Archive for June, 2010

Jun 29

[THE HANGOVER] The One Where We Discuss The Rangers Flirtation With Hunsicker, Upton’s Future And Bellatti’s Latest Start

Andrew Bellatti, BJ Upton, Evan Longoria, Gerry Hunsicker 13 Comments »

THE JUNKYARD DOGS WEBTOPIA…

  • Nolan Ryan and the Rangers are once again setting their sights on Gerry Hunsicker. They didn’t get him last winter. Will Hunsicker be able to say “no” again? [Houston Chronicle]
  • The Red Sox will be without Victor Martinez in this series with the Rays…Dustin Pedroia is also out of the lineup. [Boston Herald]
  • Gary Shelton says the Rays need more from BJ Upton than just more effort, although that would be nice. [St. Pete Times]
  • Joe Henderson says Evan Longoria has now elevated himself to team leader. [Tampa Tribune]
  • Joe Henderson also wonders about BJ Upton’s future with the Rays noting that his production is hurting the Rays just as much as his lack of effort. [Tampa Tribune]
  • Evan Longoria’s lead in the all-star voting at third base is safe, but Carl Crawford’s lead is slipping. He is still third among outfielders, but his lead over Nelson Cruz is just 160K. Longoria is third overall in the voting. [The Heater]
  • Jonah Keri offers 10 moves that will get the Rays to the playoffs. [JonahKeri.com]
  • Mostly behind the “Insider” wall…Buster Olney compares Evan Longoria’s confrontation with BJ Upton to an incident involving a young Derek Jeter. [ESPN]
  • Here is a close look at Rays 2009 third-round pick Todd Glaesmann. [MiLB]

DOWN ON THE FARM…

  • Check out Rays Prospects for boxscores and more detailed recaps. [Rays Prospects]
  • DURHAM: JJ Furmaniak’s 2-run double with 1 out in the bottom of the 9th was the game-winner. He finished 2-5 and drove in all 3 runs…Richard de los Santos pitched 7.1 innings, giving up 2 runs (1 earned)…Desmond Jennings went 3-5 with a double to raise his average to .298…
  • MONTGOMERY: David Newmann surrendered 4 runs (3 earned) in 4.1 innings, striking out 5 and walking 2…Matt Sweeney was 1-4 with 3 strikeouts. In 33 games since being promoted, Sweeney is hitting .211-1-18 with a .254 OBP, 38 strikeouts and just 6 walks.
  • CHARLOTTE: Chris Andujar gave 3 runs in 5 innings, walking 3 and striking out 3…The Stone Crabs managed just 2 hits, both by Anthony Scelfo…Tim Beckham went 0-4…
  • BOWLING GREEN: Jason McEachern picked up his 3 win with 6.1 shutout innings…Five different Hot Rods had 2 hits including Bennett Davis who drove in 3.
  • HUDSON VALLEY: Devin Fuller struck out 6 and walked none in 4 innings, but allowed 4 run on 9 hits including a 2-run home run by Cory Vaughn, son of former Devil Ray Greg Vaughn…Robby Price was 3-5 with 2 doubles.
  • PRINCETON: Andrew Bellatti, the troubled prospect, made his second start, giving up just 2 unearned runs in 6 innings, striking out 5 and walking none. On the season he has allowed 1 earned run in 11.1 innings with 10 strikeouts and 2 walks…Hector Guevara went 2-4 with a pair of doubles.
Jun 28

The Saboteur Of David Price’s Bobblehead Has Been Identified!

Andy Sonnanstine, David Price 5 Comments »

On the outfield wall at The Trop are images of the Evan Longoria and David Price bobblehead’s that will be given away at upcoming games. Somebody has been having fun with Price’s bobblehead as can be seen in this video clip (fast forward to the 1:35 mark).

First there was the mustache. Then there was the missing tooth. And finally there was the eye black tape with Price’s 615 area code under each eye.

But thanks to Rays Renegade’s Twitter account, we now know the villain’s identity.

Here is the culprit applying the mustache…

OK, we can’t be certain in that image.

But here we see the rascal as he is running away from his work…

Andy Sonnanstine. Busted.

Jun 28

Why The Rays Suck: BJ Upton

BJ Upton 18 Comments »

The Rays just went from playoff-lock to out of the playoffs in about 12.6 nanoseconds. So now we will introduce a semi-regular feature to see where we can or cannot lay the blame and determine just why this team is not very good these days. If you have anybody you would like to nominate for this feature, let’s hear it in the comments…

If it wasn’t obvious prior to this weekend, it should be abundantly clear now: the Rays clearly drafted from the shallow end of the Upton gene pool. And yes, it is easy to dump on BJ Upton after his abysmal display in yesterday’s game in which he loafed after a flyball, had to be restrained in the dugout, got picked off first base and displayed his warning track power to end the game.

