Apr 10
Three years ago on Rays Index Julio Lugo’s attempt at math made us chuckle.
Julio Lugo On 15-Day DL With A Sore Brain [Rays Index]
Archive for April 10th, 2009
Apr 10
This gameday open thread will have two parts and it is all user-generated…
- Up until first pitch, use the comments section to predict who you think will be the Sunburst Player of the Game. (be sure to use a valid email address while leaving the comment). The commenter that correctly predicts who we will name the Sunburst Player of the Game the most times prior to the all-star game, will win two tickets to a second-half game. [Click here for rules]
- Once the game starts the GBT open thread will be your thoughts during the game of what you think are The Good, The Bad and/or The Telling moments of the game.
Apr 10
FIRST INNING (A look back)…
The Rays just took two of three from the Red Sox at Fenway Park. In the grand scheme of things it is still just three games of 162, but…Does winning this series mean more than that?
This series was big on several levels. First, it sent an immediate message to the Red Sox and the Yankees that any doubts they might have had about the Rays were completely unfounded. It also shows that there won’t be an AL pennant hangover this season as the Rays have come out of the gate ready to play. But most importantly it will shut up all the naysayers that said the Rays would be just like the 2007 Rockies….BET YOUR ARSE IT DOES
SECOND INNING (Headlines)…
David Price was demoted and Jason Hammel was traded to the Rockies. Some say Jeff Niemann won the fifth spot in the rotation. However, it could be argued that it was handed to him by default. With most assuming that Price’s promotion is a matter of “when”…How long will Jeff Niemann be in the rotation?
In theory, Price could go out and throw three straight shutouts in triple-A and the Rays may not have a choice but to promote him right away. But more realistically, especially after his last minor league spring start in which he gave up four home runs, Price is going to need more than three starts. Right now, we want to believe that unless Niemann implodes or Price forces the issue, Niemann will get at least the first half. That would be about 18-19 starts….AT LEAST 3 MONTHS
THIRD INNING (Headlines)…
A commenter recently brought up the move of quality assurance coach Tim Bogar from the Rays to the Red Sox. This move barely made the news during the off-season…Is this more important than it sounds?
Bogar’s duties last year were to scout the Rays. In essence he was looking for flaws that other teams may try to exploit so that the Rays could correct those problems before they become issues. This move was considered revolutionary at the time, but may bite them in the arse in the end. This past winter, the Red Sox hired Bogar to be their first base coach, and going with him was all his knowledge of the Rays flaws. This is something that is quite common in the NFL, where assistant coaches are hired from other teams and players will be signed for one week just for their knowledge of that week’s opponent. Come to think of it, maybe this is why the Rays never announced a replacement for Bogar [Ed. note: see comments]….COULD BE HUGE ADVANTAGE FOR RED SOX
Apr 10
Joe Sheehan of Baseball Prospectus has been on a Rays kick recently. In his latest, Sheehan thinks the Rays should trade Scott Kazmir.
So, I think they should trade him. Kazmir is exactly the kind of player who should be marketed aggressively by his team, especially when he’s going well, because his perceived value is much higher than his actual value. Kazmir is a left-handed starter who throws in the mid to high 90s, has a strong breaking ball and is young enough to get people excited about his potential. In part because of the circumstances of his becoming a Ray, one of the worst trades of the decade, Kazmir has had a disproportionate amount of attention focused on him since before he ever threw a major league pitch.
Separate the pitcher out from all of that, and you get someone who is good, but not great, someone high-risk with a decreasing likelihood of high reward. Someone who fits the mold of a player who brings you back more, considering the money you’ll save on his (reasonable) contract, than you’re going to get from him on the mound.
Sheehan then throws in about 800 more words that basically say Kazmir is an injury risk and won’t get any better.
To which we respond: HE IS ONLY 25-YEARS OLD! Since when is 25 a peak season for major leaguers?
