Jan 26
Archive for the 'Ben Zobrist' Category
Jan 13
Our correspondent Jordi Scrubbings is back with his latest…
There are very few Rays players more fascinating than Ben Zobrist. We in the Rays community know his story: marginally successful utility player tinkers with his swing and becomes one of the most under the radar versatile all-round all-stars in baseball today. I’ve even written about Zobrist before in regards to his fan base.
The problem with Zobrist is that he has a low “gut factor”, a term coined this week by acclaimed Sports Illustrated writer Joe Posnanski. Gut factor is the feel fans have for a player. In Posnanski’s article, new Hall of Famer Barry Larkin is said to have had a low “gut factor” in that he didn’t “feel” like a Hall of Famer while he was playing, but upon further look, Larkin’s career belongs in the class with other Hall of Fame shortstops.
Ben Zobrist suffers from low gut factor in the same way Larkin did. He doesn’t “look” like one of the best players in the American League, but upon further look, he definitely is. Interestingly enough as well, after their first three full seasons, Ben Zobrist actually had a higher Wins Above Replacement (WAR) than Barry Larkin did.
WAR:
Zobrist (2009-2011): 15.2
Larkin (1988-1990): 14.8
(True, Ben Zobrist was three years older than Larkin when he had his first three seasons. I’m definitely not saying Zobrist will continue to have a better career than Barry Larkin. The odds that Zobrist keeps up 10 more years of consistently high WAR as Larkin did are quite low.)
This past weekend, I watched the Pittsburgh Steelers play the Denver Broncos. I haven’t watched much football this season and when I have turned it on, it always seems the Bucs are down 35 to 0. But I watched this weekend’s playoff games. Which means I watched Tim Tebow. Although the Nole fan in me can’t root for Tim Tebow, I do understand he has done some pretty amazing things as a quarterback in the NFL.
What I don’t understand however, is the hype that surrounds Tebow. People cannot stop talking about him. Yes, he has made some Read the rest of this entry »
Dec 28
[THE HANGOVER] The One Where We Discuss Fielder’s Contract Demand, And Love For The Rays From An Unlikely Source
Ben Zobrist, David Price, Prince Fielder, Sam Fuld 10 Comments »
- Off-Season (click image for random Wikipedia page)
Scott Boras called a report that Prince Fielder would accept a three-year deal “inaccurate and delusional.”
“Not only is that inaccurate and delusional, but it seems that some people have gotten into their New Year’s Eve stash just a little bit early this year…It appears some baseball people are just bored…That’s when you hear ideas like that floated.”
This is in response to a report in which “several GMs” told Peter Gammons that they thought Fielder would be willing to accept a three-year deal with an average annual value greater than Albert Pujols’ new deal ($25M/yr).
While Boras poo-poos the report. It is not clear yet where Fielder is going to get the $200 million contract he is reportedly seeking.
THE JUNKYARD DOGS WEBTOPIA…
- Buster Olney calls the Rays rotation the second best in the baseball. [ESPN]
- The Rays final game of the regular season was called one of the “Best Games/Events of 2011″ by SI.com. Derek Jeter’s 3000th hit (off of David Price) also makes the list. [SI.com]
- Ben Zobrist’s big double-header in April (7-10, 3 2B, 2 HR, 10 RBI) was picked as the “Performance of the Year” by David Schoenfield of ESPN.com. [ESPN]
- Sam Fuld receives honorable mention Read the rest of this entry »
Nov 21
Justin Verlander of the Detroit Tigers won the 2011 American League Most Valuable Player Award receiving 13 of the 28 first-place votes. In all, six different players received a first place vote showing how wide-open the field was.
Three Rays were represented in the voting, with Evan Longoria receiving the most attention with his tenth place finish. He received two fourth place votes and was named on eight different ballots. Ben Zobrist finished 16th, receiving two votes, including one fifth-place vote. And James Shields finished 18th, appearing on six ballots. However, his highest vote was a single ninth place vote.
