The Orioles sent Bryan Baker to Tampa Bay on July 10, 2025 for a competitive-balance draft pick. Fifteen months later he has the best closer season in Rays history and a piece of postseason history that belongs to four men total.
Baker saved all three Rays wins in the ALDS sweep of the Yankees. He faced ten batters. Four strikeouts, one walk, no hits. Per MLB.com he is only the fourth pitcher to record a save in each of his team’s first three postseason games, joining Manny Corpas in 2007, Mark Wohlers in 1996 and Dennis Eckersley in 1988 and 1996, and the only one of the four to do it without allowing a hit.
The Regular Season Was Not a Fluke Either
Baker is 31. He finished 2026 with 41 saves, tied with Cleveland’s Cade Smith for the major league lead, a 1.44 ERA, a 0.91 WHIP, a .161 opponent average and 2.9 bWAR. He made his first All-Star team in July.
From May 17 he converted 33 consecutive save opportunities, the longest in-season streak in franchise history. His last blown save came on May 13, in the team’s 42nd game. Two losses during that streak came in extra innings without an earned run. He is the first Rays pitcher to lead the majors in saves since Alex Colome in 2017 and the seventh in club history with a 40-save season.
He does it with a fastball and a changeup. That is the whole arsenal.
Tampa Bay Did Not Have a Closer in March
This is the part that should sting in Baltimore. The Rays entered 2026 without a designated closer after Pete Fairbanks left the role. They did not sign one. They promoted a reliever they had acquired for a draft pick and watched him put up a sub-1.50 ERA over a full season.
Nick Martinez, who throws next to him, has the best description of the mentality: “He’s a rock, man. He’s a maniac.” He added, “He’s been coming through for us all year, man, and it’s really fun to watch.”
Baker’s own version is less dramatic. “For a lot of people, myself included, it’s a confidence game,” he said. On the feeling of closing out the series: “I normally black out for about three seconds.”
Why This Decides the ALCS
Tampa Bay has home-field advantage, five rested starters and a bullpen that barely worked in the division series. Add a closer who has not allowed a baserunner via hit in October and you have the single most repeatable path to winning a seven-game series.
Kevin Cash put the question to the room himself: “Is there a team that should feel better than us?” The answer, going into Monday, is probably not.
The Lesson for Everybody Else
Elite relief pitching is the most consistently mispriced commodity in the sport. Baltimore sold a 30-year-old arm for a pick because the market said middle relievers are fungible. Tampa Bay bought it, gave him the ninth inning, and is now four wins from a World Series largely because of him.
Baker’s contract figures have not been reported publicly. Whatever they are, the Rays are winning that trade by a margin that gets uglier every week.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.