It is easy to forget how young Kid K is considering he already has 125 career starts. And it is also easy to forget that Kazmir has never had a serious arm injury despite warnings to the contrary since he was drafted out of high school. And maybe it is easy to forget that no team in baseball cares for their pitchers better than the Rays do. Last year, the Rays had five pitchers make at least 27 starts. Not many teams can boast that claim.
But let’s look past the part where Kazmir is perceived as a 34-year old middle reliever. Trading another starting pitcher just doesn’t make any sense.
Apr 10
CONTEST: Guess The Date Of David Price’s Promotion
David Price, Free Stuff, Rays Index Contest 9 Comments »
David Price opens up his season tonight for the Durham Bulls.
One of the bigger questions heading into spring training was whether or not David Price would be able to win a spot in the rotation. Very early on we realized he was fighting an uphill battle. First it was his developing changeup, but more recently it was the need to gain better command of his fastball. In the end, Jeff Niemann was named the fifth starter and Price was back in Durham.
Now the question becomes: When will David Price be promoted to the Rays? Dirtbag Fan thought this sounded like the perfect premise for another contest. We agree.
Over at the home of The Rayshead Army on Facebook, we have set up a discussion thread asking this exact question. Your task, if you choose to accept, is to migrate over to that thread and give us the date you think David Price will be promoted to the Rays this season.
All we need is the month and day. In case the news breaks in the middle of the night, we will use the time stamp on Marc Topkin’s blog post reporting the promotion.
All guesses must be registered by midnight (Eastern) this Sunday. The person that guesses the closest to the actual date will win their choice of a T-shirt from the Rays Index Store. If more than one person is closest to the actual date, each person will receive a T-shirt.
GOOD LUCK!
CONTEST: Guess the date of David Price’s Promotion [RAYSHEADS on Facebook]
Apr 10
[THE HANGOVER] The One Where We Discuss MVP Chants For Longoria, Heartburn Chants For Percy And The Garza Complex
Edwin Jackson, Evan Longoria, Matt Garza, Shawn Riggans 6 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.
click above image for boxscore
THE GOOD: The Garza Complex. You hold the Red Sox to 1 run in 7 innings at Fenway, that is always good. But he did struggle at times, walking 3 and needing 22 pitches to survive the first. We were impressed that he managed to make it through 7…Matt Joyce. Boy, that kid has a swing that was born to hit home runs, and yesterday he hit his first for the Rays. Might he earn a start against a lefty?…Carl Crawford. Stellar defense all-around. We have been hard on CC because he doesn’t have the best arm in the world, but we have always said he is one of the best from the time the ball leaves the bat, until the time it reaches his glove. He made two great running grabs, one each way yesterday…Defensive Shifts. We are all familiar with Joe Maddon’s shifts against lefties, but what about the shift yesterday against Mike Lowell in which he lined out right to Aki iwamura who was standing behind second base. With a runner on third, that shift saved a run.
THE BAD: Heartburn. As in that is what Troy Percival gives us every time he steps on the mound. He got the job done, but why can’t it ever be easy?…Umpiring. For the second time this series an automatic ball was called on the Rays starting pitcher for putting his hand to his mouth while on the mound. Yes, it is a rule that the pitcher must ask permission to do so. But in years past, it was just assumed that permission had been granted on cold days. It appears as though this is a point of emphasis this season in MLB to make sure pitchers start asking. Let’s hope this doesn’t turn into the balk-circus that occurred back in 1988, in which 26 kazillion balks were called as umpires were told to abide by the letter of the law…Missed RBI. The Rays stranded a small army yesterday on the basepaths, including 4 separate innings in which a runner was stranded at third.
THE TELLING: This was the first opening-series loss by the Red Sox since 1988, and it was the first opening series win by the Rays since 2002…Shawn Riggans may soon become Matt Garza’s personal catcher. Riggans was the catcher when Garza 1-hit the Marlins last season and he was the catcher when Garza threw a 2-hit shutout against the Rangers…Rain is in the forecast for Baltimore this evening.
