Rays Bullpen Struggles Threaten Early Season Momentum

0:00It's April 1st. This is MLB News today, AI-powered stories shaping the season. The Tampa Bay Rays are facing a rough start to their 2026 season, mainly because their bullpen keeps blowing up. Through the first six games, they've imploded multiple times, including a loss in the rubber match against the Milwaukee Brewers. Griffin Jacks has been the main culprit, posting a brutal earned run average of 2250 after surrendering runs in three of his four outings. In that latest game, things fell apart in the bottom of the eighth, with the score tied at two. Jacks came in after solid relief from E&C Moore, but Joey Ortiz singled to start, followed by a sacrifice-bunt and an error at first by Junior. Caminaro. That opened the door for William Contreras to load the bases, Christian Yelich's two-run single, and more damage before Mason Engler took over, and gave up extra runs. Fans and analysts are sounding the alarm over this early trend, especially since it's the second time Drew Rasmussen's strong start got wasted by the relievers.

1:04Jacks already has two blown saves and two losses, turning what should be high leverage reliability into a liability. He's supposed to anchor those late innings, but bad luck with unearned runs aside. He needs to iron out those kinks fast. The Rays hit the road next, facing the Minnesota Twins on April 3rd. Expect changes if the bullpen doesn't steady up soon, or this could derail their whole early momentum.