Jul 28
The Rays have promoted 11 players from triple-A this month. And as you can imagine, managing the Durham Bulls can be a frustrating experience. In a column for IndyWeek.com, Adam Sobsey gives us a glimpse into that frustration being experienced by Charlie Montoyo.
When asked about his approach with the Bulls and his overall assessment of the club, Montoyo gave what was described as an “uncharacteristic response” that was “choppy and hesitant”…
It’s just tough to keep, you know… Four division titles; we’re doing good. My goal is always, in August, to still play for something. If you make it, great. Guys getting called up and getting chances: that’s the best, guys getting chances. So I don’t put too much stock in games in July…but I’m just hoping my guy tomorrow [Matt Moore] does the job, because he’s very good. And whenever his pitch count is [reached], he’s out. It doesn’t matter who I’m playing.
Sobsey went on to explain the frustration Montoyo faces… Read the rest of this entry »
Sep 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: off-day
THE BAD: off-day
THE TELLING: The Rays only need to go 13-16 in the final 29 to get to 95 wins. Every AL team in the Wild Card era has made the playoffs with at least 95 wins…The Rays extended their player development contract with double-A Montgomery through 2014…Rafael Soriano was named delivery man of the month for the second time…After 19 walks in July and 10 more in the first 3 weeks of August, Tim Beckham only has 1 walk in the last 10 games.
WHERE THEY STAND: The Rays are 82-51, 1.5 games behind the Yankees (1 in the loss column) and 6.5 in front of the Red Sox (7 in the loss column).
THE JUNKYARD DOGS WEBTOPIA…
- Jeremy Hellickson will not work back-to-back days out of the bullpen, and he is not likely to come into the middle of an inning. [St. Pete Times]
- Great interview with James Shields on learning how to pitch and how he attacks batters. [Baseball Beginnings]
- You’ve got to see this video of a woman that gets smacked in the face with a foul ball at The Trop, and recovers to actually catch 2 foul balls later in the game (thanks Scrappy). [Yardbarker]
- Joe Maddon received his honorary degree yesterday from Lafayette College. Guess what he wore. [Lehigh Valley Live]
- Desmond Jennings talks about Read the rest of this entry »
Aug 31
The Durham Bulls today announced that Jeremy Hellickson was named the International League Pitcher of the Year and Dan Johnson won the league’s MVP award. In addition, manager Charlie Montoyo was named the manager of the year.
Hellickson was 12-3 with a league-leading 2.45 ERA in 25 starts. He struck out 123 and walked 35 in 117.2 innings.
Despite spending all of August with the Rays, Johnson still leads the IL with 30 home runs, 95 RBI and a 1.053 OPS.
In 2009, Montoyo was named the top minor league manager by Baseball America. This season, the Bulls have the best record in the IL (84-52).
Jun 28
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: Wade Davis. Nice strong start from Big Dub. The 7.1 innings was his longest outing of the year and only the second time he has worked into the 8th inning this season.
THE BAD: Where are the Bats? Sometimes good teams get no-hit. It’s rare, but it happens. What good teams don’t do is get 7 hits in a 3-game series against a last place team. In total, the Rays went 7-81 (.086) in route to losing their 5th straight series. Some of the blame can be placed on luck as every time the Rays hit the ball hard, it seemed to be drawn right to a player’s glove. Still, luck can’t explain it all. This team just cannot hit right now. We are not ready to blame Derek Shelton. For one thing, the influence of the hitting coach at the big league level is overrated. And for all the struggles, the offense is still 4th in the AL in OPS. That being said, the Rays need to find more consistency from the bats..BJ Upton. If you missed it yesterday, Upton nonchalantly jogged after a ball as it rolled to the wall turning a routine double into a triple. That led to some stern words from Evan Longoria to which Upton reacted by absolutely losing his sh*t in the dugout and having to be restrained by Willy Aybar. He followed that up by getting picked off of first base for the 7 millionth time in his career. And with all the energy he exerted in the field and on the basepaths, Upton’s try for a walk-off 2-run home run in the bottom of the 9th came up a few feet short. Or maybe Upton just has warning track power after all.
