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.
Last week’s Rays Confidence Graph results.
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.
click above image for boxscore
THE GOOD: Jeff Niemann. The Giraffe was the master of pitch efficiency needing less than 10 pitches in 3 innings and less than 15 in 2 others…Joe Maddon. With the score 0-0, a runner on 3rd and just 1 out in the 2nd, Maddon went against the book and brought the infield in. The gamble paid off as Niemann got a ground ball to short followed by a flyball to center to get out of the inning without allowing a run…Carl Crawford. Two pitches after just missing a home run foul and with Roy Halladay distracted by BJ Upton running around the bases, CC launched ano-doubt home run to give the Rays a 2-0 lead.
THE BAD: Niemann With Runners On. Teams are going to continue running wild on Niemann until he figures out how to hold them closer to the bag. Luckily the Jays didn’t have many men on base last night as he gave up just 1 steal. But it was Scott Rolen stealing third without a throw, for just his 3rd steal of the year. That could have been disastrous, and on many nights it will cost Niemann runs.
THE TELLING: Willy Aybar got the start at second base, spelling Ben Zobrist for the night…If the Rays win the division or make the playoffs by just 1 game, they can look back to this game. Jeff Niemann versus Roy Halladay should be a loss 9 out of 10 times. Winning this game was an absolute bonus. Like a free win. And who doesn’t love free stuff?…The Rays are 34-21 since May 1st, the best record in the AL over that span…The Rays now have the 4th 6th best record in all baseball and yet are only 3rd in the AL East.
SUNBURST PLAYER OF THE GAME: Jeff Niemann.
DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…
Durham 4, Columbus 3. Wade Davis picked up his 7th win, allowing 3 runs (2 earned) in 6 innings on 5 hits and 2 walks. He struck out 4…Reid Brignac had his 3rd straight 3-hit game, going 3-4 with 3 doubles and an RBI…Matt Joyce homered for the 2nd straight night…Justin Ruggiano, John Jaso and Rhyne Hughes each went 0-4.
Jacksonville 6, Montgomery 4. Brandon Mann gave up 4 runs in 5 innings…Desmond Jennings went 1-5 and is now hitting .323.
Brevard Co., Charlotte. Alex Cobb lasted just 2.1 innings and was pulled despite only allowing 1 run…Reid Fronk and Ryan Royster homored for Charlotte.
Bowling Green. (no game scheduled)
Notes from Down on the Farm…
Two years ago on Rays Index, The Professor visited Scott Kazmir at home to discuss his difficulty working deep in games. Kid K had a little trouble finishing the interview.
Strikeouts Are Fascist, Groundballs Are More Democratic [Rays Index]
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.
Here are the Rays that have been named Sunburst PoG and the updated leaderboard is after the jump…
Much has been made of the Rays attendance recently. Well Chris of Watching Durham Bulls Baseball, pointed us in the direction of this little tidbit on ticket prices in Major League Baseball.
Here are the top 8 teams ranked by their most expensive single-seat ticket. For comparison, we also included the 5 teams that charge the least for the most expensive seats.
Only 7 teams offer tickets more expensive than the $270 ticket offered by the Rays.
We are not certain many $270 tickets are available for a typical Rays game, and certainly these tickets have a minimal impact on per game attendance figures. But those $270 seats are the only seats that are seen on every pitch during a telecast. And nothing looks worse when watching a Rays game on TV than seeing nothing but empty seats in the background (just ask Yankee fans).
No wonder fans of other teams still think the Rays have no fans.
2009 MLB Ticket Prices [Flip Flop Flyball]
Prior to the season, the Rays made one of their biggest splashes in the free agent market in years. The Rays signed Pat Burrell to a 2-year, $16 million contract. Many thought the Rays had one of the biggest steals of the off-season. After all, in the previous four years, Burrell averaged .262-31-99 with a .385 OBP and a .889 OPS.
This year, Burrell is on pace for .238-4-46, with .349 OBP and .664 OPS. It has been so bad, that Jon Heyman ranked Burrell as the third worst free agent signing of this past off-season.
The optimist will tell you that Burrell has been injured and he is a naturally streaky player. The pessimist will tell you that the Rays are almost at the midway mark of the season. And a commenter recently pointed out that the Pat Burrell wearing the Rays uniform is not the same Pat Burrell that played in Philadephia for the past 9 seasons.
That is not the face of a man the veteran Phillies players dubbed “The Bait”. That is not the face of one of the hottest bachelors in Philadelphia. In fact, Burrell is not even a bachelor any longer. So has Burrell “let himself go” since he got married and got his new contract?
We contacted meech.one of The Fightins for a reaction to Burrell’s new “figure”:
Wow. You would think that being tempted by cheese steaks and soft pretzels for nine years would’ve made Pat fat. Apparently all he needed was a new contract and a wife. He must’ve been growing that horrible goatee to cover up the developing second chin. Say it ain’t so, Pat!
Whatever the reason, the Rays were sold a bill of goods.
Much has been made about how well Edwin Jackson is pitching for Detroit. Of course, his emergence is only magnified with Matt Joyce still in triple-A and even more so by the recent demotion of Andy Sonnanstine.
Well, if that makes you want to vomit, then you will definitely want to sit down for this one.
After starting the season 0-3 after 5 starts, former Rays pitcher Jason Hammel is now 5-0 in his last 7 starts. He has a 4.01 ERA and a 31 to 10 strikeout-to-walk ratio. And those 5 straight wins is the longest active streak in the National League.
Bob Apodaca recently commented on Hammel’s emergence.
“I’m not surprised at all,” Apodaca said Saturday. “But I think his emphasis has changed. He thought of himself more as a breaking-ball pitcher. We needed to get him thinking about the importance of his fastball.”…And not just Hammel’s four-seamer that touched 94 mph Friday night, producing nine flyball outs. Hammel has added a two-seam fastball (sinker) to his repertoire…The bottom line, said Apodaca, is that Hammel has embraced the fastball as his primary weapon.
If there is a silver-lining to the emergence of Jackson and Hammel as very good starting pitchers, it is that the Rays will soon have a reputation as developers of great start pitching, much as the Braves were in the 90s.
Being able to consistently develop starting pitching will not only bode well for the Rays future on the field, but it will also increase the value of Rays starting pitchers and pitching prospects in the eyes of other franchises. When the Rays decide to trade any of their pitching in the future, other teams will look at the success of Jackson and Hammel, as well the pitchers in the Rays rotation, and the price for those players will only go up.
Hammel’s win streak doesn’t shock Apodaca [Denver Post]
