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 Big W. Wade Davis made his first big league win a memorable one, pitching a 4-hit shutout, striking out 10. And he didn’t back into the shutout either, striking out the side in the 9th. After allowing the first 3 batters to reach base (2 walks and a double), Davis settled down and faced just 1 over the minimum the rest of the way…Evan Longoria. 3-4 with a double. It was his 9th game this season with at least 3 hits.

THE BAD: Lots O’ Pitches. Wade Davis threw 124 pitches last night. We have already openly complained about Matt Garza throwing 118+ three times this month. It is not so much the number of pitches as much as the timing. Why now? When the Rays are out of the playoff hunt and these guys are hitting career highs in innings pitched? Davis has now thrown 177.1 innings this season exceeding his previous high (160.2 in ’08) by 10.2%. At  a time when other teams are shutting down pitchers or moving to 6-man rotations, the Rays are actually increasing the workload on their starting pitchers…Ring of Fire. Joe Maddon does know that when Johnny Cash sang about a “Ring of Fire,” it was a bad thing, right? In the 8 games prior to dying his hair black, the Rays were 6-2. In the 25 games since, they are 8-17…‘Nando-mania. If we were the manager of an opposing team and saw Fernando Perez at the plate batting left-handed (he is a natural righty) we would put 6 fielders 10 feet from the plate. That is an almost guaranteed bunt attempt.

THE TELLING: The Rays and O’s are so bad they can even screw up a game of leapfrog (above)…The Rays Pythagorean record is 78-69. That suggests that this team has underachieved by 4 games, but that would still leave them 9 games back in the wild card…Speaking of which, the Rays tragic number for elimination is 4. But for you eternal optimists out there, the Rays magic number to clinch a wild card tie is 29 with 15 games remaining.

SUNBURST PLAYER OF THE GAME: Wade Davis.

DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…

• The Rays Party writes that Wade Davis “nibbled” his way to his first big league win and has the charts to prove it. [The Rays Party]
• Minor League Ball takes a closer look at Wade Davis and his 2009 season, and compares him to Gil Meche. [Minor League Ball]
• Statistically, few infields can match the 2009 Tampa Bay Rays. [The Hardball Times]
• Aki Iwamura reiterated again that he hopes to return to the Rays next season. Also, Joe Maddon says Grant Balfour and JP Howell will be used sparingly over the final 2 weeks. [St. Pete Times]
• Joe Maddon says some his players “just ran out of gas.” [Tampa Tribune]
• Joey Johnston looks at 12 games from this season that will haunt the Rays. [Tampa Tribune]
• David Chalk still cranking out the top 177 Devil Rays ever. An interesting name falls between Greg Vaughn and Andy Sonnanstine. But to be fair, we believe this list was created prior to the 2009 season. [Bugs and Cranks]

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: Jeff Niemann. The Giraffe was the hard-luck non-winner going toe-to-toe with one of the best in baseball in Justin Verlander. Niemann allowed just 5 hits in 7+ innings and did not walk a batter…Evan Longoria. Dirtbag has struggled a bit recently, and Joe Maddon rewarded him by dropping him to 6th in the lineup. Longo responded with a 2-run home run…Aki’s Back. He played for the second straight day which is a great sign for his rehabbed knee and he responded with his first home run since last season.

THE BAD: The Overthinker. As great a manager as Joe Maddon is, he is still prone to overthinking and trying too hard to reinvent the game. On Sunday the Rays were leading 3-1. Grant Balfour relieved Jeff Niemann after a leadoff double. He got two easy outs including a 4-pitch strikeout with blazing 96-mph fastballs. Then Joe Maddon does the unthinkable. He orders Balfour to pitch around Curtis Granderson to bring the go-ahead run to the plate. On the list of managerial options at that point in the game, that was about #14, right ahead of “let Don Zimmer pitch to Granderson,” and right behind “punch Grant Balfour in the face.” If JoeMa doesn’t have confidence in Balfour at that point, then he should have gone to a lefty to face Granderson. And if the Tigers pinch-hit, so what. Then maybe you pinch around. Otherwise, go at him. Worst case scenario is a tie-game and the Rays are still in the game…Wet Track. The Tigers and White Sox always seem to be the most active when it comes to making the infield very difficult for the Rays to run on. Yesterday, the Tigers staff had the infield soaked and yet Joe Maddon still tried to run. The Rays were 1-3 in stolen bases.

