Fact Check: Is there anything 'suspicious' about Tampa Bay Rays' league-best record? Verifying legitimacy of WFAN host's claims

The 2023 MLB season has gotten off to an explosive start for the Tampa Bay Rays, who have gone 29-9 to stake their claim as the top club in the nation thus far. The Rays have the best record in the MLB this year, despite dropping their final two games to the Baltimore Orioles.

Following the Rays' weekend sweep of the Yankees, two hosts on the well-known New York sports radio station WFAN insinuated that they obtained the best record in the majors through dishonest means.

WFAN’s Evan Roberts accuses Tampa Bay Rays of cheating after hot start: ‘Sometimes you don’t need evidence.’ http://ow.ly/fx5S104GoKF - awfulannouncing

WFAN hosts initially commented about their doubts behind the Tampa Bay club's performance this season by suggesting that the team was not good enough to be attaining the success they have managed to achieve so far this year.

The Rays are "a bunch of journeymen outperforming their baseball cards," according to Carton, who also claimed that their performance "makes no sense at all."

Is something fishy going on with the Tampa Bay Rays? @EvanRobertsWFAN shares his suspicion... - WFAN660

Statistics highlight Tampa Bay Rays' 2023 dominance

The Tampa Bay Rays are the MLB's top club in 2023 and by a wide margin.

With a current five-game winning run, they hold the best record in baseball with a 19-3 record. The Pittsburgh Pirates are the league's second-best club. Their record is 16-7. The Texas Rangers are the closest team and have a run differential of +60, while the Rays have an absurd +88. There are just 40 other people with positive runs.

Rays MLB ranks: - raysmetrics

The most important conclusion to draw from this data is that Tampa Bay is superior in the two fundamental aspects of the game: pitching and hitting.When it comes to batting average, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage, the Rays are first in baseball.

Through the use of statistics and excellent coaching, the Rays have discovered a method to enhance the talent already present on their roster.

The Rays are an extremely difficult club to defeat.