Rays Face World Series Decisions on Game 1 Starter and Junior Caminero’s Lineup Spot

The Rays’ choices on the mound and in the batting order will shape the World Series opener in Milwaukee. Brewers right-hander Jacob Misiorowski is set to start tomorrow, but Tampa Bay hasn’t announced its plan. That leaves the opener’s first strategic question unanswered: whether the Rays will use their most established starter immediately or arrange the rotation to protect its options across the series. Lineup decisions could be just as revealing, especially if Tampa Bay’s recent changes reflect a matchup plan it intends to keep using.

Rasmussen could start Game 2

Drew Rasmussen is the obvious Game 1 candidate, yet the Rays may prefer to give their ace extra rest. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic floated a plan that would send Nick Martinez out first, with Freddy Peralta lined up for Game 3. Rays officials were “deliberating over how to proceed” yesterday, Rosenthal reported.

A rotation order is a series-long calculation, not simply a ranking of the four pitchers. Starting Martinez in the opener could preserve Rasmussen for Game 2 and place Peralta in the third game, but the source doesn’t establish whether Tampa Bay has adopted that sequence. Rest, matchups and the timing of later starts can all shape a postseason plan; without an announced choice, the report describes a possibility rather than a settled rotation.

That uncertainty matters because the first game can set the tone for how a club deploys its staff. If you're working through the matchup, the key question is what the Rays gain by holding Rasmussen back—and what they risk by asking another starter to take the opener. There’s no answer in the available details yet. For now, the clearest fact is that the club was still weighing its options.

Caminero’s spot may shift

Junior Caminero finished the ALCS batting fourth after opening it in his usual No. 3 spot. He hit third in all three ALDS games, but Tampa Bay adjusted its lineup against Cleveland, using three different hitters there—Chandler Simpson, Ryan Vilade and Liam Hicks—across two games with right-handed openers and one started by lefty Parker Messick. Manager Kevin Cash has more reason to restore Caminero to third against Misiorowski: Milwaukee has a right-handed rotation and seldom uses openers.

The sequence suggests Cash was willing to treat the top third of the order as a matchup tool during the ALCS. Against Milwaukee, the expected starter and the rotation’s handedness make the setup different, while the Brewers’ limited use of openers may reduce the need to prepare for an early pitching change. That gives Caminero a plausible route back to third, though the facts here don’t confirm where he’ll hit in Game 1.

Moving a hitter in the order can change who bats with runners aboard and how quickly a club reaches its power threats. It can also reflect a manager’s attempt to create favorable early innings against a particular starter. The evidence supports watching Caminero’s placement; it doesn’t support treating one lineup configuration as a permanent change.

Yelich could get a steadier role

Newly named captain Christian Yelich sat out Game 1 of the NLCS, when the Dodgers started left-hander Tarik Skubal. Brewers manager Pat Murphy instead used right-handed hitter Andrew Vaughn at DH. Vaughn faced left-handed relievers after Skubal left, leaving no opening for Yelich to pinch-hit. Yelich also sat in Game 3 against Blake Snell. Tampa Bay’s rotation has carried much of the workload and is entirely right-handed: Rasmussen, Martinez, Peralta and Griffin Jax. That matchup could give Yelich a clearer path into Milwaukee’s lineup.

Yelich’s absences in the NLCS show how a platoon decision can narrow a player’s role even when he remains available to pinch-hit. In Game 1, Vaughn stayed in against left-handed relievers after Skubal departed, so the original matchup choice carried through the game. A steady run of right-handed starters would create a different set of conditions, and the Rays’ listed rotation gives Milwaukee a straightforward reason to consider Yelich more often.

That said, a favorable handedness pattern doesn’t guarantee a fixed role. Managers still have to account for the opposing starter, bullpen changes and the value of preserving a pinch-hitter. Yelich’s captaincy adds attention to the choice, but the baseball question remains practical: where can Milwaukee get the most from his bat while keeping its options open?

What the first game can clarify

The opener will offer an early read on how both managers want to balance matchup advantages against continuity. Tampa Bay’s starter choice may reveal how it intends to distribute work across the series, while Caminero’s spot could show whether Cash is returning to a familiar order or continuing the adjustments used against Cleveland. Milwaukee, meanwhile, has a chance to give Yelich a more regular opportunity if the right-handed rotation creates the expected openings.

This is more significant than it looks: these are small decisions with effects that can carry into later innings and later games. One lineup slot or one rotation turn doesn’t decide a series by itself, but it can constrain the choices that follow. And this is the part most people overlook: the first announcement may tell fans less about certainty than about each club’s willingness to keep adjusting.

For now, the Rays’ plan remains unannounced, and the Brewers’ potential opening for Yelich is a matchup-based possibility. The decisions to watch are clear. The outcomes aren’t.

Photo courtesy of Kim Klement Neitzel, Imagn Images