Archive for July 17th, 2008

Jul 17

[THE ARCHIVES] One Year Ago On Rays Index

The Archives Cork Gaines No Comments »

One year ago on Rays Index we presented “The All-Time Tampa Bay Devil Rays” roster…with a twist.

The All-Time Tampa Bay Devil Rays: 10 Years Of Sucktitude [Rays Index]

Jul 17

[RI CONFIDENCE GRAPH] The Rays Index Confidence Graph: Week 16

Confidence graph Cork Gaines No Comments »

The Rays Confidence Graph will appear every Wednesday and is a look at how much confidence Rays fans have in the Tampa Bay Rays. The graph is designed to give us a look at how our emotional bias as Rays fans fluctuates through time. The “confidence” in the team is an inexact measure of how fans feel about the team’s current strength as well as how much confidence fans have in the franchise for the next 3-4 years. Notes on this weeks agida-level can be found after the graph..

Notes on the RI Confidence Graph…

  • The most common response for “Confidence in 2008 Rays” was 8 (They will be in playoff contention all season) with 57.1%.
  • The most common response for “Confidence in future of franchise” was 9 with 43.2%.
  • 94.9% of respondents feel the Rays have a shot at the playoffs in 2008. That number is down from 97.6% a week ago.
  • 100% of respondents feel the Rays should be at least a .500 team in 2008. Last week that number was 100%.
Jul 17

[THE HANGOVER] Rays Get Break At Much Needed Time

Al Reyes, Evan Longoria, JP Howell, Jason Bartlett, Reid Brignac, Scott Kazmir, Troy Percival Cork Gaines 2 Comments »



THE GOOD: We are back after a much-needed 7-day vacation and an even more needed 4-day mini-vacation for 22 of the players and all of the coaches and staff…The AL won the All-Star game with a little help from a couple of Rays. This is significant as it means if the Rays go to the Wor… *smack*. Sorry. Got a little ahead of ourselves…

THE BAD: A 7-game slide heading into the break and out of first place in the AL East.

THE TELLING: Reports of the Rays death are premature. The Rays are still 1 game up on the Red Sox in the all-important loss column and still lead the Wild Card by 2.5 games over the Twins and 4.5 games over the A’s…It is still unclear if the Rays will shuffle their rotation after Scott Kazmir threw 14 pitches in the all-star game. At this point Joe Maddon will go with James Shields on Friday, to be followed by Scott Kazmir, Matt Garza, Edwin Jackson and Andy Sonnanstine…The Rays are 1-7 since we got married.

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…

  • Rays the Stakes recaps Evan Longoria’s performance in the Home Run Derby. [Rays the Stakes]
  • Her Rays recaps the All-Star game. [Her Rays]
  • Reid Brignac has been optioned back to Durham. Al Reyes is expected off the DL for tomorrow’s game and Jason Bartlett should be available by the beginning of next week. Meanwhile, Troy Percival is expected to throw a simulated game today, but there is still no timetable for his return…As usual, we fully expect Reyes to injure himself in the next 5-6 days, lest the time continuum come to a complete stop if Reyes and Percy are both healthy at the same time. [St. Pete Times]
  • Scott Kazmir stepped up and took his teammates behind the woodshed. Kazmir blames the Rays struggles on the team’s inability to focus on the task at hand and being more concerned with what other teams in the East are doing on the scoreboard. [St. Pete Times]
  • Rays the Stakes notes that the Rays struggles have coincided with Jason Bartlett’s trip to the DL. [Rays the Stakes]
  • Outs Per Swing shows that playoff teams from the past two seasons are not immune to mid-season losing streaks. [Outs Per Swing]
  • Bill Chastain gives us his “2008 Midterm Report” on the Rays, calling JP Howell, the team’s MVP. [MLB]
  • The Rays were just the 5th team in the last 45 years to have 3 all-stars under the age of 25. [Bradenton Herald]
  • Remember that minor after-hours altercation that Al Reyes got into a while back on his birthday in which one of the presents he received was a shot from a taser? Well, he doesn’t. But that is a good thing as all charges have been dropped. [AP]
  • Sports Talk. We want to like these guys. They seem knowledgable. But they write a blog like they are a hosting a radio show. Too many fragments. Too many exclamation points! And random halfhazard posts that apear to have been put together on a whim with little thought or substance. [Sports Talk]
  • Six more exclamation points in this one, including 2 in the title…Please, stop yelling at us. [Sports Talk]
Jul 17

[DOWN ON THE FARM] Thayer And Cummings Strong In AAA All-Star Game

Andrew Friedman, David Price, Eduardo Morlan, John Jaso, Rocco Baldelli, Tim Beckham, Wade Davis Cork Gaines No Comments »

PCL 6, IL 5 (AAA All-Star game). Chris Richard started for the IL at first base and went 0-2 with a strike out…Dale Thayer pitched the 5th inning, allowing no runs on 1 hit and Jeremy Cummings got the call in the 7th inning, also holding the PCL scoreless while striking out 2.

Durham (all-star break)

Montgomery 7, Birmingham 5. Jino Gonzalez got the start in the first game after the SL All-Star break. He gave up 3 runs in 5 innings, including 2 home runs…Rashad Eldridge was 2-5 with a double, 2 RBI and 3 Ks…Rocco Baldelli batted 3rd and DH’d, going 1-3 with a single, a walk and a strike out…JT Hall was 2-3 with his 2nd home run since being promoted to double-A…David Price is expected to start today with Jeremy Hellickson taking the mound tomorrow. In his last outing, Price pitched a shortened 7 inning complete game to improve to 4-0 with Montgomery and 8-0 overall.

Dunedin 1, Vero Beach 0. Heath Rollins didn’t give up a run, but did walk 4 in 6 innings. He struck out 3.

West Virginia 14, Columbus 4. Brian Flores started and Glenn Gibson relieved. Together they gave up 10 runs (7 earned) in 5.2 innings…Mike McCormick drove in 1 run with a single in 3 at bats.

Auburn 12, Hudson Valley 7.

Burlington 7, Princeton 0. Tim Beckham played short and went 1-4. He did start a double-play in his only fielding chance.

NOTES FROM DOWN ON THE FARM…

  • Eddie Morlan pitched one inning for the World Team in MLB’s Future’s Game during all-star weekend. [Montgomery Advertiser]
  • Wade Davis and John Jaso have been promoted to triple-A Durham, with the Southern League all-star game being their final appearances in double-A. [Montgomery Advertiser]
  • Wade Davis and John Jaso have to purchase some new clothes for their new team, and the two have very different tastes when it comes to shopping. [Montgomery Advertiser]
  • David Price has moved up to #2 as Baseball America has updated their list of baseball’s top 10 prospects. [Baseball America via The League]
  • Rocco Baldelli began his second rehab stint last night for double-A Montgomery. Andrew Friedman said that he is optimistic that Rocco will play for the Rays at some point this season. [Biscuits' Batter]
  • Nathan Rode of Baseball America made a trip to watch Tim Beckham play. Maybe he should go more often as Beckham collected his first extra-base hit as a pro. [Baseball America]