Apr 30
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]
Check Marc Topkin’s blog for the starting lineups.
Apr 30
Akinori Iwamura, Alex Cobb, Andy Sonnanstine, Carl Crawford, Chad Bradford, Chad Orvella, Dan Wheeler, Emeel Salem, Gabe Gross, Gabe Kapler, Jason Bartlett, Jeff Niemann, Justin Ruggiano, Mitch Talbot, Reid Brignac, Shawn O'Malley, Shawn Riggans, Willy Aybar Cork Gaines
Welcome to the 1st Annual Tampa Bay Rays Trade Pool where we determine who is the best at predicting which members of the Rays organization will be traded this season (this contest is based loosely on the “Dead Pool“).
We have invited all members of the Tampa Bay Rays Blogosphere as as well as a couple of outside bloggers.
The Rules:
- Each blogger submitted a list of 5 players they believe have the greatest chance to be traded this season. All players in the organization are eligible.
- The bloggers ranked those 5 players, giving the highest rank (#1) to the player they think is most likely to be traded.
- If one of the players they chose is traded prior to the end of the season, that blogger will receive points based on where the blogger ranked the player. If Aki Iwamura is traded and a blogger has Aki ranked first, they will receive 5 points. If they have Aki ranked second, they will receive 4 points and so on.
- The blogger with the most points at the end of the season wins.
- We also want YOUR lists in the comments. Let’s see if you guys can beat the experts. And by “experts” we of course mean 11 people with too much free time on their hands.
Notes on the rankings can be found after the tables…
Notes on the rankings
- We have invited the individual bloggers to provide comments on their individual rankings in either the comments section here or on their own blogs. We will provide those links as they happen.
- The difficulty in these rankings is predicting whether the Rays will be “buyers” or “sellers” this season. If they are in the playoff hunt, they are more likely to trade prospects. If they fall off the pace they are more likely to try and move expensive veterans.
- Below we gave each player an MVP-style point total. That is, every time a player was given a rank of 1, we gave them 5 points. Every time a player was ranked 2nd, we gave them 4 points, and so on. This gives us a sense of which players the Blogosphere thinks is most likely to be traded.
- As we can see, Reid Brignac and Chad Bradford lead the way with the most first-place rankings (3), but Gabe Gross leads the way with 24 points total and is deemed the most likely to be traded by the group as a whole.
- Gabe Gross appeared on the most lists (7).
- 10 different players appeared on more than one list.
Thanks to all who chose to participate including…
Also, you might be asking “What does the winner receive?” We have no idea. Any suggestions?
Apr 30
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: See less evil. We did something we never do. We turned the game off after the second inning. We left the house and had a nice Mexican dinner. the game was over, and this team absolutely makes us sick right now. No pitching. No fielding. No hitting. No fundamentals. No heart. None.
THE BAD: First Inning. Single, infield single, walk, wild pitch, dropped pop up, another infield single, another wild pitch, another walk. 4 runs. Game over.
THE TELLING: This 4-game set against the Red Sox is either exactly what the Rays need or more likely it is the worst possible timing. The Rays know they can compete with the Red Sox, having taken 2 of 3 to start the season, but the Sox are playing at a different level now. The rivalry could spark the Rays. Or they are about to run into a juggernaut while playing like the Devil Rays. But worst of all is that this is a 4-game series. It is so hard to win a 4-game series. Sure it would be nice, but a split is far more realistic, and all a split does is stop the bleeding for a few days.
SUNBURST PLAYER OF THE GAME: Lance Cormier. 4 shutout innings. 3 hits and no walks. We thought his position on the team was limited with Jason Isringhausen almost ready to join the team. But Joe Maddon has gotta love a reliever than can give him 3-4 innings and save the rest of the bullpen for the next fight.
DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…
- Great. The one player on the team that is hitting the ball, Jason Bartlett had to be removed from the game after the 5th inning with a sore hamstring. [The Heater]
- Joe Maddon says he has no intentions of taking BJ Upton out of the leadoff spot, even temporarily. Also Maddon wants to see Matt Garza recognize what needs to be changed during the game, rather than waiting until after the game and saying “I should have done this.” [St. Pete Times]
- Joe Henderson outlines why this is Joe Maddon’s biggest test yet and wonders how low it can go. [Tampa Tribune]
- Jonah Keri tries to separate early season fact and fiction…What we learned from the piece is that the Blue Jays are basically the exact opposite of the Rays right now. Everybody on their team is playing above their career norms. [SI.com]
- Her Rays suggests that Joe Maddon find his inner Lou Piniella for a few days. [Her Rays]
- Around the Majors takes a look at some of the bigger names with contract options for the 2010 season including Carl Crawford. [Around the Majors]
- Rise of the Rays speculates on what Desmond Jennings hot start means for him and the Rays. [Rise of the Rays]
- More Hardball has some fun with few Rays images. [More Hardball]
Apr 30
Charlotte 9, Durham 1. Carlos Hernandez gave up 7 runs in 3.2 innings including 3 home runs…Reid Brignacwas 2-4 with a pair of doubles and Matt Joycewas 0-3 with a walk and his 2nd stolen base.
Jacksonville 13, Montgomery 7. Jason Cromer got lit up for 7 runs in 3.2 innings on 10 hits (2 home runs) and 1 walk…Desmond Jenningswas 0-4 and Rhyne Hughes finished 2-5 with his league-leading 8th home run.
Charlotte 8, Sarasota 6. Jeremy Hall allowed 5 runs (4 earned) in 5 innings…Greg Sexton hit his first home run of the year and drove in 3.
Augusta 7, Bowling Green 0. Frank de los Santos struck out 3 in 5 innings and allowed 2 runs in 5 innings…Tim Beckham finished 0-4 with 3 strike outs. He is now hitting .275 with 19 strikeouts and only 3 walks in 18 games.
Notes from Down on the Farm…
- Not including last night’s action, Matt Joyce is 4-10 with a double and 3 Ks against lefties.
- As “GatorRaysHead” pointed out in the comments yesterday, Wade Davis threw 93 pitches in his last start. This is telling because last we heard, all of the starters in Durham were on a strict 75-pitch limit. Davis is the first permitted to exceed this limit by more than a handful. This suggests that if a pitcher were needed right now, Davis would get the call (Ed. note: this also depends on how many starts would be needed. Often times, if a big leaguer is going to miss just one or two starts, the Rays would promote the triple-A pitcher not based on merit, but based on who would be pitching on normal 4 days rest). But keep in mind, that it might not take David Price very long to catch up to Davis in terms of big league readiness.
