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Soreness gone, Price to make rehab start Friday

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 16:29:01 MDT

David Price was just trying too hard. The Rays left-hander learned his lesson, manager Joe Maddon said, and will take it a little bit slower as he begins a rehab assignment Friday.

Is It Time for the Roberto Hernandez Experiment to End?

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 14:38:20 MDT

The Good: Roberto Hernandez has seen his ERA drop 2.51 runs on average from last season's disastrous three-game spurt in Cleveland, and 0.23 runs from his last full year in the majors, back in 2011.

The Bad (and sadly, the reality): His ERA is 5.02. And with mid-June quickly turning into the dog days of summer, it may time to pull the plug on the pitcher formerly known as Fausto Carmona.

Hernandez by the Numbers

On the surface, he's 4-7, with a 5.02 ERA, 1.37 WHIP, and a 65/20 K/BB ratio. Take out his 8.2 IP, 0 ER victory against the AAAA-Marlins, and his ERA jumps to 5.67.

Don't let his ERA fool you. Hernandez hasn't been all that bad:

His K:BB ratio has been a pleasant surprise considering his career ratio coming into the season was 1.54 K:BB.

His K/9 ratio is also at a career-best, as he's punching out batters at a clip of 7.77 K/9, a much higher clip than his previous career-high of 6.99 K/9 during his rookie season in 2006.

For a team that has had to burn its bullpen far too often, Hernandez has eaten a lot of innings, pitching at least six innings eight different times.

His FIP stands at 4.48, slightly better than his career rate (4.51).

And for what it's worth, his xFIP stands at 3.53, the lowest of his career.

Unfortunately, it's tough to sugar coat the complete body of work, nit-picking stats be damned.

Fausto's GB% is at a career-low, inducing grounders only 50% of the time, and well-below his career average of 58.3%. To make matters worse, his LD% rate is at a career-high, with batters hitting line-drives a quarter of the time (24.8%). Hernandez has made a career out of being a ground-ball specialist. Couple the big drop in groundballs with the rise in line-drives, and you negate the added bonus of more strike-outs and less walks. The goal as a pitcher is outs, one way or another, and the Rays defense can't do much about line drives.

Making Sense of Roberto Hernandez's Season

The other Michael's look.

His velocity has also been a concern. Fausto's fastball is clocking in at 91.5 MPH, below his career-average of 92.8 MPH, and much more in-line with his disastrous stint last season (91.4 MPH). Throw in a diminishing slider (83.4 MPH this season vs. a career-average of 85.3 MPH), and Hernandez simply isn't the same pitcher he once was. Even if we believe the HR/FB ratio will eventually positively regress, the drop in velocity shows that any positive regression will probably be slight at best.

While everybody is (rightfully) giddy over the call-up of Wil Myers, the Rays top-prospect doesn't pitch. And that's exactly what the Rays need right now. As a team, the Rays currently rank 27th in ERA, and have essentially wasted the league's seventh-best scoring offense.

Holding runners on once they reach base, a relative strength in years past, has turned into a weakness. In 2011, runners were successful stealing bases 71.4% of the time. This season, they've succeeded on 11 of 13 attempts, good for an 84.6% clip.

Hernandez probably can be effective as a long-reliever out of the bullpen, particularly against righties. While righties are batting .265 against him, much higher than their career rate of .245, Hernandez has mostly limited the damage to singles, as he's allowed only eight XBH in 140 plate appearances. He has also punched out righties at an excellent rate, with 30 strike-outs compared to only three walks. Even his weakness of holding runners on is seemingly mitigated by who he's facing: when facing a lefty, runners are a perfect 8/8 on the base paths. When facing a righty, runners are only 3/5. That may just be noise, but if not, it's interesting.

Against lefties, Hernandez struggles mightily. So far, he's faced 192 batters, surrendering 49 hits (.288 BAA). The real troubling sign within that number is that of the 49 hits, over forty percent of them are extra base-hits (11 doubles, nine homers). Couple in the fact that his control issues arise vs. lefties (35:17 K:BB ratio), and it's clear that the book on how to beat Hernandez is to make him face lefty after lefty.

If Hernandez comes out of the bullpen, Maddon will have the opportunity to line him up against righty-heavy line-ups, or force an opposing manager to make a corresponding line-up change to bring a pinch-hitter (i.e. most likely worse) lefty to face Hernandez. This move to the pen should raise his velocity across the board and will most likely bring a major drop to his inflated HR/FB ratio, as well as increase his career-best K:BB ratio. Most importantly for the Rays, it would minimize the danger he's encountered when facing lefties.