But yesterday is not why Upton is a problem. Yesterday is just the perfect example of why Upton is a problem. And that problem needs to be fixed.

You want to say other players take plays off? Fine. But this isn’t Upton’s first rodeo. He has been benched twice on previous occasions by Joe Maddon for not giving 100%. If “everybody is doing it,” then why isn’t anybody else getting benched?

Or maybe you think Upton deserves a pass on the outfield play yesterday because he wasn’t playing with his normal left field partner and maybe Upton made the mistake of assuming Matt Joyce would get the ball. Fine. But our take has never been that Upton is “lazy,” as many have contended.

No, Upton is not lazy. He just sometimes appears to be absent-minded. Sometimes he forgets what he should be doing. Sometimes he forgets who else is in the game. Sometimes he chooses not to swing at pitches down the middle of the plate. Sometimes he takes naps at first base and gets picked off. OK, he does that more than “sometimes.”

And all of that would be fine if Upton was producing. But he is not. Here are his numbers from the last four seasons…

2007: .300-24-82, .894 OPS, .387 wOBA
2008: .273-9-67, .784 OPS, .354 wOBA
2009: .241-11-55, ..686 OPS, .310 wOBA
2010 (proj.): .226-15-63, .715, .330 wOBA

Decent numbers? Sure. Superstar in the making? Not even close.

His Baseball-Reference list of comparable players (by age) is a who’s who of mediocrity:

Rick Monday
Lee Mazzilli
Max West
Rupert Jones
Bobby Tolan
Chili Davis
Melky Cabrera

Melky Cabrera? No thanks.

But we can still depend on his defense, right? Let’s check out his UZR/150 for the last four seasons…

2007: 7.0
2008: 8.4
2009: 7.4
2010: -8.1

How bad is -8.1? In his last season as a full-time outfielder, Pat Burrell was only -12.2.

So Upton is not hitting. Heck he hasn’t hit since 2007 (unless you count the 2008 playoffs). And he isn’t even fielding well this season.

At what point do the Rays give up on holding out for a good offer in the trade market and just take the next one that comes along?

Jun 28

The Irony Of The Rays Striped Stirrups: George Hendrick

George Hendrick, Stirrup Power 2 Comments »

Every player in the Rays starting lineup yesterday went with the new striped stirrups and high-cuffed pants look. We love the look. I mean, we reallllyyyy love it. But there is something ironic about the new look.

Rays first base coach George Hendrick is often credited as the first player to eschew the stirrups in baseball and wear his pants down to his ankles.

This is from a 2009 article in the Dallas Morning-News…

George Hendrick , a former big league outfielder and now first base coach for the Tampa Bay Rays, was at the forefront of the trouser movement, lowering his pant legs to his ankles before anyone else…”Most guys were wearing them up because stirrups were baseball back then,” said Rangers first base coach Gary Pettis, Hendrick’s teammate with the California Angels in the late 1980s. “There were times when he didn’t wear the stirrup. He would put his santie on and take a marker and kind of draw a stripe on each side of the santie. He missed his calling. He’s the first guy that created the 2-in-1 sock.”

So, while the Rays are battling 20 years of bad fashion, they are really battling a trend started by one of their own. Here is hoping they win.

Jun 28

[THE HANGOVER] The One Where We Discuss The Struggling Offense, Upton’s Latest Brainfart And Blalock’s Future

BJ Upton, Charlie Montoyo, Derek Shelton, Dioner Navarro, Evan Longoria, Gabe Kapler, Hank Blalock, Will Kline 10 Comments »

The GBT – The Good, The Bad and The Telling sandwich, where The Bad is nice and lean and the The Telling is ripe.

Diamondbacks 2, Rays 1

THE GOOD: Wade Davis. Nice strong start from Big Dub. The 7.1 innings was his longest outing of the year and only the second time he has worked into the 8th inning this season.

