Mar 10
In what will be the first of several contests this season, we are giving away two tickets, as well as consolation prizes to some Rays fans.
The Rayshead Army Photo Contest
THE CONTEST: We are looking for your best Rays photos. There are four categories including…
- Tampa Bay Rays (photos of players, coaches or front office personnel). Photos can be action shots, funny, professional looking…whatever. If you think you have a good photo of the Rays we want to see it.
- The Rayshead Army (photos of Rays fans). Photos can be funny or just a bunch of people wearing Rays gear having a good time or somebody trying to prove they are the biggest Rays fan. If you think you have a good photo of Rays fans we want to see it.
- Photoshop (photos of Tampa Bay Rays with your best/funniest Photoshop adjustments)
- lolRAYS (photos of Tampa Bay Rays with your own captions…if you are not familiar look here.)
THE RULES: All contest photos are to be submitted to The Rayshead Army facebook group.
- Photos for the first two categories (Tampa Bay Rays, The Rayshead Army) must be your own photos. Do not just pluck images off of Google Image Search or Flickr. Photos for the last two categories (Photoshop, lolRAYS) can be photos found on the internet.
- You must be a member of The Rayshead Army facebook group. If you are not a member, do not fear. It just takes an email address, sign up and then go to the group page HERE and click to join. Don’t worry, we won’t bombard you with emails. In the past year, there might have been 3-4 emails from us and there might be a way to block those.
- On The Rayshead Army facebook page, just click “Add Photos.”
- In the caption of the photo, enter which category the photo is to be entered (ie. Photoshop or lolRAYS)
- The contest will run until the end of April.
- A panel of judges will determine the winner of each category.
- Only give us your best photos. Don’t upload 500 photos.
THE PRIZES: Two (2) tickets to a Rays game
- The winner of each category will win one t-shirt of their choice from the Rays Index T-shirt store.
- The winner of the grand prize will be selected at random from the winners of each category.
- The grand prize winner will win two (2) tickets to a 2009 Tampa Bay Rays regular season home game. The winner will be able to choose from a handful of games.
So let’s see ‘em. We know a lot of you have great photos of the Rays and we want to see them.
Mar 10
There has been much discussion this off-season in the Raysiverse about the disappearance of Scott Kazmir’s slider in 2008. In 2007 Kazmir threw a slider 17% of the time, but last year, that number was just 11%. Now we have some comments on “why” from the horse’s mouth. And we get some thoughts from the horse’s manager and there appears to be some disagreement.
Kazmir saw the problem with his slider as a mechanical issue and now that his arm feels great, he is not worried that the slider will come back to form with little effort…
“To be honest, it seems like it really is not going to be that big of a focus [in the spring],” Kazmir said. “It kind of felt like I was having trouble extending (my arm) and that’s why I wasn’t throwing it as much. Now that everything feels good and it feels like I’m getting out there with my fastball … it’s just going to kind of come back to me.”
On the other hand, Joe Maddon sees the problem as mental and that Kazmir needs to work on the pitch a lot this spring…
“He’s going to work on that all the time,” Maddon said. “It wasn’t as good last year. He struggled with it. He just struggled with the overall break and command of it.”…Maddon’s theory is that Kazmir lost the feel for the slider, and the necessary adjustments may not be as much physical (such as refining his delivery or changing where he stands on the rubber) as mental…”I think you’re going to see it again. I just don’t know when that epiphany is going to be that permits him to find that actual or absolute release point that permits him to do what he wants to do.
It is a little disconcerting to see the two on completely different pages when it comes to something this important. If Kazmir wants to regain his form and emerge as one of the top left-handed pitchers in the game, he will need that slider and he is going to need the confidence to throw it when he needs to. So if he needs to throw 50 sliders in a spring game to either find the feel or prove that he never lost it, so be it.
