Tampa Bay Sports Blog

Technorati Tags: Akinori Iwamura, Andrew Friedman, Andy Sonnanstine, Ben Zobrist, BJ Upton, Boston Red Sox, Brandon Lyon, Brian Fuentes, Carl Crawford, Carlos Guillen, Carlos Pena, Chad Bradford, Dan Wheeler, David Price, Dioner Navarro, Edwin Jackson, Elijah Dukes, Evan Longoria, Francisco Rodriguez, Gabe Gross, Gary Sheffield, Grant Balfour, J.P. Howell, James Shields, Jason Bartlett, Jason Hammel, Jeff Niemann, Joe Beimel, Joe Maddon, Jonny Gomes, Los Angeles Dodgers, Magglio Ordonez, Matt Garza, Miguel Cabrera, Mitch Talbot, Pat Burrell, Philadelphia Phillies, Reid Brignac, Rocco Baldelli, Scott Kazmir, Shawn Riggans, Tampa Bay Rays, Trever Miller, Willy Aybar

   Time to wrap up the Rays season. What a season we had here, never saw this coming. I thought, the same as everyone else, the Rays would improve but not to this extent. Let’s wrap it up…

• The defense: The most dramatically improved thing on this team was the defense. The arrival of Jason Bartlett and Evan Longoria made this into the best left side defense in baseball. I was skeptical of Bartlett in the beginning (no need to bring my stupidity there again) as he had some unexplained throwing errors early but recovered to have a great season (should’ve got the gold glove over Young in my opinion). Longo was great defensively from day one and that’s that. Aki transitioned nicely over to second and Pena (won gold glove) was phenomenal. Having Pena at the corner saved Barty and Longo at least 5 errors a piece. Navarro’s improvement behind the plate was far and away the most amazing difference I saw. He was such a different player all around this year that I want to compare images from last season to see if this is the same guy. Unreal! Crawford and Upton were very good and have the speed to make up for other mistakes they might make. Right field was our problem child but Gabe Gross, Eric Hinske, Nathan Haynes (remember him?), Jonny Gomes (worst of all), Rocco and Fernando Perez did good enough to stay out of the conversation. Riggans did fine as a backup and Ben Zobrist was also good enough in learning new positions that he warranted to complaints. Willy Aybar was a godsend. He started the year at third and gave up his spot to Evan after getting injured. When he returned he helped fill the voids left by Pena and Longoria while they were injured (separately of course).
• The starting pitching: The pitchers improvement was made by maturation and the defense if you ask me. James Shields continued his development into an innings eating machine who we can count on every fifth day to give us a quality start. Kazmir started great after his injury and reverted back to the 5 inning 100 pitch nightmare we’ve gotten too used to. I still think he was pitching through injuries as his slider was gone and we saw hitters make better contact off of him than ever before. Matt Garza was better than advertised and he should improve as he gets his emotions under control. Sonny ate innings as we expected and showed the mental toughness of an ace. Edwin Jackson pitched better than anyone expected. I would like to see more strikeouts from a power arm like his, but it’s hard to complain about 14 wins. We also saw the arrival of David Price. Not much to say there except, hello king David! Now either Sonny or EJax has to give way to Price, one of those nice problems we’ve heard about but rarely seen here. We also saw Jeff Niemann, Mitch Talbot and Jason Hammel make starts. Hammel should be a starter, just not here. Niemann and Talbot could be swingmen or trade bait. We also were lucky here in that there were no major injuries and we basically saw the same five guys all year. That’s a great accomplishment for that reason and for the fact that all five guys performed well enough to stay in the rotation.
• The bullpen: The second most surprising turnaround to me. JP Howell went from prospect on the bubble to a dominating short inning reliever who has become invaluable to this team. I gotta admit, I didn’t see that one coming. Howell not only dominated lefty’s but he shut down righty’s as well. Dan Wheeler rebounded from his bad showing after getting him back from Houston last season and was very good at the setup and closer roles. Grant Balfour was unhittable after his early season demotion and Trevor Miller did enough to get by. Troy Percival was very good until his age and weight caught up with him and his career should be over now. Jason Hammel played the villain role as the mop up/long relief guy and was doing decent until the meltdown against the Yanks. Chad Braford was a nice late season acquisition who performed well in his first round with the team. We saw Juan Salas, Mitch Talbot, Scott Dohman and Kurt Birkins make appearances and we said goodbye to Gary Glover and Al Reyes (yay!). Again this historical improvement I attribute to maturing and the defense.
• The offense: The offense was average for the most part all year and did enough to win. Longoria should be rookie of the year, Pena performed as expected and Aki continued his transition into the leadoff role. We saw down seasons from Upton (until the playoffs) and Crawford, mostly due to injuries. We saw marked improvement from Navarro who finished with the highest batting average at .295 (not .300 though, sorry Cork) and Jason Bartlett. Both of these guys shut me up with authority and became two guys I really like having now. Aybar was awesome off the bench filling in when needed. Gross had some big hits that we didn’t count on out of him. Zobrist and Hinske were good for some bombs at the right times. Floyd was decent at the DH role. Gomes played his way back to the minors (hopefully out of town) and Riggans did what a backup catcher should do. This is the area of the team you could say disappointed and needs to be improved on in the off-season.