With Alex Torres' sizzling start out of the bullpen, it may be time to see what the centerpiece of the Scott Kazmir trade can do as a starter. During his nine starts in AAA this season, Torres went 2-2 with a 3.52 ERA, while striking out 11.93 batters/nine, and allowing only 2 homers over 46 innings. For comparison's sake, Hernandez has allowed 12 homers over 75.1 innings.

Torres has shown excellent control since joining the Rays, a trait he struggled with while in AAA. In 18.1 IP thus far, he holds a 24:5 K:BB ratio. In AAA, Torres had a 61:21 K:BB ratio, which is nearly identical to Hernandez' K:BB rate this season.

While Torres' sterling 0.00 ERA is jaw-dropping, it has been a small sample-size. But when you account his very strong FIP (1.25) and xFIP (2.25), it's clear that his success hasn't been a fluke.

Of the four hits Torres has allowed, two have gone for doubles. But he's surrendering an incredibly low 5.7 LD%, while forcing hitters to hit ground-balls 57.1% of the time. The only concern is a high fly-ball ratio (37.1%) will probably catch up with him eventually. Still, in 261.1 innings throughout three seasons in AAA, Torres only allowed 15 homers. If anything, it seems that the high fly-ball rate will drop dramatically. The important factor to look at is if hitters will turn weak fly-outs into line-drivers or ground-balls.

Torres, a lefty, has actually pitched better against righties, holding them to a paltry .030 BA (1/33). His K:BB ratio against righties (14:3) is nearly identical to what it is against lefties (10:2). Lefties are hitting slightly better (.115, going 3/26) but haven't exactly found much success in their own right.

The reality is though, that even if Hernandez struggles, with the Rays current injury woes, they may not have a choice but to keep Hernandez in the rotation. Price's return date is murky at best, and he wasn't exactly pitching well before he was hurt. With Alex Cobb out at least the next week, the Rays may be stuck with Hernandez for the time-being.

Should Hernandez be moved to the bullpen in favor of Alex Torres?

Poll

Should Alex Torres replace Roberto Hernandez in the Rays rotation?

Yes (Immediately)

Yes (If Hernandez struggles next start)

No

3 votes | Results

Rays Roundup: Wil Myers Will Be Fine, But Alex Cobb Could Be Out for Season

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 08:54:48 MDT

Day One of the Wil Myers era is over. Unfortunately, he didn’t exactly light the world on fire, going just 1 for 7. Even as he struggled, though, Joe Maddon was confident that good things are ahead. “He’s going to be fine,” Maddon said. “We just have to get him out there and settled down. [...]Rays Roundup: Wil Myers Will Be Fine, But Alex Cobb Could Be Out for Season - Rays Colored Glasses - Rays Colored Glasses - A Tampa Bay Rays Fan Site - News, Blogs, Opinion and More

The Rays Tank: Wil Myers Struggles on First MLB Day, Alex Cobb's Future Uncertain

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 08:18:41 MDT

Tuesday was a momentous day in the history of the Tampa Bay Rays as top prospect Wil Myers made his major league debut. Day One, though, didn't live up to the hype. The Rays lost both ends of their doubleheader to the Boston Red Sox, and Myers went just 1 for 7. The good news: it's all uphill from here.

In his first-at bat, Myers admitted that he was nervous.

"I was a little anxious there, swinging at the first pitch, you usually don't swing at that one," Myers said. "I'm not a guy that takes a lot of pitches, anyway. But I should have got a better pitch to hit right there. I just got out of my approach a little bit, obviously, being the first game."

But as the games went on, Myers just got more and more comfortable. He singled in his first plate appearance of the second game, worked a couple of three-ball counts, and showed power to both left field and right. His ability was evident even as he sputtered a little bit, and Joe Maddon liked what he saw.

"He's going to be fine," Maddon said. "We just have to get him out there and settled down. He's going to be just fine. He's definitely fine here. I don't think he's in awe of anything. ... He was not overwhelmed by the moment."

