Archive for the 'Jake McGee' Category

Sep 29

Joy, Jubilation, and the Sheer Exuberance of Victory

Baltimore Orioles, BJ Upton, Boston Red Sox, Cheap is as cheap does, Chicks dig the longball, Cowbells, Dan Johnson, David Price, Evan Longoria, F*ck the Heck?, Feed your mind, Insane in the membrane, Jake McGee, Joe Maddon, joel peralta, Johnny Damon, Jordi Scrubbings, Karma is a bitch, Lifestyles of the rich famous and good looking, Magic Number, Memories, New York Yankees, Other teams envious of Rays payroll, Pink Hat Nation, Pink Sox Nation, Playoffs?, Putting us in our place, Rays look good in glass slippers, Tampa Bay Rays, there are no rules, Things that make us giddy, Too early to open a beer?, Victory!, Walk-off win, Walk-off wins make us giddy, Your thoughts please Jordi Scrubbings 6 Comments »

Our correspondent Jordi Scrubbings was at the game last night. Here is his report. You can also here Jordi tonight on “The Sully Baseball Show” which can be heard HERE…

When I was a younger, I rooted heart and soul for the New York Mets. My dad was a Mets fan and I followed in his footsteps. One of my fondest memories of my dad and I’s shared fandom was when Mookie Wilson’s grounder rolled through Bill Buckner’s legs in Game 6 of the World Series. Being young and skinny, my dad gave me a big hug and swung my around the living room. Although I was a happy new fan, he was overjoyed. The Mets lived to see another day.

Here I am today the roughly same age my dad was in 1986.  The Rays have in many ways replaced the Mets as my true heart’s desire. The Mets are my first fan love and I will never forget them, but since 2007 day-in and day-out I’ve ridden with the Rays.

Although the Rays have made the Read the rest of this entry »

Sep 19

[THE HANGOVER] The One Where We Discuss A Pennant Race, Jake’s Big Effort, And Price Taking A Bullet

David Price, Jacoby Ellsbury, Jake McGee, Mike Ekstrom, Rob Delaney Cork Gaines 17 Comments »
Click Here For Boxscore
Rays 8, Red Sox 5 (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: GAME ON! We will be the first to admit it. We wrote this team off weeks ago. Hell, we wrote them off about five times, with the most recent happening a week ago when this same team lost 2 of 3 to the Orioles. But here we are. The Rays did what they needed to do. They won 3 of 4 in Fenway. And now there are ten (10!) games left and the Rays are just 2 back. That is still a lot with so few games to play and none head-to-head. CoolStandings.com still gives the Rays only an 8.5% chance to make the playoffs. But as a great man once said, “Never tell me the odds!”…Speed Kills. After the Red Sox had just cut the lead in half to 4-2. Desmond Jennings led off the 5th with single. He stole second, move to third on a wild pitch and then scored on a passed ball…Bullpen. Or specifically, Jake McGee. With David Price pulled early, McGee came in and gave his teammates 2.2 innings of relief, retiring the first 8 batters he faced and keeping the explosive Red Sox lineup in check…Terry Francona. Tito left Tim Wakefield in the game for a long time. After the Red Sox cut the lead to 4-2, Francona stuck with Wakefield in the 5th, when he gave up 2 more runs, effectively killing the Red Sox hopes. Boston does have a double-header today, and you have to wonder if Francona was more concerned about saving his bullpen for those games than he was about winning this game.

THE BAD: Taking a Bullet. David Price took a shot off his right shoulder/chest area in the 3rd inning. He stayed in the game, and his fastball was still touching 96. But he did not look comfortable on the mound and was pulled after the 4th. Let’s hope there are no lasting effects…Still A Lot Of Work Left. There are only 10 games left, but 7 of those are against the Yankees. Meanwhile, the Red Sox have 7 left against the Orioles. Realistically, the Rays need the Sox to lose at least 4 games. It won’t be easy.

