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, we ran a Daily Poll listing several players as choices for MVP for the first one-third of the season. We omitted Ben Zobrist. We want a do-over. One could make an argument that Zorilla has been as valuable to the Rays as any other player and with Pat Burrell and Jason Bartlett expected back Friday, his role may soon be reduced.
Last night Zobrist collected 2 more hits, including a home run. It was his 4th home run in the last 7 games. For the season, he is now hitting .304-12-35. And his numbers are even better than that.
He has a .468 wOBA, the highest on the team. Better than Bartlett’s .453 and Evan Longoria’s .418. And so far in 2009 he has already been worth 3.1 Wins Above Replacement (WAR) for the Rays or about $13.9 million. For comparison, Longoria has been worth 3.2 WAR or about $14.3 million, Carlos Pena is at 1.4 WAR ($6.4 million) and Burrell has been worth -0.1 WAR (-0.3 million).
Not bad for a utility player. But maybe even more impressive, is that he has maintained his strong bat despite having to play a different position on an almost nightly basis.
In fact, Zorilla has started a game at every position this season except catcher and first base. And does anybody have any doubt he could play both of those positions if needed?
On Friday, Burrell and Bartlett are expected to return to the Rays lineup and Joe Maddon has stated in the past that he prefers to use Zorilla as a part-time player. But can he justify not having one of the most valuable players in the American League in the starting lineup every night? By the name of Zorilla, we hope not.
Last night the Rays drafted speedy middle infielder/center fielder LeVon Washington with the 30th pick of the draft. Shorty after being selected, Washington sounded eager to sign with the Rays and Andrew Friedman sounded eager to get him in a uniform.
LeVon Washington had already impressed the Rays with his speed. Then he really showed them something about an hour after being the 30th pick in the draft Tuesday night, announcing on a media conference call he already was committed to sign: “I’ll be a Ray.”…”That’s great news,” Rays executive vice president Andrew Friedman said later, “and we feel the exact same way.”
Not so fast. There is one person that has yet to show the same eagerness and in the end it may be his opinion that matters most of all. That is Washington’s agent, Scott Boras.
Boras rarely makes a move with his clients before it is absolutely necessary. He prefers that his players wait as long as possible before signing contracts. It is his belief that waiting almost never costs a player money, but quite often it makes them more. And no matter what you think of Boras, he is usually right.
So what does this mean for Washington and the Rays? Unless the Rays open the wallet, we expect that like David Price, negotiations will go down to the August deadline, but that eventually a deal will get struck.
But more important may be how this affects Washington’s playing career. If a deal is not made prior to August, it is unlikely that Washington will play this season for any of the Rays farmclubs.
Whereas Tim Beckham was able to get on the field last summer and was ready for a full-season this year, it is more likely that Washington will play in the fall instructional leagues and won’t make his Rays debut until next June in one of the short-season leagues.
In other words, it could be a while before Washington starts his Tampa Bay Rays career.
Tampa Bay Rays draft Gainesville prep star LeVon Washington with first-round pick [St. Pete Times]
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: By The Arm of Gabriel. Gabe Gross redeemed a poor at bat earlier in the game (see below) by potentially saving a run in the 7th by throwing out a runner at second base after he rounded the bag too far on a basehit…Ben Zobrist. 2 more hits and another home run. Ho-hum.
THE BAD: Not-So-Golden Opportunities. Bases loaded in the 7th with 1 out and Carlos Pena at the plate. A great chance to cut into the 22-run lead as long as Upton gets a bat on the ball. He did, and he hit it hard. Right at the first basemen for vomit-inducing 3-unassisted double-play…Flyballs Going Uncaught. Sure enough, only a couple of days after noting that BJ Upton had started catching deep flyballs that earlier this season were landing on the turf, last night, two such flyballs landed safely for extra-base hits…Giveup Swing. With 1 out and runners on first and third in the 2nd, Gabe Gross did something with the bat. We still aren’t sure what he was trying to do. It looked like a 2-strike swing that was trying to foul off a tough pitch (it was a 1-1 pitch). He just flicked the bat, half-a**ed and hit a shallow pop-up to left. Dioner Navarro would then strikeout to end the threat…And Of Course. From the “we should have kept our mouths shut” department, Carl Crawford grounded into his first GIDP of the season, and with it, the game was lost and the Rays were once again flushed down the toilet of mediocrity.
THE TELLING: BJ Upton was ejected after flying out in the 9th inning. He was apparently upset at the strikezone…Jeff Niemann takes the mound with an extra day of rest since his 2-hit shutout…
SUNBURST PLAYER OF THE GAME: Ben Zobrist
DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…
Pawtucket 2, Durham 1. Jason Childers gave up a walk-off RBI double in the bottom of the 9th…Carlos Hernandez was strong once again, holding the PawSox to 1 run in 6 innings on 6 hits and 2 walks. He struck out 5…John Jaso provided all of the offense with his 3rd home run. He finished 2-4…Rhyne Hughes was 2-4 with a double in his first game with Durham.
Montgomery 6, Birmingham 1. Brian Baker struck out 7 and walked 1, and gave up 1 run in 6 innings…Desmond Jennings was 1-4 with a walk…Pat Burrell was 1-4 with a walk in his second rehab game…Matt Fields was 1-3 with an RBI in his first game with the Biscuits.
Charlotte 2, Brevard Co. 1 (gm 1). Jesse Darcy picked up his first win with 5 innings of 1-run ball…Cody Cipriano was 1-3.
Charlotte 3, Brevard Co. 1 (gm 2). Jose Mejias made the spot start in game 2 and allowed just 1 run in 4 innings on a solo home run. He struck out 3 and walked none…Cody Cipriano and Emeel Salem were 0-3.
Greenville 12, Bowling Green 0. Frank de los Santos gave up 4 runs (3 earned) in 5 innings…Tim Beckham was 0-3 with a walk and a strikeout…Jake Jefferies was 0-3 and is hitting .250.
Notes from Down on the Farm…