   Overall it was the best season we’ve had and looks to be the start of something very special here. These guys are young for the most part and are still learning. Much of the way Her Rays thinks now, maybe there’s something to the fact that this was my first year blogging, it was the first winning season in Rays history. I only hope that I can improve as much as these guys did. It was a season that was great for me as I said it was my first year doing this site, it was the first year my son really got into baseball and it has given us all a sense of excitement that we’ve never had here before. I’ve heard people telling me that they can’t wait for next year already, that’s never been said to me before! Thanks to everyone out there who supported me, especially Rays Index.  Great season guys!

Technorati Tags: Akinori Iwamura, Al Reyes, Andy Sonnanstine, Ben Zobrist, BJ Upton, Carl Crawford, Carlos Pena, Chad Bradford, Cliff Floyd, Dan Wheeler, David Price, Eric Hinske, Evan Longoria, Fernando Perez, Gabe Gross, Gary Glover, Grant Balfour, J.P. Howell, James Shields, Jason Bartlett, Jason Hammel, Jeff Niemann, Jonny Gomes, Juan Salas, Kurt Birkins, Matt Garza, Mitch Talbot, Nathan Haynes, Rocco Baldelli, Scott Dohman, Scott Kazmir, Shawn Riggans, Tampa Bay Rays, Trevor Miller, Troy Percival, Willy Aybar

   All hell started to break loose now in Boston. After the incident with Crisp and Joe Maddon last night we all knew something would happen. Well here it is. James Shields hit Dustin Pedroia in the first which I thought would be it, but no! Shields came back in the second and hit Coco Crisp who then charged the mound. Shields took a wild swing at him and missed, after which TFC pulled Crisp to the ground where Jonny Gomes and Carl Crawford went to work on Crisp. It was a pretty brawl as far as Baseball fights go, yet Aki showed us all that is an absolute wuss! Aki stood quietly in the middle of the field being restrained (not really) by one of the Red Sox coaches. I will have a hard time respecting this guy as a man from this point on. Earlier today I pointed out that Aki has not fought his own battles here, now he stands pat while the ENTIRE TEAM fights. There is no excuse for this at all. How can you just stand there while every guy you play with is involved in a brawl? Right or wrong, you NEVER stand pat when your friends, team mates, family or whatever fight! Never! maybe I’m over-reacting to this, but if I was in that locker room with him I would not let this go quietly. I’ll still pull for Aki on the field and that’s it. Time to turn in your package Aki, you no longer require one.

Scott Brannelly

Technorati Tags: Akinori Iwamura, Carl Crawford, James Shields, Jonny Gomes, Tampa Bay Rays, TFC

   The series in Boston is pretty much going the way I thought it would. I’m not silly enough to think the Rays can go to Boston and sneak out with another series win. I figured they would drop the first two and grab the third behind James Shields. This isn’t being brought up because of the two losses, I’ve been meaning to bring this up for a while now. The Rays bats are not very good right now. Aki has picked it up over the last month, TFC and Bartlett are doing better. The problem is the middle of the order. Upton is still taking too many strikes and isn’t hitting for any power. Watching him at this point he looks to be a better leadoff hitter than number three hitter. Pena has struggled and is now hurt. Longoria hasn’t burst on the scene like we all anticipated. Looking at the lineup from top to bottom there is absolutely no one that would scare any pitcher out there. The Rays need to make a move to get a legit middle of the order hitter. To take it a step further in my little fantasy here, I want an elite type hitter. I saw a ridiculous rumor a week or two ago that had the Rays trading David Price among others to the Cards for Albert Pujols. I would do that in a heartbeat. I’m all about developing from within, maintaining a strong farm system and all that but why chase potential when a front line hitter like that may be available. I’m sure that rumor was bogus so don’t take it as me saying the Rays should get Pujols, I’m just saying it’s time to start looking at things a little different. If guys like Matt Holliday, Albert Pujols or Magglio Ordonez become available at a steep price I personally would rather see the Rays go for a more “win now” approach. Now understand, I’m not saying they should try to be the Yankees, they should try to be the Red Sox. Look at it like this, the Sox are a great team because the have Ramirez/Ortiz in the middle. They won without Beckett, Lowell, etc… (although Varitek aint hurtin’ them either). I think Longoria will eventually develop into a great middle order guy, Upton should hopefully find his power stroke again but what else is coming in the way of hitters, Ryan Royster? The Rays lack power throughout the organization and should move some of this pitching depth to get a feared hitter. The Rays originally had a plan to win more toward the ‘09 or ‘10 seasons but things have changed fellas. There should be more of a rush now because pitching is so volatile. Will Shields and Kaz be healthy next year? This seems to be the year that you want to start planning on. With Kazmir and Shields pitching well, Garza improving, a solid bullpen and David Price storming towards the bigs it’s time to start hunting. Here’s my logic. If you trade some guys like Wade Davis, Jake McGee, Jeff Niemann and Fernando Perez it would definitely hurt your minor league system, but you would get a big time bat or two back and that makes you Major League club better right now and for the next year or two after. During that time you can replenish your farm system through the draft and what not. You also still have guys like Mitch Talbot, Jeremy Hellickson, Desmond Jennings, Heath Rollins and Chris Mason down there. You have depth and it’s time to use it! We can’t continue to put this much pressure on the pitching staff and defense. This is why I was for Bonds over Floyd. Say what you want about Bonds, he is feared as a hitter every day he walks and that makes everyone better. Floyd is no Bonds and will probably not stay healthy for half of the teams games this year. Make a move for the sake of winning now please!

