Archive for the 'Chuck Tiffany' Category

Apr 01

[THE HANGOVER] The One Where We Discuss Joyce’s First Home Run, Izzy’s Deal And Sheff’s Square Peg

Chuck Tiffany, Gary Sheffield, Jason Isringhausen Cork Gaines 2 Comments »

Rays Red Sox Spring BaseballTime 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.

THE GOOD: Matt Joyce. We still aren’t buying the idea that Joyce has a shot at making the team, but he did hit his first home run with the Rays, finishing 2-4…Gabe Gross. The guy standing between Joyce and an everyday job also hit his first home run of the spring two batters later.

THE BAD: Andy Sonnanstine. The Duke did work 7 innings, but allowed 5 runs on 6 hits and 2 walks. He looked good until he gave up a 3-run home run to Jason Varitek in the 7th…Grant Balfour. The Mad Australian was the one relief pitcher who worried us with his workload in 2008 and he has yet to look good this spring. He gave 3 more runs (2 earned) and couldn’t get out of the 8th inning.

THE TELLING: The lineup yesterday was a B-squad, with not a single player that figures to be an everyday player during the season…Today’s game at home against the Twins will be the Rays final spring game in Florida. They will play a pair of exhibition games on Friday and Saturday in Philadelphia against the WFC*.

DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…

  • Both the Rays and Jason Isringhausen sound optimistic that they will come to an agreement on a way to keep Izzy but without him starting the season on the 25-man roster. Marc Topkin says the Rays may add Izzy to the 40-man roster, which will kick in his major league salary and then place him on the DL so that he can continue to work out in extended spring training. Izzy’s agent said the pitcher will not accept a minor league assignment. [St. Pete Times]
  • In the same piece, Marc Topkin reports that the Rays are discussing the possibility of adding Gary Sheffield, but notes that while Sheffield has the potential to provide a “menacing bat,” there isn’t likely a good fit between the two sides…And yes, if you polled 30 major league managers and asked them to pick one word to describe Sheff’s bat, 29 would pick “menacing.” And that is just because Joe Maddon would pick the word “loquacious.”  [St. Pete Times]
  • Marc Lancaster says the Rays would not rule out the possibility of adding Gary Sheffield, but Lancaster says that is standard with any player in that situation but “no matter which way you look at the Rays’ roster, though, there doesn’t appear to be a fit for Sheffield.” [Tampa Tribune]
  • Marc Lancaster says the roster should be close to being set when the team breaks camp today, with only a couple of decisions looming. Lancaster suggests that the team has yet to name a fifth starter because they may be hoping to work out a trade for either Jason Hammel or Jeff Niemann. [Tampa Tribune]
  • Baseball Musings provides their annual AL East preview, giving the Rays a 28% chance of winning the division. [Baseball Musings]
  • Stacy Long is reporting that the Rays have released 4 minor leaguers, including Chuck Tiffany, who was considered a key ingredient in the trade that brought the Rays Edwin Jackson. [Montgomery Advertiser]
  • The Rays Party takes a look at what the Rays could potentially receive in return for either Jason Hammel or Jeff Niemann. [The Rays Party]
  • The Rays Party previews the 2009 pitching staff. [The Rays Party]
  • David Chalk tells us know why the Red Sox “Ain’t S#!t” compared to the Rays. [Bugs and Cranks]

May 01

[DOWN ON THE FARM] Chuck Tiffany Back On Mound After Nearly 2-Year Absence

Chuck Tiffany, Eduardo Morlan Cork Gaines No Comments »

Durham 2, Richmond 0. Mitch Talbot pitched what may have been his best performance since the 2006 Southern League playoffs by tossing 8 shutout innings last night. He struck out 6 and walks 1 and gave up 5 hits. ..Dale Thayer pitched a perfect 9th for his 5th save…Fernando Perez was 0-2 but did walk twice and stole his 3rd base…Joel Guzman and Reid Brignac provided the RBI, with Brignac batting in the 7th hole. He is hitting .244/.300/.400 on the season.

Huntsville 14, Montgomery 6. Jake McGee got pounded to the tune of 7 runs and was pulled with 2 outs in the 5th…Wade Townsend pitched 1 inning of relief after the game was decided…Ronnie Merrill had a home run for the Biscuits.

Palm Beach 5, Vero Beach 2. Matt Walker was pulled after 3 innings, after he walked 5 batters. Chuck Tiffany relieved him. That was his second appearance this season in his first action since the beggining of the 2006 season. Tiffany was the “other” player acquired along with Edwin Jackson from the Dodgers for Lance Carter and Danys Baez.

