The Rays recently held their Winter Development program at Tropicana Field. And it allowed us to get our first look at some of the Rays top draft picks from the 2011 draft, as well as some other top prospects.
How good does it feel to see players in TB caps at The Trop?
Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy!
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: The Giraffe. The line wasn’t pretty (4 runs allowed), but he didn’t get the wide zone that Verlander enjoyed (see below) and he was solid outside of the 8th inning when things started to unravel and Juan Cruz couldn’t strand the runners…Dirtbag. He is still hitting below .230 since the All-Star break, but Longoria did hit his 10th home run since the break. Only two players have more (both have 11)…Sweet Swingin’. Starting pitchers will often groove a few pitches to the first batter of the game as they get their feet wet. Usually that is ok because the first batter of the game is not often a home run threat. Well, with Desmond Jennings getting the night off to rest his 24-year old legs, Matty Joyce led-off and took a fastball from Verlander and deposited it in the right field seats for an early lead.
THE BAD: Star Treatment. You guys know that we rarely bitch about strikezones unless it is just too egregious. Especially if it is just a pitch or two. Bad calls happen. But last night Justin Verlander got the Michael Jordan star treatment and got all the calls. Verlander had at least seven pitches called strikes that were out of the strikezone (VERLANDER STRIKE PLOT). That is about 10 percent of Verlander’s 73 strikes. For comparison, it looks like Niemann just got one of those calls last night (NIEMANN STRIKE PLOT)…Juan Cruz. With the bases loaded and 2 outs, Cruz was called on to get one out. Instead he gave up a 2-run single. And all of a sudden, a 2-1 deficit is a 4-1 game. Game over…Bossman’s Shoulder. The last thing in the world BJ Upton needs is another shoulder injury. He has already had 6 or 7 in his pro career. But up until this point, they all occurred while swinging the bat. Last night, Upton had to be removed from the game after straining his shoulder reaching for a flyball.
THE TELLING: Lightning knocked out some lights prior to the game and caused some speakers to malfunction early in the game…Niemann worked into the 8th inning for the 5th time in his last 11 starts. He worked into the 8th inning 5 times in the previous 33 starts…Jim Hickey, explained prior to the game that Jeff Niemann’s increased command of his fastball has helped make Niemann’s curveball more effective, allowing him to use it more often…Derek Dietrich was named the ML’s player of the week, and Chris Archer was named the pitcher of the week in the SL.
THE JUNKYARD DOGS WEBTOPIA…
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: Casey Kotchman. Three more magical hits for Kotch including his 6th home run. He also just missed a second home run when he hit a line drive to the warning track…Des Jennings. Flash was on base 3 more times with 3 singles…Kyle Farnsworth. In 2010 Rafael Soriano was worth 1.6 Wins (WAR) and cost $7.5 million. This year, the Rays are paying Farnsworth $2.6M and he’s on pace for 1.5 WAR. Seems like a fair trade to us.
THE BAD: Jake McGee. Josh Willingham can’t do a lot. But he can mash fastballs. In the last 3 seasons, Willingham has been worth 33.8 runs above average on fastballs alone. McGee came in to the game to start the 10th with Willingham leading off. McGee threw him 6 straight fastballs, the last of which was of the 350-foot variety to give the A’s the lead for good…David Price. Price didn’t even finish the 5th inning, giving up 4 runs. He did strike out 7, but it took him 110 pitches to get there struggling with his control. Of his 110 pitches, 45 were balls.
THE TELLING: Alex Cobb went on the DL and Cesar Ramos was recalled from Durham…SS prospect Derek Dietrich (single-A Bowling Green) hit his 16th HR. That is tops in the minors among middle infielders…John Jaso will begin a rehab assignment in Durham that will last at least 2 weeks…Don’t be shocked if Alex Cobb is shut down for the rest of the season even if his hand injury is not serious.
THE JUNKYARD DOGS WEBTOPIA…
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. It wasn’t King David at his best as he walked 4 batters and last only 5 innings. But with a fastball reaching 100mph, Price struck out 9 and showed that (at times) he can be as dominating as anybody in baseball right now…Matt Joyce. In his first game back in Detoit, Little Cat homered to lead off the 3rd and even the score at 1-1…John Jaso. JJ led off and picked up 2 singles and a double. He helped set up the go-ahead run with a single that moved Jason Bartlett to third and he drove in a run and scored a run in the important 2-run 9th that gave the Rays some breathing room…Chad Qualls. Joe Maddon loves a reliever that can work across multiple innings. And with JP Howell out this season, JoeMa’s ability to do that has been limited. But yesterday, Qualls came in to a 2-run game in the 6th and recorded 5 outs without giving up a run and kept the Tigers in check…Evan Longoria. We’ll never get tired of watching Dirtbag play defense.
THE BAD: Testing the Depth. Following the game, Wade Davis was placed on the DL (replaced by Jeremy Hellickson), joining Jeff Niemann who went on the DL prior to the game (replaced by Mike Ekstrom). Even though Joe Maddon called the moves “precautionary,” this is VERY concerning. Watching Davis’ last start in which his fastball was only in the upper-80s, we have a feeling he will be on the shelf for a while. In the meantime, the Rays will have both Hellickson and Andy Sonnanstine in the rotation. Obviously both were impressive in their last outings, but there is a reason The Duke is in the bullpen and the Rays will want to limit Hellboy’s workload down the stretch. Precautionary? Maybe. Or it could be the spin-doctoring of what could turn out to be the Rays’ nightmare scenario.
