Apr 10
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 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 »
Mar 30
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: New Bullpen. Joel Peralta and Juan Cruz combined this spring for 20 innings, giving up just a single run. They struck out 21 and walked 11 (8 by Cruz)…Elliot Johnson. You’ve got to root for guys like Johnson who has spent 9 years in the minors. This spring he solidified his spot on the roster with 12 hits and 7 walks in just 45 plate appearances (.435 OBP), stole a team record 11 bases and played 7 different positions. He’ll never be Ben Zobrist. But he will be a nice player to have on the bench…Big Pop. This Rays team is not supposed to have a lot of power. But this spring, 6 different players hit at least 3 home runs including Dan Johnson and Kelly Shoppach, who combined for 8. If those two do anything worthwhile with the bat this season, it will be a bonus.
THE BAD: Adam Russell. Russell is out of options so his spot on the big league roster was never in doubt. But his spring performance leaves us worried. Despite a strong last outing, Russell finished the spring with 20 hits and 4 walks allowed in just 9 innings. At this point, we have to imagine that he is no more than just the designated “down 7-1″ guy in the bullpen.
THE TELLING: The Rays finished the Grapefruit League 14-14-2…James Shields, Jake McGee and Adam Russell pitched in a simulated game…Casey Kotchman and Felipe Lopez will report to triple-A Durham…It is looking less likely that the Rays will trade for a reliever, meaning Jake McGee and Cesar Ramos will make the opening day roster.
THE JUNKYARD DOGS WEBTOPIA…
- Johnny Damon and his wife are working with “Uncork for a Cause” to support the families of the St. Pete police officers that have died in the line of duty this year. [Rays Report]
- Michael Kruse takes a look at what Evan Longoria’s stolen AK-47 does for his image. [TampaBay.com]
- Joe Maddon says Evan Longoria’s AK-47 was “his choice.” [The Heater]
- Joe Smith profiles Cesar Ramos, who was one of Evan Longoria’s roommates in college. [TampaBay.com]
- It is unclear how this Read the rest of this entry »
Mar 18
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. For really the first time this spring, Joe Maddon gave McGee some legit work, pitching the 4th and 5th inning against the Yankees. And McGee did not disappoint, facing the minimum number of batters and allowing just 1 walk. If you are still hoping McGee will be on the opening day roster, this was the best sign yet.
THE BAD: Mike Ekstrom. His horrid spring continues. After falling behind 3-0 to Nick Swisher, he gave up a go-ahead 2-run home run to Nick Swisher.
THE TELLING: David Price pitched 5 innings in a minor league game…Joe Maddon finalized the starting rotation, with Wade Davis #3, Jeff Niemann #4 and Jeremy Hellickson #5. Picking Davis over Niemann at #3 is more about which one Maddon likes against the Orioles in the opening series, than it is about talent…Yogi Berra took a stumble before the game, and Joe Maddon was there for the assist.
THE JUNKYARD DOGS WEBTOPIA…
- On Monday at 6:30, Fox Sports Florida will premier the “2011 Tampa Bay Rays Season Preview” hosted by Todd Kalas.
- Several Rays worked out at the Trop on the new turf. The biggest concern is learning the speed, which apparently can be adjusted by changing the fill material. [TampaBay.com]
- Figure Filbert explores Read the rest of this entry »
Mar 15
Yesterday, we left Jake McGee off our opening day roster projection. And that left some people wondering why.
Today (via TampaBay.com), we get a look at what Joe Maddon is thinking and why McGee could start the year in the minors despite already being one of the Rays’ best bullpen options. It’s all about the slider…
Manager Joe Maddon said LHP Jake McGee is making good progress with one of his main objectives in camp: improving his slider…With McGee vying for one of the bullpen spots, developing that pitch is important, giving him another weapon to go with an overpowering fastball. McGee said he can now throw his slider just like his fastball, making it more difficult for hitters to pick up, and has confidence using it behind in the count.
“All of a sudden it’s got better break, better depth, better form,” Maddon said. “That could make him very good. … It can work against right-handers, also. If Jake continues to develop that slider, that makes him very, very interesting.”
“Could” is an interesting choice of words for Maddon. At this point, Maddon is saying McGee still has work to do before he will be an effective big league reliever.
There is still time left Read the rest of this entry »
Mar 05
The Princeton Rays have a great gallery of former players. Below are a few of those pictures. You can find the rest of the images on their Facebook page. [Princeton Rays Facebook]
Mar 04
- Tim Beckham
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. “Big Blast” Shields pitched 3 innings. That is good because apparently he wasn’t in the game long enough to work on his home run pitch. He finished with just one hit and 1 walk allowed. No runs, no Ks…Joe Cruz. Cruz made his spring debut a successful one with a 1-2-3 4th inning. Cruz hadn’t pitched in a game in 10 months after having surgery last year…Tim Beckham. Beckham started at shortstop and contributed a double a walk and drove in the Rays only run.