THE TELLING: All players in the starting lineup went with the high-cuffed pants and striped stirrups…Dioner Navarro is expected to make his debut with Durham tonight.
WHERE THEY STAND: The Rays are 44-31, 3 games behind the Yankees in the East and 1 game behind the Red Sox in the Wild Card. After 75 games in 2008, the Rays were also 44-31.
THE JUNKYARD DOGS WEBTOPIA…
- Joe Maddon says it is “60-40″ that Carl Crawford will be able to DH in Boston tomorrow. But CC’s return to the outfield is less clear after he aggravated his shoulder sliding on Friday night…also Gabe Kapler is expected to be activated from the DL tomorrow and Marc Topkin wonders if the Rays will let Hank Blalock go rather than demote Matt Joyce. [St. Pete Times]
- Evan Longoria on yesterday’s incident: “It’s just a couple of guys that are frustrated with the way they are playing…it’s already buried” (VIDEO). [The Heater]
- The St. Pete Times has a timeline of BJ Upton’s brainfarts…And to be clear, we have never thought Upton was “lazy.” We just think he occasionally loses focus in critical situations. [St. Pete Times]
- Marc Topkin says it is still too early to judge the Edwin Jackson-Matt Joyce trade. [St. Pete Times]
- Michael Kruse writes about the tricky situation the Rays find themselves in with the stadium situation. It’s a good read, and not just because we were interviewed for the story. [St. Pete Times]
- Will Kline, the Rays second-round pick in 2007 missed all of the 2008 and 2009 seasons. And now he won’t play in 2010 either after suffering a torn rotator cuff. [Biscuit Crumbs]
- Rise of the Rays comes to the defense of BJ Upton. [Rise of the Rays]
- Ken Rosenthal speculates that Carl Crawford could sign with the Rangers this winter. [Fox Sports]
- Durham manager Charlie Montoyo will join Jeremy Hellickson and Desmond Jennings at the Futures Game during the all-star break. Montoyo was named as a member of the coaching staff. [Biscuit Crumbs]
- Pitcher Josh Satow and 3B Henry Wrigley have been promoted to double-A Montgomery.
- The News & Observer spoke with Dan Johnson and manager Charlie Montoyo about the slugger’s chances at making it back to the big leagues. [News&Observer]
- Rays Prospects is accepting votes for the Rays minor league mid-season all-stars. [Rays Prospects]
- The Times Herald-Record interviewed Rays roving instructor Matt Quatraro. [Times Herald-Record]
- Here is a good read on an usher at The Trop that has been going to baseball games for over 60 years and just witnessed his first no-hitter. [JordiScrubbings.com]
DOWN ON THE FARM…
- Check out Rays Prospects for boxscores and more detailed recaps. [Rays Prospects]
- DURHAM: Heath Phillips worked 6 innings and gave up 2 runs (1 earned), striking out 5 and walking 2…Desmond Jennings went 2-5 with a double and his 18th stolen base…Fernando Perez was 2-4 and hit his 3rd home run.
- MONTGOMERY: Alex Torres struck out 6, but lasted only 4 innings as his pitch count reached 89. He allowed 2 runs on 4 hits and 3 walks…Leslie Anderson went 2-4 and is now 22-75 (.293) since being promoted to double-A…Matt Sweeney was 1-4 with a double. He is hitting 25-119 (.210) since being promoted.
- CHARLOTTE: Matt Moore struck out 11 in 6 innings, walking just 2. He allowed 2 runs on 5 hits…Reid Fronk had 2 of the Stone Crabs’ 3 hits…Tim Beckham was 0-3 with a strikeout.
- BOWLING GREEN: Wilking Rodriguez gave up 6 runs, but all 6 were unearned. He gave up 7 hits, walked 1, hit 2 batters and threw a wild pitch in just 4 innings…Tyler Bortnick went 2-3 with a double and his 6th home run.