THE TELLING: David Price became the first player in franchise history to win 15 games in a season…Carl Crawford batted third. It was exactly two years to the day since the last time CC started a game and wasn’t batting second. In that 2008 game he also batted third…2nd round pick Derek Dietrich has not played since August 1st (injured finger).
WHERE THEY STAND: The Rays are 68-44, 1.5 games behind the Yankees (2 in the loss column) and 4.5 games ahead of the Red Sox (5 in the loss column). After 112 games in 2008, the Rays were 67-45.
THE JUNKYARD DOGS WEBTOPIA…
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
Buster Olney has a trade idea the Rays should make…
What follows is pure speculation, and nothing more: As the Tampa Bay Rays consider ways to upgrade their lineup in the last 16 days before the trade deadline, maybe they should be the team that goes out on a limb and makes a deal for Prince Fielder, who would represent a dramatic change for their offense. The Rays could structure an offer around right-hander Wade Davis — the kind of power pitcher Milwaukee needs — and could have Fielder for the 2011 season, as well, before he becomes a free agent.
Yes, please? We would take Prince Fielder in the middle of the Rays lineup in a heartbeat. Of course, it would take more than Wade Davis. Would Davis and Matt Moore get it done? That’s closer. But they are going to ask for Davis and Desmond Jennings. And that would be tough to do.
Fielder makes $10.5 million this season ($11M with 500 PA) and will be arbitration-eligible next season. He is a difficult arb projection but our best guess would be a $12-14 million salary for 2011. Is that too pricey for the Rays? Probably. And that’s too bad.
THE JUNKYARD DOGS WEBTOPIA…
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: Wade Davis. For the first time this year he worked into the 8th inning and for only the second time in 7 starts, Big Dub worked into the 7th inning. And in doing so, Davis rediscovered his control and command, matching his season-high of 7 strikeouts and walked only 1. Of his 105 pitches, 75 were strikes…BJ Upton. Another night in the leadoff spot and another 3 times on base.
THE BAD: Bearing Down. Each of the Jays first 2 runs scored with 2 outs…GTMI Fail. The Rays were 0-7 with runners in scoring position…BJ Upton. Leadoff specialist, rally killer. In the 6th inning of a 1-run game, Bossman was caught trying to steal third with Evan Longoria at the plate (replays showed he was safe). And in the 8th inning, his double-play killed a second late-inning rally.
THE TELLING: Dioner Navarro was scratched from the lineup with a “stiff neck” which leads us to wonder if Navi will end up on the DL in a “Friedman Special,” to make room for the return of Jason Bartlett…Carl Crawford was not in the starting lineup for the second time this week. Joe Maddon indicated that CC’s body needed some healing and JoeMa decided to rest him versus lefties….With Willy Aybar at DH and hitting cleanup, Joe Maddon has now used 13 different lineups in the last 13 games…Carlos Pena’s home run last night set a franchise record (129), surpassing Aubrey Huff.
WHERE THEY STAND: The Rays are 39-21, 2 games ahead of the Yankees and 5 games ahead of the Red Sox in the Wild Card. After 60 games in 2008, the Rays were 35-25.
THE JUNKYARD DOGS WEBTOPIA…
DOWN ON THE FARM…
Keith Law did not list the Rays among his “winners” from day 1 of the draft, but he still had nice things to say about the Rays first-day picks and even the top 10 rounds overall…
The Rays got very good value all over the top ten rounds, including their three picks on Monday. Derek Dietrich made some major adjustments at the plate this spring and I think the improvement in his hitting is real, although he still needs a permanent position. Sixth-rounder Jesse Hahn would have gone in the top 50 if he’d been healthy, and if the Rays are satisfied that his forearm strain is just a forearm strain, they could have a steal. Seventh-rounder Mike Lorenzen had some day-one buzz; he’s committed to Fullerton and I like him as a potential top-50 guy in 2013 if he doesn’t sign this year. And I like JC right-hander Austin Wood as a fastball/slider reliever in pro ball.
The Rays had two picks in the second-round and picked up a college pitcher and a college shortstop.
66. Jacob Thompson, RHP (info via Rays Prospects): Thompson’s college career has been a mixed bag, with bursts of brilliance interspersed with wildness and control problems. Relying heavily on his fastball, Thompson is an aggressive hurler who resembles, in frame and style, former big leaguer Troy Percival. His 92-94 mph fastball peaks at 95, and Thompson adds an excellent changeup which he mixes in sparingly. Thompson’s primary weakness is his curveball, a pitch he short-arms and doesn’t finish off cleanly. Scouts think that Thompson’s results don’t match his talent because of his unusual arm stroke, which will need to be cleaned up, and a weak delivery finish in which he circles away from the plate. He has the arm and raw stuff to be a mid-rotation starter, but he will more likely end up in the bullpen.
79. Derek Dietrich, SS (info via ESPN.com): Tech’s shorstop Derek Dietrich has had a monster season with the metal bat and will probably go in the top two rounds as a major college performer who isn’t stuck at first base or DH…He’s very strong with good bat speed and he recognizes pitches very well from right-handers. He struggled against lefties with the wood bat on the Cape last summer, although I think that’s a function of his raw strength and the metal bat allowing him to catch up to a pitch he didn’t recognize early enough…In the field, Dietrich can’t play shortstop in pro ball, and I’m not sure he has the feet to handle second or third; he’s not unathletic but is a below-average runner with slow feet, which would put him in an outfield corner long term, although the team that drafts him has to exhaust those other options first…and he is just 20 years old.
