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]
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: David Price. Not great for certain. Walking 5 batters, including 2 batters leading off an inning, never is good. But after the first 2 batters of the game got on base, he retired 8 in a row. Later he retired 8 of the final 9 batters he faced…Joe Nelson. With 1 out in the 7th and the tying run at the plate, Nelson replaced David Price. One pitch later, the Rays were out of the jam thanks to a 6-4-3…Gabe Kapler. Kapler was 11-22 in interleague play. There has been some chatter in the comments that his recent hot streak coincides directly with the arrival of his wife after their children finished the school year. In other words, Rays should look to move Kapler prior to Labor Day…Carlos Pena. A week ago, Pena bunted against the shift with the bases empty and 2 outs. That is not good because he is no threat to steal and get into scoring position. Yesterday, he bunted for a single leading off an inning. That is the ideal time.
THE BAD: Bradford And Howell. They sure tried to make things interesting in the 9th before JP Howell finally struck out Ross Gload with the bases loaded to end the game…Kevin Kennedy. Does he ever work? And is that a bad thing?.
THE TELLING: The Rays became the fastest team ever to reach 100 home runs and 100 steals…The Rays are 20-5 in their last 25 home games after starting the season 6-8 at The Trop…The Rays will play 18 of their remaining 85 games against the Blue Jays (21.2%).
SUNBURST PLAYER OF THE GAME: BJ Upton. He led off the 3rd with his 6th home run and then in the next half-inning, with the tying runs on base, he ran down a flyball to deep center to end the threat.
DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…
Durham 8, Columbus 7 (13). The Bulls plated the game-winner in the top of the 13th on a Justin Ruggiano single…Matt DeSalvo started and gave up 5 runs in 6 innings…Reid Brignac went 3-7 with a double and 2 RBI…Matt Joyce was 1-6 but his lone hit was his 7th home run…John Jaso went 2-6 and Rhyne Hughes finished 3-5 and hit his 4th home run.
Montgomery 6, Jacksonville 5. The Butter and Blue scored 3 in the top of the 9th, the final 2 coming in on a double from Rashad Eldridge…Chris Mason started and gave up 5 runs (4 earned) in 5.2 innings…Desmond Jennings went 2-4 with a walk. and scored 2 runs. He also stole his 28th base.
Charlotte 9, Dunedin 8 (11). Jeremy Hall gave up 2 runs in 6 innings on 5 hits and no walks. He struck out 6…Henry Wrigley was 4-6 with his 3rd home run…Shawn O’Malley went 0-3 but walked 3 times and stole 2 bases. He now has 29…Cody Cipriano was 1-5 with a walk and Ryan Royster had 2 doubles and 2 walks in 6 plate appearances.
Lexington 9, Bowling Green 1. Shane Dyer allowed 6 runs on 10 hits and 2 walks in 5.2 innings…Tim Beckham had the day off.
Brooklyn 13, Hudson Valley 3. Glenn Gibson gave up 9 runs (6 earned) in 3.1 innings.
Notes from Down on the Farm…