SUNBURST PLAYER OF THE GAME: Evan Longoria. We know that yesterday we said that a strong pitching performance at Fenway gets your name here, but it did seem that part of Matt Garza’s “good” was luck as 43 of his 106 pitches were balls. And we did not like when he appeared to be worried about his pitch count in the 6th and instead of wasting a pitch, he grooved an 0-2 fastball that turned into an RBI triple. No, Longo is the one, literally. Another home run. Another double. Three more hits. But what we loved the most was the defensive play he made in the 9th, when he saved Percival’s arse. And the best part was how the crowd was chanting “M-V-P” for Dustin Pedroia when the play was made by Longoria. Foreshadowing of things to come?
DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…
- We are once again running the “Down on the Farm” segment, looking at the Rays minor league affiliates. That post has its own “Webtopia” for minor league news. It will run daily in the AM, just before “The Hangover.” If you missed today’s, it can be found below this post.
- A new Rays blog. Go on over and welcome them to the neighborhood. [TheDevilSlips]
- “It doesn’t have to be an oil painting to be successful.” Joe Maddon on Troy Percival. [Tampa Tribune]
- Joe Maddon says there is “some kind of mental vibe” going on between Matt Garza and Shawn Riggans and Marc Topkin points out that Garza works well with Riggans because Riggans offers Garza a lower target. [St. Pete Times]
- We forgot to mention this a couple of days ago, but now that Matt Joyce has hit a home run, maybe it is a little safer today…When we first saw that Edwin Jackson was the Tigers #2 starter, our first reaction was to bet the under on the win total. Then we saw his first start and we thought, yep, could have seen that coming. A 1-hit shutout through 7, left after 8 having allowed only 1 run on 2 hits. [Detroit Free-Press]
- In their own unique way, Babes Love Baseball previews the Tampa Bay Rays. [Babes Love Baseball]
- Tim Brown keeps the Rays in the top spot in his latest power rankings…Normally we are a little more cautious (some would say pessimistic), but if the three best team in baseball reside in the AL East and the Yankees just lost 2 to the O’s and the Rays took 2 of 3 at Fenway, then it is hard to argue at this point. [Yahoo! Sports]
- Marc Lancaster has the Summer concert series schedule. [Rays Report]
Apr 10
Down On The Farm: Talbot And Hellboy Strong; Beckham Goes Deep
Aneury Rodriguez, Charlie Montoyo, David Price 4 Comments »
Durham 2, Norfolk 1. Mitch Talbot pitched 5 shutout innings, striking out 4 and walking none…Dale Thayer pitched the 9th for the save…The Bulls managed only 4 hits with one run scoring on an error and the other on a ground out…Reid Brignac was 1-3 with a walk.
West Tenn 7, Montgomery 6.Jeremy Hellickson picked up right where he left off, throwing 5 shutout innings, allowing only 2 singles and a walk. He stuck out 3…Eddie Morlan could only retire 1 of the 5 batters he faced, walking 3. Three of the runners eventually scored…Desmond Jennings (right) was 1-4 with a stolen base.
Ft. Myers 9, Charlotte 4. Alex Cobb struck out 7 and walked only 1 in 4 innings. He gave up 1 run on 3 hits…BJ Upton was 0-2 with 2 walks and was hit by a pitch. He stole 2 bases and was caught once trying to steal third.
Bowling Green 8, Hickory 3.Matt Moore struggled with his control walking 6 in 3+ innings. He gave up 2 runs and struck out 4…Tim Beckham got off to a good start, hitting a solo home run and driving in 3. He finished 2-5…Catcher Mike McCormick also homered, a two-run shot.
Notes from Down on the Farm…
- David Price will start for Durham tonight and Aneury Rodriguez, the player traded for Jason Hammel, will make his first start for Montgomery.
- Jennifer LaBrosse updates the status of Bulls manager Charlie Montoyo’s son, who suffers from a congenital heart disease and writes about the inspiration Montoyo derives from his son. [Durham Bulls]
- The Durham Bulls have jerseys with a slightly new look this season, with piping to mimic that of the Rays. [Durham Bulls]
- And don’t forget to check in with Watching Durham Bulls Baseball from time to time. [Watching Durham Bulls Baseball]