THE TELLING: Time of Death. That’s it. Call it. Time of Death for the Rays season was 3:35pm on August 30th. The tragic number is down to 28. The Rays are now 5.5 back in the Wild Card with 33 to go and they are not chasing just one team. Maybe the Rays could count on one team going in the tank, but not two. If the Red Sox finish 16-16, the Rays would have to go 22-11 just to tie. About the only slim chance the Rays have is to go 5-1 or 6-0 in remaining game with Sox. Not likely.  Ben Zobrist played right field and batted third…CoolStandings.com now gives the Rays an 8.9% shot at making the playoffs. Baseball Prospectus says it is 12.3%, but their PECOTA version says 4.8%.

SUNBURST PLAYER OF THE GAME: Jeff Niemann.

DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…

• We have a special edition of the Webtopia coming later this morning.
• With the Rays falling off the pace, they are now planning a larger September roster expansion. [St. Pete Times]
• Starting September 1st, the Rays will have a stuffed gorilla available at the Trop with a Rays jersey that says “Zorilla” across the back with the number 18. [Rays Revolutionary]
• John Romano writes something that many fans have been thinking for a long time. That the Rays really miss some of the veterans that were on the roster last year. [St. Pete Times]

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: David Price Early. Price did not allow a baserunner until he hit a batter in the 4th. He did not allow a hit until a leadoff single in the 5th. Price consistently hit 96-97 on the radar gun, something we don’t recall seeing in a couple of months. And no walks raises his innings streak to 13 consecutive without a walk.

THE BAD: David Price Late. Once the no-hitter was gone, it all came apart. 3 runs and 4 hits in the 5th and 3 more runs and 4 more hits in the 6th…Anemic Offense. Was the perfect game a fluke? Does this team just take days off? Or are they exposed when they face a good pitcher?

THE TELLING: The Rays were the second-highest scoring team in baseball in the first-half. Since the all-star break they are 14th, down more than half a run a game from 5.3 to 4.7. The pitching staff’s ERA has gone from 10th (4.18) to 18th (4.36).

SUNBURST PLAYER OF THE GAME: David Price. (by default)

DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…

• Troy Percival confirms what Joe Maddon said a couple of days ago, that he has thrown his last pitch…For those that think Percy cost the Rays a lot of money, consider that Percival still hasn’t filled out the retirement paperwork. Of course, that might have something to do with collecting the remainder of his salary this season (~$1 million). [St. Pete Times]
• Aki Iwamura will be back to playing baseball on Friday when he begins a rehab assignment with Durham. He is on pace to join the Rays when rosters expand on Sept. 1. [Tampa Tribune]
• Joe Maddon was asked why the team struggles in the final game of road series (4-13 in last 17 road series, 6-13 overall): “We’ve just got to do better…I don’t have a real good reason for it.” [St. Pete Times]
• We are 5 days from the deadline for draft picks to sign. So far, the Rays have signed 7 of the top 15 and none of the top 5. [Rays Prospects]

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: Playing the Game the Right Way. On Monday, Evan Longoria was hit by a pitch. Last night in the 3rd inning, Joba Chamberlain sailed a ball at Evan’s head. It missed. In the 5th inning Matt Garza plunked Mark Teixeira. No bench-clearing brawl. No yelling from the dugouts. And that was the end of it…Evan Longoria. Dirtbag homered for the 5th time in 16 games. Of course it was in the 9th inning with the score 6-0, but at least somebody did something.

THE BAD: Big Mouth. Sticking up for your players is great, but keep your damn mouth shut. Everybody knows Matt Garza hit Mark Teixeira on purpose. Garza doesn’t need to spout off about it after the game. Because now it is going to cost him his next start because the league will have no choice but to suspend him. JUST. SHUT. UP!…Pat Burrell. Pat the Rally Killer left 2 more runners on base and went 0-4 with 3 strikeouts. And yes, we are now officially picking on Burrell. Sue us. He deserves it…Uniting Yankees Fans. For a while now, Yankees fans have been divided into two camps. Those that think Joba Chamberlain is a starting pitcher. And those that think he should be Mo Rivera’s set-up guy and closer-in-waiting. Last night he was both a starter and an 8th inning guy. Way to go Rays. Way to make him work. This was a guy that entered the game giving up about 1.4 baserunners per inning and the Rays could only muster 5 in 8 innings. If that had been a good pitcher, they might have been perfected again.

THE TELLING: PECOTA now says the Rays playoff chances are 11.4% and falling.