Scott Brannelly

Technorati Tags: Akinori Iwamura, Barry Bonds, BJ Upton, Carlos Pena, Chris Mason, Cliff Floyd, David Price, Desmond Jennings, Evan Longoria, Fernando Perez, Heath Rollins, Jake McGee, James Shields, Jason Bartlett, Jeff Niemann, Jeremy Hellickson, Matt Garza, Mitch Talbot, Ryan Royster, Scott Kazmir, Tampa Bay Rays, TFC, Wade Davis

   I might be jumping the gun here but Scott Kazmir is off to a ridiculously good start. Since the early part of last year I have been arguing that James Shields was the ace and not Kazmir. I argue this not because I think that Shields has better stuff, he doesn’t, but because he has been more consistent in giving the team quality starts. Remember last year when Shields was robbed of at least 4 or 5 wins because of the Camp/Lugo circus that we had. I will now give the nod to Kaz. Scotty ‘K’ is off to a phenomenal start and this is all coming on the heels of starting the season on the D.L. He is also a traditionally slow starter and tends to throw alot of pitches early which leads to 5 inning outings. He started that way again tonight but recovered to end up going 7 innings of shutout ball picking up his fifth win. This is an outstanding thing to think see transpiring in front of us. This guy can be flat out unhittable when he’s on and he seems to be on all the time now. He has only pitched in six games this year and already has five wins. He is throwing the changeup more often and pitching to contact more often with confidence because of the defense. If he continues he will blow by everyone in the A.L. and should be the front runner for the Cy Young award by the All-Star break. This is my opinion only as I had to argue with my Dad tonight that he is pitching better than Cliff Lee. I realize Lee is pitching well and maybe I’m being a homer but I’d take Kaz over Lee in a heartbeat! He is not doing this against the weak either. In his first start coming off the D.L. he gave up 4 runs in his only loss to the Red Sox. The Sox do that to the best of them so no harm done. In his 5 outings since he has given up 2 runs in 35 innings to the White Sox, Rangers, Yankees, A’s and Angels. Not bad huh? I’m so excited about the potential season he could have and I can’t wait until his next start to see if he can keep it up. My only complaint about him tonight was he didn’t get us our free pizza, damn you Kaz!

Scott Brannelly

Source: Yahoo

Technorati Tags: James Shields, Scott Kazmir, Tampa Bay Rays

   Cliff Floyd has now made his mark. Floyd hit a shot to center that barely got over the wall for a walkoff 2-1 win. He’ll probably have to go on the DL now after running the bases and getting beat down by everyone when he got home. Some notes from the game.

•    James Shields got away with some average stuff tonight. He left ALOT of changeups up in the zone tonight and thankfully the “other” Sox were not killing him.
•    Aki has 41 hits in May now. That’s got to be a club record or something. The thing that makes me laugh watching him though is that they all seem to go to the same damn spot. How does he do it?!
•   Pena needs to hit the bench for a couple days. It has gotten embarrassingly painful to watch him swing and miss all night long. I feel terrible when I watch him and he needs to be sat for a couple days just to get his head straight (it’s true, sorry Mom). In his last 10 games Carlos is hitting .242 with 12 K’s in 33 AB’s. The stats aren’t showing how ugly it’s been to see though. Those aren’t great numbers and it’s been much worse to watch than it sounds. Watching Jose Contreras float 70 MPH curveballs over the plate while Carlos swung and missed by a foot was hurting my eyes! I love Pena and I think he just needs to flatten his swing out a little. I am now begging Maddon to give him a couple days off even though we’ll miss his glove.

   That’s all I’ve got from tonights game. I’m curious about tomorrows though. The Rays are saying they’ve sold out the game tomorrow and I’m wondering if it’s because of the concert or because they’re not on TV. Anyone got an opinion?

