NEW YORK -- The Rays are bringing back their road grays, with a special Tampa Bay twist.

The Rays revealed on Monday morning that they will begin wearing a new road uniform on Tuesday night at Yankee Stadium. But the team isn’t just reintroducing gray jerseys for the first time since 2022. The club is putting “Tampa Bay” front and center on its road uniforms for the first time in nearly two decades.

This was a priority for the Rays’ new ownership group, which has made significant strides in less than a year to solidify the team’s long-term future in the Tampa Bay area with a “Forever Home” ballpark in Tampa. Putting the Rays’ home region back on their road jerseys is another reflection of their renewed bond with the area.

“These uniforms celebrate our long-term commitment to Tampa Bay,” Rays chief executive officer Ken Babby said in a statement. “As our team travels the country, we do so with tremendous admiration for our home. Tampa Bay is always in our hearts and that’s why we will wear it across our chest.”

The Rays’ new threads will make their debut on a big stage. They will first be worn in Game 2 of Tuesday’s doubleheader at Yankee Stadium, where Tampa Bay has a chance to clinch its first American League East championship since 2021 with just one win against New York.

The Rays haven’t worn “Tampa Bay” on a primary jersey since 2007, when they rebranded and dropped the “Devil” in their team name. Their City Connect uniforms, introduced in 2024, also have “Tampa Bay” across the chest, but those are only worn on select occasions, usually at home. 

These gray jerseys, a modern take on the ones the Devil Rays originally wore from 1998-2000, will serve as the Rays’ primary road uniform moving forward, replacing the current Columbia blue jerseys that feature the club’s “burst” logo. The Rays have also worn their navy jerseys on the road since dropping their gray look.

The gradient on the front of the jersey is meant to mirror the color scheme of the Devil Rays’ original home uniforms, which were brought back into the Rays’ permanent style guide in 2023 to celebrate the franchise’s 25th anniversary. 

There were some other updates to modernize the look of the Rays’ new uniforms, of course. They repositioned the ray under “Tampa Bay,” for instance, and moved it closer to the name to make it look cleaner and more cohesive.

The cap and helmet are also updated versions of the Devil Rays’ 1998 looks, intentionally replacing most of the black from that color scheme with the more modern Rays navy blue the team now features.

This change has been under consideration for some time. The Rays even involved their fans, putting out polls through their social media channels on March 6 that asked for preferences and opinions on four different designs. They selected the jersey the Rays ultimately chose.

“We are particularly proud that our fans helped choose this design,” Babby said, “and we love the fact they want the baseball world to see ‘Tampa Bay’ when we play on the road.”

The Rays plan to make the new jersey available for preorders at the Bay Republic Team Store at Tropicana Field beginning today.