SUNBURST PLAYER OF THE GAME: Evan Longoria

DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…

• Shawn Riggans was activated from the DL and optioned to triple-A Durham. [The Heater]
• Both Aki Iwamura and Fernando Perez took BP prior to the game and Joe Maddon thinks both could be ready to play in August. [St. Pete Times]
• There was a GEICO Caveman at the Trop last night in a Rays jersey. He mingled with players and coaches before the game and at one point he ran on to the the field and attacked a GEICO sign. We can only assume they were filming a commercial. The good people of Rays Renegade snapped a few pics, HERE, HERE and HERE.
• Just when you thought the Rays were out, Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi pull them back in! Word now is that the Rays have not given up on trading for Roy Halladay and instead of trading away a reliever or two, they may be thinking about acquiring one. Of course, all of this was before last night’s game. [Fox Sports]
• And Jon Heyman says the Indians are intent on moving Victor Martinez and the Rays and Red Sox are in the mix. [Twitter]
• Meanwhile, Joe Maddon says he wouldn’t be surprised if nothing happened. [The Heater]
• And John Romano points out that the Rays already made their big acquisition. His name is Pat Burrell and the Rays are stuck with him. [St. Pete Times]
• Tony Fabrizio notes the the defense has been less than stellar this season. [Tampa Tribune]
• Separated at Birth: Dewayne Staats and Tony Clifton? [Bugs and Cranks]
• Who knew? Joba Chamberlain’s first name is an acronym. [Her Rays!]
• Look who gets all the toys. This time it is the Scott Kazmir bobblehead. It must be good to know people. Wait. We know people. Where in the H-E-Double Hockey Sticks is our bobblehead?!? [Rays Revolutionary]

Time to bring back 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: “Big Game” Scott. If there is one thing Kazmir has always excelled at, it is rising to the occasion. Yesterday, we ran a poll and more than 80% wanted Kaz traded before next season. And with the season possibly on the line, Kazmir came through with his best start of the year. It was the first time Kazmir pitched into the 8th since June 6, 2008 and only the 5th time since the ’08 all-star break that Kazmir pitched into the 7th…Defense. Several great plays that reminded us a lot of the ’08 Rays.

THE BAD: Pat the ? Pat the Ba? Pat the ummmm? Pat the. What’s the word we’re looking for? Oh yeah. Pat the Rally Killer…Pour Some Out For Our Hommie. Not to get all sentimental, but there is a chance that was the last time we will ever see Scott Kazmir take the mound for the Rays…Irony Defined. Now Kazmir may be more attractive to other teams like the Angels, Rangers and Mets. But the Rays may all of the sudden realize they have a 25-year old lefty with tons of experience and tons of talent.

THE TELLING: Joe Maddon clearly thought this game was important. With 1 runner on, 2 outs and a 4-run lead, JoeMa brought JP Howell in for the final out…We don’t ever complain about payroll, but it is worth noting that the Rays opening day payroll was $63 million. Last night, the Yankees infield payroll (including SP) was $108 million.

SUNBURST PLAYER OF THE GAME: Scott Kazmir. 6 commenters had the correct pick.

DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…

• Jon Heyman of Sports Illustrated was on WFAN in New York City yesterday and when asked about why the Rays would be trading Scott Kazmir, he listed the normal reasons: Big contract, fastball not as good. But then he added that there are “suggestions that he is not a hard worker.” [No link]
• Joe Smith recaps a great defensive effort by the Rays…Also, Aki Iwamura took groundballs before the game and the Rays are targeting mid-August for a rehab assignment. [St. Pete Times]
• Joe Maddon said it was the best game from Scott Kazmir in about a year. Joe Henderson says Kazmir came through when the Rays absolutely needed it. [Tampa Tribune]
• In a player poll in this week’s Sports Illustrated, Evan Longoria was the overwhelming favorite for which young player is headed to the Hall of Fame. [The Heater]

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: Pat Burrell. Hey! He hit a home run! Of course it came in the 9th inning with the Rays trailing11-3. Beggers can’t be choosers.

THE BAD: James the Lesser. Shields continues his inconsistent run through the 2009 season. At what point do we start blaming the long 2008 season and the short off-season?…The Bullpen. 3.2 innings, 6 runs and a very unceremonious return for Brian Shouse who gave up 2 home runs…Long Balls. For the life of us, we can’t figure out how to blame 4 Yankees home runs on Replica Yankee Stadium…Evan Longoria. Longoria was hit on the elbow by AJ Burnett. Longo was protected by equipment, but we are still worried. Sluggers that crowd the plate are pitched up and in a lot. Those players tend to take a lot of pitches off the left arm and tend to break a lot of wrists. Think Jeff Bagwell. And it is worse for Longoria because he stands upright, which means his first movement is always down and towards the plate.