Tampa Bay Rays, Scott Kazmir disagree on why slider failed him, agree that he needs it back [St. Pete Times]
Mar 10
This shouldn’t come as a surprise to many of you, although we are sure some of you will be disappointed. Joe Maddon spoke about David Price’s chances of winning the final spot in the rotation. And truth be told, we wonder if Jae Seo has a better shot.
“We’re looking at this from a developmental perspective, and with that, I think the changeup getting to become a better pitch is very big for us, the command of the fastball is very big for us, and then 130-some innings last year is very big for us,” Maddon said. “So we’re trying to consider a whole bunch of things with David, and we still consider him in the developmental process, whereas a lot of people, I think, see him as the finished product…But we don’t believe he’s far off. So if he doesn’t make it out of this camp as the fifth starter, we see that as being OK, because we have these other things that we think he needs to work on.”
The Rays have always preached that the development of the prospect outweighs the immediate needs of the team. While Maddon did admit that Price could change their minds with a strong spring, we can’t imagine a scenario in which he is that much better than the spring performances of Jeff Niemann and Jason Hammel. Their performances so far will certainly help make this decision easier.
So then the question becomes: How long will King David need to work in the minors before he is called up for good? Of course, a lot of that depends on how he progresses, but it may also depend on how well Niemann or Hammel are performing in the rotation. And if the one fails, we fully expect the other to get a shot before the Rays turn to Price.
At this point we still expect to see Price in the rotation at some point this season, but Rays fans may need realize…The Rays may not need Price in the rotation this season.
Price ready … but for what? [Rays Report]
Mar 10
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: Six. Say it with us, six. Scream it to the heavens, SIX! That is the number of pitches Scott Kazmir needed in the first inning in which he retired all three batters he faced. Not 26. Just 6. He did give up 3 hits and a run in the second inning before being taken out. He struck out 1 and walked none…Jeff Niemann. It wasn’t the Twins A-squad, but Niemann did what he was supposed to do pitching the final four innings without allowing a run. He struck out 1 and allowed 2 hits and a walk. He has now allowed 1 run in 9 spring innings, with 8 Ks and 2 walks…Ben Zobrist. A double and a triple in 3 ABs for the utility player playing third base yesterday.
THE BAD: Joe Nelson. Giving up a 2-run home run is never a good thing, especially to a singles hitter like Delmon Young…Reid Brignac. We are going to keep going to the well until he does something. Anything. Another 0-fer, at least it was only 0-1 and he did draw a walk. There is that…More K’s. Another 9 strike outs for the offense yesterday to only 3 walks. Not quote 15-to-1 like the day before, but still not good. These numbers are woefully Devil Rays-esque…Dan Wheeler. Wheeler definitely had some cobwebs, giving up a run on 2 hits, a walk and a wild pitch in 1 inning of work. Geez, it was only a spring game, you would think he was trying to close the door in the 9th inning of a September game.
THE TELLING: Justin Ruggiano started in right field and is having a decent spring hitting .318 (7-22) with 2 doubles and a triple. He has also stolen 2 bases and even has an outfield assist. Compare that to Gabe Kapler who is 1-18.
DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…
- Scott Kazmir responded after his first spring outing by saying “It’s the best my arm’s ever felt.” Kaz was able to use all his pitches and he was pleased with his slider. [Rays Report]
- The Rays have signed a new partnership with Fox Sports Net Florida to air 150 games this season. Games will no longer be seen on the ION channel which was not available in many parts of Florida. Also, the Rays will be carried on 20 radio affiliates this season. That number was just 4 in 2006. [Bradenton Herald]
- Mark Herrmann of Newsday spoke with JP Howell about playing in the World Baseball Classic and being teammates with players from the Yankees and Red Sox. According to Herrmann, Howell is impressed but is also “trying to peek” and take some notes on those players for the regular season. [Newsday]
- The Hardball Times has a player profile on Carl Crawford and what we can expect from the left fielder in 2009. [The Hardball Times]