- HUDSON VALLEY: Omar Bencomo made his second start and allowed 3 runs in 4.2 innings. He struck out 3…Derek Dietrich was 1-4 with a double.
- PRINCETON: Enny Romero struck out 7 and gave up 1 run on just 2 hits and 2 walks in 6 innings…Bryan Fogle hit his first home run of the year.
Jun 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:
THE BAD: 9-12. When the Rays left Houston on May 23, they were 32-12. Since then the Rays are 9-12. Nine and $#@%ing twelve. That is 21 games of sucktitude. And 13 of those games were at home. 21 games is now beyond the normal ebbs and flows of a season…That’s all today. Feel free to leave your “Good” and “Bad” in the comments.
THE TELLING: Jason Bartlett was not in the starting lineup…Dioner Navarro now has a 3-game hitting streak. His longest such streak in 2009 was 4 games.
WHERE THEY STAND: The Rays are 41-25, tied for first in the AL East and 2 games ahead of the Red Sox in the Wild Card. After 66 games in 2008, the Rays were 38-28.
COMMENT O’ THE DAY: (Charles) Montgomery’s top 4 starters (Jeremy Hall, Alex Torres, David Newmann, Jake McGee) have only given up 8 home runs in 48 starts covering 253 innings. That’s mighty impressive
THE JUNKYARD DOGS WEBTOPIA…
- Marc Topkin has a list of more draft pick signings. [St. Pete Times]
- Ryan Shealy who began the season with the Durham Bulls, exercised an opt-out clause in his contract and became a free agent. He then signed a minor league deal with the Red Sox. [Twitter]
- The Pirates admit that they did not request a physical for Aki Iwamura before trading for the former Rays second baseman. [AP]
- Rays Prospects has the Hudson Valley roster. It includes 9 of this year’s draft picks. [Rays Prospects]
- Ben Zobrist played host before a recent game to an 11-year old that endured the recent floods in Nashville (video). [The Heater]
- Durham Bulls manager Charlie Montoyo will manage the IL All-Stars for the triple-A all-star game. [Biscuit Crumbs]
- Here is a piece on Pepsi’s new ad campaign which includes Evan Longoria, among others. [NY Sports Journalism]
DOWN ON THE FARM…
- Check out Rays Prospects for boxscores and more detailed recaps. [Rays Prospects]
- DURHAM: Heath Phillips picked up the loss despite giving up just 1 run on 4 hits and no walks in 7 innings. He struck out 5…Desmond Jennings and Matt Joyce were a combined 0-7 with a walk (Joyce).
- MONTGOMERY: David Newmann failed to get out of the 4th inning, giving up 7 runs (4 earned) in just 3.2 innings. He allowed 8 hits…Hitters 1-8 in the Montgomery lineup went a combined 1-27.
- CHARLOTTE: Frank de los Santos threw 7.1 shutout innings with 8 Ks and 2 walks…Tim Beckham was 1-4.
- BOWLING GREEN: Jason McEachern struck out 7, but allowed 4 runs on 6 hits and 2 walks in 6 innings…Chris Murrill was 3-5 to raise his average to .319 and stole his 27th base.
Feb 08
The Rays short-season affiliate, the Hudson Valley Renegades have introduced a new blog, The Renegades Rundown…
Here you’ll get a glimpse into what the Renegades are doing on and off the field. By keeping up with the blog you’ll get the latest news regarding players, schedules, promotions, events, and more! This will be your one-stop shop for all things Renegades!
The blog is part of a new effort by the ‘Gades to be more active in social media. An effort that includes a very active Twitter account (@HVRenegades). And the voice behind the new fronts is Megan Ogulnick, the ‘Gades manger of new media.
As much as minor league teams depend on promotion, we are amazed that so few teams are this active in new media and these new ways of reaching out to current and potential fans.
So, if you have a moment, go on over and welcome Megan to the organization.
DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…
- David Price spoke to a Nashville paper about life in the spotlight, his charity work and money, including a bizarre story about some overaggressive autograph seekers. [Nashville News]
- Marc Topkin hears that Pat Burrell “has been working out extensively at the Athletes’ Performance Institute in Arizona, specifically strengthening his back, and is in tremendous shape.” [St. Pete Times]
- Devil Rays blast from the past…Joel Guzman has signed a minor league deal with the Orioles. [Baltimore Sun]
- Durham manager Charlie Montoyo was named sports person of the year during the Greater Raleigh Sports Council’s “Evening of Champions.” [Carolina Newswire via Biscuit Crumbs]
Dec 14
Akinori Iwamura took out a full-page ad in the Sunday St. Pete Times (click on image to see a larger versions), thanking the Tampa Bay Rays and their fans. Classy move by a classy guy.
In related news, the guy that sold the full-page ad was taken to the hospital after six straight hours of doing the Ed Lover Dance*.
*he may have only been doing the Ed Lover Dance in his head
DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…
- The Rays avoided arbitration with yet another player, this time agreeing to a one-year deal with Grant Balfour for $2.05 million. We had The Mad Australian projected at $2.1 million. [The Heater]
- Durham manager Charlie Montoyo was named the Minor League Manager of the Year by Baseball America. [MiLB]
- Joe Maddon spoke with the Boston Herald about the downfall of using a closer-by-committee. This is the biggest reason most people (including us) feel closers-by-committee can’t work: Pitchers can be warn out from too much warming up during a game. This happens because the manager doesn’t always know how a situation will play out 2-3 batters down the line. [Boston Herald]
- Closer Matt Capps was non-tendered by the Pirates. There has been some rumbling that the Rays would be a good fit. One writer even said the Rays are “very interested.” However, it was unclear if that was insider info or speculation. While the Rays may be interested now that he is a free agent, John Perrotto said they had no interest in Capps during trade talks, saying they were “leery” of his 2009 performance (it sucked). [Inside Pittsburgh Sports]
- Roger Mooney writes that the ability to acquire Rafael Soriano only happened after the market changed by Soriano accepting arbitration from the Braves. [Tampa Tribune]
- Keith Law breaks down the trade for Rafael Soriano (insider subscription needed). [ESPN]
Jun 26
Toledo 4, Durham 2. After a good 2-3 week stretch, Carlos Hernandez posted his second straight rough outing. In 5 innings, he allowed 4 runs on 6 hits and 4 walks. He struck out 3…Reid Brignac went 1-5 and is hitting .288 while Justin Ruggiano was 1-4 and John Jaso was 1-2 with 2 walks…Rhyne Hughes had a double in 3 at bats and is hitting .323 since his promotion…Matt Joyce went 0-2 with 2 walks, but was ejected in the 7th inning after being called out on strikes.
Montgomery 8, Tennessee 4. Aneury Rodriguez picked up his 4th win, giving up 4 runs (3 earned) in 6 innings. He struck out 6 and walked 3…Cesar Suarez and Matt Spring homered for the Biscuits…Desmond Jennings was late inning defensive replacement and did not have a plate appearance.
Dunedin 6, Charlotte 3. Darin Downs struck out 10 in 5.2 innings, but also gave up 10 hits and 6 runs, all unearned…Cody Cipriano was 0-3 with a walk…Shawn O’Malley was 2-5 and stole his 26th and 27th bases.
Bowling Green @ Lexington. (ppd. rain)
Hudson Valley 3, Staten Island 1.
Princeton 4, Burlington 3 (12).
Notes from Down on the Farm…
- Was unaware that the Durham Bulls recently played a game in Negro League uniforms. Click through for a cool photo gallery. [Flickr]
- Montgomery will go to a 6-man rotation, for at least their next series. [Montgomery Advertiser]
- Two of the Rays top prospects, Desmond Jennings and Keyong Kang have been chosen to play in the Futures Game during All-Star break. [Biscuit Crumbs]
- Charlie Montoyo has been selected to coach the World Team in the upcoming Futures Game during the All-Star break. [Durham Bulls]
Apr 10
Durham 2, Norfolk 1. Mitch Talbot pitched 5 shutout innings, striking out 4 and walking none…Dale Thayer pitched the 9th for the save…The Bulls managed only 4 hits with one run scoring on an error and the other on a ground out…Reid Brignac was 1-3 with a walk.