THE TELLING: PECOTA now says the Rays have a 14.8% shot at making the playoffs.

SUNBURST PLAYER OF THE GAME: BJ Upton. 2 of the Rays 6 hits and scored twice.

DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…

• Aki Iwamura is expected to take groundballs today for the first time since knee surgery. [St. Pete Times]
• Martin Fennelly says the Rays have dug themselves a deep hole. [Tampa Tribune]
• No surprise here, but Ed Price of Fanhouse says the Rays are no longer in the Roy Halladay sweepstakes. However, apparently Scott Kazmir-to-the-Angels is still on the table. [Twitter]
• Meanwhile, the Rays are still very much a part of the discussion for Cliff Lee and Victor Martinez, with Joel Sherman saying the Rays are willing to part with Wade Davis. [MLB Trade Rumors]
• As for Scott Kazmir, his agent spoke with Andrew Friedman to see if there was any truth to the trade rumors. Kaz said that his agent told him, “there’s really nothing to it.” [MLB]
• Gary Shelton makes a case that the Rays need to make a trade. [St. Pete Times]
• Her Rays transforms into Ms. Grouchy McGrouchypants, and you don’t want that. [Her Rays!]
• David Chalk compares Carl Crawford’s all-star game catch to other famous catches. [Bugs and Cranks]
• Rays All Day looks at whether Carl Crawford is expendable. [Rays All Day]

At the end of each season, The Elias Sport Bureau ranks every player at each position based on stats from the previous two seasons. These rankings are then used to determine compensation* that teams will receive, if any, for losing a free agent.

Detroit Tigers Thoughts has cracked the Elias code and has projected the Elias rankings.

The Rays have team options on their two biggest potential free agents (Carl Crawford and Aki Iwamura). Still it is interesting to see how various Rays are ranked.

For example, the top three relief pitchers in the American League over the last two seasons based on the Elias Rankings are, Mariano Rivera, Joe Nathan and JP Howell.

That is both awesome and scary. Howell will be eligible for arbitration for the first time this off-season and this ranking is certainly going to cost the Rays a few dollars next season and we may have to recalculate next season’s projected payroll.

Other Rays that rank in the top 20% (Type A free agents) of their respective groupings…

• Dioner Navarro, 6th. Yes, the AL catching crop is very weak.
• Carlos Pena, 20th (1B is ranked with OF and DH)
• Evan Longoria, 6th (3B is ranked with 2B and SS)
• Jason Bartlett, 12th. MVP!
• James Shields, 11th
• Dan Wheeler, 9th. Yes, Dan Wheeler.
• Grant Balfour, 12th. The Rays have 3 of the top 12 RP in the AL.

Crawford is not in the top 20% and would be a Type B free agent. Iwamura is not ranked in the top 40%, so if the Rays do lose Aki to free agency, they would not receive any compensation. The Rays have a 2010 option Brian Shouse who would be a Type B free agent. Chad Bradford, Jason Isringhausen and Troy Percival will be free agents after the season, but none are ranked in the top 40%.

* A team that loses a Type A Free Agent will receive the highest draft pick from the player’s new team that is not in the top 15 picks of the draft and will be awarded a pick between the first and second round. A team that loses a Type B Free Agent is awarded a pick between the first and second round. There is no cost to a team signing a Type B free agent in terms of draft picks.

Time to bring back 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: David Price. After the worst start of his career, he rebounded with maybe his best, striking out 7 and walking just 1, outdueling one of the best…Grant Balfour. The Mad Australian rebounded from his worst outing of the past 2 months to record one of his best. Balfour came in and closed the door on the Jays in the  7th, entering with the bases loaded and just 1 out. He got a line out and a flyout to get out of it…‘Los! He may not be an all-star, but he had the biggest hit yesterday, a 2-run double in the 5th to give the Rays the lead…Hallawho? Doc Halladay is now 10-3 on the year, but he is 0-2 against the Rays. Maybe we shouldn’t be worried about him being traded to the Red Sox or Yankees…Carl Crawford. We don’t care how well Dan Wheeler is pitching (only given up a run in 1 of his last 24 outings), we will always be nervous when he comes into the game in the 9th with the game on the line. And yesterday he would have put the leadoff hitter on second base, but Carl Crawford ran down the flyball to save Dan’s heiny.