Asheville 4, Columbus 2. Brian Flores made only his 2nd start of the year and went only 4 innings, but he did strike out 9 and now has 25 in 19 innings this season…Emeel Salem was 0-4 and did not steal a base.

NOTES FROM DOWN ON THE FARM…

  • Eduardo Morlan will take at least another week off to rest his sore shoulder before beginning to throw again…Rhyne Hughes is close to returning from a concussion. [Montgomery Advertiser]
Mar 24

[THE HANGOVER] If Zobrist Is On DL, Bench Appears Set

Andrew Friedman, Ben Zobrist, Chris Mason, Chuck Tiffany, David Price, Delmon Young, Elliot Johnson, Eric Hinske, Grant Balfour, Joe Maddon, Joel Guzman, JP Howell, Scott Dohmann, Shawn Riggans Cork Gaines 3 Comments »

Tampa Bay Rays (7 days until Opening Day)

We have a busy, busy day planned here at RI, so be sure to check back early and often…

Yesterday: Tampa Bay Rays 10, Reds 9.

The Good: The two players that the Rays will rely on to be power sources in 2008, Jonny Gomes and Carlos Pena, each hit their third home run of the spring…Elliot Johnson continues to secure his spot as the opening day utility player, assuming Ben Zobrist is on the DL, with 2 more hits while playing center. He is now 19-41 (.463) on the spring with a 1.145 OPS…Aki Iwamura started 2 double plays with his new partner-in-crime, Jason Bartlett…Al Reyes struck out all three batters he faced.

The Bad: Matt Garza needed over 90 pitches to get through 5.1 innings walking 2 and hitting 2 more batters…Troy Percival gave up 7 runs in 1 inning of work on 6 hits and a walk.

The Telling: Andy Cannizaro who figures to be the only person that could beat out Elliot Johnson for utility player, saw time at both second and third.

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…

  • It is never a good day when we read the sentence “David Price left a Minor League start Thursday after feeling some discomfort in his left elbow.” Andrew Friedman says that it is not serious. We hope World B. Friedman will forgive us if we hold our breath until Price makes another appearance on a mound. [Tampa Bay Rays]
  • Tom Singer names the Rays as one of two team in the AL that are “worth watching for early signs of a miracle”. [MLB]

In already setting a club record for Grapefruit League wins, Tampa Bay also has lost only twice in 13 games against other AL clubs, is 6-1-1 vs. the AL East and is 5-1 against Detroit and Philadelphia…Yet it’s almost as if the Rays are being humored. That could be a mistake, even if the weight of the AL East does have to curb their optimism.

  • Bill Chastain notes that several roster decisions are still up in the air and the team met again last night to discuss some of those decisions. According to Chastain Ben Zobrist is likely to start the season on the DL, but will be available as early as April 5…Our best guess is that Elliot Johnson will now join Eric Hinske, Joel Guzman and Shawn Riggans on the bench. Not bad for a guy that had the 5th worst OPS in AAA last year. We are rooting hard for Johnson. [Tampa Bay Rays]
  • Joe Smith also looks at the remaining roster questions…On a side note, does anybody else remember a couple of weeks ago when Joe Maddon was talking about how nice it was that most of the roster was already in place. [St. Pete Times]
  • Joe Maddon all but confirms that JP Howell will be on the Rays opening day roster as a long reliever by saying that the last bullpen spot will go to either Scott Dohmann, who was better last year and Grant Balfour, who has had the better spring. Both players are out of options. One will make the team. The other must be traded or will need to clear waivers in order to be optioned to the minors. [Tampa Tribune]

“That is a tough one,” Rays manager Joe Maddon said. “Both have really good arms, both are very competitive. They’re making it tough. This is going to be quite a discussion in regard to that spot, because I have a lot of respect for both of these young men – they’re both great workers, they’re great teammates. It’s tough.”

  • It sucks to be a hitter during an intrasquad game when the opposing pitcher is working on pitching inside. Yesterday, Chris Mason hit two batters in one game at minor league camp…Chuck Tiffany who missed all of 2007 also participated. [Riverwalk Talk]
  • Delmon Young has a new commercial promoting the 2008 Twins in which he seeks the advice of Twinkies legends. They tell him to “See the ball, hit the ball”. Might just be us, but isn’t Young’s problem that he swings at too many pitches? [Chinese Evil Dead]
  • New and Old Rays gear is being spotted with alarming regularity as far north as Tallahassee. [FSView]