THE TELLING: The Red Sox had 2 wild pitches, 4 passed balls and a hit batter…The Rays are now 12-6 against the Red Sox this season, their best mark ever against Boston…The Rays are now 43-2 when they score at least 6 runs…The Rays are 17-15 in games started by David Price. Last year they were 24-8…Both Rob Delaney and Mike Ekstrom accepted their minor league assignments after being removed from the 40-man roster last week…Rays pitchers held the Red Sox to a .189 average this season. That is the worst mark for the Red Sox against a single AL foe since 1901…Ben Zobrist will miss Tuesday’s game to attend the birth of his second child.

THE JUNKYARD DOGS WEBTOPIA…

  • Joe Maddon says David Price is “fine” and is expected to make his next start. [The Heater]
  • Roger Mooney writes about Joel Peralta and how he is thriving as the Rays newest non-closer closer. [TBO.com]
  • The Devil Rays drafted Jacoby Ellsbury in 2002, but he turned them down and went to college. [Projo.com]
  • That other team. You know, the one that actually plays in Tampa, also had a big win yesterday. Don’t forget to check in with Joe for all the news you need. [Joe Bucs Fan]
Aug 27

Postgame Shot Of Joe: Winning As Yanks Tread Water

Jake McGee, JP Howell Joe Rays Fan 3 Comments »

The bullpen reared its scary head in Toronto, sans Kyle Farnsworth, and held on today to put the Rays seven back of the Yankees in the Wild Card chase.

Obviously, the bullpen was more rested than any history. Then why did Joe Maddon pull J.P. Howell for Jake McGee — lefty for lefty — to open the eighth after Howell went six pitches (two outs) to close the seventh? Howell had given up just one hit over his previous nine outings.

Surely Howell was capable of more. And right on cue, McGee served up a gopher ball and put the Jays back in the game.

Oh, well. There’s no use questioning everyone’s favorite manager, especially after a win. The team is confident and swinging the big boy sticks, and it’s certainly not Maddon’s fault the Rays left another pile of runners on base to keep the game close.

It was interesting to see that during today’s in-broadcast sales pitch for 2012 season tickets, there was no offer dangling priority purchasing for 2011 playoff tickets, which is pretty standard for any team in a pennant race. Shouldn’t the Rays believe? Or at least put that vibe out there? Matt Silverman needs to smack someone for that.

And speaking of the Yankees, their pitching is imploding and a slew of Hurricane Irene rainouts and other lost games leave them with an overloaded schedule of epic proportions.

Assuming the fix isn’t in and Major League Baseball doesn’t find a way to give the Yanks a break somehow, the whole scenario can only help the Rays.

Oh, the glorious potential irony of the Yanks getting screwed by the Rays, in part, because they don’t play in a rickety old dome.

Aug 08

[THE HANGOVER] The One Where We Discuss More Magic, McGee’s Bad Matchup, And Price’s Lack Of Control

Alex Cobb, Cesar Ramos, Derek Dietrich, Jake McGee, Kyle Farnsworth, Reid Brignac Cork Gaines 9 Comments »
Click Here For Boxscore
A’s 5, Rays 4 (10) (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: Casey Kotchman. Three more magical hits for Kotch including his 6th home run. He also just missed a second home run when he hit a line drive to the warning track…Des Jennings. Flash was on base 3 more times with 3 singles…Kyle Farnsworth. In 2010 Rafael Soriano was worth 1.6 Wins (WAR) and cost $7.5 million. This year, the Rays are paying Farnsworth $2.6M and he’s on pace for 1.5 WAR. Seems like a fair trade to us.

THE BAD: Jake McGee. Josh Willingham can’t do a lot. But he can mash fastballs. In the last 3 seasons, Willingham has been worth 33.8 runs above average on fastballs alone. McGee came in to the game to start the 10th with Willingham leading off. McGee threw him 6 straight fastballs, the last of which was of the 350-foot variety to give the A’s the lead for good…David Price. Price didn’t even finish the 5th inning, giving up 4 runs. He did strike out 7, but it took him 110 pitches to get there struggling with his control. Of his 110 pitches, 45 were balls.