THE BAD: Pat the Bat? Every starter got a basehit for the Rays except *drumroll please* Pat Burrell! Who also left 5 runners on base.

THE TELLING: Gabe Gross batted 7th, which means the 3rd leading hitter in the AL, Jason Bartlett was batting 8th. That my friends, is a deep and balanced lineup…Yesterday’s game was delayed for 20 minutes in the 7th inning after lightning strike in the area caused some of the lights to go out…Carl Crawford is just the 4th player in big league history with 100 hits and 40 steals prior to the All-Star break.

SUNBURST PLAYER OF THE GAME: David Price

DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…

• Carlos Pena will not be joining his 4 teammates in St. Louis for the All-Star game, finishing 4th in the final vote. [The Heater]
• Aki Iwamura was on the field before the game playing catch. [Tampa Tribune]
• David Price did not look at any scouting reports prior to the game. He went back to the basics and it worked. [Tampa Tribune]
• The Rays Party breaks down David Price’s latest start. [The Rays Party]
• John Romano discusses the power of the stolen base and the efficiency of the Rays on the base paths. [The Point After]
• The Rays, er Devil Rays, hold the record for largest signing bonus ever given to an international free agent. That would be the $7 million they gave Rolando Arrojo. Peter Gammons also reports that he once possessed Cuban baseball cards that listed a much different age for Arrojo than the one listed with MLB. [ESPN]
• Gabe Kapler is feast or famine, but when he hits the ball, he gets his money’s worth. [The Rays Party]
• Trop Talk wonders if it is time for Scott Kazmir to go. [Trop Talk]
• Rise of the Rays takes a look at what Jonny Gomes has been up to. [Rise of the Rays]
• David Chalk is slowly inching his way to the top of his Top 177 Devil Rays ever list. This week it is #72-69. [Bugs and Cranks]
• Michelle Bearden writes about Julianna Zobrist’s recent appearance at The Trop. [Tampa Tribune]

Bunch of links starting to pile up today so let’s dust off the “Happy Hour” feature…

DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…

• Evan Longoria is back in the lineup tonight. [Rays Report]
• The Group looking for a new home for the Rays, A Baseball Community, is now looking at potential sites in Tampa and Hillsborough for the first time. [Tampa Tribune]
• John Romano discusses where it would be best to build a new stadium, narrowing the field to three possibilities. [The Point After]
• Ballpark Frankness has poll looking for the most popular proposed site for a new stadium. [Ballpark Frankness]
• For those wondering why the Rays waited so long to have Aki Iwamura’s knee surgery, Will Carroll has the answer. Turns out they could have done the surgery earlier, but the rehab would have taken longer (thanks Bob). [Baseball Prospectus]
• You are kidding me right? Pat Burrell’s dog is walking around the Rays clubhouse with a World Series Championship medallion around his fat neck? *Serenity Now!* [The Fightins]
• The Rays Party has some thoughts on the roster moves the Rays can make with the return of Scott Kazmir and Chad Bradford. [The Rays Party]
• Remembering Michael Jackson…Rays style? [Rays Revolutionary]
• Trop It Like It’s Hot also put a Rays spin to Michael Jackson. [Trop It Like It's Hot]

click above image for boxscore

No GBT today, but for those of you that are not anxious to see the Phillies again so soon, we have a bonus video for you after the Webtopia.

DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…

• Well, well, well. Akinori Iwamura may not have played his last game with the Rays after all. Turns out the “full tear” of his ACL was actually a partial tear and he may only be out another 6-8 weeks. Of course, once he is 100% Joe Maddon will have a dilemma. Most coaches/managers subscribe to the theory that a player can’t lose his job because of an injury. But Ben Zobrist is one of the best hitters in baseball and was recently given Aki’s second base job. [St. Pete Times]
• BJ Upton was named the AL player of the week. [The Heater]
• Marc Lancaster discusses the anticipation of facing the Phillies again in the Rays clubhouse. [Tampa Tribune]
• This is the 8th World Series rematch since interleague play began and Joey Johnston reviews the previous matchups. [Tampa Tribune]
• Bill Eichenberger has a Q&A with Carlos Pena. Among the topics they discuss are how Pena’s career mirrored the Rays history, his selectivity at the plate and his unorthodox major in college. [Sporting News]
• For those that like to play the “what if” game, Marc Topkin shows that the World Series was closer than the 5 games in the record book. [St. Pete Times]
• Rating the starting pitchers in the Rays organization…with a twist. [Trop It Like It's Hot]