THE BAD: Where are the Bats? Sometimes good teams get no-hit. It’s rare, but it happens. What good teams don’t do is get 7 hits in a 3-game series against a last place team. In total, the Rays went 7-81 (.086) in route to losing their 5th straight series. Some of the blame can be placed on luck as every time the Rays hit the ball hard, it seemed to be drawn right to a player’s glove. Still, luck can’t explain it all. This team just cannot hit right now. We are not ready to blame Derek Shelton. For one thing, the influence of the hitting coach at the big league level is overrated. And for all the struggles, the offense is still 4th in the AL in OPS. That being said, the Rays need to find more consistency from the bats..BJ Upton. If you missed it yesterday, Upton nonchalantly jogged after a ball as it rolled to the wall turning a routine double into a triple. That led to some stern words from Evan Longoria to which Upton reacted by absolutely losing his sh*t in the dugout and having to be restrained by Willy Aybar. He followed that up by getting picked off of first base for the 7 millionth time in his career. And with all the energy he exerted in the field and on the basepaths, Upton’s try for a walk-off 2-run home run in the bottom of the 9th came up a few feet short. Or maybe Upton just has warning track power after all.

THE TELLING: All players in the starting lineup went with the high-cuffed pants and striped stirrups…Dioner Navarro is expected to make his debut with Durham tonight.

WHERE THEY STAND: The Rays are 44-31, 3 games behind the Yankees in the East and 1 game behind the Red Sox in the Wild Card. After 75 games in 2008, the Rays were also 44-31.

THE JUNKYARD DOGS WEBTOPIA…

  • Joe Maddon says it is “60-40″ that Carl Crawford will be able to DH in Boston tomorrow. But CC’s return to the outfield is less clear after he aggravated his shoulder sliding on Friday night…also Gabe Kapler is expected to be activated from the DL tomorrow and Marc Topkin wonders if the Rays will let Hank Blalock go rather than demote Matt Joyce. [St. Pete Times]
  • Evan Longoria on yesterday’s incident: “It’s just a couple of guys that are frustrated with the way they are playing…it’s already buried” (VIDEO). [The Heater]
  • The St. Pete Times has a timeline of BJ Upton’s brainfarts…And to be clear, we have never thought Upton was “lazy.” We just think he occasionally loses focus in critical situations. [St. Pete Times]
  • Marc Topkin says it is still too early to judge the Edwin Jackson-Matt Joyce trade. [St. Pete Times]
  • Michael Kruse writes about the tricky situation the Rays find themselves in with the stadium situation. It’s a good read, and not just because we were interviewed for the story. [St. Pete Times]
  • Will Kline, the Rays second-round pick in 2007 missed all of the 2008 and 2009 seasons. And now he won’t play in 2010 either after suffering a torn rotator cuff. [Biscuit Crumbs]
  • Rise of the Rays comes to the defense of BJ Upton. [Rise of the Rays]
  • Ken Rosenthal speculates that Carl Crawford could sign with the Rangers this winter. [Fox Sports]
  • Durham manager Charlie Montoyo will join Jeremy Hellickson and Desmond Jennings at the Futures Game during the all-star break. Montoyo was named as a member of the coaching staff. [Biscuit Crumbs]
  • Pitcher Josh Satow and 3B Henry Wrigley have been promoted to double-A Montgomery.
  • The News & Observer spoke with Dan Johnson and manager Charlie Montoyo about the slugger’s chances at making it back to the big leagues. [News&Observer]
  • Rays Prospects is accepting votes for the Rays minor league mid-season all-stars. [Rays Prospects]
  • The Times Herald-Record interviewed Rays roving instructor Matt Quatraro. [Times Herald-Record]
  • Here is a good read on an usher at The Trop that has been going to baseball games for over 60 years and just witnessed his first no-hitter. [JordiScrubbings.com]

DOWN ON THE FARM…

  • Check out Rays Prospects for boxscores and more detailed recaps. [Rays Prospects]
  • DURHAM: Heath Phillips worked 6 innings and gave up 2 runs (1 earned), striking out 5 and walking 2…Desmond Jennings went 2-5 with a double and his 18th stolen base…Fernando Perez was 2-4 and hit his 3rd home run.
  • MONTGOMERY: Alex Torres struck out 6, but lasted only 4 innings as his pitch count reached 89. He allowed 2 runs on 4 hits and 3 walks…Leslie Anderson went 2-4 and is now 22-75 (.293) since being promoted to double-A…Matt Sweeney was 1-4 with a double. He is hitting 25-119 (.210) since being promoted.
  • CHARLOTTE: Matt Moore struck out 11 in 6 innings, walking just 2. He allowed 2 runs on 5 hits…Reid Fronk had 2 of the Stone Crabs’ 3 hits…Tim Beckham was 0-3 with a strikeout.
  • BOWLING GREEN: Wilking Rodriguez gave up 6 runs, but all 6 were unearned. He gave up 7 hits, walked 1, hit 2 batters and threw a wild pitch in just 4 innings…Tyler Bortnick went 2-3 with a double and his 6th home run.
  • HUDSON VALLEY: Omar Bencomo made his second start and allowed 3 runs in 4.2 innings. He struck out 3…Derek Dietrich was 1-4 with a double.
  • PRINCETON: Enny Romero struck out 7 and gave up 1 run on just 2 hits and 2 walks in 6 innings…Bryan Fogle hit his first home run of the year.
Jun 27

