Drew Rasmussen

Tampa Bay Rays · through 2026-09-01

Elite season

Why he matters right now

Drew Rasmussen is top-10 in the majors in WHIP, wins and strikeout-minus-walk rate

He is 3rd in WHIP at 0.93, 5th in wins at 14, 9th in strikeout-minus-walk rate at 21.3% — placements on MLB's own season boards, which rank every QUALIFIED pitcher in the sport rather than the few dozen this site tracks. Qualified is MLB's own bar, and it is the reason a part-season player with a big number is not on these boards at all.

This has been his headline for 13 straight days.

The case in 30 seconds

0.93 3rd in WHIP at 0.93, 5th in wins at 14, 9th in strikeout-minus-walk rate at 21.3% on MLB's season leaderboards MLB season leaderboard (the league's own top-10 board of qualified players, not this site's roster)
2.95 ERA over 146 innings, with 149 strikeouts, 26 starts and a 0.93 WHIP snapshot pitching board — the union of MLB's top-10 pitching boards, then MLB's 1.0 IP per team game rule applied; not the league's full qualified pool

The honest caveat

The open question is workload. He is at 146 innings over 26 starts; the same rate to the end of the season means roughly 172. Velocity and innings both have to hold, and neither is guaranteed — this page reports what the measurements say, not what a medical staff knows.

What to watch next

Next up: at Texas Rangers.

Every claim above, with its source (2)

3rd in WHIP at 0.93, 5th in wins at 14, 9th in strikeout-minus-walk rate at 21.3% on MLB's season leaderboards MLB season leaderboard (the league's own top-10 board of qualified players, not this site's roster)
ERA over 146 innings, with 149 strikeouts, 26 starts and a 0.93 WHIP snapshot pitching board — the union of MLB's top-10 pitching boards, then MLB's 1.0 IP per team game rule applied; not the league's full qualified pool

The evidence

What to watch next

at Texas Rangers Globe Life Field · 8:05 p.m. ET Opposite Cal Quantrill

Situational splits

Split	IP	ERA	SO	WHIP	AVG against
vs RHP	58.2	—	55	0.82	.184
vs LHP	86.0	—	94	1.02	.215
Home	72.2	3.22	79	0.99	.210
Away	73.2	2.69	70	0.87	.196
Day	80.1	2.80	86	0.91	.194
Night	66.0	3.14	63	0.95	.214

2026 season, MLB Stats API. A split with no plate appearances is omitted rather than shown as zeroes.

26G

26GS

146.1IP

14-5W-L

2.95ERA

0.93WHIP

149K

9.16K/9

0SV

Strikeout chase

Chase	Current	Pace	Needed from here	Status
200 K	149	175	51 K · 11.3 per outing over 4.5 left	EXTREME
250 K	149	175	101 K · 22.4 per outing over 4.5 left	IMPOSSIBLE
300 K	149	175	151 K · 33.6 per outing over 4.5 left	IMPOSSIBLE
350 K	149	175	201 K · 44.7 per outing over 4.5 left	IMPOSSIBLE
383 K	149	175	234 K · 52.0 per outing over 4.5 left	IMPOSSIBLE

ERA & WHIP finish lines

Finish	Current	Required rest-of-season	Status
Sub-2.00 ERA	2.95	-3.48 over about 25 innings	IMPOSSIBLE
Sub-1.75 ERA	2.95	-5.16 over about 25 innings	IMPOSSIBLE
Sub-1.50 ERA	2.95	-6.85 over about 25 innings	IMPOSSIBLE
Sub-1.00 WHIP	0.93	1.41	ON PACE
Sub-0.90 WHIP	0.93	0.73	NEAR PACE

Recent game log

Derived nightly from the snapshot ledger — each row is the difference between consecutive days; multi-day rows are labeled.

Date	Opp	Result	IP	K
2026-08-19	Toronto Blue Jays	W 7-6	5.0	5
2026-08-12	Athletics	W 8-4	5.0	3
2026-08-07	Seattle Mariners	W 2-1	7.0	8
2026-08-01	Chicago White Sox	W 1-0	6.0	10
2026-07-26	Cleveland Guardians	W 1-0	7.0	9
2026-07-21	Toronto Blue Jays	W 12-2	5.0	5
2026-07-08	New York Yankees	W 3-0	2.1	2

Lahman + Retrosheet context

How this season fits history

Comparable finishesMedian 181 K

n=373 near this checkpoint

Chase history

Strikeouts, day by day

Projected season K, day by day

Stuff watch

Cutter velocity, start by start

Every start's average against his own trailing baseline of 90.0 ± 0.45 mph. Ringed dots sit more than one standard deviation under the baseline; last start 90.41 mph (2026-08-01).

spin ratio · SI: 24.51 vs 25.45 ± 0.321 (z -2.92, 3 straight)
spin ratio · FC: 28.66 vs 29.47 ± 0.367 (z -2.22, 3 straight)