Aug 27
In today’s stat-driven world there are any of a thousand ways to evaluate a player or team. But for all the Sabermetrics, maybe the most important stat for a relief pitcher is still the number of inherited runners they allow to score. Baseball is still about scoring runs and preventing runs and the toughest run for a pitcher to prevent is the one that is already on base.
Last year the Rays were the worst team in baseball at preventing inherited base runners from scoring. As a team they ranked last, allowing 41.8% (114 of 273) of inherited runners to score.
We all know the bullpen is improved in 2008, but by how much? Let’s take a look at this season’s numbers compared to last year.
From worst to first in preventing inherited runners from scoring and from worst to first in the standings.
Now let’s take a look at the individual contributors over the past two seasons…
Of the 5 pitchers that faced at least 20 inherited runners last season, only 1(!) allowed fewer than 40% of the inherited runners to score. This season, all 4 of the pitchers that have faced at least 20 inherited runners are below 20%.
It seems impossible that a team could improve their bullpen this drastically in one season. We are not talking about one or two pieces. We are talking about seven new pieces and all of them being better than any of the pieces in the bullpen last season.
Oh, Shawn Bleepin’ Camp…How we haven’t missed you.
Aug 27
We still have several of these to go through, but thought we would show how the various Rays media members are faring so far…
In general, Rays fans are happy with the on-air media with all scoring above 90%. As for the print media, the fans are more supportive of the writers from the St. Pete Times. Could this be an anti-Tampa Tribune bias? Or maybe this is a reflection of the Yankees love-fest that regularly occurs at the Tribune?
Aug 27
THE GOOD: After all that has happened in the past 3 days the Rays still lead the Red Sox by 4 games in the loss column with the hapless O’s coming to town next and the Red Sox still have 2 more games in Yankee Stadium and then have to face the White Sox…And thanks to 4 straight losses by the Twins, the Rays magic number to clinch at least a wild card spot is now 26 with a 7-game lead over Minnesota in the loss column.
THE BAD: For a few fleeting moments on Sunday it looked like the Rays had a very good chance to stretch their lead on Boston to 6.5 games. A dropped-throw from the outfield, a horrific call by an umpire, Roy Halladay, an extra-inning win by Boston and a blowout of the Yankees later, the Rays lead is down to 3.5.
THE TELLING: We are suddenly reminded why football is so much more painful than baseball. If the Bucs have a bad loss: a) that game represents 1/16th of their season and; b) we have to wait an entire week with that loss and all the missed plays swirling in our head. A bad Bucs loss messes us up for an entire week. A bad Rays loss and there is hope for redemption the next day.
DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…
- Dioner Navarro took himself out of last night’s game in the 6th inning with cramps in both hamstrings. He is calling it a “day-to-day thing”…If he is shelved for more than a day or two, the Rays will need to call up a catcher. The first choice would have to be Mike DiFelice, but somebody would need to be removed from the 40-man roster. John Jaso is already on the 40-man and is hitting well at Durham, but the consensus seems to be that he is not ready to catch at the major league level. [The Heater]
- Evan Longoria had x-rays on his broken wrist and everything looked good. Longoria is still aiming for a Sept. 1 return from the DL…The plan is for Longoria to start taking batting practice later this week. [MLB]
- Brittany Ghiroli reports Troy Percival threw about 30 pitches from a mound yesterday and expects to be activated on Saturday. [MLB]
- Instant Replay will be in place for Friday’s home game against the Orioles. Replay will only be used to determine whether home runs cleared a fence or whether it was fair or foul. [The Heater]
- Buster Olney says Carlos Pena got his best hitting advice from Manny Ramirez and Steve Henderson reminded Pena when Evan Longoria and Carl Crawford were injured to just “see the ball” and not try to over think things as a hitter. [ESPN]
- Marc Topkin has his list of “5 things to watch in Rays’ stretch run.” One great point he brings up is facing the Yankees. Our instincts tell us to fear the Yankees, but if they continue to fall off the pace, will their veteran players be motivated to play hard? [St. Pete Times]
Aug 27
Durham 3, Indianapolis 2. Dan Johnson broke a 2-2 tie in the bottom of the 8th with a solo home run and the Durham Bulls clinched the Southern Division title…Wade Davis started and gave up only one hit, a single to the second batter of the game. He struck out 8 and walked 2 in 6 innings. He retired 14 of the final 16 batters he faced…Jeremy Cummings made his first appearance since winning a bronze medal with Team USA in the Olympics. He picked up the win after blowing a 2-0 lead…Mike DiFelice got the scoring started with a bases loaded single in the 4th that netted 2 runs…It is the Bulls 7th division title in 11 years.
Montgomery 10, West Tenn 2 (gm 1). Jeremy Hellickson struck out 9 in only 5 innings, but did give up 6 hits and walks leading to 1 run…Erold Andrus went 3-4 with 2 doubles…Gaby Martinez was 1-3 with a double and an RBI.
Montgomery 3, West Tenn 0 (gm 2). James Houser started and went 3 innings and 4 pitchers combined on a 3-hit shutout…Eddie Morlan pitched 2 perfect innings of relief, striking out 3.
Daytona 8, Vero Beach 1. Wade Townsend took the loss, giving up 6 runs and being pulled in the 4th inning.
Rome @ Columbus (DH; ppd. wet grounds)
Vermont 7, Hudson Valley 5.
Princeton @ Elizabethton (canc. rain). The D-Rays have concluded their season finishing 24-38, 13.5 games out of first place in their division. Lefty Matt Moore was the Rays top pitcher finishing 3rd in the league with 77 strikeouts, going 2-2 with a 1.66 ERA in 12 starts covering 54.1 innings…Second baseman Elias Otero finished 3rd in hitting with a .337 average, 6th with a .398 OBP and 4th with a .932 OPS…Burt Reynolds was the Rays top home run hitter with 6.
NOTES FROM DOWN ON THE FARM…
- With Princeton’s season ending yesterday, Tim Beckham will now join Hudson Valley for their final 11 games. For those of you in the NYC area, four of those games will be in either Brooklyn or Staten Island. [Poughkeepsie Journal]
- Reid Brignac was named to the IL’s postseason all-star team. [Durham Bulls]
- Reid Brignac was also named best defensive shortstop of the IL by Baseball America. (password required) [Baseball America]
- Chris Mason and Mike Wlodarczyk are the Rays’ 6th and 7th players named to participate in the Arizona Fall League. [Biscuits' Batter]
- Here is a link to a video showing the Durham Bulls celebrating their Southern division title. [Yahoo! Video]
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