This was the third time that three Rays received votes in the MVP voting. It is the fourth straight year that Longoria has received votes and the second time in Zobrist’s career.
- 2011 — Evan Longoria (10th), Ben Zobrist (16th), James Shields (18th)
- 2010 — Evan Longoria (6th), Carl Crawford (7th), Rafael Soriano (12th)
- 2009 — Ben Zobrist (8th), Evan Longoria (19th)
- 2008 — Carlos Pena (9th), Evan Longoria (11th), Jason Bartlett (18th)
- 2007 — Carlos Pena (9th)
- 2006 — Carl Crawford (26th)
- 2005 — Jorge Cantu (27th)
- 2003 — Aubrey Huff (24th)
Here are the voting results… Read the rest of this entry »
Nov 04
“Going to Bat for Vermont Farmers” is an auction that will be held next week to benefit the farming victims of Hurricane Irene. Items included in the auction come from a who’s who of the baseball world, including Albert Pujols, CC Sabathia, and David Wright.
Joining that group is a couple of members of the Tampa Bay Rays.
Ben Zobrist and BJ Upton have contributed autographed baseballs. And Evan Longoria has donated an autographed jersey.Bidding is already open on the items (see the links below).
Oct 05
Over at Business Insider, we took a look at the most productive players in baseball and compared that to the salries of those players to make a list of baseball’s biggest bargains. Both Evan Longoria and Ben Zobrist made the list. [Business Insider]
Sep 30
Rays ALDS Roster Now Set
Ben Zobrist, Elliot Johnson, Jeff Niemann, Jose Lobaton, Wade Davis 13 Comments »The Rays announced their roster for the ALDS and there are some surprises. In the bullpen, Joe Maddon kept Wade Davis instead of Jeff Niemann. Not the biggest upset ever, but Niemann has proven that he can be dominant in short relief stints. It is possible that Niemann is not healthy.
Also, Maddon chose to go with three catchers, keeping Jose Lobaton. This leaves a big question mark in right field versus lefty starters, something the Rangers will use in three or four of the games in this series.
Without Brandon Guyer or Justin Ruggiano, it would seem that Ben Zobrist will be in right field versus lefties, even though he hasn’t started a game there in over a month. And if Zobrist is in right field, who is at second base? Sean Rodriguez is the obvious answer. But that means Elliot Johnson is the Rays starting shortstop. Yay?
Another possibility is that Zobrist stays at second base, and either Sam Fuld or Matt Joyce is in right field against the lefties. But that seems unlikely.
Sep 18
In the Rays most important game of the season, the Rays got out to an early lead on Ben Zobrist’s 2-run home run in the first inning off of Jon Lester. But should it have been a home run? Not in most parks, according to Lester (thanks Sarah)…
“We got a 300-foot fly ball that goes out for a homer, that’s the difference of the game…That’s the joy of playing in Fenway Park. It takes some away, it gives some to other guys. So, if we’re in Tropicana, that’s an out, 0-0 after the first.
So Lester claims that he made a good pitch, gets a routine flyball, and the Rays score two runs in the most important game of the year. Any mention of this on the four-letter’s Sportscenter last night? Nah. But by all means, let’s spend 30 minutes trashing the Trop after a foul ball breaks a light.
In the meantime, Lester can’t complain. He knows how Fenway plays. Sure that is a good pitch anyhere else. But it is not a good pitch at Fenway.
Sep 06
[THE HANGOVER] The One Where We Discuss Greater The Great, And Sonny’s Pending Return To The Rotation
Andy Sonnanstine, Ben Zobrist, David Price, James Shields, Jeremy Hellickson 5 Comments »
- Rays 5, Rangers 1 (click image for boxscore)
The GBT – The Good, The Bad and The Telling sandwich, where The Bad is nice and lean and the The Telling is ripe.