THE BAD: Freddy Garcia. Yes, Freddy Garcia, was the Yankees starting pitcher. And the players that could be in the Rays opening day starting lineup went 4-19.
THE TELLING: Another outing for Jake McGee against the minor leaguers. McGee pitched the 8th inning, giving up one unearned run. Right now it doesn’t look like Joe Maddon has any plans to have McGee on the opening day roster…Alex Torres, part of the Scott Kazmir trade, will start today against the Twins…Jeremy Hellickson threw a 44-pitch bullpen session that went well…Jeff Niemann will start a “B” game (an unofficial spring game) today to get some work in.
RANDOM THOUGHTS: Would anybody be surprised if Derek Jeter was a minority owner of the Rays?…One of Joe Maddon’s theme road trips will apparently be “skinny jeans.” This will be worth it just to see Kelly Shoppach and Jeff Niemann dressed like they are going to play at CBGBs (RIP)…Whatever happened to Willy Aybar? He apparently left his winter league team early and is still unsigned. In fact we haven’t even heard of any teams being interested. Seems strange for a guy with a decent OBP and can play several positions.
THE JUNKYARD DOGS WEBTOPIA…
- Johnny Damon met with the media yesterday and had some fun quotes, including how he will occasionally be Manny Ramirez’ spokesman. [The Heater]
- Is this the best evidence yet that the economy is the biggest factor in local sports attendance? Even the Yankees are having trouble filling their seats in Spring Training (thanks Thad). [ESPN]
- Gee, look who Read the rest of this entry »
Feb 23
Well, if you need help at the plate, there are probably worse people than Rod Carew. That is who BJ Upton has been working with, who will have a slightly different batting stance this year.
Upton also sounds like he is finally in a good mental place…
“Yeah, I was supposed to have that year two years ago,” Upton said. “I was supposed to have that year last year. I’ve gotten to the point where I just kind of block that out and go, ‘Go play’…It’s going to happen. I feel like I’m in a good place right now.”
There are some that think we should stop expecting greatness from Upton. We’re glad BJ isn’t one of them.
THE JUNKYARD DOGS WEBTOPIA…
- Sad story over the last 36 hours in St. Pete where a police officer was shot and killed. That officer was also a regular fixture as a security guard inside the Trop during Rays games. [TBO.com]
- Here is the Rays regular season TV schedule. [Rays Report]
- David Price will start the spring opener on Saturday. He will be followed by James Shields on Sunday and Jeff Niemann on Monday. Unless something unforeseen happens, that should be how the Rays open the regular season also.
- Jake McGee “thinks [he] can handle” being the closer….also Jeremy Hellickson hopes to be back on a mound by this weekend. [TampaBay.com]
- Well, this doesn’t bode well for those that want Jake McGee to close sooner, rather than later…When speaking about McGee’s pitches, Joe Maddon said: “If he wants to be a closer someday…”
- Ken Rosenthal: “The Rays’ bullpen figures to be a season-long work in progress.” [MLB Buzz]
Feb 22
Jake McGee appeared on MLB Network Radio yesterday and had a few things to say about his role in the bullpen and those competing for jobs…
On his role: In the off-season, they told me I was going to be starting and relieving. But when I got here, they told me I am going to be a reliever…I like relieving a lot better.
On the bullpen competition: [The bullpen is] pretty much an open competition for 3 or 4 spots.
THE JUNKYARD DOGS WEBTOPIA…
- Jeremy Hellickson played catch yesterday as he progresses back from a sore hamstring…Also, several players had nice things to say about the new turf. [TampaBay.com]
- Joe Maddon on the roster: ”We did lose a lot, but my goodness, we’ve got a lot here, too.” Maddon and Andrew Friedman discuss the importance of team chemistry. [TampaBay.com]
- Manny Ramirez met with Read the rest of this entry »
Feb 18
Yesterday we got our first mild scare of the spring when Jeremy Hellickson felt tightness in his hamstring. He still threw his scheduled bullpen session so it sounds like a non-issue.
But the real story in that piece by Marc Topkin is the picture at right, which comes from a video embedded along with the column. That is Evan Longoria and his glorious hair. It is so mesmerizing that we have no idea what Dirtbag actually says during the Q&A session.
We thought it looked like something out of “Grease 2.” Somebody else suggested Brian Setzer signing “Stray Cat Strut.” But we think we can all agree that I really need some baseball games to write about.
THE JUNKYARD DOGS WEBTOPIA…
- Marc Topkin reports that JP Howell has changed his delivery and says utility man Joe Inglett, who played for the Brewers last year is a possibility to be added to the spring roster. [TampaBay.com]
- Roger Mooney says Jake McGee will Read the rest of this entry »