Rays fans were spoiled the last time a top outfield prospect made his debut. It wasn't his MLB debut, but many Rays fans remember Desmond Jennings' 2011 debut on July 23rd when he absolutely wrecked havoc, going 2 for 3 with a triple, a double, two walks, a stolen base, and 2 runs scored to spur an unbelievable start to his first significant time in the major leagues.

At the end of the day, though, the first game and even the first two games mean very little. Wil Myers is a talented player, and over the coming days and weeks, we will see that. Everyone is waiting for that moment where they can say "wow, that's why we traded James Shields for this guy." It hasn't happened yet, but it's coming.

More concerning news for the Rays is regarding Alex Cobb. Joe Maddon told Marc Topkin that Alex Cobb's return to the major leagues might take quite a while. Maddon said that Cobb has not only a mild concussion but an ear issue as well, and it may be quite a while before he returns to a big league mound. Maddon said that he isn't even sure if Cobb will return this season. Cobb is currently on the 7-Day concussion disabled list, but expect a move to the 15-Day DL and maybe even the 60-Day DL if he does not progress well.

This would mark the second time in three seasons that Cobb's season has ended early by a sudden non-arm injury. It happened at the worst possible time as Cobb has emerged as the most dependable member of the Rays' staff and the Rays will have to figure out what to do without him. The Rays have seemed to have excellent luck in terms of their pitchers staying healthy, with only Cobb's injury in 2011 and a couple different issues for Jeff Niemann coming to mind since Scott Kazmir left town. With Cobb and David Price going down this season, that run of luck is over and the Rays have to find a way to ovecome that.

Here are your links for today:

-Speaking of Price, he told the Rays' official site that he felt great in his bullpen session on Tuesday.

-From Topkin, the Rays set their rotation for their four-game set with the Yankees, going with Matt Moore on Thursday followed by Roberto Hernandez, Alex Colome, and Chris Archer.

-Jeremy Blachman of Fangraphs wrote a 2013 version of Who's on First.

-The city of San Jose sued Major League Baseball for not letting the A's move into town.

This Jonny Gomes 2-run walk off hurts so bad

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 21:58:05 MDT

After a disappointing home stand where the Rays went 4-6, the promotion of Wil Myers was supposed to give the Rays offense a lift as they went into a seven game stretch over six games against AL East opponents.

Today started the road trip with a double header in Boston, with the Rays falling in Game One.

Game Two featured Jake Odorizzi and Felix Doubront, and just like you'd expect, was a pitching duel through-and-through.

Doubront would leave the game with his fifth quality start in six outings. He limited the Rays to three hits and surprisingly walked no one.

Meanwhile, the Odor was working a fine change up and gave the Rays what they needed from a spot start in a double header: quality pitching, eating innings. His 5.2 innings may not sound like much, but were valuable after Archer's weak start was cut even shorter by a three hour rain delay.

Odorizzi limited the Red Sox to one run on a Daniel Nava home run over the low fence in right field. He only worked two strikeouts, but had the hitters on the ropes for much of the night before he was replaced by Alex Torres. Unsurprisingly, Torres continued his dominant pitching ways. His 2.1 innings featured three base runners and only one strikeout, but likewise held the Red Sox to limited opportunities. He allowed no runs and gave the Rays their chance.

The slumping Rays offense -- which entered the night tied with the Tigers for the most productive offense in baseball, according to wRC+ at 112 -- looked anemic. They gathered only four hits this evening, scoring one run on a solo shot by Kelly Johnson in the ninth.

Doubront had retired seventeen straight batters when he was lifted after eight innings for closer Andrew Bailey.

Bailey missed his first pitch high and outside to Kelly Johnson at the start of the ninth. THe second pitch was slightly lower to reach the strikezone, but the same general location, and Johnson bounced it off the bullpen dugout in right field to tie the game 1-1.

With Zobrist on first and two outs, Longoria came to the plate to battle Bailey. Zorilla found his opportunity to take second with an excellent jump, but had to return on a foul by Longoria -- happenstance, but a difference maker. Zobrist never made it to second after Longoria grounded to the left side, and the Sox turned a quick force at second base.

Joel Peralta got the nod from Joe Maddon to hold the 1-1 lead. He walked Daniel Nava, bringing up former Rays cult favorite Jonny Gomes. Peralta had been struggling to keep the fastball down in the first at bat.

Facing Gomes, Peralta took a little heat off his fastball and put one in the top of the strike zone. Gomes crushed it.

