Aug 31
Marc Topkin is reporting that the Rays will call up Desmond Jennings, Jeremy Hellickson, Rocco Baldelli, Brad Hawpe and Dioner Navarro when rosters expand tomorrow.
The Rays plans for the Wednesday’s roster expansion are to add OF Desmond Jennings, OF/DH Rocco Baldelli, C Dioner Navarro, RHP Jeremy Hellickson and OF Brad Hawpe…They are also expected to bring up C Jose Lobaton, though he is likely headed to the DL, which will create additional roster flexibility at the end of the season.
In order to add Hawpe and Baldelli, the Rays will need to make room on the 40-man roster. Moving JP Howell to the 60-day DL would free up one spot. They could do the same with Jose Lobaton.
Aug 31
Here is an interview conducted by Neil Solondz in which Rocco talks about why he is coming back and the similarities between the 2008 and 2010 Rays (thanks Chris)…
Rocco Baldelli (click arrow to play)
Aug 16
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: Ho Hum Hellboy. Another brilliant start for Jeremy Hellickson. His fastball did not have the same pinpoint control as only 28 of 47 were thrown for strikes. But the changeup and curve were great. He got 6 swinging strikes on changeups and another 2 on the curveball. And in the end, it was 1 run on 3 hits. He struck out 5 and walked 1…Rafael Soriano. MFIKY hasn’t been his normal dominating self in the second-half. And the last thing in the world the Rays needed at this point was a blown 9th inning lead to the Orioles. Soriano came in and sat the O’s down 1-2-3 to close out the game…Carl Crawford. Three more hits, including his 13th home run to get the Rays off to a good start in the first.
THE BAD: Young Arms.Jeremy Hellickson might only make one more start before the injured pitchers return. But is there any doubt that Hellickson is one of the Rays 2 or 3 best starting pitchers right now?
THE TELLING: Carlos Pena is expected to be back in the lineup tonight…According to CoolStandings.com the Rays have an 85.9% chance of making the playoffs. The Red Sox are at 15.3%…If the Rays go 23-22 in their final 45 games, the Red Sox would have to go 27-16 in their final 43 just to tie.
WHERE THEY STAND: The Rays are 71-46, 1 game behind the Yankees and 5 games ahead of the Red Sox in the Wild Card (6 in the loss column). After 117 games in 2008, the Rays were 71-46.
THE JUNKYARD DOGS WEBTOPIA…
Aug 13
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
WHERE THEY STAND: The Rays are 69-45, 2 games behind the Yankees and 4 games in front of the Red Sox (5 in the loss column). After 114 games in 2008, the Rays were 68-46.
THE JUNKYARD DOGS WEBTOPIA…
- Rocco Baldelli has been promoted to Durham. [The Heater]
- The August 29 game against the Red Sox has been moved to ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball. [Rays Report]
- The Rays have a black first base coach and a white third base coach. That is a growing (and disturbing) trend in Major League Baseball. [New York Times]
- Well, now we know just how far (or high) Noah Pransky is willing to go for a stadium story. Be sure to check out the video in the right column. Scary stuff. [10 News]
- The Rays have a lot of pitchers on the DL right now. More than you realize. [Watching Durham Bulls Baseball]
- We would argue that Carl Crawford has been more valuable, but if Evan Longoria has a huge final 6 weeks, he could sneak into the AL MVP discussion. [St. Pete Times]
- Joe Smith looks at why the Rays took a chance on Chad Qualls. [St. Pete Times]
- Tony Fabrizio looks at how the Rays defense has stepped up recently. [Tampa Tribune]
- Trying to project who will Read the rest of this entry »
Aug 02
We’ll let the Charlotte Stone Crabs explain…
The Charlotte Stone Crabs will host Rocco Baldelli Moustache Night on Wednesday, August 4 as a celebration of the fantastic facial hair display that currently sits atop the outfielder’s upper lip.
Baldelli…arrived in Port Charlotte with a respectable moustache that has since transformed into arguably the best moustache in the Minor Leagues if not all of professional baseball. His particular style most likely falls under the “chevron” moustache category popularized by “Mr. Baseball” himself Tom Selleck, but if his current growth pattern continues, a definite “horseshoe” moustache could be on the way for the former first round draft pick.
As a tribute to the sheer awesomeness of Baldelli’s facial hair, the Stone Crabs are making a special offer to his fellow moustached brethren: all fans with a naturally-grown moustache who purchase a ticket to the game on Wednesday will receive a free team hat and a free ticket to Saturday’s matchup (August 7) against the Lakeland Flying Tigers that features a post-game fireworks show.
If the Stone Crabs Read the rest of this entry »
Jul 25
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. Price rebounded from his poor outing last time out to by working into the 8th inning and giving up just 3 hits. His walk total (4) was a little high, but after giving up a 2-run home run in the 2nd, he retired 16 of the next 18 batters…Ben Zobrist. After getting only 2 hits in the first 11 innings of the series, the Rays strung together 3 consecutive hits in the 5th capped off by Zorilla’s 3-run home run. A home run that only came about after an official replay…Joaquin Benoit. After David Price walked the leadoff hitter in the 8th, Benoit came in strikeout 2 and kill the Indians last rally.
