Archive for the 'Kelly Shoppach' Category

Jun 17

Postgame Shot Of Joe: Offense Still Smells

Casey Kotchman, Kelly Shoppach, Kyle Farnsworth, Matt Joyce, Wade Davis 12 Comments »

Yes, the Rays won. Yes, Kelly Shoppach (!) of all people gave the Rays a two-run lead by leading off the bottom of the third.

But the offense still stunk out loud. Half of the Rays eight hits came in the last two at-bats. Good thing the Rays were playing the Dead Fish, otherwise a win very easily could have been a loss.

Don’t be fooled. This offense is grossly offensive. Take Matt Joyce and the Magic of Kotch out of this lineup and there are Double-A teams with as much punch.

Joe has stated this before and it bears repeating: Joe thinks more of Gary Shelton as a hitting instructor than Derek Shelton.

Wade Davis looked pretty sharp though. He needed to face a team like the Dead Fish to try to right himself. Of course, Goggles got the job done as he has all season.

But the way this offense stinks out loud, Goggles won’t see August in a Rays uniform. If there is an Exhibit-A for a firesale, it is Goggles.

Jun 12

Postgame Shot Of Joe: Hurray For Kelly Shoppach!

BJ Upton, Kelly Shoppach, Sean Rodriguez, Wade Davis 4 Comments »

No, Joe’s not drunk. He actually wrote the headline above stone sober.

Even Joe has a hard time believing he wrote that headline, but it’s true. It was Kelly Shoppach that likely had the key hit of the game, a two-run single to left that plated Bossman and SRod. It gave the Rays a four-run lead.

Good thing to because it was at that time Wade Davis simply ran out of gas and the Orioles got two runs to pull within 7-5.

If not for Shoppach’s two RBIs, that game would have been tied. And just about any baseball pitcher much less manager will tell you how different you pitch and play in a tie game compared to a two-run lead late.

If not for Shoppach’s two-run single, who knows what would have happened, how the game would have ended?

If Shoppach can be just a little better hitter, come up with a game like this once or twice a week, hit maybe .250, he would be so much better and the Rays would be more formidable at the plate.

Joe is hoping this is a sign of better things to come from Shoppach.

Jun 05

Postgame Shot Of Joe: When The Shift Fails

Evan Longoria, Joe Maddon, Joel Peralta, JP Howell, Kelly Shoppach, Matt Joyce 5 Comments »

This was set up for a glorious win by the Rays. Ailing Dirtbag comes off the bench to pinch-hit Matt Joyce home to cap a three-run eighth for a 6-5 lead. Six outs by the solid bullpen seemed a pretty solid bet.

But with one out in the eighth and Jack Wilson at first, Merlot Joe decides to use a Ted Williams shift on Jack Cust leaving the left side of the infield open. Wide open. Naturally, Cust fights off a J.P. Howell offspeed pitch and hits the ball to the left side of the field.

What likely would have been an inning-ending double play instead opens the floodgates. Rather than leaving Howell in the game, Merlot Joe, likely bored, decides to bring in Joel Peralta, who has had a nasty habit of late of giving up the long ball.

BOOM! Miguel Olivo, thinking he is Tony Oliva, belts his third homer of the series and the game is over.

This is what some folks would call “overmanaging.”

Merlot Joe’s maddening (Maddoning?) mixing and maxing has more often than not worked this year, but when it blows up it really blows up and this was a baseball version of Dresden.

Well, at least Derek Shelton’s forces came to play for a change. Speaking of Shelton, Hat tip to Kelly Shoppach who drilled an 0-2 mistake by Erik Bedard for his first double of the season (ouch) and put the Rays on the board.

In what nearly brought Joe to a complete vomit, before that at bat, the Rays radio team relayed a chat with Shelton, in which Shelton said he was baffled why Shoppach isn’t the same guy that hit 21 homers and .261 under Shelton’s tutelage in Cleveland back in 2008. Well there you have it.

And there you have a nauseating loss that should have been a fantastic win.

Jun 03

Postgame Shot Of Joe: Derek Shelton Stinks

Andy Sonnanstine, BJ Upton, David Price, Evan Longoria, James Shields, Jeremy Hellickson, John Jaso, Kelly Shoppach, Matt Joyce, Reid Brignac 6 Comments »

Joe was going to sign off on his allegiance to Sonny in this missive. The words of how good of a pitcher Sonny (is alleged) to be from the likes of Don Zimmer and Tony La Russa as well as the memory of his studly pitching in 2008 make Joe hope for, pine for, Sonny to return to that form.

But it is not meant to be and after tonight, Joe’s done with Sonny. But you know what, Sonny could have thrown damned near the game of his life and it wouldn’t have mattered.

