Uber-prospect Jeremy Hellickson will make his big league debut on Monday against the Twins as a starting pitcher ( wait, we thought the Rays were “monitoring his workload“?) Marc Topkin reports that the move is just to give the rotation an extra day of rest. Hellickson may just make one start and then be sent back to Durham.
Strange goings on. Decent starting pitching. Awful result.
That’s pretty much what Joe feels after watching the Yankmees beat the Rays tonight.
It wasn’t like Matt Garza was horrible. He only gave up five hits. Any other night, that’s damn fine pitching. Problem was they were all extra-base hits!
If that wasn’t strange enough, the day began and ended with Twilight Zone-like news.
Last night Joe chastised the Rays beat writers for ignoring 21st century technology, Twitter to be specific, and not following up on unconfirmed rumors that Grant Balfour was escorted by security out of the Rays clubhouse. Some 12 hours later we find out Balfour was hurt “horsing around” with pitching coach Jim Hickey.
Hhhmm. “Horsing around?” Really? OK, let’s just assume (because assuming is fun) those unconfirmed Twitter rumors were accurate. Then someone define “horsing around.”
Feel free to speculate.
Now Balfour in Read the rest of this entry »
There were a lot of crazy (and highly exaggerated) stories floating around about Grant Balfour following last night’s game. And today, Balfour was placed on the DL to make room for Chad Qualls. Now we know why (via The Heater)…
Rays reliever Grant Balfour hurt (intercostal strain) as result of a freak injury, involving horseplay w/pitching coach Jim Hickey on field before Friday game…Manager Joe Maddon called it “a freaky, fluky thing,” said such on-field horseplay is common, won’t be banned.
Serenity Now!
The Rays already made one move this morning, picking up reliever Chad Qualls from the Diamondbacks. We will use this thread to keep you updated on any rumors the rest of the day. You can also follow us on Twitter where we include all the rumors as well as the thoughts and opinions of members of the media.
[4:20 pm] Marc Topkin just called it. Time of death for any other deals is 4:20: “No other deals for Rays today.”
[3:59 pm] Closing in on the deadline and Marc Topkin says it is “unlikely [Rays] make a deal.” Ken Rosenthal is reporting that Adam Dunn is going to stay with the Nationals. And Dan Connolly is hearing that teams “haven’t been too aggressive” for Luke Scott and that the O’s are probably looking for a big return.
[3:25 pm] Here is where trade deadline news gets nutty…First we hear from Jayson Stark that the Rays are not likely to land Brandon League from the Mariners and that the Rays are “unlikely to make another deal today.” But just a few minutes later, Tom Krasovic reports that the Rays are “in the mix” for Luke Scott from the Orioles.
[2:17 pm] Two hours to go and the chatter is Read the rest of this entry »
One year ago on Rays Index we caught a Rays security guard openly rooting for the Yankees at The Trop.
Tampa Bay Rays Employee Openly Roots For Yankees [Rays Index]
Four years ago on Rays Index we argued that the local media was blowing BJ Upton’s quotes way out of proportion.
The Irresponsible Reporting Of The Tampa Tribune And The St. Pete Times [Rays Index]
[UPDATE] The Rays have placed Grant Balfour on the DL with a rib strain. Qualls will take Balfour’s spot on the roster.
[UPDATE] The Rays just announced that Qualls will be in uniform tonight. They will announce a corresponding move prior to the game.
[6:27am] The Rays have picked up relief pitcher Chad Qualls from the Diamondbacks for a player to be named later. Qualls will be a free agent after the season and the Rays are responsible for the entire $1.5 million remaining on his contract.
Qualls has an 8.29 ERA in 38 innings this season with 34 strikeouts and 15 walks. His FIP is 4.30 which suggests he has been unlucky but even that number is not very good.
The key number might be that opponents have a .434 batting average on balls in play (BABIP). That number should be closer to .300. A horrible BABIP can sometimes be blamed on poor defense behind the pitcher, but in the case of Arizona, they are a good defensive team. So again, maybe he has just been unlucky. Very unlucky. Or maybe the Rays just picked up a new “down 9-2 guy.”
Joe is so giddy over the Rays win he doesn’t know where to begin? It was the Holy Trinity of baseball tonight: pitching, defense and a key hit.
* Wade Davis: Was this his best outing? Hard to argue. Once he got past the first, he was simply dominant. Joe has written before Davis could carry the Rays a long way until/unless James “No Game” Shields has proven he has put his awful pitching woes behind him.
Joe cannot write just how great that is to see a No. 4 pitcher come out against a team with the best record in baseball and shut them down for six innings. As strong as the Rays bullpen is, Rays pitchers only need to get through seven innings.
Nice job Wade! Keep it up!
* While Joe has been a bit difficult on Carlos Pena at times for his penchant for imitating Rob Deer with his strikeout-or-homer offense, Joe has never wavered that Pena is one of the best defensive first basemen in baseball and maybe the best.
Pena diving to his right and throwing Read the rest of this entry »
[Update] Now Adam Dunn is telling people that he is open to DHing for the rest of the season. Meanwhile, Andrew Friedman says there is “less than 50 percent” chance a trade will happen.
[Update] The Yankees are no longer in the Adam Dunn sweepstakes, and have now turned their attention to Lance Berkman. Richard Justice says the Rays are also interested in Berkman. Meanwhile, Jon Heyman says White Sox are trying to get Dunn without trading Edwin Jackson, but Bob Nightengale reports that Jackson is part of the package being offered to the Nationals.
[Update] Big League Stew reports (via Twitter)that the White Sox sent out an email to their fans announcing the Jackson trade and brings up a good question: “Would they do that if he’s destined for the Piazza-Marlins treatment (about to be flipped to another team)?” So maybe the Rays are still players for Adam Dunn.
[Update] Edwin Jackson has been traded again. This time Read the rest of this entry »
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