Dominant again

Joe confesses to dreaming of something other than Rachel Watson this morning.

Drew Smyly looks like the left-hander who quickly turned heads when he arrived in the David Price trade two years ago. Smyly, 26, continues to impress this spring, burning through lineups like he’s in midseason form.

The pitch count rose to about 50 for Smyly yesterday, in his second spring start. And he went 3 1/3 innings with fewer tosses than that. The Rays (4-5) made the Pirates look soft with a 5-1 win in Port Charlotte.

Smyly was 4-0 in September last year and looks better now, near perfect this spring. It’s just impossible at this early date to not have supreme confidence in the Rays’ starting rotation.

Yeah, that’s what March is all about for Tampa Bay fans, but 90 wins with this group — and the bolstered batting order — feels like a done deal.