Burnt to a Crisp

It was determined yesterday by the powers-that-be that upon appeal of Akinori Iwamura and Coco Crisps' suspensions Aki will have to serve the 3 game suspension that he was originally handed while Crisp (who initiated the entire fiasco by taking a cheap shot, at Aki of all people, the night before the brawl) had his suspension reduced from 7 to 5 games... RIDICULOUS!

Shields, who did nothing more than defend himself when Crisp charged him, got 6 games... again, Crisp initiated the event, but the harsher penalty goes to Shields...UNBELIEVABLE!

My wife's cousin was at the house when they first showed that Aki's suspension was upheld while Crisp's was reduced, and he hit the nail on the head, "Must be nice to be a Red Sock."... yeah, must be.

Except for the part about having to live in Boston.

Kid-K pitch Kount

Let me preface this by first saying that I am a huge fan of Scott Kazmir, and would be fairly annoyed were the Rays to lose him (via trade, injury, etc...).

That being said, if Kid-K can't figure out how to keep his pitch count down - or to be more precise, average less pitches per inning, he will eventually slide down the roatation, and rightfully so.

Your Ace is supposed to be as close to a lock for a W as you can find, and that means keeping the bullpen seated firmly on their tooshes.

The problem is that the young Mr. Kazmir hasn't made any progress in bringing his pitches/inning down at all over the first few years of his young career.

Why?

I'm glad you asked. I'll tell you why:
Ego.

Scott has no doubt spent his entire life blowing batters away with his nasty stuff. The issue now is that major league hitters have seen it all before- especially scrappy old veterans. Don't get me wrong, Kaz can throw some nasty goods, but for some reason he feels the need to challenge every batter with every pitch.
He's got an ego the size of the Trop when it comes to pitching right-at solid hitters. There is no doubt in my mind that Kaz can 'fan' anyone in the league consistantly, but the major issue with trying to challenge every batter is that its going to put too many balls in hittable places, resulting in tons of foul balls as good batters try to fight off the heat, the outcome of which is: more pitches per inning.

I can't even count the number of times I've seen Kazmir record a big K- but it cost him 7, 8, or 9 pitches because the batter sprayed fouls all over the stadium before finally whiffing on the inside heat.

Every batter doesn't have to be a K, let your defense protect you. Put some balls in play and sit back and watch while Dirtbag and Co. take care of business.

I'm not a pitcher, never was, I pitched exactly 1 inning in my illustrious little league career, and know next to nothing of the mechanics of pitching, but I can assure you that if Kazmir can't figure out how to consistantly make it to the 7th innning he'll spend his career mired in the middle of the rotation, not the top.

Game Recap: Long(oria)ball

June 27, 2008

RAYS: 10

Pirates: 5

HIGH-LITES:

Evan Longoria is playing at a level well beyond his years. He has already emerged as one of the if not the best third baseman in the league and his offensive production has been steadily rising as well. Last night Dirtbag went 4-5 with a 2B and a 3-run homer to start off the scoring. That's 4 homers in the last 5 games and he now leads the team in HR's (15), Doubles (20), and RBI's (46)... not bad for a rookie.

Carl Crawford's offensive production has finally picked up as well; he was 3 for 5 with a solo HR in the 6th.

Hinske got the start in RF, again and it paid dividends on the offensive side; he was 2 for 3 with a 3-run homer.

Although Pena went hitless in his return to the lineup (although he did record a sac fly resulting in an RBI) he looked solid at the plate and I see no reason to believe that he won't get right back to crackin' 440 footers sooner than later.

Grant Balfour pitched 2 1/3 allowing 0 runs on 0 hits while striking out 3 and walking none.

LOW-LITES:

If the Rays plan on being playoff contenders they cannot let a team like Pittsburgh get back into a game in which they (The Rays) led by 7 in the third; especially when its your Ace (Kazmir) versus a first tim starter.

Kazmir, although he pitched fairly accurately (70 of his 103 pitches were counted as strikes), packed it in as soon as the Rays mounted a nice big lead, and he's lucky it didn't cost him another W. If Kaz wants to continue his career as the Ace he is going to have to learn how to keep that pitch count down.
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visit Rays Index.