THE TELLING: Alex Cobb went on the DL and Cesar Ramos was recalled from Durham…SS prospect Derek Dietrich (single-A Bowling Green) hit his 16th HR. That is tops in the minors among middle infielders…John Jaso will begin a rehab assignment in Durham that will last at least 2 weeks…Don’t be shocked if Alex Cobb is shut down for the rest of the season even if his hand injury is not serious.

THE JUNKYARD DOGS WEBTOPIA…

  • Alex Cobb says his arm has a “dead arm” feel to it. [TampaBay.com]
  • Bill Chastain writes about the Rays sudden surplus of catchers. [MLB]
  • Rays Prospects takes a look at how the draft picks from 2008 and 2009 are faring this year. [Rays Prospects]
  • Yesterday we showed you a pic of poor Reid Brignac wearing
    Read the rest of this entry »
Jul 16

[THE HANGOVER] The One Where We Discuss A Real Catcher, McGee’s Return, And Price’s Longballs

Cameron Seitzer, David Price, Jake McGee, Jose Lobaton, Love For Lobaton Cork Gaines 10 Comments »
Click Here For Boxscore
Rays 9, Red Sox 6 (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: Jose Lobaton. If you missed the 9th inning last night. Oh Mama. A real catcher. We can’t emphasize enough how good (and natural) Lobaton looked behind the plate. Honestly, we can’t remember the last Rays catcher that looked as comfortable. Flexible. Low base. Wide stance. Weight on the balls of the feet. Nice low target. And not only will he receive a better game, but his style will give the pitchers more confidence. Right now, we don’t care what this guy hits. He is a real catcher! Please Andrew, find a way to keep this one. The Rays will be better for it…Ben Zobrist. Grand Slam. Blah, blah, blah. But can he catch!?! Love for Lobaton!…Jake McGee. Joe Maddon said before the game that he will ease McGee back into the mix but that at some point McGee will be in the mix for late-inning high-leverage situations. And seeing McGee hit 96 on the gun last night as he struck out the only batter he faced was a good sign.

THE BAD:  Prince Price. C’mon David. Home runs to Darnell McDonald and Jacoby Ellsbury? And three home runs total? Ellsbury was just the third lefty to hit a home run off of Price ever. But it was also the second this season. And notice that when Dustin Pedroia got Price in the 6th inning, it was the third time he had faced Price in the game. And when Pedroia hit the home run, it was the 16th pitch he had seen from Price and the 15th fastball. 15 fastballs to one player. Even Reid Brignac could hit a home run if saw 15 fastballs from one pitcher in the same game.

THE TELLING: The Rays are now 3.5 games behind the Yankees for a playoff spot…Alex Torres was pulled after just 2 innings for triple-A Durham. This indicates that the Rays are not sure if they want a lefty (Torres) or a righty (Alex Cobb) for the Yankees series…Ben Zobrist’s grand slam was the 5th of his career. That is a new Rays record. It was also the 50th grand slam in Rays/Devil Rays history (h/t Mark Simon of ESPN.com ).

THE JUNKYARD DOGS WEBTOPIA…

Jul 15

Surprise! Shields And Farnsworth Were Top Arms In First Half

Jake McGee, James Shields, JP Howell, Kyle Farnsworth Cork Gaines 1 Comment »

Yesterday we looked the Rays biggest first-half bats. Well, we can also use WPA to look at which pitchers came through when it mattered the most so far this season.

In short, WPA gives the pitchers points for a good play and takes away points for bad plays. The amount of points depends on how much of an impact that play had on the Rays winning the game (for an intro to WPA, please check yesterday’s post).

Here are the pitchers so far this season…

James Shields has been the Rays most important pitcher, by far. Of course, that is no surprise.

An interesting thing to look at here is the differences between relievers and starters. We always work under the assumption that starting pitchers are more important than relievers because they work far more innings.

However, the outs later in the game can be far more important than the outs early in the game. And if a relief pitcher is given regular work in high-leverage situations, they can have just as much of an impact as some starters.

