Mar 01
One year ago on Rays Index BJ Upton became the first Ray to appear on the cover of a major magazine.
BJ Upton’s New Role: Coverboy [Rays Index]
Archive for March 1st, 2009
Mar 01
We have no idea why some people are so obsessed with what comes out of the mouth of a certain ex-Red Sox pitcher that shall not be named.
Some things to consider…
- The Rays starting pitching corps are deep and cheap.
- Stuart Sternberg made it clear that the Rays have zero payroll flexibility
- The unnamed pitcher has said previously he would want to pitch for the Rays and then later on did not even list the Rays among the teams he would be willing to sign with.
- The unnamed pitcher is 42 and hasn’t pitched since 2007 and is likely no better of an option than Jason Hammel or Mitch Talbot.
- The unnamed pitcher has a desperate need to be relevant and it sickens us that we have to waste more than 15 seconds discussing this just because he opened his mouth and the word “Rays” came out.
Nothing to see here. Please keep moving.
Mar 01
[THE HANGOVER] The One Where We Discuss Talbot’s Folly, The Absence Of Regulars And Brignac’s Neverending Struggles
JP Howell, Willy Aybar No Comments »
Time to bring back the GBT – The Good, The Bad and The Telling sandwich, where The Bad is nice and lean and the The Telling is ripe.
THE GOOD: Hmmm? Give us a second. We’ll come up with something…Nothing yet…Well, it was good to be able to watch the Rays for the first time since the World Series…That’s all we got.
THE BAD: Mitch Talbot. Yes, the wind was blowing out to left and yes, Mrs. Professor could have hit a home run yesterday if she could get the ball up in the air. But that doesn’t excuse three home runs in one inning. Nobody else gave up more than a single home run. A good pitcher adapts to his stuff and adapts to the conditions. Talbot has to keep his sinker down in that situation and he didn’t, end of story. Pointing out that Talbot settled down after the first inning reminds us too much of 2007 Edwin Jackson and how he always had just one bad inning. Talbot has now allowed 7 runs in 4 innings this spring…Dewon Day. Day, the reliever the Rays picked off waivers, then DFA’d and then assigned to the minors, made his debut for the Rays and got pounded. Day allowed 4 hits and a walk, leading to 5 runs (1 earned) in 2 innings…Reid Brignac. Brignac is 0-10 as a major leaguer and it hasn’t gotten any better this spring. Brignac is 0-7 in 4 games.
THE TELLING: It isn’t just the pitchers that are being eased into the spring games. Yesterday’s lineup featured only one player, Pat Burrell, that figures to be an everyday player this season. In 4 games, Carl Crawford and Gabe Gross have 3 at bats, Dioner Navarro has 4, Evan Longoria and Jason Bartlett only have 5. Carlos Pena and BJ Upton, both recovering from surgery have yet to make an appearance. And of course Aki Iwamura is away with the Japanese WBC squad…We are also still waiting for the spring debuts of each of the Rays top 4 starting pitchers.
DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…
- Marc Topkin takes a look at some of the option Joe Maddon has with the lineup. [St. Pete Times]
- Marc Lancaster takes a look at how the Rays are handling the starting pitchers this spring. [Tampa Tribune]
- JP Howell and Willy Aybar have left camp to join their respective WBC squads. [MLB]
- Joe Smith is reporting that Carlos Pena is scheduled to make his spring debut on Friday. [The Heater]
- Rays of Light updates their roster projection. [Rays of Light]
