much what we've grown to expect from him, though it's worth mentioning that his strikeout rate is down a bit (22.2%) and he's affording opponents his highest average exit velocity (90.8 MPH) and xBA (.269) since 2021. He'll square off against the Toronto Blue Jays at home next week.

Tampa Bay Rays right-hander Drew Rasmussen threw his first live batting practice session of the spring on Wednesday and is working on a five-day starter's schedule. Rasmussen recovered from his third right-elbow surgery last year and rejoined the Rays as a reliever in August. The 29-year-old former sixth-round pick by the Milwaukee Brewers in 2018 out of Oregon State University appeared in 16 games (four starts) in 2024 and looked good with a 2.83 ERA (1.35 FIP), a 1.08 WHIP, one save, 35 strikeouts and six walks in 28 2/3 innings. There's no guarantee Rasmussen will actually be included as part of the Rays' Opening Day rotation, though, and he's appeared in only 24 games (12 starts) over the last two seasons due to injury. Given all of his elbow injuries over the years, it wouldn't be a surprise to see Rasmussen retreat back to the bullpen, especially since he looked so good in relief in his return in 2024.