For example, Kyle Farnsworth has been the Rays second most important pitcher so far this season. One thing that helps Farnsworth is Joe Maddon’s trust. Unlike Rafael Soriano, Farnsworth has come into several games this season in the 8th inning with runners on base. Those outs tend to be far more valuable than the leadoff hitters in the 9th inning with a 2- or 3-run lead.

Of course, if the reliever sucks, those negative points can add up. And we see that with Andy Sonnanstine (although some of that was as a starter), JP Howell, Adam Russell, Jake McGee, and Cesar Ramos, the Rays five pitchers that have hurt the team the most.

We can also scale these values to get a better sense of who is making the most of their opportunities. Here is the WPA per 9 innings…

And now we can really see how important those late inning outs can be, with the good (Farnsworth) and the bad (McGee).

And we also see which relievers should be getting the ball in critical situations (Farnsworth, Juan Cruz) and who shouldn’t (Howell, Ramos, Russell). Then again, most of you guys probably already knew that. But at least we have numbers now to prove it.

May 01

[THE HANGOVER] The One Where We Discuss Shields’ Dominance, Not-So-Super Sam, And A Big League Debut For Cobb

Alex Cobb, David Price, Jake McGee, James Shields Cork Gaines 3 Comments »

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: James Shields. Anybody still think Shields’ performance is all luck? Another 8 innings, 1 run, 6 hits, 12 Ks and only 1 walk. He once again leaned heavily on his curve and change showing this his newfound success may be attributed to a new approach. In his last 3 starts, Shields has thrown 26 innings, giving up just 2 runs on 14 hits and 4 walks, with 28 Ks…Kelly Shoppach. The Rays one huge defensive inefficiency this season has been the inability to throw out basestealers. But in the 8th, with the Rays still protecting a 1-0 lead, Shoppach came through after Shields gave up a leadoff single…Matt Joyce. His solo home run looked for a while like it would be enough. It was his second straight game with a home run. He then scored the game-winner in the 10th on a wild pitch.

THE BAD: Unconventional DP. With 1 run in already in the 5th, and the Rays threatening to break the game open with runners on first and third and just 1 out, Joe Maddon had Felipe Lopez moving with the pitch. The result was Kelly Shoppach striking out and Lopez being called out at second base on batter’s interference. So in an attempt to avoid the double-play, Maddon ran right into one…Kryptonite. Sam Fuld is mired in an 0-18 skid.

THE TELLING: Alex Cobb will indeed start today’s game, making his big league debut. Jake McGee was demoted to triple-A and must stay in the minors for at least 10 days before he can be recalled…It took the Rays 18 games to go from 1-8 to tied for the Wild Card lead in the AL.

THE JUNKYARD DOGS WEBTOPIA…

Apr 18

[THE HANGOVER] The One Where We Discuss Hak-Ju’s Debut, McGee’s Return, And Defense Gone Bad

Hak-Ju Lee, Jake McGee, Jeff Niemann, Johnny Damon Cork Gaines 5 Comments »

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: Jake McGee. It was just 3 batters (2 flyouts, 1 single), but the good part was seeing the zip return on his fastball. McGee was consistently in the mid-90s with more than one fastball reaching 96.

THE BAD: Defense. The Twins had it (running catches in the outfield robbed the Rays of two extra-base hits) and the Rays did not. In the 5th inning and one run already in, the Twins scored a second run when Kelly Shoppach’s throw on a steal attempt went into center field. That was followed by another run when Ben Zobrist turning a single into a triple when he slid and the ball got by him…Even The Good Goes Bad. You know it is just not your day when on Johnny Damon’s RBI single, Sam Fuld was thrown out at 3rd base. And then Damon, one of the Rays’ hottest bats, had to be removed from the game after taking a pitch off his finger during a bunt attempt.

THE TELLING: Joe Maddon did not start Matt Joyce against the lefty even though Joyce had 4 multi-hit games in his last 5 starts. Joyce did replace Johnny Damon when he was removed from the game. Joyce went 0-2…Sam Fuld took the day off from the field, serving as DH.

