Feb 27
Evan Longoria and Caity Kauffman at a recent Lightning game
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: Going Deep. Evan Longoria and Sean Rodriguez brought the power to the Rays first game of the spring, with each hitting long home runs…Strong Relief. Matt Bush, Dirk Hayhurst and Rob Delaney combined for 5 perfect innings of relief. Bush and Hayhurst were especially impressive, getting their work in against the Pirates starters. And considering how much Joe Maddon likes his relievers to be able to work more than one inning, Hayhurst and Delaney made strong opening bids for one of the final bullpen roster spots…Robinson Chirinos. The catching prospect had 2 hits and 4 RBI. Unfortunately he also had 2 passed balls. It will be interesting to see if Joe Maddon uses Chirinos at 2B or SS this spring. If his bat continues to impress, he could be an interesting candidate to be the Rays 3rd catcher giving Maddon some extra roster flexibility.
THE BAD: Tim Beckham. An error in his first game of the spring is not the good start Beckham was looking for…Adam Russell. He is out of minor league options, so he will be on the opening day roster. Giving up 3 hits and 2 runs against the Pirates starters was not an impressive debut.
THE TELLING: In what could be the Rays opening day lineup, John Jaso led off, followed by Johnny Damon, Evan Longoria and Manny Ramirez. Ben Zobrist was in RF (not Matt Joyce) and Dan Johnson was at 1B…The Rays wore green St. Pete police caps in honor of officers that were killed in the line of duty recently…Manny Ramirez will play left field on Monday, but don’t look for that to happen during the regular season except during interleague games…Albert Suarez will be out 1-2 weeks after having his knee scoped.
THE JUNKYARD DOGS WEBTOPIA…
- The Rays automatically renewed the contracts for their 27 players with less than 3 years of experience. Jeff Niemann will get $950K in 2011. The rest will be at or near league minimum ($414K). [Marc Topkin]
- Here are the “Manny Ray” t-shirts Read the rest of this entry »
Nov 22
With the Rule 5 draft pending, the Rays made some roster moves this weekend (via Marc Topkin). First, they declined the option on Jose Ruiz, who had defected from Cuba. Ruiz, 1B, was considered a hot commodity before signing a cheap one-year deal with a four-year option.
In addition, the Rays also added catcher Nevin Ashley and right-handed pitchers Alex Cobb, Dane de la Rosa and Albert Suarez to the 40-man roster.
Ashley hit .255 with a .333 OBP and 7 home runs for double-A Montgomery. Cobb was 7-5 with a 2.86 ERA (2.80 FIP) in 22 starts with Montgomery. De la Rosa went 9-3 with a 1.97 ERA (2.79 FIP) in 47 relief appearances in double-A. He struck out 75 in 73 innings. Suarez made 11 starts for low-A Bowling Green, going 2-5 with a 3.89 ERA (4.62 FIP).
THE JUNKYARD DOGS WEBTOPIA…
Jul 03
Durham 8, Charlotte 6. Andy Sonnanstine, in his first start for Durham since 2007, allowed 2 runs in 6 innings on 7 hits and 1 walk. He struck out 3…Dale Thayer picked up his 12th save…Reid Brignac went 0-4…Matt Joyce went 2-3 with a double and his 10th home run. It was the 4th straight game in which he homered and 5th in the last 8.
Montgomery 5, Jacksonville 4. Desmond Jennings was 1-3 with 2 walks and his 29th stolen base…Joe Gaetti hit his 2nd home run.
Brevard Co. 9, Charlotte 4 (gm 1). Cody Cipriano went 1-3 with a walk and an RBI…Henry Wrigley drove in 2 with a single and a double in 4 at bats.
Charlotte 2, Brevard Co. 1 (gm 2). Austin Hinkle allowed just 1 run in 5 innings…Cody Cipriano was had a single and 2 walks in 3 plate appearances.
Bowling Green 5, Rome 0. Nick Barnese allowed just 2 hits in 6 shutout innings. He struck out 3 and walked 3…Tim Beckham was 1-5 with a triple and an RBI.
Vermont @ Hudson Valley. (ppd. rain)
Danville 5, Princeton 4.
Notes from Down on the Farm…
- Reid Brignac has been named to the IL all-star team. [Triangle Offense]
- Albert Suarez is going to need Tommy John surgery, joining Wade Townsend and Jake McGee as top pitching prospects that needed the surgery. [Rays Prospects]
Jul 02
Durham. (no game scheduled)
Jacksonville 7, Montgomery 6 (12). Aneury Rodriguez gave up 4 runs (3 earned) in 6 innings…Desmond Jennings went 3-6 with a double and an RBI.
Brevard Co. @ Charlotte. (double-header ppd. rain)
Bowling Green 6, Rome 1. Frank de los Santos allowed only 1 run in 8 innings for his 4th win. He gave up 6 hits and 1 walk…Tim Beckham went 1-4 with a double and 1 RBI…John Mollicone, from Fordham University, hit his 3rd home run in 2 games, this one a grand slam.
Vermont 8, Hudson Valley 2.
Greeneville 5, Princeton 3.
Notes from Down on the Farm…
- The Rays 39th draft pick this year has already retired…And on a depressing note, noted pitching prospect Albert Suarez injured his elbow. [Rays Prospects]
