When the Tampa Bay Rays acquired Jake Odorizzi prior to the 2013 season, it was part of a franchise-altering transaction. Shipped from Kansas City alongside Wil Myers in the trade that sent James Shields to the Royals, the right-hander arrived with a pedigree that suggested he was the next great pitching prospect ready to roll off the organization’s developmental line. After spending the bulk of his first year in the state sharpening his pitch mix in Triple-A, Odorizzi grabbed a permanent spot in the rotation in 2014 and didn’t look back.
That 2014 rookie season showcased exactly what made his four-seam fastball such a lethal weapon. Attacking hitters at the top of the zone with an invisible, rising heater, Odorizzi logged an 11–13 record across 31 starts, punching out 174 batters over 168 innings. His high-strikeout style led all major league rookies and earned him an eighth-place finish in the American League Rookie of the Year voting, anchoring a staff transitioning away from its older core.
His evolution into a front-of-the-rotation stalwart reached its peak efficiency in 2015. In what was arguably his finest individual campaign in a Rays uniform, Odorizzi manipulated opposing lineups with an increasingly deceptive split-changeup, finishing with a 9–9 record and a stellar 3.35 ERA. That mark ranked eighth-best in the American League, cementing him as one of the most reliable arms in the junior circuit.
He remained the picture of stability over the next two summers, racking up identical 10-win campaigns in 2016 and 2017 while consistently eating valuable chunks of innings. With his arbitration costs escalating, the Rays executed their signature pivot, trading the veteran right-hander to the Minnesota Twins prior to the 2018 season to jumpstart their next pitching wave.
In Tampa Bay, Odorizzi made 127 appearances (123 starts). He compiled a 40–37 record with a 3.82 ERA and a 1.22 WHIP, throwing 698.1 innings and registering 639 strikeouts.
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