Scott Brannelly

Sources: Yahoo, Marc Lancaster

Technorati Tags: Akinori Iwamura, Carlos Pena, Cliff Floyd, James Shields, Tampa Bay Rays

   I’m confused by the lack of attendance at the Rays games. The Rays have yet to start hitting yet they win. You could go watch Shields, Kazmir and Sonnanstine. You don’t have to see the crap that was continuously rotated out of the bullpen last year. You can see one of the best defense’s in baseball every night. Every game seems to be close and for the first time in our history they are winning more than they are losing. Where is everyone? I know it’s too much too ask for people to go every night, hell I can’t do that, but is it too much to ask for more than 12,000 people to come see our second place Rays? There are no more excuses for you right now. It’s still easy to find parking. It’s not a long drive for anyone from Tampa to Sarasota. What’s your excuse people? Every day I hear on the radio people calling in to the local shows and they say “when they win I’ll go”. They’re winning now so where are you? It’s time for the fans to stop making excuses. We can still bitch and moan about the dumb moves our retard of a manager makes and the stupid moves the ownership group makes but they’re winning in spite of it. I’m not saying we’re going to make the playoffs this year but it’s not out of the question either. Sternberg and his crew have assembled a quality team here. They seem to be poised for a good run as well also. Think about it for a second. The bullpen is pitching way above expectations and when they come down to earth the bats might come alive and save them. We have yet to see the real Carlos Pena, Carl Crawford, B.J. Upton and even the real Evan Longoria. It looks as if the Rays might get so lucky that when the arms start faltering the bats might save them. At this point you couldn’t ask for more from this over-achieving team right now so GO WATCH THEM!!!!

Technorati Tags: Andy Sonnanstine, BJ Upton, Carl Crawford, Carlos Pena, Evan Longoria, James Shields, Scott Kazmir, Tampa Bay Rays

   One pitch, one swing and that’s the only thing keeping James Shields out of the history books tonight. James Shields looked outstanding tonight against the Angels. He mowed down man after man never slowing down to take a breath it seemed. You could not have asked for anything better from your ace after the marathon game last night. He shut down the Angels in less than 2 and 1/2 hours and Evan Longoria helped close this thing down so the Rays could get some rest. Shields pitched 9 innings giving up one hit and no walks while striking out 8 in a shutout of the Angels. Longo came through with a walk-off two run homer in the bottom of the ninth to clinch it. The defense was phenominal tonight as well as Crawford, Upton, Pena and Longoria all made great plays to help out. The Rays just keep winning despite the lack of offense.

Technorati Tags: BJ Upton, Carlos Pena, Evan Longoria, James Shields, Tampa Bay Rays

   James Shields took the hill and looked bad from the first pitch tonight. These things happen. Shields is a good pitcher and this is just something that happens to all pitchers from time to time. The bullpen is starting to come down to earth as Howell and Dohman both gave up runs. Anyone who thought this team would finish the season with the best bullpen was crazy anyway. It was a bad night all around and there does need to be some changes made soon. I’m sick of watching Dioner Navarro act like he’s sitting on a bar stool behind the plate and not even attempting to move sideways or even drop down to block wild pitches. You can visually see each and every pitcher on the staff working to keep the ball down and in doing so they are ALL bouncing more pitches to the plate than normal. When you are having your pitchers do this the catcher must be aware and REACT accordingly. The fat catcher is a statue behind the plate and it’s getting worse. He will no longer be referred to by his given name on this site as the fat catcher has earned his new name and will not lose it. The fat catcher is definitely swinging the bat better but it’s not helping the pitching staff when he can’t move out of his squat! There are other problems that must be addressed soon. First we need a leadoff hitter now! I like Aki and he did hit a homer tonight but he is no leadoff hitter. This is killing the offense. Something must be done to fix this. The other problem is the Gabe Gross project. Defensively he looks adequate but his bat is not going to cut it. Gross hit a homer tonight but he is now batting .143. He came into the game batting .105 and someone like Jonny Gomes or even Justin Ruggiano must be thinking, ‘am I that bad against righty’s that a guy batting .105 is starting ahead of me?’. I’m not a huge fan of Gomes but c’mon here, why is he benched in favor of Gabe Gross? Even put Nathan Haynes out there and bat him leadoff and I could swallow that better than Gabe Gross. I appreciate the patience these guys have sometimes but we need a little better sense of urgency and competition now. I hope the Rays are looking to go after a guy like Willy Tavares or someone like that who could fill both the RF and leadoff problem. I’m happ with the progress the Rays have made but with the progress comes a new sense of urgency to stop running guys out there and ‘waiting’ for them to get going.