The Rays offense is horrible.

With the exception of Matt Joyce, this is a team worthy of Montgomery the way they hit. As usual, Joe points to the guy responsible for the hitting: Derek Shelton.

Joe can sort of give Dirtbag a pass as he missed so much of the start of the season. There are no more excuses for Bossman, Briggy and the two lummoxes the Rays have for catchers.

Jason Valdez (!) of all people tossed a four-hit complete game shutout. Sickening. Yeah, he had some decent defense behind him robbing the Rays of one extra-base hit, but still, that was one potential extra-base hit.

For the Rays to put together any kind of winning streak with this putrid offense, David Price, Big Game Shields and Hellboy will have to throw no-hitters and hope the Rays can score in extra innings.

Jun 03

The Deadliest Catchers*

John Jaso, Kelly Shoppach 4 Comments »

* This title is blatantly stolen from the Happy Hour with JP Peterson show on 1010 Sports and the show’s producer Bryan Drake. In return we present them with this image as a peace offering (click on pic for a larger version)…P.S. That is Dioner Navarro’s boat he left behind.

Earlier this week we looked at how bad Kelly Shoppach has been this season, and wondered if his days here are numbered. Part of that is based on his contract (he is a free agent after the season) and age (31). But Shoppach is far from the Rays only problem behind the plate.

Of course, catchers that can’t hit can be found in just about every big league ballpark. To get a better sense of just how bad Shoppach and John Jaso have performed this season, let’s compare them to their peers… Read the rest of this entry »

Jun 01

Are Kelly Shoppach’s Days Numbered?

Jose Lobaton, Kelly Shoppach 12 Comments »

Last night, Kelly Shoppach had another 0-fer. This time it was an 0-2 night in which he also allowed the go-ahead run to score in the 8th inning on a pitch he made no effort to block with a runner on third.

And there was the double-play groundball with one out and the bases loaded in the second inning. Ironic, because Shoppach, who has struck out 31 times in 79 at bats, would have been better off striking out (for once).

His batting average is now .152. Only Dan Johnson (.115) and Drew Butera (.126) of the Twins are worse among batters in the American League with at least 50 at bats.

Defensively, Shoppach has been pretty good. Opponents have only stolen eight bases in 15 attempts. And thanks to a favorable scoring last night, Shoppach still has yet to allow an official passed ball this season.

According to Fangraphs.com, Read the rest of this entry »

Jun 01

[THE HANGOVER] The One Where We Discuss Dirtbag’s Longo Ball, Cobb’s Second Start, And Shoppach’s Bat

Alex Cobb, Elijah Dukes, Evan Longoria, Jeremy Hall, Kelly Shoppach 8 Comments »
Rays 7, Indians 0
Rays 5, Rangers 4 (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: Evan Longoria. We guess it’s official. He’s baaack. After the Rangers took a 1-run lead in the top of the 8th, Longoria responded with a go-ahead 2-run home run that just cleared the wall. That proved to be game-winner. Dirtbag finished with 2 hits and a walk and has now been on base 12 times in the last 4 games including 5 walks…Alex Cobb. Cobb’s linescore could have been a lot worse. He survived a shaky first inning in which he faced a runner on first with no outs, and first-and-third with one out. And after 6.1 innings, he allowed just 2 runs despite giving up 4 hits and 4 walks. Still, not a bad effort against the Rangers in just his second big league start…Mashing Lefties. Matt Joyce hit his second home run off of a lefty in 2 weeks. Those are also the only two home runs he has ever hit off of a lefty.

THE BAD: Kelly Shoppach. Enough already. Read the rest of this entry »

May 24

[THE HANGOVER] The One Where We Discuss The Cobra, Shoppach’s Lack Of Contribution, And Another Shortstop Goes Down

BJ Upton, Felipe Lopez, James Shields, Kelly Shoppach 16 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: The Cobra. Upton has a great glove. He also has a great arm. Unfortunately, most teams know this and won’t test it, so we rarely get to see it in action. But in the 5th, in a tie game, with a runner on and 1 out, Alex Avila wandered off first base on a line drive to center and Upton unleashed The Cobra. Oh so quick. Oh so deadly. Double-play.

THE BAD: Evrything Else. Jeremy Hellickson wasn’t terrible. He retired 12 of the first 14 he faced. But a leadoff home run by a rookie in the 5th, followed by back-to-back 2-out hits in the 6th, and all of a sudden, the Rays were down 2-1. And when Juan Cruz came in, it was game over. The four batters he faced went walk-double-walk-single, leading to 4 runs…Felipe Lopez. Admit it. You thought we would never see him in a Rays uni again. And yet, here we were 3 weeks later, and he is starting at first base. Ugh…Kelly Shoppach. 0-2 and he is now hitting .167. Worse than that was the play he made on the 2-out single to right field in the 6th. Matt Joyce’s throw beat the runner, but was a couple of steps up the third base line. Shoppach took a horrible angle fielding the throw, allowing the go-ahead run to go around him easily.