The ball soared up the left field line, and if it stayed fair it was a towering home run. Gomes dropped his bat and watched intently.

Gone.

Then he took off sprinting around the bases, punting his helmet after passing third, and leaping onto home plate like an Olympic long jumper.

And it cut deep.

Watch at your own risk.

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Game Notes:

- You might think Odorizzi made a case for earning the starting slot currently reserved for Colome on Saturday. Colome is coming off two starts of limited plate appearances, and is presumably out of rhythm; however, Colome has strong groundball tendancies that are a wiser play in Yankee Stadium. If you were watching today, you'll know Odorizzi is of the flyball pitcher mold.

- Wil Myers notched his first major league hit, a single to left field that showed professional patience. He timed his easy swing on an offspeed pitch away. Promising for a guy who might struggle with contact for the next year or so.

- Andrew Bailey entered with a 1-0 lead and spoiled it. Doubront shut out the Rays for eight innings over 93 pitches. Of course Bailey is awarded the Win, right?

- The Rays have dropped to seven games behind Boston in the AL East standings. The Rays are now 2-9 against the Red Sox. You do the math.

Rays Fall to Red Sox 5-1 In First Game of Double Header

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 18:01:56 MDT

In 30.2 innings on the year, he had a 5.58 ERA. His FIP was only worse at 6.87. He struck out a mediocre amount of batters (6.46 per nine) while walking far too many (5.58/9). He featured a very average groundball rate (45%) and surrendered far too many home runs. In only two starts had he survived six innings, and he had allowed one run or less in only two starts as well. While his fastball has solid velocity, it doesn't have a ton of movement and is hurled with little command. A writer for SB Nation's Red Sox blog said he "throws hard, mostly straight, and is certifiably insane."

This is the same pitcher as the one who has, for two straight starts, baffled Rays' hitters. Alfredo Aceves may not have pitched a no-hitter in either of his starts, but in 11 innings against the Rays this year, he has held them to two runs off of seven hits (and seven walks). Alfredo Aceves is the very definition of a back of the rotation starter, yet for two straight starts, he has breezed through what was once a very potent Rays' offense.

After all the excitement and rejoicing over the promotion of Wil Myers, this game served as a harsh reminder that right now the Rays are not playing quality baseball. Losers of seven of their past nine, the Rays cannot find any type of rhythm. Their offense, which was stellar in the early goings of the seasons, is in a slump. The starting pitching has only continued upon a season trend of short starts and little success. Only the bullpen is in strong form at this moment, but a dominant bullpen isn't very useful in non-competitive games.

The Red Sox struck early as they have been wont to do this year. After the Rays quickly went three up and three down in the top of the first inning, Jacoby Ellsbury took a high fastball off the Green Monster for a double. A Shane Victorino fly-ball advanced Ellsbury to third, and then Dustin Pedroia hit a deep sacrifice fly to score the runner.

In the top of the second inning, the Rays promptly responded with a run of their own. A wild Alfredo Aceves walked Evan Longoria and James Loney. Wil Myers, stepping up to the plate for the first time in his major league career, eagerly swung at the first pitch, a fastball off the outer edge, and hit a pop fly to center. Luke Scott, ahead in the count, doubled to right field to score a run. After Molina drew a walk (!), Yunel Escobar grounded into a double play to end the threat.

Chris Archer struggled with his command in the second inning, issuing three walks but escaping unharmed thanks to a timely double play ball. In the third inning, he allowed back to back singles to Ellsbury and Victorino with no one out. David Ortiz then took advantage of a toned down shift, hitting a grounder into the hole in right field to score both runners (Victorino had stolen second base). An amped up Chris Archer settled down a little, retiring the next six batters in a row.

While the Rays' offense was going down quietly, the Red Sox refused to let Archer find a lengthy groove, taking advantage of a throwing error by James Loney in the fifth to put a runner on. The play seemed to knock Archer out of his rhythm as he proceeded to allow a walk and a single, which scored a run. Following a strikeout of Mike Napoli, Archer walked Daniel Nava, loading the bases. Maddon emerged from the dugout to bring in Josh Lueke, but the heavens opened and the game was delayed.