Technorati Tags: Akinori Iwamura, Dioner Navarro, Gabe Gross, J.P. Howell, James Shields, Jonny Gomes, Justin Ruggiano, Nathan Haynes, Scott Dohman, Tampa Bay Rays

   Well in case you’ve been locked in a closet and hadn’t heard let me tell you, our hometown Tampa Bay Rays are in first place! Well tied for first actually but in first none the less. I know it’s early and I know I’m not supposed to get overly excited about it this early but c’mon! I’ve been a fan since Wilson Alvarez and Juan Guzman! I’ve had to watch Ben Grieve and Vinny Cashstealer! I’ve earned this and so have you. Sound off and let ‘em know you’re excited too. What a great week it’s been and hopefully they can ride this momentum for a while and give us all a chance to prove this is a baseball town. I will post the standings just for fun, look and be in awe.

   The other exciting news of the day for the Rays is that James Shields has won player of the week honors. After beating Toronto early in the week with a line of 7 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 5 K Shields finished off the week against the Sox with sparkling line of 9 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 7 K against Boston ace Josh Beckett for the sweep of the Sox. That’s the kind of week you like to see from your ace. The Rays are off tonight so we get to soak this up for another day.

Source: Yahoo MLB

Technorati Tags: James Shields, Tampa Bay Rays

   What an outstanding week it has been for the Rays Nation. First, they sweep a very good Toronto team in the home away from home series in Orlando, only to follow it up with a sweep of the Boston Red Sox at home. There were big time crowds, big time plays and really big time pitching involved. Today James Shields out dueled Boston Ace Josh Beckett and pitched the best game of his young career in, oh how should we put it, Beckett-like fashion. Shields mowed down Boston hitters with a precision and efficiency we’ve been waiting for out of him this season. Shields hadn’t pitched up to his usual standards up to this point this season, even though he still gave the team a solid six or seven innings, until he put it all together today for the sweep of the Champs. The pitching was the most exciting and uplifting part of the sweep as Shields, Edwin Jackson and the bullpen locked down a formidable Boston lineup (even without Lowell and Ortiz) and showed no fear in doing so. The Rays now have a pitching staff that can stand with anyone which includes the best bullpen in baseball this season. I repeat loudly, THE BEST BULLPEN IN BASEBALL! Now I’m not a fool thinking this can hold out the entire season but it’s a large building block for the team to build on the rest of the season. They all know they are good enough now and should begin to carry themselves more confidently and relaxed when they visit Boston and New York later in the season. Outstanding job Rays!

Technorati Tags: Edwin Jackson, James Shields, Tampa Bay Rays

   What a huge night for the Rays and their fans. Rays Index wrote today about how big this series actually is for the Rays and I’m in complete agreement on this. This series with Boston is a show a prove opportunity for the Rays. This is huge not just for the fans, who finally get to see how this team matches up against the big boys. It’s not just big for the league to see what the Rays are made of. It’s biggest for the players themselves. This is a chance to get out there and finally realize that they ARE good enough to compete with these guys. I’ve been a fan since day one here as this is my hometown and I am loyal to a fault and this is by far the best TEAM the Rays have fielded since their inception. I will now delve into tonight’s game with the most positive thought I have had of this team to date. I’ve been very critical of the team, players and so on. Sometimes it’s fair and sometimes not. There will be no negativity tonight. I saw something in this team tonight that has been rare in the past. They believed. They showed they believed and they showed they belonged. It was great to see it in their faces and in their body language. Sure there were guys still visibly tight and pressing in the pressure situations but that’s understandable. Their was a different look to these guys though, even the ones pressing. They didn’t look nervous like they did in the past like they were worried about being the guy to screw it up. They looked like they wanted to be the guy to get it done. In the past a situation like the one we saw with Dan Wheeler facing Ortiz, and then Manny Ramirez, us fans and players would be all but sure that something bad was going to happen. Even though the thought still may have been there (I admit I thought it) and Wheeler put it to bed with authority. Again in the 11th, Scott Dohman got a double play out of David Ortiz to shut the Sox down. This was a beautiful thing to watch. I was more excited watching this game tonight than any I game I can remember watching. I will say nothing negative about anyone this evening, not even Joe Maddon. I know I believe the Rays are closer than ever to competing, but the RAYS should now too. At this point in my post it’s in the bottom of the 11th and C.C. just stroked a single to left and stole second and I’m going insane so I need to get away from the computer. I hope everyone out there is as excited as I am about the Rays tonight, win or lose. 

Technorati Tags: Akinori Iwamura, BJ Upton, Carl Crawford, Carlos Pena, Dioner Navarro, Eric Hinske, Evan Longoria, James Shields, Jason Bartlett, Jonny Gomes, Matt Garza, Nathan Haynes, Tampa Bay Rays

   If the Rays keep this up the ownership group may look at a new ballpark in Orlando instead. Just kidding (hopefully). Shields pitched well, Longoria homered, Navarro made a nice return and Eric Hinske had a good time bashing his former team. I’m of course speaking literally here as Hinske darn near hit for the cycle against his former team. A nice game all around for the Rays and they have won four straight in Orlando now dating back to the last years sweep of the Rangers. The fun part of this win today was that earlier today DRaysBay interviewed Drunk Jays Fans and they seemed pretty happy not to have Eric Hinske anymore. How bout now? I’m not going to make too much of that because we can relate with Aubrey Huff. Huff kills us every time it seems but I don’t want him back, so believe me I can relate.

