Archive for the 'Carlos Hernandez' Category

Feb 23

[THE HANGOVER] The One Where We Discuss The Value Of Maddon, Spring Starters And Izzy’s Role

Carlos Hernandez, Joe Maddon No Comments »

Several veteran free agents have signed with the Rays this off-season and the common thread among several of them was that they were drawn to the Rays in part by Joe Maddon.

[Adam Kennedy] could have gone with a team that had some uncertainty at second base, or one that trained close to his California home. But it was the Rays who were at the top of his list, even though they meet neither of those criteria…The reason? Joe Maddon…”One hundred percent,” Kennedy said. “It was pretty much all of it. Knowing how he goes about it and the relationship we’ve had, hopefully he was up for it, and they were.”

Marc Lancaster’s piece goes on to mention that Pat Burrell was also drawn to the Rays by Maddon.

Pat Burrell, a career National Leaguer, had no firsthand knowledge of Maddon when he began exploring potential landing spots as a free agent this winter. But the more he asked around, the more he found everyone – “Everyone,” Burrell emphasized – who had dealt with Maddon recommending him.

It was not that long ago that the Rays would have needed to outbid other teams for free agents, which just assured that they would not sign any free agents of importance. Even Bob Dylan couldn’t have seen times a-changin’ this much.

There are those that will contend that a baseball manager is the least important leadership position in sports, arguing that a team’ manager has little affect on the outcome of a game. For those people, we counter with exhibit A: Joe Maddon.

Kennedy Made Positive Move [Tampa Tribune]

DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…

  • Carlos Hernandez will start the Grapefruit League opener for the Rays on Wednesday…With all the veterans the Rays have added this spring for depth, it is easy to forget about Hernandez, who at one point was one of the top pitching prospects in baseball. He signed with the Rays last summer and dominated single-A. We wouldn’t be surprised if Hernandez sees action with the Rays at some point this summer. [Rays Report]
  • Wade Davis and Jeff Niemann will start the second and third spring games. [Rays Report]
  • Matt Joyce injured his calf and will be out a few days. [The Heater]
  • Joe Maddon says that if he had one major goal it would be that the Rays were the best baserunning team in baseball…If Maddon really wants the Rays to be a better baserunning team, he should start by connecting an Xbox controller to BJ Upton’s ass and giving the controls to Don Zimmer. [MLB]
  • Jason Isringhausen says he is excited about the challenge of having to make the Rays roster. [The Heater]
  • An AP story is the first to speculate that Jason Isringhausen could go all the way from minor league deal to closer for the Rays. [ESPN]
  • Rays of Light shows why depth in the bullpen is so important. [Rays of Light]
  • Jason Bartlett talks about not being able to workout with his double-play partner, Akinori Iwamura, who could be away from the Rays until March 24. [St. Pete Times]
  • Are there really 400-pound wild boars hanging around the Rays spring training complex? Marc Topkin takes a closer look at the Rays new Spring Training home. [St. Pete Times]
  • Watching Durham Bulls Baseball explores the Rays new spring training home using Google Earth. [Watching Durham Bulls Baseball]
  • The Rays will not use scouts on the road this season to watch the Rays’ next opponent. Instead they will do advanced scouting in-house using videos and statistical trends. [St. Pete Times]
  • Carlos Pena has had the bulk of his assets frozen as a result of the investigation into Stanford Financial Group. Luckily for Pena, he does keep a separate account for day-to-day expenses. [St. Pete Times]
  • Joe Maddon and Andrew Friedman agree that Carlos Pena is an unsung leader for the Rays. [Tampa Tribune]
  • Marc Lancaster looks at the value of Andy Sonnanstine. [Tampa Tribune]
  • Chone Smith has his projections up for the AL East using his CHONE projection system. The Rays come in at 89-73, 8 games behind the Yankees and 7 behind the Sox. [Anaheim Angels all the way]
  • Evan Longoria talks about life as a celebrity. [St. Pete Times]
Aug 15

[DOWN ON THE FARM] Talbot, Hendrickson And Hernandez All Post Solid Performances

Carlos Hernandez, Mickey Callaway, Mitch Talbot 2 Comments »

Durham 4, Norfolk 0. Mitch Talbot pitched 7 shutout innings, striking out 5 and walking 1. He gave up 6 hits…Mike DiFelice drove in 3 runs, 2 came off his 3rd home run…Jonny Gomes was 0-4 with a strikeout.

Montgomery 5, Jacksonville 3 (10). Erold Andrus hit a 1-out, 3-run home run in the top of the 9th to send it to extra innings. In the 10th, Gaby Martinez drove in the go-ahead run with a single…Jeremy Hellickson struck out 10 and walked none in 7 innings. He gave up 3 runs, all in the 2nd inning. After those 3 runs, he retired 14 in a row and faced the minimum over the last 5+ innings he pitched.

Jupiter 2, Vero Beach 0. It is only the Florida State League, but Carlos Hernandez is looking solid so far in his attempts to get back to the big leagues. He has already been named the FSL pitcher of the week. And last night, in just his 4th start since signing with the Rays, he pitched 4.2 shutout innings. He struck out 3 and walked none, with 3 hits allowed…Darin Downs, who the Rays just recently acquired, struck out 7 in 3.1 innings of relief.

