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!
How conservative are the Rays with their top prospects? The Rays top three picks from the 2010 draft, outfielders Josh Sale and Drew Vettleson, and catcher Justin O’Connor will make their professional debuts next week when the rookie league Princeton Rays open their season.
At this rate, we might see them at the Trop sometime during the 2016 season. And some wonder why we don’t write more about the draft. It’s akin to predicting the NBA ability of a third grader.
Baseball America has released their annual list of the Rays Top 10 prospects. The number in parentheses is that player’s 2010 ranking…
A few notes on the list…
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: Matt Garza. He gave up 5 hits to the first 10 batters he faced and 3 of those baserunners would score (thanks in part to some shoddy D). But Garza settled down to not allow a hit to the final 19 batters he faced. What was encouraging was that he didn’t seem to have his best stuff, but he was still getting outs. Only 6 of his 106 pitches were swinging strikes. Even more astonishing was that he only got 2 swinging strikes on his 68 fastballs, a pitch that he usually lives and dies by…Carl Crawford. He never did develop the amount of power that many thought he would generate with the Rays, but last night he did match his career-high with his 18th home run of the year.
THE BAD: Defense. Hey, we expect this team to struggle offensively from time-to-time. But they should always play good defense. Last night, they looked like a team that just doesn’t have their head in the game and could care less about winning the division…Offense. Is it a coincidence that the Rays are 1-4 in their last 5 games, all of which did not have Evan Longoria in the mix? This team isn’t going to go far with a progression of .200 hitters after Carl Crawford in the lineup.
THE TELLING: The Rays have now lost 4 of 5 just after Joe Maddon said they were playing the best he has seen all year…Evan Longoria missed his 7th straight game. Ben Zobrist started at 3B for the first time this season…Wade Davis will start Sunday which means there is still no scheduled starter for Saturday which we assume will be Andy Sonnanstine or Jeremy Hellickson…Joaquin Benoit was back with the Rays after missing 2 games to be home for the birth of his child…The Rays magic number to win the division is still 3 (they hold the tie-breaker over the Yankees)…
WHERE THEY STAND: The Rays are 94-65, tied with the Yankees in the AL East. After 159 games in 2008, the Rays were 96-63. The Rays need to win their final 3 games to match their 2008 record of 97-65. The Rays are also 1 games ahead of the Twins for best record in the AL and hold the tie-breaker.
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: Sean Rodriguez. Rodzilla was 3-3 on Sunday to extend his hitting streak to 14 games. In that span, he is 21-49 (.429) with 5 doubles and 3 home runs. We think the Rays are running out of excuses to *not* have a Brignac-Rodriguez starting middle infield…Carlos Pena. Unfortunately, Pena did not homer on Sunday. But that marked the first time he failed to homer in a game since last Saturday a streak of 6 straight games with a home run. During that span, Pena was 10-27 with 7 home runs and 10 RBI.
THE BAD: Nobody To GTMI. Of Carlos Pena’s 7 home runs in 6 games, the grand slam against the Blue Jays was the only one that wasn’t a solo shot…Bad Inning James. On Friday, James Shields walked 3 batters in the Marlins 5-run 3rd inning. How rare was that? Only 6 times in his career has Shields walked more than 3 in an entire game. And only 1 time has he walked more than 4…Bobblehead Bartlett. Sunday was Jason Bartlett Bobblehead day. Unfortunately the Rays didn’t trade those bobbleheads and substitute a Reid Brignac Bobblehead...Kevin Kennedy Hurts My Brain. On one particular play Saturday night, a play Dewayne Staats and Kevin Kennedy spent way too much time praising, a ball hit high off the wall and past BJ Upton. Kennedy noted that Upton “would have caught that if it wasn’t so high up.” Yeah, and I could do a 360° dunk if the rim wasn’t so high.
THE TELLING: Jason Bartlett will play rehab games for Durham today and tomorrow. He will likely be activated on Wednesday. At that point the Rays will likely place Dioner Navarro on the DL with a sore left roster spot. Navi hasn’t played since Wednesday. After his DL stint, Navi will almost certainly need an extended “rehab” stint at Durham…Sunday was Jeff Niemann’s first loss at home in over a year…Evan Longoria has reached base in 31 straight games, the longest current streak in baseball…On Saturday, Jeremy Hall of Montgomery extended his scoreless innings streak to 35 before giving up 2 runs in the 6th inning…Pat Burrell hit his first home run for the Giants on Friday. He is 9-24 since switching back to the NL.
WHERE THEY STAND: The Rays are tied with the Yankees at 40-23 and are 4 games ahead of the Red Sox in the Wild Card. After 63 games in 2008, the Rays were 37-26.
THE JUNKYARD DOGS WEBTOPIA…
DOWN ON THE FARM…
Marc Topkin reports that the Rays already have an “agreement in principle” with the second of their two first-round picks, Justin O’Connor…
Rays executive VP Andrew Friedman said they already have an agreement in principle with O’Conner, and are hopeful to sign the two others.
The Rays had two picks in the first-round of yesterday’s Rule 4 Draft. The second of those picks (#31) was unprotected since it is a compensation selection for failing to sign their first-round pick a year ago. So it is no surprise that pick would only be used on a player whose pricetag was already established prior to the draft.
The Rays first pick, Josh Sale also sounds like he will be easy to sign…
“I don’t have a definite answer, but I don’t see myself going to school,” said Sale, 18. “Right now, I’m just thankful for the Tampa Bay Rays investing in me. It’s been a nonstop celebration.”
Add that to another quote from Sale (via Baseball America; thanks Michael)…
“I heard my first name and stood up, then I heard the mispronunciation of my last name and I gave a little fist pump, ran out the door and ran up the block, down the block and back up the block again. I was ecstatic, to say the least.”
And on hearing that fellow Washington stater Drew Vettleson was also drafted by the Rays during the supplemental round…
“It was actually amazing…As soon as I heard his name called, I pointed at the screen and bolted out the front door to run up and down the street again!”
We get the impression the Rays won’t have much trouble getting their top two picks under contract this year. Something they were unable to do a year ago.
The Rays took high school catcher Justin O’Connor with their second first-round pick (#31 overall). Interestingly, Keith Law had him ranked 31st overall.
Here is what ESPN.com has to say…
O’Conner came into his senior year as a top prospect because he was intriguing, but didn’t have a clear position or definite projection with the bat. However, since his shift to catching he’s established himself as a likely first-round pick.
He has good bat speed and is very balanced and strong through the swing, but doesn’t use his lower half much and may not see the power carry over to wood until he addresses that; he can get a little too linear, but I’ve also seen his back leg collapse when he goes with a more traditional power swing.
He’s got a plus arm with a lightning-quick release, not quite effortless but really just too easy for a guy with limited catching experience, and his receiving is solid. The fact that he now plays a premium position makes questions about his bat a little less concerning, and if he does fulfill his offensive potential he could be a star because of where he now plays.
