May 04
[Update 2:14 PM] (See Comments) Either the Tampa Tribune or the Rays can’t decide what is wrong with Niemann. On April 28, Marc Lancaster reported that Niemann had “Minor soreness in his upper back”. In the link below, Lancaster says Niemann has “arm soreness”.
[Update 12:56 PM] (See Comments: Thanks Kevin!) Not sure how we missed it. Niemann is apparently having back problems. [HERE is the link: The part on Niemann is buried below a fluff piece. He was scheduled to start last night, but did not. So the extent of the injury is still unknown]
Jeff Niemann was demoted to AAA Durham on April 20. He has yet to make an appearance for the Bulls since his demotion. His last start was with the Tampa Bay Rays on April 18. That is a span of sixteen days.
Is Jeff Niemann injured?
Is Jeff Niemann refusing to report to Durham?
May 04
I do not want to place a number on how many wins Papa Joe needed in order to earn an extension. Obviously Stuart Sternberg and Andrew Friedman will judge a number of factors before making a decision. Each week I will take a look at how Maddon is performing in each of five categories. While this list is likely not complete, I do believe these are the most important factors in determining whether or not Joe Maddon can be a winning baseball manager.
- Wins: 16-14, 2 games behind Boston and tied for 2nd in AL East, 1 game ahead of the Yankees and 1 game behind Oakland in the Wild Card race.
- Fundamentals on the field: Offensively, the Rays are only tied for 8th in AL with 106 walks. While they are 4th in steals in the AL, they have been caught stealing a league leading 14 times. Not to mention the 437 times BJ Upton has been thrown out at third base. On the mound they are only 9th in Ks, and they are starting to walk batters, moving up to the 8th most walks in the AL. Defensively the Rays are 2nd in the AL in Defensive Efficiency Rating but catchers have thrown out only 5 of 25 base stealers.
- Consistently competitive: At one point the Rays won 10 of 13 and possesed first place all by themselves.
- Avoid prolonged slumps: Have lost at least 3 in a row twice this season, but in the last 16 games, they have only once have they lost back-to-back games.
- Control the clubhouse: No reports of problems.
- Summary: There are problems. The team seems to still make several mental mistakes every night, but I can’t ignore the record. If the season ended today, Papa Joe would be given an extension.
May 04
Scranton 15, Durham 8. Mike Prochaska was knocked out after 3 innings, after giving up 6 runs including 4 in the first. Fernando Perez was 0-5. Reid Brignac was 2-4 and had a double. Dan Johnson, Jon Weber, John Rodriguez and Mike DiFelice added homers.
Montgomery 6, Huntsville 1. Richard de los Santos worked 7+ shutout innings for his 3rd win. Every starter had a hit and John Jaso had 2 with an RBI.
Vero Beach 10, Dunedin 6. Jeremy Hellickson had his worst outing of the year and still improved to 3-0. He worked 6 innings and gave up 3 runs. He did strike out 5 and walk 0 improving his K-to-walk ratio to a ridiculous 46-to-2. Ryan Royster and Matt Fields hit home runs.
Greenville 3, Columbus 2.Josh Johnson struck out 5 and walked 5 in 5 innings. He was only touched for 2 runs but got a no-decision. Henry Wrigley was 3-4 and had 2 RBI, including an RBI single in the top of the 9th that tied the score. Maiko Loyola stole his 13th base.