THE TELLING: The Rays have lost 7 of their last 10…Elliot Johnson was pulled from the game with a sore knee after being caught stealing. MRI was negative, but he is expected to miss a couple of games…Kyle Lobstein was named the FSL (single-A) pitcher of the week and Felipe Lopez was named the IL (triple-A) hitter of the week…Andy Sonnanstine is expected to make his 4th start on Wednesday. *Gulp*

THE JUNKYARD DOGS WEBTOPIA…

  • Lee Singer compares the changeups of James Shields and Felix Hernandez. [ESPN]
  • We asked it yesterday, and Eric Karabell and Mark Simon discussed James Shields’ Cy Young candidacy on the “Baseball Today” podcast. Which, if you are into podcasts, “Baseball Today” should be a must-listen for you everyday. [ESPN]
  • Well, if you can’t think of Read the rest of this entry »
May 03

A Look At How Well The Rays Swing The Bat

Kelly Shoppach, Suuuwingggg! 1 Comment »

When a player is at the plate, there are a number of different possible outcomes. And maybe the worst of those is the swinging strike.

For the batter, a swinging strike is one pitch closer to an out. But unlike a called strike which may just be a matter of misjudging the strikezone, a swinging strike can be an indication that the batter is overmatched.

To get an idea about how well each hitter is swinging the bat early on, let’s first take a look at how often each batter swings at a pitch and misses…

Seven of the Rays have a rate above that of last year’s big league average (8.5%). And two of the hitters are way above the league average. Kelly Shoppach’s 22.3 percent swing-and-miss rate is as bad as it looks. That is the highest rate in the majors for anybody with at least 20 plate appearances, and a good reason why he has 20 strikeouts and just 1 walk so far this season.

A player might swing-and-miss a lot is if they are free-swingers or don’t have good command of the strikezone. So let’s look at how often each player swings at a pitch in the strikezone (Z-Swing%) or out of the strikezone (O-Swing%).

But we need to put those two numbers into context. So we also have how often each player swings the bat (Swing%) and the difference between a player’s O-Swing% and Z-Swing%.

In theory, a player with excellent command of the strikezone will swing more often at pitches in the zone than pitches out of the zone, leading to a bigger difference in the two measures.

We see that Matt Joyce knows the strikezone as well as anybody. He swings at three out of every four pitches in the strikezone. But when the pitch is a ball, he only swings at one of every four pitches.

On the other hand, this tells us a little about Reid Brignac’s struggles. So far this season, he is swinging at nearly half of the pitches out of the strikezone. And when opposing teams see that, they will just stop throwing him strikes and Briggy will just get himself out.

Since it is early in the season, this doesn’t necessarily tell us how the Rays will do moving forward, but it does tell us
Read the rest of this entry »

Apr 15

Postgame Shot Of Joe: Another Friday Win!

Johnny Damon, Kelly Shoppach, Sam Fuld, Sean Rodriguez, Uncategorized, Wade Davis 1 Comment »

Just what in the name of Derek Shelton is going on here? The Rays have won again on a Friday night, that’s two in a row. Friday used to be a curse for the Rays, now, thus far this season, it’s a blessing.

The Rays — after an uncomfortable early slumber — came out offensively strong again. The three-run sixth impressed a certain segment of Rays fans more than others. Back-to-back hits by the Legend of Sam Fuld (double) and Johnny Damon (an RBI-single) made lasses throughout the Tampa Bay area suddenly feel warm and fuzzy all over. Even @SarahSeesSports audibly sighed on Twitter.

Lost in the offense and Fuld and Damon and Kelly Shoppach’s blast — Kelly Shoppach! — was the absolute solid performance from Wade Davis. Four hits through seven innings and just one walk. This was pitching my friends. Just one strikeout but he was able to put the pitches just where they would give hitters trouble and let his teammates do the work. SRod made a helluva play on a grounder by Delmon Young to SRod’s left to end the top of the fourth. It was a sweet play. And Fuld made (another) strong play in deep left center in the ninth for a key out.

Good pitching, solid defense, timely hitting. That’s baseball!

All in all it was a solid, fun game to watch. Just winning on a Friday night makes the weekend so much more pleasant and puts Joe’s good friend Justin Pawlowski of WDAE-AM 620 in a better mood.

Folks, that’s four wins in a row!

Time for Joe to grab another beer. It’s Friday night after all!

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