Nearly three hours later, Josh Lueke returned to the mound with the bases loaded. After falling behind 2-0, he challenged Jarrod Saltalamacchia with three straight fastballs to strike him out. In the bottom of the sixth inning, the Red Sox would get to Lueke with two outs. Ellsbury and Victorino hit consecutive triples to right field, scoring a run in the process. The score was now 5-1, with Boston in the lead. It should be noted that Myers looked rather sluggish, mishandled the ball, and made a weak throw. Given the rather positive reports about his defense, hopefully this can be coughed up to nerves.

The Rays best threat to score again came in the top of the eighth inning. Matt Joyce led the inning off with a double, advancing to third base on a ground out by Desmond Jennings. Ben Zobrist drew a walk on a nine pitch at bat, but Evan Longoria popped out. With runners on the corners, James Loney battled for nine pitches before whiffing on a slider for the swinging strikeout.

For those who hoped for a great debut for top prospect Wil Myers, the first game was a disappointment. He went 0-4 on the afternoon, hitting two pop flies, a lazy flyball to right field, and striking out against Andrew Miller. Hopefully he settles in during the second game tonight.

The Rays resume action tonight at 8:05 P.M.

Maddon doesn't want Cobb to rush return from DL

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 10:29:51 MDT

Alex Cobb, who was struck on the right ear by a line drive on Saturday, is out of the hospital and feeling better, but Rays manager Joe Maddon said the road to recovery will likely be a long one.

Building a Better Lineup with Wil Myers

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 09:45:05 MDT

Lineup optimization is a bit of an overrated task for a statistician. There's no denying that what order the players perform in can have significant influence on the game, but making those decisions requires knowledge of statistics, physical attributes, and quality of mind.

Joe Maddon started the year with an unconventional approach, using the first two slots of the batting order as a rotating door of players to find hot streaks and ignite the offense. The tricks paid off in May, when the Rays led the majors with a 125 wRC+, and Maddon has settled back into a more consistent approach.

Now the lineup receives a wild card, and it's a good problem to have: Wil Myers

Heading over to Fenway. Excited to put the uniform on and play today!

— Wil Myers (@wilmyers) June 18, 2013

Upon his call up to the big leagues, Wil Myers will have his turn batting in the line up every day, but Joe Maddon intends to start him low in the order to take the pressure off.

Today's first lineup to feature Wil Myers has him batting sixth, which is not an awful choice.

As a top-5 prospect in all of baseball, it's difficult enough performing against astronomically high expectations. It'd be even more difficult batting second; nevertheless, fear not. Myers will not stay batting 7-9 the entire season, and finding an ideal batting order is an art that Joe Maddon prides himself in.

Let's take a cursory look at what could be to come in adding Wil Myers to the Tampa Bay Rays offense.

The Book

Every discussion about building a batting order should start with Tom Tango's study on the importance of each batter, which can be found in The Book. (more from Ian on The Book here)

According to Tango, the most important batters in the lineup are second and fourth*, based on numbers of plate appearances and the opportunity to succeed. Furthermore, it is fifth and lead off that hold even more importance than the third hitter in the line up.

The rest falls in order from there, but the guys batting sixth and ninth should probably be fast and have some ability to get on base in front of likely singles hitters.

Put these rankings together, and your batting order by talent looks like this:

4, 2, 5, 1, 3, 6, 7, 9, 8

*I was not always a believer in "third < fourth", but some research by R.J. Anderson recently persuaded me otherwise.

The Current Lineup

As of Sunday, June 16th, this was Tampa Bay's starting lineup:

AVG

OBP

SLG

wOBA

wRC+

1. Matt Joyce, RF

.270

.355

.529

.380

147

2. Ben Zobrist, 2B

.270

.361

.393

.334

116

3. Kelly Johnson, LF

.246

.319

.448

.332

114

4. Evan Longoria, 3B

.306

.365

.552

.390

154

5. James Loney, 1B

.301

.361

.476

.360

133

6. Desmond Jennings, CF

.252

.313

.429

.322

107

7. Luke Scott, DH

.240

.340

.388

.323

108

8. Jose Molina, C

.239

.272

.316

.259

64

9. Yunel Escobar, SS

.241

.303

.359

.294

88

B. Sean Rodriguez, UT

.246

.342

.406

.333

114

B. Ryan Roberts, 2B/3B**

.238

.294

.349

.286

82

B. Sam Fuld, OF

.180

.250

.258

.230

44

B. Jose Lobaton, C

.279

.343

.443

.344

122

**Roberts was optioned to Triple-A Durham on Monday to make room for Myers

Of course, no two weeks are the same under Joe Maddon, but this lineup was as close to consistency as the Rays could get.

