Apr 17
Three years ago on Rays Index we told you about the Rays new “Cowbell” campaign. We laughed at the time…OK, we still giggle a little…but the campaign has stuck and many fans embrace it.
I Need More Cowbell! [Rays Index]
Archive for April 17th, 2009
Apr 17
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. Runners-up get their choice of a t-shirt. [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 17
Some may think it is ok to debate the merits of handing out rings to the champions of the American League. however, one thing we are certain of…Two banners is completely acceptable. So we have added new t-shirts to the Rays Index Store.
Besides, this seemed like an excellent way for The Rayshead Army to remind the Yankees and Red Sox exactly who is chasing whom this season.
Click on any image to be taken directly to that item in the Rays Index Store…
Apr 17
FIRST INNING (A look back)…
The Rays are 2-5 in their last seven games. In the two wins, the Rays scored 26 runs, but in the five losses, the Rays scored 11 runs…Should we be concerned about this lack of consistency being seen from the offense?
It is tough to say. The upside is we have only seen the complete lineup twice. BJ Upton missed the first six games, Evan Longoria missed the last two. And Pat Burrell’s bat has missed all but one. More concerning is the lack of plate discipline. 88 strikeouts and only 36 walks is a bit worrisome. Strikeouts in and of themselves are not terrible. After all it is only one out. But a nearly 3-to-1 ratio suggests this team has little plate discipline…THIS IS NOT THE OFFENSE OF A CONTENDER
SECOND INNING (Headlines)…
Jason Isringhausen has accepted an assignment to pitch in double-A with an understanding he will be promoted to triple-A in the near future. However, there is still no timetable for his promotion to the big leagues…When will we see Izzy in a Rays uniform?
Based on his comments so far, we would be surprised if Izzy was willing to spend more than two weeks at either location. So that would be a month total or about mid-May for a deadline or whenever the first reliever goes on the DL, whichever comes first. And with the way Troy Percival (all over the place) and Dan Wheeler (ugly) look, we would be even more surprised if one of them wasn’t on the DL in the next two weeks…..FIRST WEEK OF MAY
THIRD INNING (Headlines)…
With the minor league affiliates in full swing and everybody with their collective eyes on David Price, Wade Davis and Matt Joyce…Who is the one player outside of those three that Raysheads should be watching closely?
This is a bit of a make or break season for Desmond Jennings. Many will tell you that the two biggest jumps for a prospect are from triple-A to the majors and from single-A to double-A. The double-A level is where prospects and never-will-bes are separated. There are only three likely outcomes for Jennings: 1) Jennings justifies his promotion to double-A and proves that he belongs on top of the prospect charts; 2) Jennings struggles against the tougher competition and starts to look like Reid Brignac; 3) Jennings suffers yet another injury and starts looking like Wade Townsend. If the first scenario happens, the Rays may have a nice problem on their hands in the outfield as early as next season…..DESMOND JENNINGS
FOURTH INNING (Headlines)…
Joe Maddon has decided to give some of Gabe Gross’ at bats in right field against righties to Ben Zobrist. With Gabe Kapler struggling…What does this mean for Matt Joyce in 2009?
It certainly opens the door for Joyce because it shows that Maddon is not tied to the All-Gabes, All-the-Time right field platoon. And no matter what Maddon says, Zobrist is not a “Rays” type of outfielder. His defense will likely cost the team runs. If Zobrist becomes a regular in right field, I think that means we will see Joyce sooner rather than later. The all-star break seems like a logical point…..ONE STEP CLOSER TO THE BIG LEAGUES FOR GOOD
FIFTH INNING (Headlines)…
Jeff Niemann has now made two starts…What have we learned?
We learned that he was nervous in his first start, to the point that he looked like he was having trouble breathing. He then settled down and gave up just 1 run over the next 4+ innings. And last night he ran into trouble in the second but looked not bad the rest of the night. He is giving up too many hits and not striking out enough for a power pitcher, but so far we see the potential. But for a team in the pennant race, the Rays need more than potential…ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT
SIXTH INNING (A look outside the box)…
The AL East is a big jumbled mess right now. With the Rays hosting the White Sox this weekend and traveling to Seattle on Monday…What other series should Raysheads keep an eye on?
