Archive for August 21st, 2008

Aug 21

[KING DAVID] David Price Nominated For Minor League Player Of The Year

David Price The Professor No Comments »

David Price is one of 5 finalists for “USA Today’s Minor League Player of the Year“. Fan voting will constitute a portion of the final balot.

For the third consecutive year, reader voting will count as one ballot, and will be tabulated along with those submitted by our USA TODAY staffers.

Other players nominated include Trevor Cahill (Oakland), Mat Gamel (Milwaukee), Carlos Santana (Cleveland) and Matt Wieters (Baltimore).

So head to the link above and vote for King David.

Vote for USA TODAY’s Minor League Player of the Year [USA Today]

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Aug 21

[THE HANGOVER] Rays Magic Number Is Now 32

Al Reyes, Barrack Obama, Bud Selig, Joe Maddon, Mike Scioscia, Scott Kazmir, Troy Percival The Professor 2 Comments »


DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…

  • Troy Percival will throw from a mound on Monday and said he could pitch now but will throw a couple of bullpen sessions until the team deems him ready. [St. Pete Times]
  • Joe Maddon’s managerial style is certainly unique. John Romano says Maddon has “ignored the safer, obvious choices to do what he felt was right.” Brian Anderson adds Papa Joe is “not afraid, and that’s the thing I love about watching him manage.” [St. Pete Times]
  • Gerry Fraley of the Sporting News says the Rays could lose the rest of their games and Joe Maddon would still win AL Manager of the Year. [Sporting News]
  • Gordon Edes of Yahoo! Sports looks at the relationship between Joe Maddon and Mike Scioscia. [Yahoo! Sports]
  • In a bold statement *sarcasm*, Mike Bauman says the Rays could win the World Series if they make the playoffs…In other news Barack Obama has a shot to win the presidential election if he is nominated by the Democratic Party. [MLB]
  • John Romano says umpires need to be held accountable, wishing that some umpires weren’t “so stinking arrogant.” [St. Pete Times]
  • The Big Lead doesn’t know the full name of the Rays (see title) and says Bud Selig, FOX and TBS are all rooting against the Rays. The reasoning is the Rays are bad for ratings and hence bad for baseball should they make it that far…Funny. The Marlins have won 2 of the last 10 world series, and MLB seems to be doing just fine. [The Big Lead]
  • One writer is finally willing to admit that the Rays are better than the Yankees…What gave it away? The 10-game lead in the standings? [Bugs and Cranks]
  • Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News writes that locking up the young players has paid off for the Rays and they should be able to contend for several years. [Daily News]
  • Roger Mooney says that the Rays biggest strength could be “locker room harmony.”…We prefer to think that winning breeds harmony, not the other way around. [Bradenton Herald]
  • The Mets have signed Al Reyes to a minor league deal…This of course raises the question as to why Reyes turned down a minor league job with the Rays? [New York Post]
  • Fangraphs takes a look at Scott Kazmir’s pitch selection and notes that he is throwing more fastballs this season. Outs Per Swing made this same observation earlier. [Fangraphs]
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Aug 21

[DOWN ON THE FARM] Jeff Niemann Throws First Professional Shutout

Jeff Niemann, John Jaso The Professor 4 Comments »

Durham 5, Louisville 0. Jeff Niemann tossed his first career shutout, a 4-hitter. He struck out 6 and walked none, needing only 106 pitches. He retired the final 12 batters he faced. It was a great performance for a pitcher that had failed to work past 6 innings in his previous 5 starts, giving up 15 runs in his last 4 starts…Fernando Perez drove in a pair and stole his 41st base…John Jaso continues his dominating performance since being promoted to triple-A. Last night he hit a 2-run home run, his 4th, and walked 3 times in 4 plate appearances. He is now hitting .318/.383/.541 in 24 games for the Bulls.

Montgomery 6, Tennessee 4. Jeremy Hellickson struck out 5, but lasted only 5 innings, giving up 2 runs on 8 hits and a walk. He is now 3-3 with a 3.92 ERA in 11 double-A starts…Gaby Martinez was 2-3 with a double and a walk…Patrick Cottrell homered and drove in 3.

Daytona @ Vero Beach (ppd. wet field)

Charleston 10, Columbus 8. Jason Ragan gave up 7 runs in 3.2 innings…Mike McCormick hit a 2-run home run, his 10th.

Hudson Valley (off-day)

Elizabethton 4, Princeton 3. Tim Beckham was 1-4 with 2 strikeouts. He also committed 2 errors on groundballs in the second inning.

NOTES FROM DOWN ON THE FARM…

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