There are two key mainstays to Maddon's lineup: Zobrist and Longoria. The strategy agrees with The Book well, Zorilla and Longoria are the standouts in OBP over the long sample size, and project as the two best hitters on the team. The two biggest surprises have certainly been James Loney and Matt Joyce, who have each been putting together incredibly strong seasons. These four create the foundation of the line up.

Even still, Matt Joyce is somewhat of an outlier. In his 15 games from the lead off position, he's batting .311/.391/.607 with four home runs, six doubles, and seven walks.

Joyce is also thumping the highest ISO on the roster (.260), and is tied with Longoria for the most home runs with 14. He has taken Desmond Jennings's role of lead off, thanks to his production at the plate, and it's an intriguing mix. It's not often that a team can lead with power. There's even an opportunity for Joyce to improve on his current numbers. His luck checks in with a .270 BABIP, twenty points below the team average, while his wRC+ is the second highest on the team. If Joyce gets luckier, his fourth best OBP and second best wOBA could trend higher.

James Loney, Kelly Johnson, and Desmond Jennings round out the second tier, talent wise, with subtle power (.175+ ISO). Loney and Johnson are well capable of moving the runners, and Jennings provides speed at sixth to move around the bases himself.

The third tier of designated hitter, catcher, and Escobar provide slap hitting and singles to move more runners, and Escobar provides speed for when the top of the line up returns.

Is it no doubt that the Rays lead the major leagues in wRC+ for the season at 112, tied with the powerhouse Tigers.

Wil it work?

The Rays are leading the major leagues in wRC+ on the season, matching the offensive production of the powerhouse Tigers, but this team has needed something more to take them to the next level.

The pitching staff has been struggling, and the Rays offense hasn't carried weight,dropping six of ten during the last homestand's lackluster performances on the mound. Furthermore, the Rays have not won a game when scoring less than three runs since June 7th, and could only sting together twelve runs over the last five games. So the Rays have made adjustments.

First, they've brought in four rookie pitchers to help life the pitching staff. The Rays are five games back in the AL East standings, facing seven games in Boston and New York this week for seven games, and rookies will start four of those outings due to David Price and Alex Cobb's stints on the Disabled List. There's high potential for things to go very badly.

To give the Rays offense some life on this difficult road trip, they've called upon Wil Myers.

Where there's a Wil...

Projecting where Myers will fit into this Rays offense is a different task. ZiPS projects Myers to bat .253/.317/.444 over the rest of this season for a .329 wOBA. Following Ian's analysis from yesterday, you might expect Myers to perform slightly better than that and reach Zobrist production levels, but his current projected performance is in line with what Kelly Johnson and Desmond Jennings have done.

So where does Myers fit? In the minors he boasted fifty more points of power in his ISO against left handed pitchers, and as a right handed slugger there's an argument to be made for him hitting higher against southpaws. In fact, I would expect from Myers this season what the elder Kelly Johnson has become from the other side of the plate, with a few more walks and home runs along the way and fingers crossed.

With that said, here are my expected line ups:

vRHP

vLHP

1. Matt Joyce, LF

1. Sean Rodriguez, 3B

2. Ben Zobrist, 2B

2. Ben Zobrist, 2B

3. Kelly Johnson, DH

3. Wil Myers, RF

4. Evan Longoria, 3B

4. Evan Longoria, DH

5. James Loney, 1B

5. James Loney, 1B

6. Wil Myers, RF

6. Kelly Johnson, LF

7. Desmond Jennings, CF

7. Desmond Jennings, CF

8. Jose Lobaton, C

8. Jose Molina, C

9. Yunel Escobar, SS

9. Yunel Escobar, SS

It should be noted that the positions are merely a suggestion. Only God knows where Joe Maddon will place his players day-to-day; however, the addition of Myers will likely relegate Zobrist back to his natural position at 2B, unless he takes a turn at designated hitter. The rest is up for debate.

The Rays Tank: Debut at a Doubleheader

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 07:00:08 MDT

Off-days are usually slow news days, but yesterday was definitely filled with excitement. Wil Myers made his way up to Boston to join the rest of the Rays before their series at Fenway Park.

