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: With BJ Upton likely starting the season on the DL, Ben Zobrist is now probably the opening day center fielder. The rest of the lineup is likely set as Gabe Gross probably doesn’t need to be labeled blue any longer. As for the batting order, 2-5 are set. The next three will be some combination of Gross, Zobrist and Dioner Navarro. That leaves the leadoff spot. Upton will be there once he returns. So the logical step is probably to keep Aki Iwamura there until that happens. But what if Maddon wants to go ahead and move Aki to his new spot in the lineup? Jason Bartlett has lead off in 5 of the last 8 spring games. We have a feeling Bartlett will be in the box when that first pitch of the 2009 season is thrown.
Bench: Gabe Kapler is probably a lock. And if Ben Zobrist is really in center to start the season, Joe Maddon will need a backup shortstop on the bench. That could be Adam Kennedy. The Rays can open up two spots on the 40-man roster by moving Chad Bradford and Fernando Perez to the 60-day DL. BUT…Marc Topkin made a good point this morning in a piece we linked in the webtopia. Do the Rays want to put Adam Kennedy on the 40-man roster even though they only need him for a week? That makes us think that Reid Brignac makes more sense for the first week. And yesterday that is exactly who started at shortstop.
Rotation: As recently as a week ago it looked like the fifth spot was Jason Hammel’s. After Hammel’s last two appearances the door may still be open for somebody else, but who? Jeff Niemann imploded in his last appearance and David Price has been deemed “not ready” by the team. Also telling are Joe Maddon’s quote that The Hammer’s struggles are linked to some minor issues that are easily solved. So for now it is still Hammel. But he remains blue.
Bullpen: With Derek Rodriguez being returned to the White Sox, it is really down to 4 for the final 2 spots, with one of those spots likely going to Jeff Niemann or Jason Hammel (unless one is traded). So the final spot is up for grabs. It seems to us that the spot belongs to Jason Isringhausen, BUT, he may need a little more time to get ready. So he may be headed to extended spring training for the first few weeks or so. That leaves Joe Nelson and Lance Cormier. Cormier has received a lot more work and much of it (6 innings) has come in the first half of games against the tougher competition. And he has the better spring numbers. Does he have the edge? We have no idea. You can pretty much flip a coin on those two.
Below you will see two polls that ask about your confidence in the Tampa Bay Rays. We will present these same polls every Tuesday. The results will be presented in graphical form on Thursday, and will be displayed permanently in the sidebar. The goal of the Confidence Graph is to get a feeling of how Rays fans feel about the team and the franchise and track how that level of confidence changes through time.
Raysiverse events of the past week that could impact confidence levels…
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: Lance Cormier. Cormier (right) is making a strong case to be the last man in the bullpen ahead of Joe Nelson. Joe Maddon has gone to Cormier a lot early in game to face the tougher batters and he has come through with solid spring numbers (1.80 ERA). He pitched two more scoreless innings and his ability to work more than one inning is only going to help his case.
THE BAD: The offense. Rays hitters managed only 1 run on 4 hits and 3 walks. Only one of the hits went for extra bases, a double by Gabe Gross…Jason Hammel. The fifth spot in the rotation is Hammer’s but his grasp may be slipping after walking 5 in 4 innings and giving up 4 runs and 6 hits.
THE TELLING: Adam Kennedy made his spring debut at shortstop, while Reid Brignac made the start.
DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…
Marc Topkin takes a look at the questions that remain for the Rays with opening day just around the corner. [St. Pete Times]
Jason Hammel called his performance “unacceptable.” [St. Pete Times]
Adam Kennedy says he is willing to start the season in Durham if needed, but the Rays made it clear that if there is not an immediate spot for him with the Rays and another team needs a major league infielder, they will not stand in the way of an opportunity for Kennedy to play in the big leagues. Also of note is Marc Lancaster pointing out that one reason Kennedy signed with the Rays is because he knew he would receive a lot of playing time in the spring to showcase his skills with Aki Iwamura away at the WBC. [Tampa Tribune]
