Archive for March 10th, 2008

Mar 10

[RI CONFIDENCE GRAPH] The Tampa Bay Rays Confidence Survey

Confidence graph Cork Gaines No Comments »

Last week’s Rays Confidence Graph results.

Below you will see two polls that ask about your confidence in the Tampa Bay Rays. Please take a moment to answer each question. We will present these same polls every Monday. The results will be presented in graphical form on Wednesday, and will be displayed permanently in the sidebar. The goal of the Confidence Graph is to get a feeling of how Rays fans feel about the team and the franchise and track how that level of confidence changes through time. Thanks!

Raysiverse events of the past week that could impact confidence levels…


Mar 10

[EVAN LONGORIA] Dirtbag-O-Meter: 21 Days Until Opening Day

Dirtbag-O-Meter, Evan Longoria, Willy Aybar Cork Gaines 4 Comments »

We call him The Dirtbag because of how he plays and because he played college ball at Long Beach State whose baseball team has the coolest mascot in sports…The Dirtbags.

The biggest question mark for the Tampa Bay Rays in Spring Training is whether or not Evan Longoria will be named the opening day third baseman. Manager Joe Maddon has repeatedly stated that the decision will be based less on his stats, and more on how the 22-year old handles himself on a day-to-day basis and how well The Dirtbag adjusts to everyday life as a major leaguer. From now until the Rays announce a decision on Longoria’s fate, we will track The Dirtbag’s progress through his numbers, our own observations and quotes from Maddon and Andrew Friedman…

Notes on the Dirtbag-O-Meter…

Yesterday at the plate: Cam on as a pinch-hitter in the 8th and smacked a lead-off double. He did not play in the field.

Quotes:
“Longoria should open the season and be an instant impact star. His hands are remarkable, and scouts believe he can hit 30 home runs as a rookie” - Peter Gammons.

“He’s got that thing…It’s fun to watch him and be associated with him. He’s a player. That’s the joy for us coaches. You don’t do what he’s done at every (minor league) level just by accident.” – Gary Gaetti (Durham Bulls hitting coach)

“That was the farthest home run I’ve ever seen hit, for sure. Hands down,” JP Howell.(RE: Longoria’s home run in game two of IL playoffs last season)

Summary: After an 0-8 stretch, The Dirtbag now has hits in his last two plate appearances. Willy Aybar started at third and went 0-2 with a walk and a strikeout. Longoria is 4-11 (.364), with 4 walks and 2 strikeouts, while Aybar is 4-16 (.250) with 3 walks and 3 strikeouts. Aybar has 29 innings at third base, while Longoria has logged 23 innings…As we near the half-way point of the spring, we may start to see the team tip their hand if one or the other starts receiving more playing time at the hot corner and Aybar starts receiving more PT at other positions to start getting used to his role as a utility player…If the decision had to be made today, we tend to think Longoria would be on the team based on what he has shown so far, but the decision has not been made yet.

Mar 10

[THE HANGOVER] Edwin Jackson Being Edwin Jackson

Akinori Iwamura, Andy Sonnanstine, Brian Anderson, David Price, Edwin Jackson, Eva Longoria, Jason Bartlett, Joe Maddon, JP Howell, Matt Garza, Scott Kazmir, Troy Percival Cork Gaines 10 Comments »

Tampa Bay Rays (21 days until Opening Day)

Yesterday: Reds 6, Tampa Bay Rays 4. Edwin Jacskon allowed all 6 runs in the second inning on 6 hits, 2 walks and 2 errors. Jackson retired the last 6 batters he faced in the 3rd and 4th and 5 other pitchers did not allow a hit in the final 5 frames including Troy Percival and Dan Wheeler who each pitched perfect innings. The Rays committed four errors on Sunday after committing only two in the first eight games. Dioner Navarro was 1-2 throwing out base stealers. Elliot Johnson started and led off, going 1-4 with a walk. He is now 6-13 (.462) with 3 walks (.563 OBP). Ben Zobrist started in left field and later played one inning in right field. He fielded two base hits, but made no put outs. Evan Longoria had a pinch hit double. Willy Aybar started at third going 0-2 with a walk. Reid Brignac started at short, batted 9th and went 1-3 with an RBI single.