Will the Rays sweep the Pirates?

The Rays are getting set to open a 3 game series with the Pirates tonight, will they be able to make it back-to-back road sweeps?

Points to ponder:

Pitching:
The Rays pitchers for the 3-game set are:
Scott Kazmir, LHP (6-3, 2.03)
Edwin Jackson, RHP (4-6, 4.35)
Andy Sonnanstine, RHP (8-3, 4.85)

The Pirates pitchers:
Jimmy Barthmaier, RHP (0-0, -.--)
Taubenheim (0-0)
Tom Gorzelanny, LHP (6-6, 6.43)

Advantage: Uh, Duh... Rays.
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Defensively: The Rays have recorded 19 less errors than the Pirates. Call me a homer, but anytime Dirtbag is playing third that's an inherent advantage right off the top.

Advantage: Rays
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Offensively: The Rays and Pirates have fairly similar offensive numbers with BA, OBP, and SLG all within a few hundredths of each other. The Rays have stolen substantially more bases with a league-leading 85, whereas the Pirates have a league-low 23. The Pirates have struck-out less, but they've also walked less. Pittsburgh has also scored more runs so far this season (382 versus Tampa's 365)

Advantage: I give a slight edge to The Rays, due to the dispairity in stolen bases.
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Mindset: The Rays are preparing for another homestand v. Boston, so their heads may be on the wrong series. If they lose focus Pittsburgh could sneak up on them. The Pirates aren't well known for looking ahead, or backward, or really paying attention at all.

Advantage: Pirates

Well, I say even though all signs point to yes, with Jackson/Sonny pitching I never rule out an aweful game, so I'll say a resounding NO. Two out of three will suffice.
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Poor Pirates

As someone who was born and raised in Western Pennsylvania (about 80 miles north of Pittsburgh) I have a unique perspective into the next series on the schedule, so being the humanitarian that I am, I'll lay out that perspective for you:

First and foremost, for those of you who commiserate that the Rays don't have a following outside of Tampa/St. Pete I can assure you that you should feel fortunate for the fans we do have, we're not alone in wondering aloud, "where's the love?".

For 24 years I lived a stones-throw from Steeltown, met thousands of people, watched tons of sports (and of course was born a Steelers fan), but of all those people and over all those years that I spent in such close proximity of Pittsburgh, I only knew 1 (just 1) actual Pirates fan. That's it! ONE!

The Devil Rays always had the excuse that there are just too many Boston/New York transplants in Tampa/St Pete to convert them all into Rays fans, but the poor, lowly Pirates have no such excuse.

The day(s) Bonds and Bonilla walked away so did the fans, and as the years have flown by the ownership has never given them (the fans) a single reason to come back.

If there is one team in the league that can relate to the Devil Rays/Rays or one group of fans (albeit a small group) that can relate to Devil Ray/Rays' fans its the poor bastards in Pittsburgh. The Pirates are the one team that has been as consistantly bad as the D. Rays over the years, so we, as Rays fans, should show a little sympathy toward the unlucky souls who've chosen to follow the ol Buc-o's- we can relate.

We know the pain that's involved with routing for a loser year after year after year... we know the heartbreak that occurs every year after we foolishly convince ourselves during spring training that "this is the year"- just to come to the realization by mid-June that we're once again going to be looking up at all the legitimate major league clubs... and a little piece of our heart disappears, never to be seen again.

It has been a staggering 15 years since the Pirates have sniffed a winning season. Sad, but true. I honestly don't know how Pirates' fans don't throw themselves from bridges every September (God knows there's enough bridges to choose from).

I admire their true, faithful fans. The ones who sit in an empty park when its 45 degrees in April and route for a team that they know can't win.
We are kindred spirits we fans of The Rays and the Pirates, we share a dubious, self-destructive, masochistic bond.

