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Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated
Sport
Tom Verducci

Bryan Baker’s New Recipe With the Rays Has Made Him a Sneaky All-Star Candidate

This article was originally published as part of Verducci’s View, a new weekly baseball newsletter from Sports Illustrated senior writer Tom Verducci. Every Monday, Tom empties out his notebook over email and covers MLB’s hottest topics, provides in-depth analysis through both text and video breakdowns, looks forward to what’s worth watching during the week and more. If you want to be featured in his new mailbag, please email [email protected] with any questions about MLB or his decades in the sport.

They’ve done it again. The Rays and pitching coach Kyle Snyder keep making pitchers better than they were elsewhere. This time it’s a 31-year-old former 11th round draft pick who was traded twice and waived once. Bryan Baker joined Tampa Bay last July 10 in a trade from Baltimore in which the Rays sent Baltimore the No. 37 pick in the draft. With hardly anyone noticing, the Rays got themselves a power arm with swing and miss stuff and 3 ½ years of control—and a future All-Star selection.

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