   In other Rays news today the Rays picked up another lefthanded outfielder from the Milwaukee Brewers in Gabe Gross for minor league pitcher Josh Butler. You can read about the trade in a brief mention over at MLBTR. I’m puzzled as to why the Rays need another LH outfielder. What exactly are they trying to do here? We now have Dan Johnson, Eric Hinske, Nathan Haynes and eventually Cliff Floyd. Hmmmmm…… Hinske has definitely earned more playing time and Jonny Gomes is hitting his way into an everyday spot soooooo…… OK, sorry. I’ve got to assume that Haynes is on the way out and don’t forget Justin Ruggiano is still on the roster, for now. I’ve never seen Gabe Gross play so I’m not knocking him, maybe he’s good. This is just strange though. I’m not a fan of Nathan Haynes but I think he’s done a good enough job to keep a roster spot and when Pena can play first again I’ve got to assume that Hinske will be the DH with Gomes receiving most of the playing time in right. This is why I like Haynes on the roster as with Hinske or Gomes in right we need someone to be a late inning defensive replacement. I guess this will all sort itself out and we need to see what Gross can do but this is still very questionable right now. I’ll leave it alone and see how it goes.

Technorati Tags: Carlos Pena, Cliff Floyd, Dan Johnson, Dioner Navarro, Eric Hinske, Evan Longoria, Gabe Gross, James Shields, Jonny Gomes, Justin Ruggiano, Nathan Haynes, Tampa Bay Rays

   The Rays have experienced a multitude of injuries so far yet the newest could hurt badly. In last nights game Carlos Pena left with what is being called ‘hamstring tightness’ and this scares all Rays fans. Pena is off to a good start power-wise and is a great defensive first baseman. If he goes down for an extended period of time this could be trouble. Pena is struggling as far as his average goes but that’s a little deceptive as his presence is what matters. He is not the type of guy who is going to hit .300 but he will punish pitchers when they make mistakes. From what I’ve seen this year with Upton starting slow, but picking up lately, and no consistent protection established behind him yet Pena has not been getting much to hit and that is why his average is down. If he’s lost Eric Hinske can fill in and you won’t see a huge difference offensively but the defense will be sorely missed. Last night we saw a play where Evan Longoria had to rush a throw to first that went into the dirt and Hinske couldn’t dig it out. This is a play that’s becoming Pena’s trademark. He seems to dig most everything out of the dirt and with Longoria having already tossed a couple like this and Bartlett consistently having difficulty throwing to first this would translate into a huge problem for the team and the pitching staff. Hope it’s only tightness that a couple days off can mend. Keep your fingers crossed on this. In another quick note, The Heater is reporting there is a “major announcement” scheduled for 1pm today. With all the injuries we’ve seen so far with Kaz, Reyes, Garza, Floyd, Aybar, etc.. nothing would be shocking. No one seems to have any inclination what the announcement is so I guess we just have to wait and see.

Technorati Tags: Al Reyes, BJ Upton, Carlos Pena, Cliff Floyd, Dioner Navarro, Eric Hinske, Evan Longoria, James Shields, Jason Bartlett, Matt Garza, Scott Kazmir, Tampa Bay Rays, Willy Aybar

   Let’s do some catching up on a busy week where my family kept me busy.  I know it’s early in the season but it appears the Rays have more problems than expected. First off it’s quickly looking like swapping Brendan Harris for Jason Bartlett was a huge mistake. Harris was average defensively but made every play in front of him and Bartlett’s range was overrated and he’s botching easy plays. To compare these guys at the plate isn’t even a discussion, Harris is by far a better hitter so things are looking bleak there. The major part of the deal is debatable and isn’t worth arguing about as even if Delmon Young hits like he can and Garza doesn’t pan out it was more of a failed attempt to rid themselves of a malcontent so that’s that. The surprising things are these….