Its a sad story when a city/state that is sooo ridiculously faithful to the Steelers can be so cold and uninterested in the Pirates, but I can't blame them, and neither can you.
Too many years and too many lies have callused the hearts of the Pittsburgh baseball fan, and it should be a constant reminder to Rays fans of how incredibly close we came to the same fate had current ownership not come riding in on their white horses dressed in navy blue and sunshine yellow, writing checks, and carrying victory on their backs.

The Pirates, in turn, should draw some solace from the Rays in seeing that it is possible to right a sinking ship, even if that ship has been sinking for a very, very long time.

Game Recap: Good Garza !!

June 26, 2008

RAYS: 6
Marlins: 1

HIGH-LITES:

Matt Garza pitched an awesome game this afternoon. As a matter of a fact, he pitched as close to a no-no as you can get; striking out 10, facing 1 over the minimum, and allowing just 1 hit (a solo HR by Ramirez in the 7th). This is the type of game that convinces me that if Garza can stay out of his own head he can be just as good as Kaz before all is said and done. Muy Impressivo

Longoria (AKA Dirtbag) had another great day offensively going 3 for 5 with 2 doubles and a homer. The way the ball jumps off of his bat is unreal. I firmly believe he will lead the team in homers by the end of the year.

Upton's patience at the plate. I've been bustin' BJ's chops a bit lately about being lazy, but his good eye at the plate is paying dividends (or maybe he's just too lazy to swing the bat...).

Homers by Longoria and Zobrist and a near grand slam by Riggans showed another glimpse of the offensive potential that the Rays are yet to live up to so far this year. Hopefully this series was the offense's coming-out party. We'll see when we face Boston next week at The Trop.

LOW-LITES:

10 runners left on base.

The Prof over at Rays Index jinxed Garza by mentioning the NY Mets during his Live Blog-A-Baloo and cost him the no-no!

Game Recap: 5th Inning Frenzy

June 25, 2008

RAYS: 15

Marlins: 3

HIGH-LITES:

Carl Crawford had a great night, going 2 for 5 with 2 HR's and 5 RBI. Crawford's first homer of the night (in the 3rd) "drew first blood" and put the Rays up 3-0.

The 5th inning. In the top of the 5th every batter recorded a run. Crawford and Longoria both hit homers, and the Rays tacked on 10 runs (which isn't a Rays record by the way. They've scored 11 in an inning twice; most recently last year against Baltimore).

Jason Bartlett had his child... wait- let me rephrase that: his wife had their child. Congrats.

LOW-LITES:

This is the part where I would usually complain about how Upton was still lazy out in CF and about how aweful Zobrist was at SS, but when a team wins by a dozen, you let some stuff slide.

Aki was credited with his 1st Error of the season... shucks, I was really hoping he'd stay error free until the beak in order to help bolster my argument that he should be the starting 2B at the all-popularity game. He still should be, of course, but 0 errors looks so much nicer than 1.

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Lazy-Town

Welcome to Lazytown, population: 1, founded in early summer 2008 in the heart of center field at Tropicana Field (but not to worry- it travels around the country from one ball park to another-- it was last seen in Miami on the evening of June 24th).


I'm talking about our own dear, beloved Bossman Junior (BJ, for you folks who love to initialize everything) Upton.

As a fan who has only missed watching 2 games this year, I feel that I am more than qualified to chime in against one of our beloved Rays if I deem it necessary, and I do.

Let me expound:

Over the last several weeks I've noticed a decided difference in the defensive play of Mr. BJ Upton, in that he suddenly feels that it is no longer necessary to run at full speed or cover anything more than a 20 foot radius in CF.

While the rest of his teammates are bustin' their tails for every win it seems that Bossman has lost his will to compete. I guess winning a couple of games entitles him to acting like he deserves to be on the roster- regardless of his obvious lack of effort.

Mr. Upton will jog over in the direction of a soft blooper to middle center and watch it drop then once he finally finishes his stroll over to the ball, that inevitably dropped 6 feet in front of him, he grabs it and proceeds to throw a blooping hailmary to the plate... everytime! Hey BJ, throw it to the cutoff man sometimes! Or here's a novel idea: hustle after the ball and maybe you could catch it and record an out- or at least catch a runner at third and not have to throw a looper to the plate because you reacted so slowly... everytime! Yeah-yeah we know, "You're sooo talented..." , blah, blah, blah... I've seen tons of below average players have amazing years (or even careers for that matter) because they put forth the effort that "superstars" are too good to bother with, and we've all seen "superstars" get sent packing because they were "too good" to be benched or told what to do....

