Feb 28
Tampa Bay Rays (31 and a half days until Opening Day)
The Rays have released their pitching schedule for the next few days, including all pitchers that are scheduled to take the mound tomorrow, Saturday and Sunday and the starting pitchers for Monday and Tuesday.
Friday at Reds
Rays—Jackson, Hammel, Sonnanstine, Balfour, Orvella, Houser
Saturday vs. Blue Jays
Rays—Shields, Talbot, Reyes, Miller, Wheeler
Sunday at Pirates
Rays—Niemann, Davis, Ryu, Munter, Birkins
Monday at Tigers
Rays—Garza
Tuesday vs. Twins
Rays—Jackson
A few notes on these assignments…
- Keep in mind that only the first 2-3 pitchers of a game are likely to face major league batters as minor leaguers and non-roster invitees will usually take over later in the game.
- Nary a David Price sighting. That’s OK. It is still a little early and he did have some shoulder stiffness a couple of days ago
- Three of the five competing for the final two spots of the rotation will throw tomorrow.
- Jeff Niemann gets a start on Sunday, before Andy Sonnanstine and Jason Hammel. This tells us that the team knows what they have in those two, but will give Niemann plenty of opportunities to show what he can do.
- Edwin Jackson gets two starts in the first five days. This tells us that the team wants to get a real good look at Jackson and see if he can build on his second-half performance.
- We get our first look at Wade Davis on Sunday, yet no Jake McGee sightings. This is consistent with most reports that suggest that Davis is the more polished of the two super-prospects.
Updated pitching schedule [Rays Report]
DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…
- Bill Chastain discusses Andy Sonnanstine and how he benefited from his experience in 2007. Sonnanstine stated that he lost his confidence early on but by the end of the year, he was back on track. He also noted that he feels the competition in Spring Training will make him better. [Tampa Bay Rays]
“Now I can take that mound and know I’m going to do well,” Sonnanstine said. “Just logging those innings and learning as much as I could, putting it all together in the big equation, really helped me…Right when I first got up, I had two good starts and felt like I belonged,” Sonnanstine said. “After that, I ran into quite a few losses, and that shook my confidence a little bit. By the end of the year, I’m picking [Dan] Wheeler’s head, talking to [Jay] Witasick. That helped. Logging the innings, talking to the older guys, and the experience, that really helped.”
- MLB.com takes a look at Jeff Niemann who says he feels better this year than he usually does this time of year. [MLB.com]
- Hopes have been riding high for the 2008 Tampa Bay Rays. Rays Digest wonders how that will be affected by the recent news that Scott Kazmir strained his elbow. [Rays Digest]
- One website calls the Rays one of their “Top 5 Interesting Teams” for 2008. [How Youz Doin Baseball]
Feb 28
The Rays return in 2008 with a much different lineup than that which started the 2007 campaign as only catcher and left field figure to have the same opening day starters. With most of the regular lineup set, there are still a number of questions concerning the Rays entering Spring Training. Let’s consult the Rays Magic 8-Ball…
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Will Scott Kazmir get enough of a Spring tune-up to be ready for opening day? Magic 8-ball says: What? You couldn’t start me off with an easy one? Kazmir wants to be on the hill opening day. The team wants to be careful. The team usually wins. At this point it doesn’t seem very likely that Kaz will pitch opening day. Even if he is pitching pain free, the team will be tentative about sending out their young ace on opening day in front of a sold-out crowd in Baltimore with 40 degree weather. Kazmir may overthrow with the extra bit of adrenaline that will be flowing. Look for Kazmir to be skipped in the rotation the first time through the order with 80-90 pitch limits placed on him the first 3-4 starts.
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Will Evan Longoria be in the lineup on March 31? Magic 8-ball says: America…Fuck yeah! Stuart Sternberg has said that the needs of the prospect outweigh the needs of the team, but it won’t take long for everybody on down to Joe Maddon and the waterboy to realize that the best third baseman in camp is Longoria, both on the field and off. They might as well start stocking Longoria jersey in the Trop shops.
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Who will fill out the back end of the rotation? Magic 8-ball says: Joe Maddon has stated that the ability to throw strikes on a consistent basis will go a long ways towards deciding the final two spots. I also know that Maddon does most of his evaluating on the previous season. That means that Andy Sonnanstine is a lock for the rotation. The final spot is a bit more dicey. Edwin Jackson has the edge over the other incumbent Jason Hammel, due to his 98mph fastball and a second-half in 2007 that at least showed that he is moving in the right direction. Still, he is going to need to show further progress in the Spring. Hammel is a long-shot at best. With 23 major league starts under his belt he has never shown that he can be a major league starting pitcher. JP Howell may be better suited for the ‘pen. That leaves Jeff Niemann as the only serious contender for Jackson’s spot. With no big league experience to gauge, Niemann will have to show Maddon that he can consistently throw strikes, consistently dominate major league hitters and show that he has the endurance to work late in games. If he can do that, look for Niemann to sneak past Jackson.
