Rasmussen Takes the World Series Mound With Joy Intact

The Tampa Bay starter comes off 16 wins and 174 strikeouts, but says his joy doesn't come from the scoreboard.

Oct 22, 2026 · 3 min read

Rasmussen Takes the World Series Mound With Joy Intact — Photo: Canal oficial de Drew Rasmussen

Drew Rasmussen won't pitch Game 1, but he will start Game 2 or 3 of the World Series against Milwaukee with his joy intact, according to Sports Spectrum. He comes in with 16 wins and 174 strikeouts.

The plan that fell apart in 2017

The Rays picked him in the first round of the 2017 draft out of Oregon State. He didn't sign: he failed the physical.

He had already gone through Tommy John surgery after an injury in 2016. He came back in 2017 to pitch eight games and make four starts, but a later exam revealed his elbow wasn't fully healthy. He needed another Tommy John surgery in September and missed the entire 2018 season rehabbing.

«The joy that sustains doesn't depend on the scoreboard.»

— Tomás Aguirre

In the middle of that blow, Rasmussen said in a video with Travel Chapel: "Everything the world promises is passing" (Sígueme translation). He grew up going to church and youth group every week, but by the time he got to Oregon State he didn't consider himself a man of faith or someone seeking God.

A Fellowship of Christian Athletes leader invited him to his home during his freshman year; Rasmussen doesn't remember accepting even once. In his sophomore year he began reading the Bible with more curiosity. Then the first injury came.

Friends in the clubhouse

Milwaukee drafted him in the sixth round in 2018. He returned to the mound, spent 2019 in the minors and made his Major League debut in August 2020, in the COVID-19-shortened season.

In May 2021 the Brewers traded him to Tampa Bay. The move disoriented Rasmussen and his wife, Stevie, whom he married in 2020. For them, Milwaukee was all they knew in professional baseball.

With the Rays he found a home. He was selected to the American League All-Star Game the past two seasons, and this year he was Tampa Bay's ace.

He also found friends of faith in the clubhouse: Ryan Thompson, Jalen Beeks and, a year later, Jason Adam. He described them as role models, men who live out their faith every day.

In 2023 an elbow injury required a procedure with an internal brace, and his season ended after eight starts. Before that, he admitted he was starting to drift spiritually. The forced pause for recovery brought him closer to God again, and Stevie was baptized while he was rehabbing.

The joy that doesn't depend on the scoreboard

Rasmussen's story doesn't turn the title into a prize for his faith. He himself said that what this world offers doesn't last. Grace isn't bought with 16 wins or lost with a surgery. The joy that sustains doesn't depend on the scoreboard.

"Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory" (1 Peter 1:8, ESV). Peter writes to believers who couldn't see Jesus and were going through trials. Their joy didn't come from favorable circumstances, but from Christ.

Rasmussen isn't perfect, and he doesn't need to be. He spoke of salvation as a gift he doesn't deserve. That is the difference between happiness that rises and falls with the result and joy that remains when the plan falls apart.

What do you lean on when the plan falls apart? Find a Christian friend, your pastor or a trusted adult and tell them what you're going through. Read a psalm this week and pray honestly. God's grace doesn't depend on everything going well; it holds you up when it doesn't.