•    James Shields has looked off. He’s not throwing strikes like we’re accustomed to seeing from him and when he does the hitters are seeing the ball very well. I think he’ll get turned around and let me point out that his being off is still not bad. He’s getting through the tough parts and we’ll see better from him.
•    The defense is not improved, it’s possibly worse. We’ve already pointed out that Bartlett is not good (I’m actually looking forward to Ben Zobrist coming back) so we’ll leave that alone. Aki is transitioning to second base and he’s doing fine and will improve. Pena is Pena, no problems. With Longoria locked in now we fixed an early problem as Aybar was inconsistent, Hinske is slow and Elliot Johnson hasn’t looked good anywhere. The problem is the outfield. Crawford has looked below average as he’s not getting good jumps. Upton looks terrible in center right now. I know he’s learning the position still but there’s no excuse for most of what he’s doing. I’ve got a problem with Upton all around right now but I’ll get to that later, he needs to do a better job taking command in the outfield needs to take better routes to the ball. In right the only guy playing decent is Nathan Haynes, everyone else is a liability.
•    Now onto the biggest problem. Everyone will have patience with Aki and Upton and other things defensively that will improve over time. I can’t forgive the approach I’ve seen at the plate from EVERYONE except Carlos Pena. Aki looks like a high school hitter. He can’t hit the outside pitch and he swinging and missing more than I saw at all from hm last year. He’s not a leadoff hitter and that’s a problem. No surprises from Gomes and Upton as they both continue to strike out looking at an alarming rate. The ball is not coming off the bat the same way it did last year for Upton and I can’t seem to see anything different in him to explain why so I’ll assume he’ll come around. The problem with everyone is there seems to be no plan at the plate what so ever! Let’s list this out so I can point out everyone.
• Iwamura: Too far off the plate while pulling off the ball. Not bunting at all. No plan at all in approach.
• Crawford (who is the most surprising): C.C.’s biggest problem still prevalent and getting worse t seems. There is no excuse anyone on the planet can give me to explain why a player with this sort of talent is slapping, yes slapping at a ball with one strike or less. He looks like he’s just trying to touch it. He needs to be driving the ball. No plan.
• Pena: He’s got a plan. See ball, murder ball. He’ll never hit for a high average but he will hit homeruns. Great plan.
• Upton: Looks at too many called third strikes. They teach in little league, protect the plate with two strikes. Bad plan.
• Gomes: I’ve never seen a so called “power hitter” take so many fastballs and swing at so many curveballs. He should be sitting on fastballs and killing them. Instead he’s trying to hit breaking pitches and it even looks like he’s trying to walk sometimes. Let me explain this too you Mr. Gomes, power hitters draw walks because the pitcher won’t throw them anything to hit, they don’t LOOK for them. Keep it simple stupid, see fastball hit fastball. No plan/Bad plan.
• Let’s shorten this up now,I know too late, the only guys left on the team that seem to have a plan to what they’re doing are Hinske, Longoria and Haynes. Everyone else simply looks bad. I only include Longoria in this because he’s had a plan in the minors. This could change but I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt for now.

   There’s alot more to complain about but I’ll let you soak this up for now. The reason I’m bringing this up is not a knock on the players but the coaches, namely our hitting coach Steve Henderson. Henderson has been the hitting coach for three years now and all these trends I’m talking about have been consistently bad since he’s been here. If these trends continue, and there’s no reason to think they won’t, Mr Henderson should receive his walking papers. There is no excuse for this kind of talent to suffer from bad coaching.

Technorati Tags: Akinori Iwamura, BJ Upton, Carl Crawford, Carlos Pena, Dioner Navarro, Eric Hinske, Evan Longoria, James Shields, Jason Bartlett, Jonny Gomes, Matt Garza, Nathan Haynes, Tampa Bay Rays

   On Sunday and Monday the Devil Rays apparently showed up to play. James Shields didn’t pitch badly but the Rays couldn’t get anything going against Chen-Ming Wang. Not an unforgivable offense there. Just one of those pitching duels that the Yanks were not giving up as they quickly went to Joba to keep things in check. Monday was the ugly one. A feeble Mike Mussina made most of the Rays look silly up at the plate. Mussina got through the first inning on 8 pitches as Aki and Crawford both looked like little leaguers not only in that inning but all day long. Jason Hammel didn’t pitch as bad as it looked but I can’t wait for Kazmir or someone better to step in. Hammel should be a starter but I think the Rays should dump him for anything so he can learn without pitching to the Yanks and Sox. Hopefully the Rays bring their A-game tonight as they are facing Eric Bedard. The game is sold out but I managed to wrangle up seven tickets for the fam’ for what should be a great opener. Hope to see everyone at the game and I’ll be checking in afterwards.

Technorati Tags: Akinori Iwamura, Carl Crawford, James Shields, Jason Hammel, Scott Kazmir, Tampa Bay Rays

   The Rays didn’t play today but they still had some news courtesy of the St. Pete Times.