This weekend, the Yankees have an easy opponent in the Indians at their new ballpark. So the big series is the O’s in Boston against the Red Sox. The Sox have struggled so far and if the O’s can take a couple, Boston will have dug themselves a deep hole. Early next week the Sox are at home against a tough Twins squad and the Yankees host the A’s. But the big series is the Rangers in Toronto. The Rangers are an up and coming team and if the Jays want to prove they are for real this season, this is exactly the type of series they have to win…O’S AT RED SOX AND TEXAS IN TORONTO
SEVENTH INNING (Over/Unders)…
Evan Longoria’s finish in the AL MVP race: 2.5
He has the hot start and he has the name recognition. Now he just needs the Rays in contention…OVER
James Shields’ finish in the AL Cy Young race: 4.5
Unless he wins 21 or 22, we just don’t think Shields puts up enough fancy numbers (super low ERA and lots of Ks) to get the voters attention…UNDER
David Price’s finish in the AL Rookie of the Year: 1.5
A 65-pitch limit last time out suggests he will be with the Rays later rather than sooner. Too little, too late…UNDER
Gold Glove awards for the Rays this season: 1.5
Carlos Pena has already broke through and Evan Longoria will probably get his first this year. BJ Upton and Carl Crawford also will get consideration this season…OVER
EIGHTH INNING (On deck)…
With 3 more at home against the White Sox and 3 on the road against the Mariners…How many wins do the Rays need in these two series combined?
What the Rays cannot afford at this point of the season is to get lulled into that just-below-.500 mentality. After a while it can get tough to break through that psychological barrier. And these games are against two teams that are on the fringe of being contenders this season. These are the teams the Rays should be better than. 3-3 would fit, but the Rays would look real nice at 4-2…RAYS NEED 4 WINS
NINTH INNING (Putting out the fire)…
Some Orioles fans accused Evan Longoria of corking his bat…how ridiculous is this?
Amazing that somebody spent that much time trying to create an argument based on how Longoria looked at that person. And of course we would like to remind these fans that Eddie Murray’s career high in the minors was only 17. Steroids?…STILL MAKES US GIGGLE
BJ Upton’s catch against the wall…greatest ever by a Rays player?
Based purely on difficulty, yes. But not as big of a play as Justin Ruggiano’s game-ending grab last fall…NO
Apr 17
[THE HANGOVER] The One Where We Discuss Niemann’s Potential, Balfour’s Velocity And Kevin Kennedy’s Flavor
Grant Balfour, Jeff Niemann, Joe Maddon 15 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: Jeff Niemann is close. Not sure we will tolerate too many more Edwin-esque one-bad-inning nights, but at this stage it shows promise. Outside of the 2-run home run to Jermaine Dye, Niemann was good, if not great. And he impressed us by striking out Dye the next time around…Carlos Pena. Is he hot? We actually aren’t sure. 4 home runs in 5 games is pretty darned good. And a 9-game hitting streak is nice. But in 8 of those games, he had only 1 hit. On the plus-side, since his 4-strikeout opening day, he has 6 Ks in 9 games and 5 walks…Gabe Kapler. We have been a little hard on one-half of the Gabe-of-the-Day, so it is only fair that we recognize his defensive performance last night. A nice running grab, taking away a double and then later, threw out Jermaine Dye trying to stretch a single into a double…Grant Balfour back? His velocity is still only 92-93, but that is a little better than where it’s been and after walking the first batter he faced to load the bases, he kept the Rays in the game by striking out Jim Thome and Jermaine Dye…Jason Bartlett. Barty had 2 more hits and now has 14 in 10 games and 2 walks.
