Over the first 24 games of the season, the Rays averaged 6.2 runs per game. In the last 13 games, that number is down to 3.9 as many of the Rays bats have gone cold at the same time.

One of our readers dug into the numbers a little deeper and may have a simple explanation. Take it away Thad…

TW: Starting with Greinke on May 2 (13 games ago), if you look at collective statistics for the 13 pitchers (Ed. note: See full list at end of this post) faced (counting Lee and Vargas twice as though they were unique pitchers), it’s a pretty impressive collection of talent and statistics. It’s no wonder the Rays have hit a bit of a dry spell at the plate.

Collectively, the thirteen pitchers faced (again Lee and Vargas counted twice) have the following statistics for the 2010 season:

Last 13
3.55 ERA
1.18 WHIP
8.16 H/9
2.50 BB/9
6.66 SO/9
2.67 SO/BB

Not bad at all. Especially against AL averages (I don’t have AL avg stats for JUST starting pitchers, but you might; Ed. note: We do. The following numbers are for AL starting pitchers):

AL SP Avg.
4.24 ERA
1.35 WHIP
8.8 H/9
3.3 BB/9
6.6 SO/9
1.99 SO/BB

Digging a little deeper into the 13 pitchers, three stand out as relative outliers statistically (Kazmir, Rowland-Smith, and Sheets). The Rays pounded two of the three (Kazmir and Rowland-Smith). The only pitcher they failed to touch up that you could argue (at least statistically) they should have was Sheets. But if you take all three out of the averages the numbers are startling:

TOP TEN
2.88 ERA
1.06 WHIP
7.62 H/9
1.93 BB/9
6.89 SO/9
3.56 SO/BB

That’s a collection of 10 solid starters with command that don’t give up much. And the Rays STILL went 9-4, with 9 of the 13 games on the road. When they faced mediocre pitching they feasted for the most part. They just haven’t faced much mediocre pitching in the past two weeks.

CG: Great stuff Thad. Thanks as usual.

Last 13 starting pitchers the Rays have faced:
Zach Greinke
Jason Vargas
Cliff Lee
Ryan Rowland-Smith
Gio Gonzalez
Ben Sheets
Dallas Braden
Joel Pineiro
Scott Kazmir
Jared Weaver
Doug Fister
Jason Vargas
Cliff Lee