This post, which will appear before every game, will include starting lineups (when we learn them) and during the game will include a Game Graph that will constantly update the percent chance the Rays have of winning this particular game.
Game Graph…
[Will be up at game time]
Playing A Little Pepper…
Carlos Pena is batting leadoff tonight. Is this the right move?
Well, what ‘Los really needs is Evan Longoria in the lineup. Before Longo got hurt, Pena was hitting Read the rest of this entry »
The Happy Heckler was back last night for the second time this season. It was his usual schtick*, sitting in his old seats, and heckling Brett Lawrie of the Blue Jays.
* If you are not familiar, the Happy Heckler sits behind home plate, picks one player from the opposing lineup, and heckles that players each time he bats. The heckles are typically good-natured, and never vulgar. However, they are very loud. Robert Szasz used to be a season-ticket holder, and attended most games. He even wrote a book. However, the real estate developer was sued for defaulting on millions of dollars in loans following the 2008 season, and hadn’t been heard again at The Trop until earlier this season
But then something hit us. The television and radio crews for the visiting teams mention the Heckler (Robert Szasz) all the time. But we don’t recall the Rays television crew ever mentioning the Rays’ second most famous fan. So we asked around, and nobody else seems to recall his antics being mentioned either, whether by the current crew or even back in the day.
This shunning has to be a conscious decision. Even if they are just used to the antics, you would think they would mention him occasionally.
As we asked around, we came across some interesting notes. Most interesting is that Szasz was not only recognized by the old ownership group, but was used in promotions. Here’s a video we had never seen before that was produced by the Wall Street Journal during the 2008 World Series (via @reverendmalibu)…
So what changed? It appears that the Rays started ignoring Szasz long before his financial troubles. Was this a decision made by the announcers (past and present)? Is it an order that comes from above? Is this like networks not showing a streaker, to keep from encouraging others? Is the Heckler a sore point with Rays players who may find the noise annoying and distracting? Or is the Heckler just a sad reminder of a time when 8,000 people in the Trop was the rule rather than the exception?
If anybody knows more, we would love to hear it in the comments.
In the bottom of the first inning last night, BJ Upton hit a ball to center field that hit something. The ball was initially ruled a double, but after checking the replay, the ruling on the field was changed and Upton was awarded a home run.
Here’s where it gets weird. The umpires are only supposed to overturn their call if they see definitive evidence on the replay. And what the umpires actually saw changes depending on who is telling the story. It appears that the Rays’ media were told one story, and the Blue Jays’ media were told another.
According to Todd Kalas, what he was hearing from the umpires is that they did not see the ball hit anything, but know that it hit something beyond the B-ring. So they changed their call based on logic…
At this point, the Blue Jays TV crew had yet to hear an explanation, and were wondering aloud what the umpires could have seen.
Shortly thereafter, Rick Vaughn, the Rays vice president for communications, who can be seen above speaking directly with umpire Joe West, relayed the explanation to the rest of the media including the Blue Jays TV crew, who then relayed what they were told to the audience… Read the rest of this entry »
The Rays couldn’t take advantage of a wild Kyle Drabek, scoring just two runs off of the starter despite six walks. But as usual, there is always something interesting going on. Here are the highlights you won’t see on SportsCenter (via SunSports)…
BJ Upton hit something hanging from the roof and after review, the umpires ruled it was a home run
THE GOOD: This Is Why. Is there a looser team in baseball? As much as this team seems like they can’t get out of luck’s harmful ways, they are still having as much fun as ever. If you haven’t seen last night’s shenanigans, check out THIS LINK.
THE BAD: Bunting with 2 Strikes. Eventually this has got to work, right? Carlos Pena struck out again trying to bunt with 2 strikes, the 4th time he has done that this season. According to the Rays, he is just the 3rd player in last 26 years to do that 4 times in a season, and we aren’t even to Memorial Day yet…Brick Gloves. What is going on with this team defensively? Three more errors last night gives the Rays 38 on the season, tied with the Jays for the second-most in the American League.
THE TELLING: Jose Lobaton, who is about a week away from returning to the Rays, will now join the Durham Bulls to finish up his rehab assignment…The Rays still trail the Orioles by 2 games. At the other end, the Red Sox have now tied the Yankees for 4th place, just 3.5 games behind the Rays.
THE JUNKYARD DOGS WEBTOPIA…
Some fun GIFs at the bottom…
Jeff Keppinger was added to the DL as expected. Triple-A relief pitcher John Gaub was placed on waivers to make room for Drew Sutton on the roster. Keppinger is expected to be out 3-4 weeks. [TBO.com]
Here’s a look at the craziness that Hideki Matsui has brought to Durham. [Note to Self]
Matt Bush pled not guilty to the charges associated with the accident that left a motorcyclist in a coma. [TBO.com]
This post, which will appear before every game, will include starting lineups (when we learn them) and during the game will include a Game Graph that will constantly update the percent chance the Rays have of winning this particular game.
Jose Molina is hitting .181 with a .234 OBP and let’s face it, his defense hasn’t been great. He has 3 passed balls (although that number probably should be 6 or 7) and has only thrown out 3 of 13 base stealers. Is there any chance the Rays keep Chris Gimenez when Jose Lobaton comes back?
The Rays announced today that they have acquired Drew Sutton from the Pittsburgh Pirates for a player to be named later or cash. Sutton was traded to the Pirates from the Braves yesterday, where he was in triple-A.
Sutton was originally drafted by the Houston Astros in 2004 when Gerry Hunsicker was the GM.
With triple-A Geinnett, Sutton was hitting .270 with a .374 OBP in 38 games, playing mostly third base.
Sutton has spent parts of three seasons in the big leagues with the Reds, Indians, and Red Sox (2011) and can play all four infield positions and both corner outfield spots. He has hit .258 with three home runs in the majors.
The simple answer is “yes.” And that is why many people believe Hideki Matsui will likely be called up this week. But like many things, it’s not that simple.
Here’s a look Matsui’s career splits…
That is about as even as it ever gets for a left-handed batter. And in fact, in 2011, Matsui was better against lefties (.795 OPS) than righties (.654).
But let’s break it down a little further and look at his year-by-year Weighted On Base Average (like OPS but better. On a similar scale as OBP)…
Matsui’s wOBA versus right-handed pitchers is very consistent as we would expect (wOBA tends to be a better indicator of how a player will perform in the future because it tends to be more consistent from year-to-year for most batters). But if we look at his year-by-year wOBA versus lefties, we see a different picture, with his wOBA fluctuating anywhere from a weak .283 (in 2006) and an incredible .412 (in 2005). That is a big swing for wOBA.
So which Matsui will we see with the Rays? We know Matsui can hit lefties. But there have also been entire seasons in which he was dominated by lefties. With both Evan Longoria and Desmond Jennings on the disabled list, the Rays are hoping Matsui’s stock versus lefties is up this season.
As has become tradition, Major League Baseball and New Era will profit off of honor soldiers and veterans with special caps to be worn on Memorial Day and the Fourth of July.
This year’s version is lacking in both Stars and Stripes. We are not sure if that is an improvement or not.
This post, which will appear before every game, will include starting lineups (when we learn them) and during the game will include a Game Graph that will constantly update the percent chance the Rays have of winning this particular game.