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…

  • Edwin Jackson may have lost his firm grip on one of the open spots in the rotation. Even though he was strong in the third and fourth inning, Joe Maddon says that Jackson must stay away from innings like the second and needs to find the strike zone better. This was classic Edwin Jackson. He looked dominating most of the game, but when things unravel for Jackson that unravel in a big way and he is bad enough in just one inning to lose a game. [St. Pete Times]

“Edwin Jackson today, really not sharp,” Maddon said. “That’s the kind of performance he’s got to stay away from. Better strike throwing, better quality pitches – we need to get that out of him. More like he did in that six- or seven-game stretch last year during the season. … I just want to see a little bit more direction within the strike zone.”

  • JP Howell and Andy Sonnanstine are both expected to start games in the near future…Despite looking so well so early, Brian Anderson will start season in the minors with hopes of being in the majors within a month or two. [Herald Tribune]
  • Scott Kazmir will throw a bullpen session today and is expected to make his spring debut on Saturday against the Yankees. Joe Maddon noted that it was still possible for Kazmir to be ready to throw on opening day, but that they need to remain flexible and consider what is best for Kaz and for the team. [Tampa Bay Rays]
  • Hidden behind the “Insider” wall of ESPN.com, Peter Gammons names Evan Longoria as #3 on the list of the “Grapefruit League’s eight to watch”. [ESPN]

Maybe the Rays will send him down to Triple-A to start the season because of concerns of him being a “Super Two” player after the 2009 season, but Longoria should open the season and be an instant impact star. His hands are remarkable, and scouts believe he can hit 30 home runs as a rookie, in the middle of a lineup with B.J. Upton, Carl Crawford and Carlos Pena. Think of that Long Beach State shortstop succession, from Bobby Crosby to Troy Tulowitzki to Longoria, who will play third for the Rays.

  • Brittany Ghiroli takes a look at Jason Bartlett’s adjustments to his new team and new environment. In addition to learning Japanese to help the communication between himself and his new double play partner, Akinori Iwamura, and tinkering with his swing Bartlett has been a calming influence on the emotional Matt Garza. [MLB]
  • Great line from Joe Maddon about David Price…After making a recent joke at Troy Percival’s expense, the closer responded by sticking large pictures of himself to Price’s BMW. When asked if Price had the “inner fortitude” to respond, Maddon stated that “he has the inner intelligence to not”. [Tampa Bay Rays]
  • Yankees Chick has a poll going on the morality of playing hard in spring training…On a Yankees blog…two days after one of their players is hurt by a completely legal and regular occurring baseball play…Let’s just say it is not the most scientific poll ever. [Yankees Chick]
  • In an effort to ease our stress levels this morning, we will not be posting links to every Yankees blog that is crying over a play in which Yankees fans would be the first to laugh it had happened to another team. Instead, we gave you the silly poll above and now for balance and sense of Fen Shui we will now give you the point of view of Red Sox Chick, which we can sum up in three sentences…”Does new Joe realize that he’s making the Yankees look like whiny babies and the Rays look like tough guys? Is this the direction he wants to take the team? Or is he just enjoying being a hypocrite this early in his new job?” Couldn’t have written it better ourselves. [Red Sox Chick]
  • Sports Indeed takes Rays Anatomy to task for backing Joe Girardi’s comments…An outsider might raise an eyebrow or think a writer is trying to take an unbiased point of view. Neither are true. The lead writer for Rays Anatomy writes through pinstripe-tinted glasses. He is a Yankees fan. [Sports Indeed]
  • When asked if he would still brush a batter back in spring training if the situation called for it, Joba Chamberlain said “You have to. If you don’t, that’s the time you get hurt, when you’re not doing .everything you would normally do.“…Sounds like Joe Girardi needs to have a talk with his own players. [Newsday]
  • Oh yeah, and in case you missed it, DRG came down pretty hard on the Evil Empire yesterday. [Rays Index]
  • River Ave. Blues ranks the best skills in the AL East. [River Ave. Blues]