[THE HANGOVER] The One Where We Discuss A Citrus Sweep, Kevin Kennedy’s Work Schedule And Adjusting The Rotation
BJ Upton, David Price, JC Romero, Jeff Niemann, Kenny Diekroeger June 29th. 2009, 6:54am
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…
- Joe Maddon chose to push Jeff Niemann back to tonight’s game because he wanted to “go all righties” against the Blue Jays. He also noted that he may adjust the rotation again to separate the rookies Niemann and David Price, the next time through. With the a day off on Thursday, Matt Garza will probably go on Sunday on his normal rest, which would push Niemann back to Tuesday (July 7) on 7 days rest. [Tampa Tribune]
- David Chalk of Bugs and Cranks has an exclusive photo of JC Romero attacking a Rays fan that looks an awful lot like Edward Norton. [Bugs and Cranks]
- The Rays played host to their second-round pick, Kenny Diekroeger, a shortstop who is trying to decide between Stanford and the Rays. [MLB]
- 4 of the top 5 teams in Baseball Prospectus’ power rankings reside in the AL East (thanks Scot). [Baseball Prospectus]
- Remember when some people were preaching what a steal Eric Hinske would be for a team this year? Yeah, not so much. [North Side Notch]
- Martin Fennelly notes that the Scott Kazmir of old has returned, but wonders if it will last. [Tampa Tribune]
Related posts:
- [THE HANGOVER] The One Where We Discuss McGee’s Big Outing, The Rotation And Adjusting The Turf Speed
- [THE HANGOVER] The One Where We Discuss King David’s Demotion, Niemann’s Chances For The Rotation And Kennedy’s Roster Claim
- [THE HANGOVER] The One Where We Discuss King David’s All-Star Start Bid, Garza’s Unexpected Appearance And Sweep Caroline
Labor day…..ROFLMAO thanks Cork, as to the photo……????Roids give you Boobs?
*snort* LOL … Hey, just ask Manny being Tranny.
Another episode of “Maddon Mysteries”
Kaplar was playing about ever other game when he was batting .100,
But when he started hitting (home runs) and “helping” to win games, you don’t see him (before yesterdays 1for3)….
Trade possible, but for what?…only makes 1m..not much if hitting…
This is simply not true. Early in the year he got more starts because Upton was out. Once Upton returned, he was reduced to his intended role which was to play against lefties, and that is essentially what he has done since that time.
There is no point to the point you try to make. Gross, who is doing very nicely, starts against righties which means he gets more playing time of course. Kapler has started every game against a lefty starter this month. Overall, Kapler has 82 plate appearances against lefties and 34 against righties, most early in the year, an entirely logical proportion. (His line against righties is .094/.147/.241.)
Not to mention the fact that Gross is among the league leaders in hitting for the month of June. With an impressive stat line:
BA .327
OBP .426
SLG .500
OPS .926
… and 4 steals sprinkled on top for flavor.
With Gross putting up those numbers there is no room to complain about Kapler not getting starts.
Complaining…I don’t care if I ever see Kapler….
Just strange when him and Gross were playing early and Zobrist sitting on the bench!