After a red-hot start to the season, the Tampa Bay Rays have cooled off just a bit.
While they still own a 35-15 record, which is the best in all of baseball, there is one category where they no longer have the lead.
The category in question is run differential.
The Rays do still have a very good run differential of +107.
However, they no longer lead in that category.
Now, the Texas Rangers have the lead, and own a run differential of +111.
On Twitter, Jeff Passan of ESPN pointed out this fact and listed the leaders and bottom-feeders in the run differential category.
For the first time since Day 5 of the season, the Tampa Bay Rays do not lead MLB in run differential. Leaders and bleeders:
1. Rangers +111
2. Rays +107
3. Dodgers +57
4. Braves +54
5. Astros +52…
26. Tigers -51
27. White Sox -55
28. Marlins -57
29. Royals -71
30. A’s -178— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) May 24, 2023
The Rangers are only barely ahead of the Rays in the run differential category.
But recently, the Rays have come back down to Earth a little bit and have watched their lead over the Baltimore Orioles in the AL East shrink to just three games.
The Rays are, however, still miles ahead of all other teams in run differential, with the exception of the Rangers of course.
The Los Angeles Dodgers, Atlanta Braves, and Houston Astros round out the top five on the list of the 30 teams with run differentials of +57, +54, and +52, respectively.
At the bottom of the list are teams such as the Detroit Tigers, Chicago White Sox, Miami Marlins, Kansas City Royals, and Oakland Athletics.
Oakland sits at the bottom with an abysmal run differential of -178, which is miles behind the team with the second-worst run differential.
The Royals are that team, and have a run differential of -71.
