Archive for March 17th, 2009

Mar 17

Projected 2009 Tampa Bay Rays 25-Man Roster

25-man Roster Cork Gaines 19 Comments »

25-Man Roster Projection and Lineup (notes and explanations on the projection can be found following the roster)…


Notes on the 25-man roster projection

  • Lineup: There is still about a 0.1% chance that Gabe Gross will not be part of the RF platoon, so his block is still blue. The only real question now is the lineup and specifically, who will leadoff. Even though BJ Upton hasn’t played yet, Joe Maddon has been using Evan Longoria, Carlos Pena and Pat Burrell pretty consistently at 3-4-5 in the spring. And unless you think Upton is going to hit 6th, that means Maddon is leaning towards Upton as the leadoff hitter. If so, does Aki Iwamura replace Jason Bartlett at the bottom of the order as a second leadoff hitter?
  • Bench: Ben Zobrist and Gabe Kapler are still yellow, barely. This should be the four players on the bench the opening week…unless, BJ Upton is on the DL and then Justin Ruggiano will be included here with Kapler and Zobrist platooning in center.
  • Rotation: Mitch Talbot and Carlos Hernandez have both been reassigned to minor league camp, but we never thought they had a real shot anyway. Now all signs point to Jason Hammel as the 5th starter, but for how long?
  • Bullpen: Five spots are a lock now that it looks like Troy Percival is going to be on the opening day roster. That leaves two spots and Joe Nelson and Jeff Niemann have the edge, but there are still several other names in the hunt.
Mar 17

Tampa Bay Rays Spring Training: Who Is Playing Where And More Importantly, When

Chris Richard, John Jaso, Justin Ruggiano, Lance Cormier, Morgan Ensberg, Pat Burrell, Reid Brignac, Tim Beckham Cork Gaines 6 Comments »

In the spring, with so many players in the lineup everyday, it is difficult to learn anything about playing time from the boxscores and statlines. What we really need to know is how much playing time each player gets at each position, and more importantly, when are they in the game at various positions. There is a big difference between playing the first five innings against the Yankees, and playing the final 2 innings against the Reds. In the former scenario, the opposing team is more likely to feature a lineup with everyday major leaguers.

So we broke down the playing time by position. We then split the playing time up in to the first 5 innings of each game and playing time in the last 4 innings. Admittedly, this is a somewhat arbitrary grouping. But glancing at boxscores, it seems that the sixth inning is the most common time for managers to take out their starters.

After the table of position players, we also took a look at the pitchers. We asked the same question: Who is pitching in the most challenging innings of spring games? Again, pitching the ninth inning of a spring game may mean little compared to pitching the third inning, even for a reliever who is more likely to face better hitters early in the game.

This does not necessarily tell us how each player is performing under the different scenarios, but it does give us a sense of what Maddon and pitching coach Jim Hickey think of each player, who they think can contribute at the major league level this season and which players they want to get a good long look at.

Table for the pitchers is found after the jump and notes on each table are found after each table…

Read the rest of this entry »

Mar 17

10 Questions To Be Answered In Spring Training (Update)

BJ Upton, David Price, Dioner Navarro, Jason Hammel, Matt Joyce, Pat Burrell, Scott Kazmir Cork Gaines 3 Comments »

Two weeks ago we addressed 10 questions hovering over the Rays in spring training. Every week from now until the beginning of the regular season, we will take a look at those questions and see if we are any closer to getting some answers…

  1. What can we expect from BJ Upton this season? We are still in “wait-and-see” mode with BJ Upton as he has yet to make his spring debut. When that happens will have an affect on whether the Rays will let him play center field during the first week of the season. We also need to see if Upton will unveil an altered swing this season to try and avoid any addition issues with his shoulder. MAGIC 8-BALL SAYS: JURY STILL OUT
  2. Who is going to leadoff this season? Joe Maddon has frequently used a lineup this spring that included Evan Longoria, Carlos Pena and Pat Burrell batting 3-4-5. Maddon has already made it clear that Carl Crawford will hit in his customary 2-hole. So unless you think BJ Upton will bat sixth (not likely) that means Upton is going to lead off this season. MAGIC 8-BALL SAYS: BJ UPTON Read the rest of this entry »
Mar 17

[THE HANGOVER] The One Where We Discuss David Price’s Disappearing Slider, Longoria And The WBC And 13 Players Cut

Andy Sonnanstine, David Price, Evan Longoria, Jason Hammel Cork Gaines 3 Comments »

Rays Pirates Spring BaseballTime 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:Patience. The Rays were able to score 6 runs despite only 5 hits in large part because the Pirates pitchers couldn’t find the strike zone. Rays hitters drew 11 walks…Andy Sonnanstine. We are hesitant to put The Duke here, but the results were solid for his first spring start giving up only 1 run and not walking a batter. But a few of his pitches were being left up in the zone and one pitch missed being a home run by inches to the right of the foul pole. He also threw a wild pitch.

THE BAD: David Price. In his second spring outing, it took Price 58 pitches to make it through 2.1 innings. Not exactly what he needed to do to change the Rays’ minds about his future…The Pirates. We understand that wearing green during spring training is a tradition, but just because the Pirates don’t have a game on St. Patty’s day is no excuse to wear green caps on the day before.

THE TELLING: James Shields will pitch in a minor league game today so that he can remain on schedule for his opening day start…Joe Nelson has allowed 4 home runs this spring in 2.2 innings…In a battle of who is more super-duper, Willy Aybar got the start at first base while Ben Zobrist was in left.

DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…

  • There is a new Rays blog in our midst. Their first foray is in to a series of over/unders on how Rays players will do compared to last year. Go give them a look at welcome them aboard. [Trop Talk]
  • Our latest round-table topic at Rays Prospects…“Most Overhyped” prospect. [Rays Prospects]
  • David Price says that he has worked so much on his changeup that his slider “has gone away” and that it is something he is “going to have to get back.” [MLB]
  • Evan Longoria might be absent from the Rays for a few days. Chipper Jones injured a muscle in the WBC and will no longer be able to participate. Longoria figures to be added to the roster if somebody is needed. [Rays Report]
  • The Rays cut 12 players from their spring roster yesterday including Carlos Hernandez, Wade Davis, Mitch Talbot and Tim Beckham. [The Heater] Randy Choate was also cut following last night’s game. [Rays Plays]
  • When asked if Jason Hammel is the front-runner for the final spot in the rotation, Joe Maddon said “Obviously it’s looking that way and it may turn out that way, but it’s really not finalized.” He also indicated that a final decision would likely be made within the next week. [St. Pete Times]
  • Matt Joyce is scheduled to play the outfield today in a minor league game. [Rays Plays]
  • John Romano spoke with Carl Crawford who called 2008 a “humbling experience” and is determined to get back to where he was the years previous. [St. Pete Times]
  • Roger Mooney takes a look at how the spring is the only time the relief pitchers get to work on their pitches. [Bradenton Herald]
  • This should come as little surprise, but Scott Boras is not a big fan of long-term deals for young players, which means Scott Boras must hate the Rays. [MLBTradeRumors]