West Tenn 7, Montgomery 6.Jeremy Hellickson picked up right where he left off, throwing 5 shutout innings, allowing only 2 singles and a walk. He stuck out 3…Eddie Morlan could only retire 1 of the 5 batters he faced, walking 3. Three of the runners eventually scored…Desmond Jennings (right) was 1-4 with a stolen base.
Ft. Myers 9, Charlotte 4. Alex Cobb struck out 7 and walked only 1 in 4 innings. He gave up 1 run on 3 hits…BJ Upton was 0-2 with 2 walks and was hit by a pitch. He stole 2 bases and was caught once trying to steal third.
Bowling Green 8, Hickory 3.Matt Moore struggled with his control walking 6 in 3+ innings. He gave up 2 runs and struck out 4…Tim Beckham got off to a good start, hitting a solo home run and driving in 3. He finished 2-5…Catcher Mike McCormick also homered, a two-run shot.
Notes from Down on the Farm…
- David Price will start for Durham tonight and Aneury Rodriguez, the player traded for Jason Hammel, will make his first start for Montgomery.
- Jennifer LaBrosse updates the status of Bulls manager Charlie Montoyo’s son, who suffers from a congenital heart disease and writes about the inspiration Montoyo derives from his son. [Durham Bulls]
- The Durham Bulls have jerseys with a slightly new look this season, with piping to mimic that of the Rays. [Durham Bulls]
- And don’t forget to check in with Watching Durham Bulls Baseball from time to time. [Watching Durham Bulls Baseball]
Feb 03
Baseball Intellect has rounded out their list of the Rays’ top 15 prospects complete with scouting reports. We will update our Top Prospects Meta-Analysis to reflect this later this morning.
Tampa Bay Rays Top-15 Prospects of 2009, No’s 6 – 15 [Baseball Intellect]
2009 Tampa Bay Rays Top Prospects Meta-Analysis Edit [Rays Index]
DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…
- We had seen Baseball America’s list of the Rays top 10 prospects earlier. Now Marc Topkin provides us with the top 30 via the Baseball America Prospect Handbook. [The Heater]
- The Rays launched the first of two 2009 marketing campaigns yesterday. The team will allocate 40% of their marketing budget to to promote season ticket sales, a large jump over previous seasons. [Tampa Tribune]
- Durham Bulls manager Charlie Montoyo will coach for Puerto Rico during the World Baseball Classic. [Durham Bulls]
- Rays of Light makes a case for Scott Kazmir pitching in the World Baseball Classic. [Rays of Light]
- David Chalk is up to #161 on his list of the top Devil Rays of all time. Looks like he might have finally had trouble finding a picture of the player in a Rays uni. And we don’t recall the game, but we have a hard time imagining that the Rays played a “crucial game” in September 2004 while sitting 30 games back in the standings. [Bugs and Cranks]
- Jorge Says No! says the Rays bullpen will be fun to watch now that they have cornered the market on submarine pitchers (Brian Shouse is more sidearm than submarine, but close enough) and feels the bullpen will once again be a strength in 2009. [Jorge Says No!]
- The Examiner takes a look at the career of Brian Shouse and the not-so-young Rays bullpen. [Examiner.com]
- Several members of the media covering the Super Bowl were disappointed that Joe Maddon did not make an appearance at Media Row to talk about his love affair with the Cardinals. The writers felt he would have made a great story. [USA Today]
The Rays have promoted 11 players from triple-A this month. And as you can imagine, managing the Durham Bulls can be a frustrating experience. In a column for IndyWeek.com, Adam Sobsey gives us a glimpse into that frustration being experienced by Charlie Montoyo.
