Aug 01
The Rays filled their bullpen vacancy by signing Jeff Bennett, who was recently released by the Braves. To make room on the 40-man roster, the Rays released James Houser, who had recently been demoted to the bullpen.
The Rays have claimed righthanded reliever Jeff Bennett on waivers from the Braves and signed him to a major league contract. He replaces righty reliever Joe Nelson, who was optioned to Triple-A Durham.
Bennett, 29, went 2-4 with a 3.18 ERA in 33 games for the Braves before going on the DL June 25 with a fracture to his non-throwing hand. After a brief rehab assignment at Triple-A Gwinnett, he was released Thursday.
Bennett asked the Braves to be released after his DL stint which came about after punching a wall with his left hand. Bennet was a 19th-round pick by the Pirates in 1998 and has pitched in the big leagues in parts of four seasons.
Aug 01
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 in the second-half, will win some serious bragging rights (and a t-shirt from the Rays Index store).
Check Marc Topkin’s blog for the starting lineups.
Aug 01
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: Rotation. Gotta love that the Rays two biggest question marks in the rotation had great starts this week…Carlos Pena. Long before the Rays added Pat Burrell, they had their own streaky hitter. Let’s hope a hot streak comes now after Pena’s 3-run home run in the first inning.
THE BAD: Better To Be Lucky? We’d prefer Pat Burrell was good. In the 5th, with runners on first and third, Sidney Ponson threw 3 straight pitches out of the strikezone, down and away. The fourth pitch was a belt-high 90mph fastball middle-in. If a power hitter has a green light on 3-0, that is their dream pitch. Burrell was jammed. Luckily the ball landed in left field for an RBI single. But that pitch shows how far away Burrell is from being a good hitter again.
THE TELLING: Joe Nelson was demoted to Durham after the game. The Rays have not yet announced a corresponding move. Not including Nelson, the Rays have 5 pitchers at Durham on the 40-man roster: Wade Davis, Andy Sonnanstine, Dale Thayer, John Meloan and James Houser. It is too early for Davis and Thayer cannot be recalled for 5 more days (he has to stay in minors for 10 days). The Rays could promote Sonny to the bullpen, but that would seem strange. Right now, Sonnanstine is the Rays “backup” starting pitcher if somebody gets hurt. A starting pitcher that is moved to the bullpen usually takes 3-5 starts to get their starting pitcher arm back. Maybe the transition would be easier for The Duke. If not, that would leave Houser, who was recently moved to the Durham bullpen or Meloan.
SUNBURST PLAYER OF THE GAME: David Price
DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…
- Joe Nelson was demoted to Durham after the game. The Rays have not yet announced a corresponding move. Not including Nelson, the Rays have 5 pitchers at Durham on the 40-man roster: Wade Davis, Andy Sonnanstine, Dale Thayer, John Meloan and James Houser. It is too early for Davis and Thayer cannot be recalled for 5 more days. The Rays could promote Sonny to the bullpen, but that would seem strange. Right now, Sonnanstine is the Rays “backup” starting pitcher if somebody gets hurt. A starting pitcher that is moved to the bullpen usually takes 3-5 starts to get their starting pitcher arm back. Maybe the transition would be easier for The Duke. [Tampa Tribune]
- Joe Smith and Marc Topkin have some quotes from Andrew Friedman about the Rays decision to not make any trades at the deadline. [St. Pete Times]
- Matt Garza dodged a bullett when he was fined by MLB but not suspended after admitting that hit Mark Teixeira on purpose. [Tampa Tribune]
- Evan Longoria icons! It’s like Christmas and our birthday all wrapped up in one! [LiveJournal]
Aug 01
Durham 3, Scranton/WB 1. Carlos Hernandez picked up his 7th win, holding Scranton to 1 run in 5 innings on 2 hits and 2 walks. He struck out 6…Matt Joyce went 0-4 and Rhyne Hughes was 2-4 and is hitting .327.
Montgomery 4, Huntsville 3 (10). The Biscuits won on a walk-off single by Pedro Powell in the bottom of the 10th…Brandon Mann started and allowed 3 runs (2 earned) in 6.1 innings. He struck out 3…Cody Cipriano was 2-4 with a double.
Charlotte 8, Daytona 3. Darin Downs improved to 12-4 after holding Daytona to 1 run on 5 hits and 2 walks in 6 innings. He struck out 6…Shawn O’Malley went 1-3 with a walk and Mike McCormick was 2-5 with his 2nd home run.
Bowling Green 11, Savannah 2. Matt Moore struck out 6 and allowed just 1 unearned run in 4 innings. He allowed 3 hits, 3 walks and threw a wild pitch…Tim Beckham went 1-4 with 2 runs and Jake Jefferies was 2-5 with a double.
Aberdeen 4, Hudson Valley 1.
Pulaski @ Princeton. (ppd. rain)
Notes from Down on the Farm…
- Desmond Jennings was promoted to triple-A. The next month could go a long way to deciding whether the Rays bring back Carl Crawford next season. [Biscuit Crumbs]