Okay, slow down... I am not implying that I want Upton shipped out of town or DFA'd or anything silly like that, but I am lobbying for a stern talking-to from management and a few days on the pine to think about it.

In case you haven't noticed, BJ's numbers at the plate are down as well, so its not like he's countering his laze-fair defense with superb offense either (stay tuned, I may just present statistical evidence to support that).

Case and point: BJ's gotten lazy. Winning's coming easily, so there's no pressure. How fast our beloved Bossman has forgotten how life as a Devil Ray was, or how much winning meant to The Rays as recently as this May. I think the whole team has lost some intensity as of late, but the "good ones", like BJ, are supposed to learn how to keep winning not how to rest on their laurels.

Here's Upton's batting numbers at this point this year vs. last year:

YEAR AVG OBP SLG OPS HR
2007 .320 .402 .545 .947 9

2008 .284 .397 .424 .821 5

Don't get me wrong, I still love our little buddy BJ, but I'm getting tired of the nonchalant, lack-luster performances as of late. I honestly believe that he needs to be humbled a little, and I think the Pittsburgh series would be the perfect time.

Maddon could even spin it to the press that he's just giving BJ a "well-deserved rest"...

Well deserved, indeed!

Game Recap: Aki To Victory...

June 24, 2008

RAYS: 6
Marlins: 4

HIGH-LITES:

Aki went 3 for 5 out of the lead-off spot, including a 2 run homer (his 5th of the year) in the 3rd to put the Rays ahead 2-1. He also recorded his 12th double of the season and finished the night with 7 total bases.

Although Sonny was far from prefect he pitched a fairly good game, which is all the Rays ask of him. Andy gave up 6 hits in 5 innings of work, allowing 2 earned runs while striking out 5.

Howell, despite giving up a run, recorded 4 K's in 2 innings of work. J.P. continues to impress with some great pitches when they matter most and picked up the W.

Evan Longoria hit another clutch double in the top of the 9th to put the Rays up by a margin of 6-3. He came through in the clutch again in the bottom of the 9th; with the bases loaded Evan made an amazing diving stop to prevent an extra bases hit then threw to 2nd (from his knees) to record the second out of the inning. That play more than made up for the balls he lost in the lights earlier in the game.

Patience at the plate by Navi and Hinske. In the 8th, with the bases loaded, immediately following less-than-stellar at-bats by and Upton and Dirtbag, first Navi and then Hinske showed patience and allowed the Marlins to beat themselves by walking-in 2 runs.

LOW-LITES:

BJ Upton's lackluster performance on both sides of the ball. The fellas over at Rays Index touched on BJ's recent lack of effort yesterday, and Mr. Bossman proved their point fabulously last night. Upton was 0 for 4 from the plate with 4 runners left on base. He also helped Crawford screw up a routine fly ball into left-center: after Crawford let one get by, BJ proceeded to stroll over in his usual cavalier manner and managed to muff a bare-handed grab of a ball that was nearly stationary, which gave the Marlins the go-ahead run. Upton better get his head in the game... more on this later today.

Troy Percival came in and recorded the save, and I have no idea how he got away with it. Percy faced 7 batters and walked... are you ready?... 4 of them! Look on the bright side; he recorded a K too. Over the last 7 days Percival has an ERA of 9.00, giving up 5 BB to only 2 K's in 2 appearances.

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It's a Full House...

With El Gato (Carlos Pena) set to come back either during the Pittsburgh series or the Sox series (as laid out by the folks over at TBO) the time is drawing near to start considering who gets moved/DFA'd to make room on the 25 man roster.








I pose the question to you, the Rays faithful:

Who will it be, and why?

Zobrist?

Gross?

Hinske?

Glover?

Aybar?