THE GOOD: What Is Left To Say? James the Greater, being James the Greater. Yet another complete game, with 124 pitches, and 85 for strikes. And of course, it was the changeup. A whopping 41 changes, 28 for strikes, including 9 swinging. It was his 11th complete game, and the 14th for the Rays. Shields is the first pitcher since 1999 to have 11 complete games in a single season. And the reason Joe Maddon is OK with Shields going over 110 pitches for the 12th time this year and over 120 pitches for the 3rd time, is because Shields is cruising through these wins, without a need to go max effort and put extra stress on the arm. Where was this guy in last year’s playoffs?…Two Out Runs. The Rays are only hitting .223 with 2 outs this season, but yesterday, both Evan Longoria and BJ Upton homered with the bases empty and 2 outs. A team is only expected to score in those situations less than 10 percent of the time (think just the opposite of bases loaded with no outs), so both of those runs were like bonus runs.
THE BAD: The Big Snooze. With four weeks remaining, 7 teams have at least a 97 percent chance of making the playoffs, and the 8th (Rangers) is sitting at 86.3 percent. That means there is an 80.1 percent chance that all 8 playoff spots have already been decided. If the last month of the regular season fell in a forest, would it make a sound?
THE TELLING: Ben Zobrist returned to the lineup after missing two games with a minor neck injury…Evan Longoria has 4 errors in the past 7 games…If Jeremy Hellickson does get shut down after 3 or 4 more starts, that means Andy Sonnanstine will likely make 2-3 starts to wind up the season.
THE JUNKYARD DOGS WEBTOPIA…
- Who needs Jim Hickey when James Shields can teach David Price how to throw a changeup? [TampaBay.com]
- Jeremy Hellickson is likely to be shutdown once he hits about 180 innings (he is at 164.1 innings pitched so far). That leaves him 2 or 3 more starts this season, and would put him in line for a full load of 200 inning mark next season. [TampaBay.com]
- Anwar S. Richardson writes about the Rays
Read the rest of this entry »
Sep 03
[THE HANGOVER] The One Where We Discuss Coming Undone, A Look At Lobaton, And JoeMa’s New Goal
Ben Zobrist, Jose Lobaton, Lee Roy Selmon 4 Comments »
- Rays 7, Indians 0 (click image for boxscore)
The GBT – The Good, The Bad and The Telling sandwich, where The Bad is nice and lean and the The Telling is ripe.
THE GOOD: Cleaning Up. He is still not getting a lot of hits, but it seems that every time he does, he is driving in a run or two. Last night his double in the first gave the Rays an early 2-0 lead, that would hold until the 7th inning.
THE BAD: Coming Undone. David Price cruised through the first 6 innings, retiring 18 of the first 21 he faced with 10 strikeouts. In one stretch, he retired 15 of 16 with half of those batters going down on strikes. But then everything unraveled in the 7th. with 1 out and a runner on first and a 1-2 count to Mark Reynolds, Price then threw 7 of the next 8 pitches out of the strikezone, walking back-to-back batters and loading the bases. A sac fly and 2 singles later, the Rays 2-0 lead is now a 3-2 deficit…Coming Undone part 2. After scoring 2 in the first and getting a leadoff double from Jose Lobaton in the second, only 3 of the next 22 batters would reach base, and two of those were retired on double-plays. As fans, we can watch Price and think he isn’t giving up any runs. As a hitter, you can’t do that.
THE TELLING: Ben Zobrist had to leave the game early with stiffness in his neck…The Durham Bulls clinched their 5th straight division title…The Rays chances of making the playoffs have now fallen below 1 percent.
THE JUNKYARD DOGS WEBTOPIA…
- Jose Lobaton is going to get a nice long look in September. [TampaBay.com]
- Joe Maddon is still dreaming of a playoff spot. But if that can’t happen, his next goal is the third best record in the AL. [Rays Report]
- Bucs great Lee Roy Selmon suffered a stroke yesterday. Afterwards, there was an unfortunate situation caused by Selmon’s own PR staff in which it was reported that Selmon had died. [Business Insider]
DOWN ON THE FARM…
- DURHAM 4, Norfolk 1: Matt Moore struck out Read the rest of this entry »