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Will Rocco Baldelli be able to handle an everyday role in right field? Magic 8-ball says: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHA!
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How quickly will Akinori Iwamura adjust to life at second base? Magic 8-ball says: Aki may have said it best…If Wiggy can do it, Aki can do it. The only concern the team has at this point is turning double plays. This is not to be taken lightly, but as long as Aki makes sure of the first out, I am less concerned how long it takes him to get out of the way of the runner and safely deliver the ball to first base. Aki will be fine. Gold glove? Not in 2008. But it would not surprise me if he is at least considered for the award in 2009 or 2010.
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What happens to Jolly Guzbar if Evan Longoria is the opening day third baseman? Magic 8-ball says: One will be traded prior to opening day. With only four spots on the bench, three are spoken for: Jonny Gomes, Ben Zobrist and a backup catcher to be named later. If Longoria is the third baseman, that leaves one spot for Joel Guzman or Willy Aybar. Guzman has the glove, the pop and can play three infield positions and the corner outfield spots. Aybar is a switch-hitter. Has a solid OBP, but can only play third and second. Did I mention that both are out of options? The player to win the final spot may come down to which commands a bigger bounty in the trade market. Look for Aybar on the bench and Guzman on the Mariners with Edwin Jackson.
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Who will be the final two relief pitchers? Magic 8-ball says: We have come a long way in one year. Last year, the entire bullpen was up in the air and we actually thought Seth McClung was going to be the closer. And we were surprised the Rays only won 66 games?!? Troy Percival, Al Reyes, Dan Wheeler, Trever Miller and Gary Glover are locks. That leaves two spots in the ‘pen. One spot will go to one of the starting pitchers with Jason Hammel (out of options) the likely choice. JP Howell also has a good shot. Juan Salas is still stuck in the D.R. with no end in sight. He also has a minor league option left, so he is out. That means the final spot will be a Spring battle between Scott Dohmann and Grant Balfour. Dohmann should win that battle easily, but don’t count out Brian Anderson, the veteran lefty has looked strong so far in camp.
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Can Shawn Riggans really win the backup catcher’s job? Magic 8-ball says: After all the talk of wanting a veteran backup to tutor Navarro, and signing two such backstops in Josh Paul and Mike DiFelice, one of whom is very familiar with the pitching staff (Paul), it amazes me that Joe Maddon says that Riggans is the favorite. This one is truly baffling and the one I seem to have the weakest grip on. When the smoke settles, I still think Paul will be the guy, but if Riggans has a strong spring, the job will be his.
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Can Fernando Perez play well enough in the spring to convince the Rays that he should be the first option out of Durham? Magic 8-ball says: It is not a matter of if, but a matter of when either Rocco Baldelli or Cliff Floyd lands on the DL. When that happens, the Rays’ first option will most likely be Justin Ruggiano who has a full year of AAA experience and a handful of games in the big leagues. However, if Perez can play well enough in the spring and get off to a hot start in Durham, the team could conceivably bypass Ruggiano for the more talented Perez. The real answer to this question will come if the Rays choose to give Perez playing time in right field in the spring. If they do. Perez is their guy.
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Do wins and losses in March matter for a team like the 2008 Rays? Magic 8-ball says: For those that say wins don’t matter in the spring. I say stop farting and blaming it on the dog. Last year, of the 8 playoff teams, seven had winning records in the spring, including the D-Backs that had the second best spring record at 20-12. Of the 17 teams that posted winning records in the spring, 11 finished the regular season above .500. The Rays went 10-19 in 2007. A winning record in the spring will go a long way towards building some confidence in the young squad.
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What other players should we watch closely this spring? Magic 8-ball says: The three names off the top of my dome are Mitch Talbot, Chris Mason and Elliot Johnson. Talbot and Johnson both entered 2007 as top prospects in the organization. Talbot got off to a rough start and Johnson played horribly all year. Talbot pitched better in the second half and needs to have a strong spring or he will become an after-thought in the minds of the men that count. Johnson’s drop-off in 2007 was too great to be due to a lack of skills alone. Outside of Akinori Iwamura, Johnson is the only other potential major league second baseman in the organization. Johnson needs to build on a strong AAA-playoff appearance or he will soon be forgotten. Mason is another question mark. AA’s pitcher of the year in 2007, not many look at Mason as a big-time prospect. He will be at Durham in 2008 and if he has a strong showing this spring we could see him make a spot-start with the Rays sometime in 2008. Keep in mind when a pitcher is needed from Durham, the decision is often based on who’s turn it would be to take the mound as much as talent.
Feb 28
As we pointed out a few days ago, there have now been 64 katrillion gabillion Barry Bonds-to-the-Rays stories. For the most part we have glossed over most of these and don’t feel the need to point you to every article as they all say one of two things: 1) Bonds would make Rays a better team; 2) Rays are crazy to want Bonds.
However we would be remiss if we did not point to a couple of the more ridiculous examples.
From Phil Taylor of SportsIllustrated.com:
The Rays seem to think that Bonds might have a positive influence on their young players. How naive.