THE BAD: Dioner Navarro. In the 4th with guys on 2nd and 3rd and only 1 out, Navi popped out. Gotta find a way to get the run home in that spot with the defense playing back…Kevin Kennedy. Maybe he is an acquired taste and maybe some of you guys like him, but we are not there yet. And last night with two close calls going agains the Rays, we actually thought Kennedy was a little too homerific on the umps. On the play at first, if you have to slow the replay down to a frame-by-frame, that is not a bad call. It is a missed call. The umpire doesn’t get the benefit of the freeze-frame. And we actually think the umps got the Dye hit-by-pitch right.
THE TELLING: In Evan Longoria’s absense, Willy Aybar started at third and Ben Zobrist started at second base to give Aki Iwamura the night off…The Rays have now dropped 5 of 7 and in the 5 losses have scored a total of 11 runs…Joe Maddon was ejected after the umpires changed their ruling on a Jermaine Dye hit-by-pitch. We think Maddon was upset more for the lack of consistency from the crew than the actual call.
SUNBURST PLAYER OF THE GAME: Carlos Pena
DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…
- The Rays Baseball Foundation will hand out grants to 29 local not-for-profit organizations today. [St. Pete Times]
- With his 10th career ejection (5 against the Angels) Joe Maddon has passed Lou Piniella on the Rays all-time list, which is pretty impressive considering the Rays were managed by not just Piniella, but also Hal McRae. Seemed like that guy would get ejected twice every night and then go back to the clubhouse and get ejected again. [The Heater]
- Joe Henderson says there is not a lot the Rays can do right now except hope the bullpen gets better. [Tampa Tribune]
- No idea why a team that is 2-5 in last 7 is still on top of Tim Brown’s power rankings. [Yahoo! Sports]
- Rays Revolutionary writes an open letter to Joe Maddon about Troy Percival. [Rays Revolutionary]
- Her Rays offers a bribe for the Rays bullpen. [Her Rays]
- Rays the Stakes wonders why Andy Sonnanstine was pulled after only 78 pitches in his last start. [Rays the Stakes]
- The Rays Party sums of the Rays offense from the first two weeks…They don’t use the word “sucks” anywhere. [The Rays Party]
- A look at submarine-style pitchers, including the Rays own Chad Bradford. [hurty elbow]
Apr 17
Down On The Farm: David Price Limited To 65 Pitches In 2nd Start
David Price, Matt Joyce 5 Comments »
Gwinnett 3, Durham 0. [Ed. note: Where the heck is Gwinnett and why do they have a triple-A ballclub?][see comments, thanks Chris] David Price was strong in his second start, giving up just 1 unearned run in 5 innings, but was removed after 65 pitches. He struck out 6 and walked just 1…Chad Orvella pitched 2 scoreless innings of relief…The Bulls managed just 3 hits. One was a double by Matt Joyce, who was 1-3 with a walk. His double and a strike out came off a left-handed pitcher.
Montgomery 5, Chattanooga 1. Heath Rollins picked up his first win, giving up 1 run in 6 innings on 6 hits and no walks. He struck out 2…Eddie Morlan pitched 2 scoreless innings…Desmond Jennings was 1-4 with a double.
St. Lucie 8, Charlotte 7. Jesse Darcy struck out 6 and walked none in 4 innings, but was touched for 8 hits and 3 runs…Emeel Salem had 3 singles and a walk in 7 plate appearances and his first stolen base…Matt Fields was 1-5 with 3 Ks.
Bowling Green 5, West Virginia 4. Shane Dyer gave up only 1 unearned run in 4 innings. He struck out 2 and walked 3…Tim Beckham was 3-5, scored 2 runs and drove in 1. He was caught stealing in his only attempt. Beckham is now 8-29 (.276) on the season…Jake Jefferies was 0-3 with 2 walks.
Notes from Down on the Farm…
- SI.com takes a closer look at the Rays new baseball academy in Brazil. [SI.com]
- Rays Prospects has the stats for all of the minor league starting pitchers (through Wednesday). [Rays Prospects]
- Watching Durham Bulls Baseball is not sure what the method is behind Charlie Montoyo’s madness. [Watching Durham Bulls Baseball]
- The Bull Gator gets to know the logos for the Rays’ farm system. [The Bull Gator]
- Rays Prospects reviews the past week for the Stone Crabs. [Rays Prospects]