THE JUNKYARD DOGS WEBTOPIA…

  • Johnny Damon is day-to-day with a finger bruise. [The Heater]
  • Marc Topkin says to not expect the Rays to add another bat anytime soon. One issue could be money. Topkin points out that Felipe Lopez and Casey Kotchman combined ($1.75M plus incentives) make nearly as much as Manny Ramirez saved the Rays (~$2M) by retiring. [TampaBay.com]
  • Is it a coincidence that Read the rest of this entry »
Apr 10

[THE HANGOVER] The One Where We Discuss A Great Catch, McGee’s Implosion, And The Manny Fallout

Jake McGee, Manny Ramirez, Sam Fuld Cork Gaines 15 Comments »

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: Sam Fuld. This little sparkplug is becoming quite the fun player to watch. And nothing will be more fun than his diving catch in the 4th inning in the right field corner that ended the inning and saved at least 3 runs and possibly prevented an inside-the-park grand slam. You can see the catch HERE…Wade Davis. Big Dub was his typical self. He was solid if not overpowering, and kept the Rays in the game giving up 2 runs in 6 innings.

THE BAD: Jake McGee. Another rough outing for McGee who right now looks like the one weak link in the bullpen. Yesterday he faced 4 batters, walking 2 and giving up the 2-run double in the 7th that essentially ended the game.

THE TELLING: Felipe Lopez hit a solo home run in the 9th inning and flipped his bat towards the mound. This led to some angry words from AJ Pierzynski. Lopez says it was unintentional and Joe Maddon said “that’s not something you really like to see.”

THE JUNKYARD DOGS WEBTOPIA…

Apr 03

[THE HANGOVER] The One Where We Discuss A New Bossman, An Anemic Offense, And Losing Longo

BJ Upton, Elliot Johnson, Jake McGee, James Shields Cork Gaines 19 Comments »

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: BJ Upton. Sometimes results is more than just ability or lack of it. If you have watched BJ Upton closely over the last couple of seasons, you saw a different BJ yesterday. When he is going well, maybe more than any other player on the Rays, you can just see his confidence change. He walks/stands more upright. His swing has more purpose. His face looks more determined. Who knows how long it will last. But right now, BJ’s head is where is needs to be…James Shields. We knew the offense was going to struggle at times. Well, we hope it is just “at times.” But if the Rays were to be successful this season, they needed a dominant James Shields. It was just one start, but last night he was dominant.

THE BAD: So Close. As bad as the offense has been, the Rays came within inches of tying the game in the 9th and within a couple of feet of winning it when Ben Zobrist had his long flyball caught at the wall to end the game…Offense Continues To Sputter. Last season, the Rays were held hitless for at least 5 innings on 8 different occasions (by our count). Last night was the first of 2011 as the Rays didn’t pick up their first hit until the 7th inning. It has now been 2 games, and the Rays have a total of 2 runs and 8 hits in 18 innings…Jake McGee. Want to know why McGee is not ready to be the closer? Fastballs alone won’t get the job done even if it is 97mph. It definitely won’t get the job done when it is your only good pitch and it is 92 mph, as it was to Brian Roberts who hit a 3-run home run…As If That Wasn’t Bad Enough. Evan Longoria was pulled from the game early with a “sore left oblique.”

THE TELLING: The way things are going, we fully expect Manny Ramirez to quit on this team at some point today…Elliot Johnson will start today. It will be his first start since April 20, 2008. Also Sean Rodriguez will start at 3B in Evan Longoria’s absense…Elliot Johnson was named the Rays top rookie in Spring Training, winning the Al Lopez award. It is the second time he has won the award.

THE JUNKYARD DOGS WEBTOPIA…

  • Evan Longoria hopes to avoid the DL, but is still expected to miss at least a week.  However, Joe Maddon wouldn’t rule out a DL stint saying Longo will be reevaluated today. [The Heater]
  • We may have linked Read the rest of this entry »
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