The Tampa Bay Rays' starting pitcher, Drew Rasmussen, has been named to the 2025 American League All-Star team, replacing Los Angeles Angels’ Yusei Kikuchi. The announcement came on Friday, July 11, recognizing Rasmussen’s strong return to form following a challenging injury history and a remarkable season.

Rasmussen, 29, has overcome three major elbow surgeries, including two Tommy John operations and an internal brace procedure in July 2023, to reestablish himself as one of the Rays’ top starters. He began the 2024 season on the 60-day injured list and returned to the mound on August 7. In 16 appearances (4 starts) that year, he posted a 2.83 ERA with 35 strikeouts over 28 2/3 innings.

Heading into the All-Star break this season, Rasmussen has delivered impressive numbers: a 2.82 ERA, 1.01 WHIP, 76 strikeouts, and 21 walks across 89 1/3 innings in 18 starts. He ranks third among Rays pitchers with 2.2 WAR (Baseball Reference) and owns the 12th-lowest ERA among AL pitchers with at least 80 innings pitched. Opponents are hitting just .216 against him, and his WHIP ranks eighth in the American League.

Maintaining an efficient average of fewer than 15 pitches per inning, the Rays have limited his workload, allowing him to complete six innings only four times this season. Tampa Bay continues to manage his innings carefully due to his injury history, occasionally using him in tandem with power reliever Joe Boyle.

It’s been a far-from-ordinary road to All-Star recognition for Rasmussen. A standout at Oregon State, he threw the program’s only perfect game as a freshman in 2015. Drafted by the Diamondbacks in 2014 and again by the Rays in 2017, Rasmussen ultimately signed with the Brewers, who selected him in the sixth round of the 2018 MLB Draft. He made his MLB debut for Milwaukee in 2020 and was traded to the Rays in May 2021.

Since joining Tampa Bay, Rasmussen has become an essential figure in their rotation. In 2022, he finished with an 11–7 record and a 2.84 ERA across 28 starts, including nearly throwing a perfect game on August 14. That same month, he earned AL Pitcher of the Month honors with a 1.57 ERA and 33 strikeouts in six starts.

The Rays made a clear commitment to Rasmussen with a two-year, $8.5 million contract extension in January 2025.

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