Lake Co. 6, Columbus 4. Jason Ragan allowed 1 run in 4 innings…Chase Fontaine finished 2-3 with a double, a walk and an RBI…Mike McCormick was 0-4.

Hudson Valley 8, Jamestown 7 (11).

Princeton 2, Bristol 1 (gm 1). Tim Beckham did not play in game 1 of the double-header.

Princeton 3, Bristol 0 (gm 2). Tim Beckham was 1-3 with a strikeout.

NOTES FROM DOWN ON THE FARM…

  • With the victory, Mitch Talbot now has the dubious distinction of being the second-winningest pitcher in Durham Bulls history (as a triple-A franchise). The win was his 26th in triple-A. Certainly he hopes not to catch Mickey Callaway, who won 34 games for the Bulls. [Durham Bulls]
  • SportsAgentBlog breaks down draft signings so far. [SportsAgentBlog]
Aug 13

[DOWN ON THE FARM] Tim Beckham Hits First Professional Home Run

Burt Reynolds, Carlos Hernandez, Joe Szekely, Tim Beckham No Comments »

Durham (off-day)

Montgomery 9, Jacksonville 6. Jason Cromer allowed only 2 unearned runs in 6 innings…Rhyne Hughes (12), Gaby Martinez (19) and Rashad Eldridge (4) homered for the Biscuits.

Brevard Co. 6, Vero Beach 3 (13). Wade Townsend turned in maybe his best performance of the season, allowing only 1 run in 6 innings on 4 hits and 3 walks. He struck out 2 and threw a wild pitch…Ryan Owen allowed a 3-run, walk-off home run in the 13th…Ryan Royster was 0-5.

Columbus v Lake County (ppd wet field)

Hudson Valley 5, Jamestown 2.

Princeton 3, Burlington 0. Tim Beckham was 2-4 with his first professional home run, a solo shot in the first inning off of a hanging curveball. He also stole his 4th base…Wait? Burt Reynolds is from the Domincan Republic? We did not see that one coming.

NOTES FROM DOWN ON THE FARM…

  • Ben Badler spoke to Tim Beckham about his first professional home run. [Baseball America]


“It felt great to get that first one off my chest,” Beckham said. “Finally. I mean, it took forever [34 games]. I was just worrying about squaring it up, making solid contact and hopefully it would fall somewhere, and it did.”

  • Ben Badler also spoke with Princeton manager Joe Szekely about Tim Beckham…Interesting note abot Szekely: He was a coach for the Colorado Silver Bullets, a professional baseball team comprised of women in the late 90s. If we remember correctly some of the pitchers threw overhand and some threw underhand. [Baseball America]


First of all, he has all the tools: he can run, he’s got a good arm, he’s got good hands, he can hit, he can hit for power. He possesses all the tools that you need and then he’s got that desire, that want-to. He’s coachable, and that’s the biggest thing—he wants to learn. He asks questions all the time; he’s constantly wanting to get better and get better now. He wants to get everything now, and he realizes after he’s been here a while how much he’s learned in the short time he’s been here and how much more he needs to learn. It’s good because he didn’t come in here thinking that he had all the answers. He came in knowing that he had to learn and get better and iron things out, and he’s doing a great job. He’s made tremendous strides from the first day we saw him to now.

  • Carlos Hernandez was named the FSL pitcher of the week. [MiLB]

Aug 07

[DOWN ON THE FARM] Reid Brignac Pulled From Game After Being Hit By Pitch

Carlos Hernandez No Comments »

Richmond 5, Durham 4. Ben Hendrickson started and gave up 4 runs in 6 innings…Calvin Medlock took the loss after allowing a go-ahead solo home run in the 8th inning…Justin Ruggiano finished 0-5 with 3 Ks…Dan Johnson was 3-5…Jonny Gomes was 2-5 with a double and 2Ks. He also threw a runner out at home…John Jaso was 1-4 with his 2nd home run since being promoted…Reid Brignac singled in the first and was hit by a pitch in the 3rd. He stayed in the game to run the bases but did not come out to play defense in the next half-inning.

Montgomery 8, Birmingham 3. Jason Cromer made just his 4th start and picked up the win with 6 innings of 2-run ball. He struck out 4 and walked none…JT Hall drove in 2 and was 3-5…Gaby Martinez also drove in a pair with single in 5 at bats…Rashad Eldridge was 1-3 with a pair of walks and scored 3 runs. He also stole his 19th base.

Brevard Co. 4, Vero Beach 1. Heath Rollins who set the Rays organizational record for wins in a season last year, dropped to 5-11 after allowing only 2 unearned runs in 6 innings. He struck out 4 and walked 1…Cesar Suarez drove in the D-Rays only run with a solo shot in the 8th inning.

Columbus 8, Savannah 6 (11). Brian Flores allowed 5 runs in 5 innings on 10 hits…Maiko Loyola finished 2-5 with his 38th stolen base…Greg Sexton was 2-6 with 3 RBI including a 2-run triple in the 11th inning…Henry Wrigley also drove in 3 with a home run, his 6th.

Hudson Valley 12, Vermont 4.

Kingsport 6, Princeton 2. Tim Beckham went 1-3 with a walk a strikeout and was again picked off first base.

NOTES FROM DOWN ON THE FARM…

  • The Rays have signed the Astros former top prospect, Carlos Hernandez, and assigned him to Vero Beach. [Baseball America]
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