Archive for the 'John Mollicone' Category

Jan 06

[THE HANGOVER] The One Where We Discuss Alomar Of The Devil Rays, Garza Not Of The Cubs And McGriff Not Of The Hall

Fred McGriff, John Mollicone, Matt Garza, Roberto Alomar, Vlad the Impaler Cork Gaines 1 Comment »

Roberto Alomar and Bert Blyleven were elected to the Hall of Fame yesterday. It is now just a footnote, but the last major league game Alomar played was during the 2005 Spring Training with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. He went 0-11 and called it a career before the season even started. During a conference call yesterday, Alomar reflected on his brief tenure with the Devil Rays. [TampaBay.com]

THE JUNKYARD DOGS WEBTOPIA…

  • Rays Prospects interviews prospect John Mollicone…Mollicone went to Fordham University the same time we were teaching there, but we don’t think he was ever in one of our classes. [Rays Prospects]
  • David Kaplan of CSN Chicago reiterates that a deal is not imminent with the Cubs for Matt Garza. Kaplan says the Cubs and Rays have discussed a possible trade, but that “potential players that the Cubs could include in the deal have not yet been exchanged.” [CSN Chicago]
  • Buster Olney says the Rays are Read the rest of this entry »
Mar 26

[THE HANGOVER] The One Where We Discuss Ashley’s Big Day, Overlooking Brazelton And Sleeping Wilking

Dewon Brazelton, John Mollicone, Nevin Ashley, Scott Kazmir, Wilking Rodriguez Cork Gaines 8 Comments »

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: Nevin Ashley. With Dioner Navarro injured, the Rays may need a backup catcher for the first week or two. Alvin Colina would appear to be the leading candidate but Ashley has received a couple of starts the past week. And throwing out Denard Span in a first inning strike-em-out-throw-em-out doesn’t hurt his chances. He also added a single and a double…David Price. He was shaky early, had a rough 5th inning and allowed 2 home runs on the day, but he retired 9 in a row at one point and was able to work 6 full innings, walking 1 and striking out 5…BJ Upton. Bossman had 2 more hits including a deep double, this one to left-center. It is early, but Bossman seems much more confident at the plate than he did at any point last year. Hat tip to Derek Shelton.

THE BAD: Carlos Pena. Well we praised Pena for his increased contact rate earlier this spring even though he was hitless at the time. So it is only fair that we point out that he struck out 3 times yesterday in 3 plate appearances…The Bat. Pat Burrell started in right field. The Twins radio crew had this to say about one play: “Pat Burrell making a routine play look adventurous out there in right field”…sounds about right. He was also booed after one at bat when he struck out to end the inning with a runner in scoring position. You know things aren’t going well when you get booed by the home crowd during spring training.

THE TELLING: Sean Rodriguez was back at third base for the second time.

DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…

  • Uh oh. Scott Kazmir and “shoulder injury” in the same title. [LA Times]
  • The always great Wezen-Ball put together a list of the “worst opening day starters of the last 50 years.” Amazingly, Dewon Brazelton is not #1. In fact, he isn’t even on the list. Brzelbum was the Devil Rays opening day starter just 5 years ago, making 8 starts before being demoted. He would only make 2 more starts in his big league career. [Wezen-Ball]
  • The Rays released a couple of minor league catchers, Alex Jamieson and John Mollicone (from Fordham). [Baseball America]
  • Ben Badler on Rays minor leaguer Wilking Rodriguez: Sleeper of the day: Rays RHP Wilking Rodriguez. Fastball up to 96, plus CB, advanced control/feel for pitching for 20-yr-old…Remember that name folks. [Twitter]
  • Sports Networker uses the Durham Bulls as one example of teams that are taking advantage of social media outlets such as Twitter and Facebook. [Sports Networker]
Jul 08

Down On The Farm: Nick Barnese Continues To Roll Through SAL

John Mollicone Cork Gaines No Comments »

Durham 8, Gwinnett 3. Andy Sonnanstine made his second triple-A start and gave up 3 runs in 7 innings on 6 hits and a walk. He struck out 4…Reid Brignac went 2-5 and drove in 2…Matt Joyce was 1-3 with a double and a walk…John Jaso was 2-4.

Birmingham 7, Montgomery 6. Brian Baker struck out 7 and walked just 1 in 6 innings, but gave up 4 runs on 8 hits…Desmond Jennings did not start but pinch hit in the 9th and singled.

Charlotte 2, Sarasota 1 (12). Matt Hall singled home the winning run in the bottom of the 12th. He finished 2-4…Jesse Darcy worked 7 innings, allowing 1 run on 5 hits and no walks. He struck out 5…Emeel Salem was 2-4 with a walk and Cody Cipriano went 0-5.

Bowling Green 3, Augusta 2. Nick Barnese did not allow a run in 5 innings, and now has allowed just 1 run in his last 23 frames. He gave up 5 hits, walked 3 and struck out 3. He is now 4-1 with a 1.09 ERA in 7 starts…Tim Beckham was 0-3 with a strikeout and Jake Jefferies drove in a run and was 1-3.

Hudson Valley 3, Staten Island 2.

Elizabethton 4, Princeton 3.

Notes from Down on the Farm…

  • Yesterday marked Charlie Montoyo’s first game back after his son Alex’s successful open-heart surgery. [Triangle Offense]
  • John Mollicone, from Fordham University, was named the SAL play of the week. [Bowling Green Hot Rods]
  • Rashad Eldridge missed his 3rd straight game with a sore oblique. [Montgomery Advertiser]