[THE HANGOVER] Rays Can Only Manage Split In KC
Aki Iwamura, Al Reyes, Gary Glover, Jason Hammel, Joe Maddon, Troy Percival July 28th. 2008, 11:42am
THE GOOD: Got nothin’
THE BAD: Using the batting practice jerseys during a game. We have made our feelings known about this in the past. And we are not the only ones that hate the idea…Yet another GIDP for Carl Crawford…Anytime Jason Hammel is in a game. Not just because it is Hammel, but because he is like the Grim Reaper of the Rays. He only comes into games when death is imminent.
THE TELLING: Got Nothin’
DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…
- Gary Glover is ready to come off the DL, but did not go with the team to Toronto, even though he was in Kansas City. Marc Lancaster feels that this is a sign that Glover will be Designated for Assignment in the next day or two. That means the Rays will have 10 days to trade him. If they don’t, the Rays will release him or try to send him to Durham. He can then opt to become a free agent. [Rays Report]
- Following Saturday’s game in which Aki Iwamura failed to score from first on a 2-out bloop double, Joe Maddon ripped into the team, with one player describing him as “borderline irate”. [St. Pete Times]
- Joe Maddon made it clear that Troy Percival is the Rays’ closer…The quote below is exactly why we believe that Percival should give up the 9th inning, if just for a week or two. If his mechanics are not 100%, we do not understand why Percival is closing games. [MLB]
“His arm feels good, but I still think he’s working his way through the body mechanics of coming off a leg injury,” Maddon said. “As he becomes more comfortable with that, I think you’ll see more strikes on a more consistent basis.”
- Troy Percival is not the only reliever struggling recently. Add Al Reyes to that list. [Tampa Tribune]
- Well, the Rays are still in first place, but (no surprise here) they are not getting any respect. The New York Post says that the weekend series between the Yankees and the Red Sox apparently proves that the Rays will be the team without a chair when the music stops at the end of September. [New York Post]
- As the Rays head to Toronto, Joe Maddon says their last game above the border was the day the Rays proved they were a playoff contender. [Bradenton Herald]
“That night meant a lot to me because we could easily have caved in,” Maddon said. “We could have caved in the ninth, and we did not. We came back. And when you’re on the road playing so many extra innings you have so many ways in which you can lose that game, and we did not. We had the mental resolve to battle through that.”
- The Ledger takes a look at the unorthodox style of Joe Maddon. [Lakeland Ledger]
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Add Trever Miller to that list of struggling relievers. I think he’s gotten 5 outs in his last 5 appearances, or something equally silly for somebody who’s faced more than a handful of batters in that time.
Rays are reminding me of Tony Dungy’s Buccaneer teams. GREAT defense….! ??? offense.
I think Hammel is coming out of his funk, his numbers lately have been stellar. I’d look at moving Miler, Wheeler or Reyes before Hammel at this point.