Upton, Longoria Have To Be Separated In Rays Dugout (Video)

BJ Upton, Evan Longoria 19 Comments »

In the Diamondbacks half of the fifth inning today, BJ Upton clearly lollygaged after a ball hit in the gap turning a double into a triple. Arizona would score two runs in the inning.

In the dugout after the half-inning, Evan Longoria approached Upton and appeared to be upset by the lack of effort. Upton then lost it, having to be restrained by Willy Aybar.

Here is the video via Timothy Burke and The Big Lead…

And to make matters worse, Upton proceeded to get picked off first base in the bottom half of the inning. Something we have seen far too many times.

We have tried to defend Upton in the past, but this one is indefensible. And it is nice to see Longoria letting Upton know that laziness is unacceptable.

Jun 25

Rays Get No-Hit…Again

Edwin Jackson 25 Comments »

And for the third time in less than a year, the Rays were no-hit. This wasn’t a perfect game, but this one might have been more painful as it came from the right arm of former Ray Edwin Jackson. Jackson walked 8, hit another batter and threw a whopping 149 pitches.

A few notes on the no-hitter….

  • Jackson’s 149 pitches are the most ever for a no-hitter*. The previous high was 138, by Randy Johnson and Sandy Koufax.
  • Jackson is just the 10th pitcher to walk at least 7 batters during a no-hitter.
  • His 8 walks were one shy of the record for a 9-inning no-hitter. AJ Burnett walked 9 during his no-no back in 2001. Jim Maloney walked 10 during a 10-inning no-hitter back in 1919.
  • In the last 10 seasons, only Livan Hernandez threw more pitches in a game (150 on 6/3/05). Randy Johnson also threw 149 pitches in a start on 7/31/02.
  • It was the 53rd time in the last 20 years that a pitcher threw at least 149 pitches. The highest total was Tim Wakefield, who threw 172 pitches in a start back in 1993.
  • Of Jackson’s 149 pitches, 70 were out of the strikezone. That is the most since David Cone threw 72 balls (of 142 pitches) on 7/6/92.
  • This was the 22nd no-hitter in which the pitcher hit a batter. The most hit batters in a no-hitter is two, done twice.
  • Jackson’s 140th pitch was 95mph.
  • Matt Joyce, for whom Jackson was traded, went 0-4 in his first start of the season.

Hey, if you are going to lose, you might as well make an ass out of yourself doing it. How else are the Rays supposed to be featured on “SportsCenter”?

*Not all no-hitters have pitch count data. 54 have pitch counts, and Jackson’s 149 is the most among those.

Jun 25

Maddon Is Committed To The Stirrups

Joe Maddon, Stirrup Power 7 Comments »

A wise man once said, “never f*** with a winning streak.” Ok, so the Rays winning streak is only one. But every great winning streak must start somewhere. And the end of the Rays recent three-game slide coincided with the debut of the striped stirrups.

So it is great news (via Roger Mooney) to hear that Joe Maddon will wear his ‘rups again tonight…

“My socks (stirrups) will be there (today),” he said. “I am making a commitment to the sock.”

Let’s just hope the players follow his lead.

Jun 25

Why Is Evan Longoria’s Bobblehead Gap-Toothed?

David Price, Evan Longoria 15 Comments »

The image below is from The Trop and represents the bobbleheads of Evan Longoria and David Price that will be given out during upcoming games. Don’t worry, the mustache on King Davis is a prankster’s addition. But the gap-teeth on Dirtbag’s is not.

 

OK, so Longoria does have a small space between his two front teeth. Just seems like a strange feature to accentuate on a bobblehead.

Jun 25

Rafael Soriano Almost Let His Guard Down (Video)

MFIKY!, Rafael Soriano 3 Comments »

Here is an interview with Rafael Soriano that took place before a recent game. The interview itself is not important (it’s in Spanish), but if you forward to about the 35-second mark you will see MFIKY almost crack a smile. Almost. We’re convinced the next time he does smile, it will be the first time.

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