The pitching matches for today’s doubleheader are as follows: 1:05 PM game will have Chris Archer against Alfredo Aceves. Aceves threw six innings of one-run ball allowing only four hits the last time he faced us less than a week ago. In that same game, Archer threw 103 pitches over four innings, giving up two runs and taking the loss. In the 7:10 PM game, Jake Odorizzi will rejoin the Rays once again and take on Felix Doubront. In Odorizzi’s last start, he went only 3.1 innings while giving up two earned runs on four hits and two walks. He is still searching for his first win with the Rays this season.

Danny took a good look at the Rays rotation shuffle yesterday, which you can read about here.

If you Wil…

So what should we expect from Wil Myers major league debut? Ian took a look at how top prospects have performed against their projections in quite the enjoyable post yesterday. I'm going to guess he goes 1-4 with a K in the first game and then 2-3 with a homerun and walk in the night game. How about you?

If 1:05 PM is too far away and you want Wil now, we’ve got you covered. Danny compiled some highlights of what Myers has done so far this season in Durham. The moonshot featured in video number four (also linked below) could easily clear the Green Monster, as it sailed well over the Blue Monster in Durham.

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Speaking of the Green Monster, in his conference call with the media last night, Myers talked about his previous experience at Fenway and how he has indeed launched some homeruns over the wall. Audio courtesy of Steve Carney, 620 WDAE.

Bill Chastain of MLB.com wrote about how Wil Myers’ big-league dreams are finally coming true. He stated that even Myers thinks that starting off lower in the lineup will help ease him into the majors and take away any added pressure. Chastain also answered fan questions about the arrival of Wil Myers in this article.

Links:

-Joe Maddon officially opened the Hazelton One Community Center in his hometown of Hazelton, Pennsylvania, yesterday. According to the Hazelton Intergration Project website, the Center is "conducive to creating opportunities for economically challenged children to participate in a variety of no-cost or low-cost educational, cultural and athletic activities."

The Hazleton One Community Center is officially open. Today was a beautiful day in my hometown. pic.twitter.com/ATyNrERYcz— Joe Maddon (@RaysJoeMaddon) June 17, 2013

-Sneakerheads, this one’s for you. I present to you the Air Jordan 12 PE Cleats. Did you also know that Jeremy Guthrie plays on the Rays?

-Adam Jones told Jim Rome yesterday that he thinks Ed Reed, Houston Texans DB, could play centerfield. That would be interesting to witness.

-Jeff Sullivan of Fan Graphs takes a look at the top ten overachievers and underachievers throughout MLB this season. Two former Rays show up as underachievers. Bet you’ll never guess who!

-Bill Petti of Fan Graphs observed hitter volatility and found that Evan Longoria has been the most consistent hitter in MLB through June 16th.

-Here’s one more Wil Myers homerun for you to watch, just to get you even more amped for his debut today!

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Duncan, and Others, Bang Up Bats

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 06:48:00 MDT

Season: 45-26; Home Stand: 4-1Wrap, Box, Herald-Sun, LouisvilleFor a team who’d just won five in a row, included four over in Norfolk, I expected more of a contest last night. Instead what we saw was a team, especially Shelley Duncan, Brandon Guyer, and Leslie Anderson, who wanted to show off their muscle. Particularly impressive was Duncan’s two home runs and 6 RBI that led the team to several firsts:Most runs scored — 16Largest run differential — 13Most games over .500 — 19Biggest spread between first and second place — 7 gamesSince the game was pretty much settled by the bottom of the 2nd inning, we had plenty of time to chat about things in our part of the stands as we watched the middle innings.Looking at our rosters we shook our head at the management challenges of Charlie Montoyo and crew. The Bulls have four catchers and two outfielders on the roster. That can’t last in the long run, but in the short run it meant putting a catcher (Chris Gimenez) out in Durham’s short left field and hoping that a good arm will make up for lack of foot speed. To his credit, Mr. Montoyo is not going to change his approach to rotating his players on a regular basis. And, obviously, the offense was none the worse for Vince Belnome getting his day off.Alex Colome was on a restricted pitch count so that he would be ready for an appearance in Yankee Stadium for the Rays later this week. I get that. What I don’t get is what has happened to his mound routine. He has turned into a human rain delay. The first 1½ innings last night took a hour to play. That was before the 6-run bottom of the 2nd. Yes, Louisville’s Pedro Villarreal was also taking his time, but the Colome we’re seeing now seems different from the guy who was blowing batters away a month ago, back before he went up to the Rays. Is he off his rhythm? He had a 4-inning start back on June 4 that took up 87 pitches, 2 earned runs. On five days rest he then went 6 innings (90 pitches) and gave up three runs. On two days rest he had a limited 2⅔ inning start, 44 pitches, 1 ER, and now a 2⅓ inning start on three days rest, 57 pitches 2 earned runs. This is a guy who not all that long ago went 7 innings, threw 101 pitches, and marked up 11 Ks while allowing only 1 earned run (May 13). I hope he gets his call up. I hope he does well. But I’m not sure that the Rays are treating this young man right.We also were looking forward to seeing the Louisville’s phenom Billy Hamilton challenge Bulls pitching and catching. Didn’t happen. Mr. Hamilton never got on base.Today is the 72nd game of the season, the exact midpoint. Traditionally, Bulls-Bats games have been much more interesting than what we saw last night. Looking forward to tonight and seeing if Mike Montgomery has gotten over his on-mound twitchiness.Outside the game —Claw Digest brings us up to date of a couple of ex-Bulls (and current Bulls)

