GIVE ME ONE REASON...

Here's our latest installment of GM1R:


Give Me One Reason...
Why the Rays can't sweep the Marlins.

Not that I want to look past the end of the Philly series, but looking forward to the "exciting conclusion" of the Citrus Series, this weekend could prove to be quite the springboard for the Rays who have obviously struggled with consistency all season. The Marlins will head into town tomorrow (Friday) for a 3-game set. Coming into Thursday night Florida has won 4 in a row and are 1 game over .500, but historically the Rays have played well v. the Marlins, and they're due for another run. Both the Yankees and Jays are within reach and what better time to start digging-in to catch Boston than right now against their downstate rivals?


Give Me One Reason...
Why CC shouldn't be forced to take over at lead off.

If you've watched the Rays at all this season you've seen how inept at leading-off BJ Upton is, but more importantly you've noticed how lead-off-esque Carl Crawford's at bats typically are. While Joe Maddon has stood firm by his decision to put BJ at lead-off this season, CC has become one of the scrappiest batters in the league (this is where a good writer would site how many pitches he sees per at bat v. the league average). It seems as if Crawford has been stretching every AB into a full count and really chewing-up the opposing pitcher's pitch count which is exactly one of the primary roles of a lead-off guy. He is also sporting a much better BA than Upton (.310 v.244). Another point to consider is this; if CC is leading-off then the bases will be clear for him to steal whenever the opportunity presents itself. Whereas, although Upton is also fairly quick, if he leads-off and gets-on ahead of Crawford then CC's base running prowess is compromised (until BJ inevitably gets himself picked-off, of course). CC has repeatedly said that he doesn't like hitting out of the lead-off spot and Maddon has stubbornly and repeatedly insisted that BJ's the guy no matter what, but come on man, since when have egos gotten in the way of winning in Tampa?


Give Me One Reason...
Why moving Sonnanstine to the 'pen isn't the wisest option in light of Kaz's return.

With Kaz penciled-in to return any day now the rotation shuffle is mere hours away. Several possibilities have been floating around the Rays-iverse for a week or so now, and the most popular scenarios seem to be; move Niemann to the 'pen, send Sonny down to Durham, send Sonny to the 'pen, or demote Price. In my opinion sending Price down is out of the question, so that leaves Sonny to the 'pen, Niemann to the 'pen, or Sonny to Durham. Niemann has shown that his stuff can be filthy, and I believe that moving him to the 'pen now would seriously handcuff his development so check that one of the list too. That leaves the two scenarios regarding Sonny. Many times Maddon has either hinted or blatantly stated that Sonny would make an ideal reliever; he warms up quickly, and he's much tougher to hit the first time through the lineup as I documented here last month. He's never been dominant, but he's shown for several years that he's Big League (4th or 5th man) material. Sending him to Durham would accomplish nothing, as Sonny's mechanics are sound, so there's really nothing for him to work on down there. It does the Rays no good to send someone who could contribute to the team down to Durham and hold-on to lesser relievers in the Bigs. So, give me one reason why Sonny won't head to the 'pen.