Yes. that would be naive. If it were true…When the team got together and listed all of the ‘pros’ for signing Bonds, the list probably included home runs, OBP, more asses in the seats, national media exposure, somebody that can wear the size 8.5 cap that is gathering dust and a shot at the playoffs (not necessarily in that order). We are just guessing at this point, but we are fairly certain that “positive influence on young players” missed the cut.
From Dimitri Burikas of The Phoenix:
Barry “Flaxseed Oil” Bonds sits in his house, unwanted and unemployed by any Major League Baseball team. As if his chronic use and chronic denial of steroids weren’t a cry of insecurity and a superiority complex, he has now shown just how desperate he’s gotten…Barry is negotiating with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.
We are not sure how one goes from “the team had internal discussions about Barry Bonds once, a while back and decided it was not worth pursuing” to “Barry is negotiating with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays”, but Burikas must have one hell of a source, considering nobody else has reported that actual negotiations have occurred.
And it took a couple of days but we finally found a writer that gets it. For all the articles that mentioned why Bonds would be good for the Rays and the articles that wrote about why it would be a bad idea, Jayson Stark of ESPN.com is the first we have seen that correctly assessed the situation.
Here’s the only reason Barry Bonds makes any sense in Tampa Bay: .480/.565/1.045. That, of course, is Bonds’ stat line last season as a Giant… But now that we’ve got that out of the way, here’s why this can’t possibly happen: The Rays spent their entire offseason trying to weed out the troublemakers (exit Elijah Dukes and Delmon Young) and bringing in veteran role models and mentors (enter Troy Percival and Cliff Floyd). And remember those on-field Joke of the Day sessions and Closest to the Pin golf-shot duels I mentioned in Monday’s edition of Three Strikes? They were all about team-building. And whatever Barry might bring the Rays in baseball attributes, team-building isn’t quite the specialty of his house.
Thank you Jayson Stark. Thank you.
Too much baggage [SI.com]
Quick takes [The Phoenix]
Three Strikes: Wednesday Edition [ESPN]
Feb 28
Tampa Bay Rays (32 days until Opening Day)
While Scott Kazmir is still aiming to be ready to take the mound on Opening Day in Baltimore on March 31st, Joe Maddon and Andrew Friedman are taking a much more cautious approach.
“I know, with pitchers, there’s a certain prestige that goes with something like starting Opening Day and everybody wants to be able to do that if they’re capable,” Rays manager Joe Maddon said. “I get all that, but the bigger picture is much more important right now, so we’re not going to be influenced in that regard.”
While Kazmir says he understands the importance of taking it slow, he has no concerns that he will be able to get back on the mound quickly.
“Definitely,” Kazmir said. “I’m going to take it slow, but I think this is something that is going to heal pretty quick and the inflammation is going to go down pretty quick. I’m confident I’m going to be out there pretty soon.”
But pitching coach Jim Hickey wants to make sure there are no further setbacks.
“Our goal is that once he retakes the mound that he never comes back off of it,” Hickey said. “I would rather him begin late and finish with all consecutive starts vs. maybe getting back a little bit early and have a two-week setback.”
Maddon in fact may already be resigned to skipping Kazmir on opening day by giving Kid K the fifth spot in the rotation. Maddon stated that the five pitchers fighting for the final two spots in the rotation will get more innings in the Spring with Kazmir out.
“Somebody’s going to benefit from this – in the short term, anyhow,” Maddon said.
With Kazmir and the Rays having clashed late in 2007 over his pitch counts, it will be interesting to see if the team will be able to reign in their young ace while they are erring on the side of caution.
Kazmir, Rays see different plans [Tampa Tribune]
Rays planning to hold a tight rein on Kazmir [St. Pete Times]
DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…
- James Shields and Matt Garza each worked one inning in yesterday’s intrasquad contest. Both pitchers allowed one hit. [Herald-Tribune]
- Rocco Baldelli was originally scheduled to play the outfield in yesterday’s intrasquad game, but was moved to DH due to inclement weather. Now Joe Maddon says that Baldelli will not see action in the field until next week. [Tampa Tribune]
- David Price felt fine yesterday after missing a pitching session on Tuesday with shoulder tightness. Price says he is day-to-day and pitching coach Jim Hickey said the move was purely “precautionary”. [Tampa Bay Rays]
- The Giants suddenly find themselves devoid of any major league shortstops. McCovey Chronicles thinks Ben Zobrist could be the answer. We glanced over their system and we are wondering if Pat Misch would get the deal done. Misch is a lefty that like Zobrist, posted outstanding minor league numbers that have yet to translate in the major leagues. [McCovey Chronicles]
- Willy Aybar finally arrived in camp and thanked the team for their support and apologized to his teammates for the distraction. [Bradenton Herald]
- Rays of Light takes a closer look at Al Reyes in their ongoing “Player Spotlight” series. [Rays of Light]
- DRays Bay has put together a “DRB Season Preview Guide” that is free to download. We have not yet had a chance to look through it. [DRays Bay]
