How Rays are trying to increase the fun factor leading to stretch run

ST. PETERSBURG — Veteran reliever Jake Diekman had heard some chatter around the clubhouse a few weeks ago that Yandy Diaz, the Rays’ quiet and quite productive leadoff hitter, didn’t want any attention for his upcoming 32nd birthday.

So Diekman came up with an idea to go hard the other way — hiring a five-man band to follow and serenade Diaz through all of his pregame work on Tuesday’s big day.

He ran it by starter Zach Eflin, his co-conspirator in providing veteran clubhouse leadership, and a few other players, and got the green light.

Then, he took the idea to manager Kevin Cash, who typically isn’t big on such frivolities. “He’s like, I don’t care as long as we win,” Diekman relayed.

That the Rays won — with Diaz contributing four hits, including the decisive RBI —made for a celebratory day to the sounds of the “plena” music.

It was an example of the recent efforts to add fun and levity for the Rays entering the stretch run.

Also Tuesday, a high-end ping-pong table was set up in the clubhouse, purchased by relievers Jason Adam and Shawn Armstrong after they saw how their teammates were fired up by playing in the Texas clubhouse on a previous road trip.

The next day, there was a card table, courtesy of Eflin. There may be more activities, guests and special events coming.

Diekman, in his 12th year, said the idea is to provide energy through August, when the length of the season sets in but the urgency of the final month of the playoffs push (and excitement and trash-talking from college and NFL games) hasn’t yet.

“I feel it’s like the dog days of summer, you’re not dragging ass, but to get from, like, Game 100 to 130, it’s just different,” he said. “It helps to have that type of stuff where it doesn’t become, like, ‘show up to the field, play the game, go home, sleep, come to the field.’ So, there’s different random stuff to do at the field where you don’t feel like such a robot. I feel like that’s the key.”

The clubhouse additions also make players happier, which in theory should allow them to perform better and the team to win more.

“Even if it’s just like a 1% increase in happiness when you get to the field,” Eflin said. “We show up every day trying to have fun. And when you’re having fun, you play loose. And when you play loose, you win.

“So, I think that’s kind of something that we’ve just been trying to do. After games that we win, we celebrate as a team and we’re starting to bring new things in the clubhouse. So, really just trying to rally everybody around for kind of like this final push of the season.”

Eflin, who spent the previous seven seasons with the Phillies, said there is no formal strategy; it’s more of a “whatever works” approach.

“It’s not really anything planned or whatnot, it kind of just happens,” he said. “You just kind of feel like you need a little reset button or a little refresher, and you just do things. It’s something that we both have been through — me in Philly, and (Diekman) kind of all over the place.

“It’s a different-dynamic kind of a team, because a lot of the times these players, they come in and then they’re shipped out, so it’s hard to build a culture here. So, I think we’re finally getting to that point where they started locking some guys up and everybody feels together. So, it’s been a lot of fun to be able to do that and bring our experience to his team.”

Options on options

A factor in player moves this time of year is the number of times he has been optioned, given the limit of five per season. A player can be called up for a sixth time but can’t be sent back down without being put on waivers and potentially lost. So far, infielder Vidal Brujan and relievers Cooper Criswell and (currently injured) Ryan Thompson have been optioned four times; relievers Jalen Beeks, Calvin Faucher and Trevor Kelley, plus starter Taj Bradley, three each.

Rays rumblings

Interesting that new starter Aaron Civale uses the same walkout song as Rays legend Evan Longoria, Tantric’s “Down and Out.” Bally Sun Rays’ Ryan Bass reported that Civale started doing so in Cleveland because Longoria was Civale’s younger brother Nick’s favorite player. … Guardians manager Terry Francona, on the role Cash — his good friend, frequent foil, former player and .183 career hitter — played in helping Diaz improve at the plate: “My guess is that ‘Cashy’ is smart enough to never utter a word of hitting anywhere near him.’’ … The broadcaster lineup will be shuffled on the road trip to San Francisco and Anaheim, with Andy Freed and Doug Waechter handling TV, and Neil Solondz and Chris Adams-Wall doing radio. … In post-draft/trade-deadline updates, infielder Junior Caminero is the game’s No. 5 overall prospect per Baseball America and sixth via MLBPipeline.com. BA has shortstop Carson Williams 23rd, rehabbing pitching Shane Baz 44th and third baseman Curtis Mead 62nd. MLB has Williams 19th and Mead 36th. In MLB’s team rankings, 2022 top pick Xavier Isaac was fourth and 2023 first-rounder Brayden Taylor fifth. … Kyle Manzardo, traded to Cleveland for Civale, is 67th with BA and 63rd with MLB. … Wonder if the Sept. 17 game at Baltimore might be worthy of ESPN’s “Sunday Night Baseball” cameras? Red Sox-Blue Jays, Cubs-Diamondbacks and Braves-Marlins are other potentially appealing options. … The photo-packed 25th anniversary book, a collaboration between the Rays and Tampa Bay Times, is now available at the team store for $50. … Some more post-trade-deadline chatter: The Rays were seeking, but unsuccessful, in adding a second starter at the buzzer; could that have been Jack Flaherty, who was in one of the last reported trades, from the Cardinals to the Orioles? Per Newsday’s Erik Boland, the Rays were among the teams claiming Yankees right-hander Deivi Garcia off waivers, but the White Sox had higher priority. … Quite the dramatic intro Friday for closer Pete Fairbanks, with the Trop lights turned off, a spotlight aimed near the mound and “Secret Crowds,” by Angels and Airwaves, blaring. … The previous walkoff hit Wander Franco was referencing after Friday’s game-winning homer came June 7, 2019 with Class A Bowling Green, a 10th-inning single to left to beat West Michigan.

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