Sergio Romo has appeared in 588 games over 11 seasons with the Giants, Dodgers, and Rays. All of those 588 games have come in relief appearances. Game 589 will be his first career start as Rays manager Kevin Cash announced that he will be starting tonight against the Angels.

Coming into the season, the Rays [VIDEO] said they were going to commit with four starters until their fourth starter Nathan Eovaldi re-injured his elbow which made the Rays go with a three-man rotation that consists of Chris Archer, Blake Snell, and Jake Faria. While it wouldn't hurt for the Rays to sign a starter or two, Rays fans should be excited about the pitchers that are in the Rays farm system.

Starting pitchers

The rotation is currently led by bona fide ace Chris Archer who is currently one of the best pitchers in the game. With his elite slider and good pitches that have the ability to miss a lot of bats, he is a great pitcher that can lead the younger pitchers if he stays with the Rays once his contract is up. Archer has gotten off to a sluggish start this season as he currently only has 57 K in 59/1 IP with an E.R.A. of 5.01.

After Archer in the Rays rotation is Blake Snell who's 25 years old. Snell who won minor league player of the year in 2015 by USA Today, is a former top prospect who has some experience as a big league starter. He has the potential to be an elite starter as he has the ability to miss a lot of bats and also has the potential to get 200+ strikeouts in a season multiple times in his career.

He will have to work on his control though in order to truly be an elite pitcher in the big leagues. So far this season, Snell has been spectacular as in ten starts, he has an E.R.A. of 3.07 with an opponent average of .199.

The Rays also have a highly-regarded pitching prospect in 22-year-old Brent Honeywell. Honeywell is currently sidelined and is recovering from Tommy John surgery as he was diagnosed with a torn UCL during spring training.

Honeywell has the ability to strikeout a lot of batters. Something unique about Honeywell is that he is able to throw a screwball and that it's his main secondary pitch. The only other pitcher who can throw a screwball in the major leagues is Hector Santiago but he rarely throws it. Due to his UCL tear, don't expect to see Honeywell in the big leagues this year but he will be an important part of the Rays rotation in the future.

The Rays also posses Jake Faria (24 years old) who made his MLB debut last year. The Rays drafted him in the tenth round in 2011 out of high school. He started off in the big leagues really well and then slowed down near the end. This season, Faria has struggled as he currently has an E.R.A. of 5.20. Even with his struggles, Faria is a player Rays fans should get excited about as he will be a quality big league starter.

Another pitcher that will be part of the Rays rotation is 25-year-old Jose De Leon who they acquired from the Dodgers last year for Logan Forsythe. De Leon only pitched in one game in the majors last year and missed most of the season due to an injury. De Leon has shown in the minor leagues that he has the ability to strikeout batters but we will have to see if he will be able to have that ability at the highest level.

He has only pitched five games in the major leagues and has gotten 17 strikeouts across those five games. Like Honeywell, De Leon underwent Tommy John surgery so expect to see De Leon in the big leagues next season.

The Rays also have 24-year-old Anthony Banda who they acquired from the Diamondbacks four Steven Souza Jr. Banda was a top prospect in the Diamondbacks organization before the trade. Like Faria, Banda also made his major league debut last season. Banda has only made one start this season so far but struggled as he gave up six hits in five innings and only whiffed one. Banda should be part of the Rays future plans going forward.

In last year's draft, the Rays took first baseman/pitcher Brendan McKay with the fourth overall pick.

The Rays plan to allow McKay to both pitch and hit in the minors but he looks like he'll be a better pitcher than hitter at the highest level. In seven games in the minors this season, he hasn't gotten a loss yet and has both an E.R.A. and opponent average of .091. What's even more impressive is the fact that he has gotten 45 K in 29/2 IP and has only given up an astonishing nine hits. He is currently rated as the Rays third-best prospect and will probably make his debut sometime next season.

Modern-day comparison

With the abundance of young pitchers that the Rays have, there is a current team's rotation that I can compare the Rays pitchers to and that is the current rotation of the New York Mets.

With the young pitchers that the Mets currently have, I see a lot of similarities with the Rays pitchers.

When the Mets were in their rebuilding stages, they had a lot of young pitchers in their organization. They drafted Jacob deGrom, Matt Harvey (who is no longer on the Mets) and Steven Matz and developed them into major league caliber starters. They acquired Noah Syndergaard and Zack Wheeler through trade when the Mets were a rebuilding team. Syndergaard and deGrom are one of the better pitchers the game has today and is a big reason why the Mets are a quality major league team.

I see a lot of similarities between the Mets rotation and with the Rays pitching situation. The Rays have an ace in Chirs Archer just like the Mets have an ace in Noah Syndergaard.

The Rays have Blake Snell who is very good but can be inconsistent just like the Mets have Jacob deGrom who's good and can be inconsistent. I even think that the Rays have a chance to have a better rotation in the future than the Mets currently do.

Even though the Rays probably should go out and sign a starter since they only have three, their future rotation could be something special.
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