•    The Rays picked up the option on Carl Crawford’s option for the 2009 season for $8.25 million. Today was the deadline for this and for Rocco’s option who’s obviously wasn’t picked up. No shocker on either here as Rocco appears headed toward retirement with his mysterious ailments and C.C. is the face of the franchise. This insures Carl’s presence here for at least next year and the team has another option on him for 2010. In Crawford’s statement he released today he indicated he would like to stay beyond that also but I’m sure there will be no discount this time and the Rays are looking at a contract similar to Tori Hunter’s at least in order to keep him beyond 2010.
•    In a somewhat surprising move the team signed reliever Dan Wheeler to a three year deal today which essentially is a two year extension as the first year of the deal replaces this years contract and actually cuts his salary from $2.85 million to $2.8 million. The next two years are worth $3.2 million  and $3.5 million for ‘09 and ‘10. There also is a team option for 2011 for $4 million or a $1 million buy-out. I’m surprised by this because Wheeler has struggled since coming back to the Rays in the Ty Wiggington trade last year and I thought they would’ve waited until the all-star break to see how Wheeler performs this year. It looks like a good faith move to me that won’t hurt too bad if Wheeler does implode. Anyway all’s still looking good for the Rays right now.
•    Scott Kazmir said he felt great in his bullpen session yesterday and thinks he’ll be back sooner rather than later. I’m still a little hesitant here as he said he threw all fastballs and the slider is what puts the strain on his elbow. When he says he’s throwing sliders consistently without discomfort then I’ll be happy. Wait and see.
•    Don’t miss the game tomorrow as we all finally get to see Matt Garza and start judging the Delmon Young trade. You can’t judge it in one day or one year even but it won’t stop the naysayers out there if he doesn’t come out strong.

Technorati Tags: Carl Crawford, Dan Wheeler, James Shields, Matt Garza, Scott Kazmir, Tampa Bay Rays

   The Rays started their season nicely today with a 6-2 victory in Baltimore. Granted the Orioles aren’t going to make much noise this year but in a place where the Rays have struggled to win over the years, it all helps. James Shields got through an uncharacteristically wild first inning and got through seven to pull out the victory. Everyone contributed, the defense looked good except for Crawford early and the plate discipline looked very much improved. I’m not going to celebrate too soon here but it was nice to see a strong performance out of the gate. Now before anyone gets on my case I will give Dioner Navarro a thumbs up today. I’m not jumping on the bandwagon but Navarro looked very good in his game today hitting, throwing and fielding so I must give him some kudos since I am so hard on him. Nice game guys, keep it up.

Technorati Tags: Dioner Navarro, James Shields, Tampa Bay Rays

   The Rays officially sent top prospect Evan Longoria down to AAA Durham today according to Marc Topkin. As I’ve been harping on this issue alot recently this move really disappoints me. I understand what the Rays are trying to do but it still doesn’t make sense. In doing this they officially tell Longoria, and every other young prospect, we don’t care what you’ve done we’re going to try to save money. They also have rid themselves of any good will keeping Longoria on the roster now would have gotten them when it comes time to negotiate a new deal. In a way it also hurts the good will created this off-season in the signing of James Shields and Carlos Pena long term as well as the signing of Cliff Floyd and Troy Percival. This is not a situation where know one knows who the best player for the position is, we all do. This now leaves us with Willy Aybar, Joel Guzman and Eric Hinske (presumably) to fill the third base role. That is not ideal for any team. I’m not saying these guys are bad players, I’m saying they probably won’t be great and Longoria probably would be great. Bad move here as it creates a hole that shouldn’t exist. I still love the Rays, hate the move.

Technorati Tags: Cliff Floyd, Eric Hinske, Evan Longoria, James Shields, Joel Guzman, Tampa Bay Rays, Willy Aybar

   The Rays have a few things going on right now.

•    The decision will be made this week on where Evan Longoria will start the season. I’ll be disappointed in the Rays if they send him to the minors. I’ll keep saying he’s done enough to be the opening day third baseman. The thing that keeps coming up is this “extra year” of time being bought by them sending him down. It’s a wasted argument. Those who don’t follow the rules of arbitration and free-agency just want to see the best team on the field and they’ll be disappointed if he’s sent down. Those who do follow know its a waste because either he’ll be a ’super 2′ when it’s time and they wont get the extra year or, just like with Shields, they’ll end up signing him long term and buying his arbitration years anyway. It’s a waste of talent and not smart to send him down. Do the right thing here Rays!
•    Reed Johnson has been waived by the Blue Jays and this is a guy the Rays need to go after. He’s a right handed hitter who can play all three outfield positions, hits lefties well and is good enough to play everyday if needed. I’m not comfortable with the rightfield platoon of Cliff Floyd and Jonny Gomes, we need someone who can legitimately back up Upton in center and we need a replacement for Rocco. This needs to happen.
•    In late news highly touted prospect David Price left his minor league start Thursday with soreness in his left elbow. This is an awful thing anytime you here of a pitcher with “elbow soreness”, especially a lefty who throws sliders. Lets hope for the best with Price and Kaz but I’m already nervous about both.

Technorati Tags: BJ Upton, Evan Longoria, James Shields, Jonny Gomes, Reed Johnson, Scott Kazmir, Tampa Bay Rays