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Rays create 'Openers are humans too' T-shirts for their pitchers

Tampa Bay Rays Instagram

The Tampa Bay Rays are credited with starting the opener movement. And now, the team is branding it.

The Rays have created T-shirts for their pitchers - in particular, the relievers who will be starting games - to help embrace a strategy that's led some to question its place in baseball.

Ryne Stanek, one of the Rays' primary openers last season, could be seen modeling the new swag at spring training.

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Openers have souls.

A post shared by Tampa Bay Rays (@raysbaseball) on

Stanek, who pitched to a 2.98 ERA over 29 starts in just 66 1/3 innings during 2018, took the idea one step further with a promotional video.

The Rays are planning to take the opener strategy to new levels in 2019, as they'll begin the season with a three-man rotation followed by back-to-back openers. The team found great success deploying the tactic in 2018 en route to a surprising 90-win campaign.

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