Adrian Gonzalez went on a Boston radio station after last night’s loss to the Rays and vented about the strikezone of home plate umpire Hunter Wendelstedt. That’s fine. But then things got interesting when Gonzalez was asked about his lack of power this season (he has two home runs)…
Gonzalez said not to worry….”I’ll start hitting home runs…I’ll hit a home run tomorrow.”
Umm, OK. Maybe Gonzalez forgot that Matt Moore is pitching for the Rays tonight. While Moore is struggling a bit this season, he is left-handed and has surrendered just one home run to a lefty in his short career.
Maybe the biggest surprise of the 2012 season so far is just how well Elliot Johnson is playing. Prior to the season, Johnson wasn’t even a lock to be on the roster and was out of minor league options. Now, with a slew of injuries, Johnson has started 10 of the last 12 games and is 12-26 on his current 8-game hitting streak.
Gary Shelton of the Tampa Bay Times wrote about Johnson’s surprising success and noted that Johnson has finally adapted his hitting style, leading to this quote from Joe Maddon…
“There are certain hitters who are blessed with enough power to be a bad hitter…You know, when you reach the seats once in a while and it feels so good to do the trot, and you get to do it six, seven, eight times a year when you’re hitting .210, .220 and (have) a high number of strikeouts and a low number of walks … guys have to understand that doesn’t work.”
While Maddon was talking about EJ, that description fits another Rays middle infielder perfectly, Reid Brignac. Since the start of the 2010 season, Briggy is hitting .223 with 9 home runs in 213 games. He also has 143 strikeouts and just 31 walks.
In the first at bat of his second game with the Durham Bulls, Hideki Matsui delivered a 2-run double with an opposite-field drive off the Monster at DBAP. His first hit in the Rays organization.
Despite nine players on the DL, the Rays continue to play well, winning their fourth in a row and maintaining a tie for first in the AL East. The Rays are now on pace to win 102 games. Here are the highlights from last night’s win that you won’t see on SportsCenter…
THE GOOD: Hellboy Cometh. Some predicted that Jeremy Hellickson would take a step backwards this season. And yet, after 8 starts, he actually looks better. Last night was more of the same, yielding just 1 run in 6 innings, striking out 6 and walking just 2. Those last two numbers are the most important. Hellboy should be striking out about 1 per inning, and he should have about 3 times as many Ks as walks. Perfect…Bullpen Backend. Fernando Rodney and Joel Peralta have turned into quite an 8th and 9th inning combo. The two combined for another 2 scoreless innings, allowing one baserunner. Peralta was especially impressive getting Dustin Pedroia, David Ortiz, and Adrian Gonzalez 1-2-3 in the 8th…Matt Joyce Head’s Up. On a shallow flyball to right field in the 6th with no outs, it looked like Joyce was content to stay at third base. But Cody Ross overran the ball just enough that he was off-balance when he made the grab. Joyce quickly tagged and sprinted home for the game-deciding run.
THE BAD: Crowded DL. The Rays now have 9 players on the DL.
THE TELLING: The Rays are still tied with the Orioles at 24-14, but are now 3.5 games ahead of the Yankees, and 6.5 in front of the Red Sox…Rich Thompson made his debut with the Rays, 8 years after his last big league appearance, as a pinch-runner.
THE JUNKYARD DOGS WEBTOPIA…
Be sure to click the below for some GIFy Goodness.
And in case you missed it last night, here’s video of Will Rhymes passing out after being hit by a pitch. [RaysIndex]
Prior to the game, Brandon Guyer was placed on the DL with a left shoulder strain to make room for the newly acquired Rich Thompson.
Here’s Will Rhymes talking about the incident. Video also has a good view of the bruise. [TampaBay.com]
When asked who he was during routine questioning by the paramedics, Will Rhymes said “I am Batman,” just to mess with them. [TampaBay.com]
Now this is Joe’s kind of a game. Hellboy and the bullpen, capped by the crooked cap-wearing, Kung Fu Fernando Rodney, who held the BoSux to one run while wrapping up a 2-1 win.
This is the type of game the Rays are going to need from their pitching staff, and are capable of getting night in and night out, short of whoever is now the No. 5 pitcher.
And, man, was Rodney mowing down the BoSux. Fantastic.
During tonight’s game Will Rhymes was hit in the forearm with a 95 mph fastball. You could immediately see the welt forming and marks from the stitches. He tried to stay in the game, going to first base. But then he collapsed. He eventually regained consciousness and was taken off the field on a cart…
UPDATE: The rays have announced that x-rays are negative and that Rhymes is day-to-day. Here’s the full statement…
Will Rhymes is day-to-day with a right forearm contusion, which he sustained in the 8th inning when he was hit by a pitch from Franklin Morales. He fainted shortly thereafter due to an adrenaline rush. X-rays were negative. He was treated at Tropicana Field and did not go to the hospital.
This post, which will appear before every game, will include starting lineups (when we learn them) and during the game will include a Game Graph that will constantly update the percent chance the Rays have of winning this particular game.
Earlier today, the Rays added Rich Thompson, and word on the street is that he is being added to the Rays roster. So, who is on the way out?
The obvious answer is that Stephen Vogt will be sent packing. But the added problem is that the Rays need to open a spot on the 40-man roster. The Rays could just move Jeff Niemann to the 60-day DL (does the new CBA have a limit on number of players that can go on 60-day DL?). The Rays could also place Vogt on waivers. Either way, Vogt is likely back to Durham…STEPHEN VOGT
Apparently at some point during his 11 seasons in triple-A, somebody made a short (13 minutes) movie about his life in the minors called “A Major Life in the Minor Leagues.”
Whoever made the clip uploaded a trailer to YouTube back in 2010. But the best we can tell, the actual movie was never uploaded.
Here’s the trailer which gives us a glimpse of just how speedy the Rays’ newest addition is…
