Griffin

Jax

Jax gave up a ton of loud contact with nine balls in play registering as hard hits. He also generated 11 swings and misses and six strikeouts, so it was more of a case of poor command than lack of stuff. He also was almost assuredly left in too long, and gave up a homer to David Hamilton in the fifth before exiting. Jax did a solid job as a starter for Tampa Bay in 2026, and he’ll likely be back in the middle of the Rays’ rotation in 2027, but he likely will be an option in Game 6 or 7 if Tampa Bay can force one.

Jax last started Game 3 against the Guardians in the ALCS and allowed three runs over four innings in what turned out to be a 3-2 loss for the Rays. It’ll be his first career World Series appearance.

Jax struck out two and walked two on the day, but one of those walks came back to hurt him in the second inning when he walked Jo Adell, who then came around to score on a Nathaniel Lowe double. Jax then settled down until the fifth inning, when Patrick Bailey reached on an infield single and then Petey Halpin crushed a go-ahead two-run home run. Jax would then allow a single ot Brayan Rocchio before his day was done. There is a chance that he could be used out of the bullpen in Game 6 or 7 if the series gets that far.

This is a surprise, but Nick Martinez did leave his ALDS start after taking an Anthony Volpe liner off his lower back. Jax will be making his first ever postseason start. He allowed one run and struck out four over two innings in his one relief appearance last week against the Yankees. Jax had a 2.41 ERA and a 39/9 K/BB over 37 1/3 innings in his final eight starts of the regular season.

Trea Turner lined a ball off Jax that bounced to the shortstop and turned into an out. Jax was then replaced by Steven Matz in the fourth. Jax, who was diagnosed with a low back contusion, will probably be fine by the time the ALDS rolls around, and he likely will serve as the Rays’ fourth starter with Shane McClanahan absent. His regular season ends at 8-10 with a 3.53 ERA in 23 starts and 11 relief appearances.

Jax gave up three hits, walked two and struck out five. He improved to 8-10 with the win. Jax has won two of his last three starts and allowed only one run in 15 innings in that span. He has a 3.62 ERA this year. Jax is lined up to face the Phillies on the road in the last weekend of the regular season.

Jax gave up two hits, walked none and struck out seven. He’s allowed two runs and recorded nine strikeouts in 10 innings over his last two starts. Jax has a 3.40 ERA and 100 strikeouts in 95 1/3 innings over 21 starts since the Rays moved him into the rotation at the end of April. Jax is lined up to face the Red Sox at home on Sunday.

It was nice for Jax to quell the concerns after his rough return from the injured list last week with a strong start here, but he still wasn’t completely back to form. His command was off in general and he hung far too many breaking balls, the Braves just didn’t do much with those mistakes. His velocity was also still down about a tick compared to his season averages and he only forced four total swings-and-misses. Back to those breaking balls, the Braves found it easy to spit on practically every one that Jax threw out of the zone and he’ll need to get more whiffs on them if he wants to truly return to form. He’s scheduled to face the Athletics at home next time out.

Jax was abysmal in his return from an elbow injury. The Mets jumped on him for three runs right away in the top of the first inning and then added three more in the third. In total, nine of the 14 balls the Mets put in play off Jax were hard-hit as their left-handed heavy lineup consistently teed off on his changeup. We expected him to be rusty in his first start back, but this was a catastrophe. Also, it’s important to note that his velocity was down about one mile per hour across the board. He’ll have a chance to right the ship next Wednesday on the road against the Braves.

Jax threw 42 pitches in his last rehab start with was also on August 23rd. There had been a discussion that he might throw one more minor league start, but that never came to fruition, so we would expect him to be under 65 pitches in this outing on Wednesday. He struggled to command his changeup and sweeper in that rehab outing, so we’ll see how sharp he looks against the Mets. We would leave him on the bench in fantasy leagues.