THE BAD: Leadoff Walks. David Price is young and someday he will learn that one thing he cannot do is walk the first batter of an inning. Twice yesterday he walked a leadoff batter. He has now walked a leadoff hitter 14 times this season and 5 times he has walked the first batter of the game. The first batter in this game walked and eventually scored the Indians first run.
THE TELLING: The victory was the Rays first in Cleveland since 2005.
WHERE THEY STAND: The Rays are 58-38, 3 games behind the Yankees and 4 games in front of the Red Sox in the Wild Card. After 96 games in 2008, the Rays were 57-39.
THE JUNKYARD DOGS WEBTOPIA…
- Rocco Baldelli talks about his comeback attempt (Video). [Bright House Sports]
- Matt Moore comes in at #2 in this week’s Prospect Hot Sheet: He’d have to arm wrestle John Lamb for the title of the minors’ hottest pitcher…From June 1 to now, Moore leads the minors in strikeouts (74 in 55 2/3 innings). [Baseball America]
- Behind the Insider wall, but Buster Olney speculates Read the rest of this entry »
Jul 23
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 JUNKYARD DOGS WEBTOPIA…
Jul 20
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. If anybody needed a start against the Orioles, it was James Shields. If two pitchers needed a start against the O’s it was Shields and Davis. Big Dub tossed 8 innings giving up just 1 run on 7 hits and 1 walk. It was Davis’ longest outing since his shutout versus the Orioles last September…BJ Upton. His single in the 2nd moved John Jaso into scoring position prior to scoring the first run. And his walk in the 3rd loaded the bases just before the floadgates opened…Evan Longoria. 3 more hits and an RBI. He is now hitting .306.
THE BAD: Season-High. The win last night put the Rays 20 games over .500, matching their high-water mark of the season. Of course that means the Rays are just 24-24 in their last 48 games.
THE TELLING: Charlotte lost in 19 innings last night. Rocco Baldelli started at DH and struck out in all 4 plate appearances…Dan Wheeler took a line-drive off of his foot and is considered day-to-day…Matt Garza’s start tonight will be his first in 10 days…
WHERE THEY STAND: The Rays are 56-36, 2.5 games behind the Yankees and 3.5 games in front of the Red Sox in the Wild Card. After 92 games in 2008, the Rays were 55-37.
THE JUNKYARD DOGS WEBTOPIA…
- Joey Johnston wore a Rays jersey and cap into Replica Yankee Stadium and lived to write about it…While Johnston’s experience was mostly positive, we can promise you, he was not sitting in the bleachers. The results would have been different (thanks Andrea). [Tampa Tribune]
- Now we know why former Rays minor leaguer Jon Weber retired a few days ago. Yesterday, Read the rest of this entry »
Jul 19
The Rays announced today that they have signed Rocco Baldelli to a minor league contract. No details of the contract were released, but the move is not unexpected as Baldelli has been working to get his shoulder back into playing shape and was often seen taking batting practice at The Trop prior to games this season.
He will be assigned to high-A Charlotte and is expected in the lineup this evening as a DH.
Jun 14
Carlos Pena, Dioner Navarro, Henry Wrigley, Jason Bartlett, Jeff Niemann, Jeremy Hall, Joe Nelson, Justin O'Connor, Kevin Kennedy, Pat Burrell, Rocco Baldelli, Sean Rodriguez Cork Gaines
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…
- Jeff Niemann talks about yesterday’s performance. [The Heater]
- Roger Mooney reports that Rocco Baldelli threw longtoss prior to Sunday’s game…It has been his ability to throw that has limited his efforts to return to the big leagues. [Tampa Tribune]
- Rays first-round draft pick Justin O’Connor will say thank you to his hometown tonight by signing autographs for free for area little leaguers. [Star-Press]
- Stacy Long writes about how Matt Sweeney has shortened his swing and become more selective at the plate. Sweeney was one of the pieces of last summer’s Scott Kazmir trade. [Montgomery Advertiser]
- Former Rays reliever Joe Nelson is pondering retirement after being designated for assignment by the Red Sox. [MLB]
- A look at how David Price uses his fastball. [DRaysBay]
- Prospect Henry Wrigley won the FSL home run derby. [Twitter]
DOWN ON THE FARM…
- Check out Rays Prospects for boxscores and more detailed recaps. [Rays Prospects]
- DURHAM: Carlos Hernandez gave up 5 runs in 5 innings…Desmond Jennings was 2-4 with a triple, 3 runs scored and 3 RBI. He is now 14-26 in his last 6 games and has raised his average to .279…Matt Joyce was 5-5 with 3 doubles and 2 RBI and raised his average to .313.
- MONTGOMERY: Jake McGee struck out 5 and walked 1 in 6 innings. He gave up 1 run on 5 hits for his second win…Matt Sweeney hit a 2-run home run for Montgomery, his first home run since being promoted.
- CHARLOTTE: (no game scheduled)
- BOWLING GREEN: Kirby Yates’ first start of the year was an impressive effort. He struck out 8, walked 3 and allowed just 1 hit in 4 innings…
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