The Rays Tank: Wil Myers Set to Debut on Tuesday

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 07:00:12 MDT

Yesterday’s loss and the Rays’ 4-6 record on the homestand were overshadowed by some big news that was announced shortly after the game. Ryan Roberts had been optioned to Durham and those long awaited words, "Wil Myers has been called up" were finally said.

The full press release from the Rays announcing Wil’s call-up can be found here. Myers will wear number 9 with the Rays, so you can turn your old Elliot Johnson jerseys into Wil Myers jerseys! With the way Johnson played this weekend against us, surely his jerseys must have been a hot commodity when he was a Ray, right?

Full audio of the press conference with Andrew Friedman and Joe Maddon can be listened to below thanks to 620 WDAE Rays Radio.

Adam Berry of MLB.com wrote about the Myers’ call-up here. He wrote that Joe Maddon had these words for Wil,

"Just come and play, be a 22-year-old in the big leagues. I mean that sincerely. You're not going to hear a lot of the high expectations coming from this particular desk or this chair. I want him to play. I want him to be a Ray. I want him to run hard to first base. I want him to try to do the right things on the field, continue to work on his defense, try to improve his baserunning."

The Durham Bulls tweeted out this great photo of Myers taking one last walk to the Bulls’ dugout before leaving the stadium:

.@wilmyers takes one last moment in the @DurhamBulls dugout before heading to the Big Leagues. @MLB @RaysBaseball pic.twitter.com/gYIsqmu9s5— Durham Bulls (@DurhamBulls) June 17, 2013

Other Rays odds and ends:

Alex Cobb was placed on the seven-day concussion disabled list on Sunday as the Rays recalled Josh Lueke from Durham. According to Adam Berry of MLB.com, "Cobb texted several of his teammates on Sunday that he had a headache but all of his tests came back negative." Cobb was released from Bayfront Medical center around 3:15 PM, as announced on the Sun Sports Rays broadcast by Todd Kalas.

David Price experienced 'spring training soreness' after throwing a simulated game this past Thursday according to SI.com. Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times reported that Price will throw another bullpen session on Tuesday as he continues to work his way back from triceps tightness.

#rays say price bullpen session will be Tuesday, not Wednesday. Played catch tday and tomm.— Joe Smith (@TBTimes_JSmith) June 16, 2013

The Rays have an off-day today, but don’t worry, there will be twice the baseball tomorrow! The Rays take on the Boston Red Sox in a double-header as a makeup of the postponed game from April 12th. Chris Archer will definitely start in one of the two games and an announcement is expected to be made later today in regards to who will start the second game. Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times thinks that it could be Jake Odorizzi who gets the call for a spot start tomorrow and then Alex Colome would join the team on Friday to take Cobb’s start.

Hearing with Cobb hurt #Rays will use Odorizzi in Tuesday DH, then call up Colome to take Cobb's spot in rotation— Marc Topkin (@TBTimes_Rays) June 17, 2013

Links:

-Tommy Rancel of The Process Report takes a look at some of the adjustments Luke Scott has made to bust out of his recent slump.

-Doing the wave at a baseball game is a fail in itself, but this attempt at a Pirates game was extra laughable.

-The Angels gave Mariano Rivera a huge painting of himself this weekend. From the #MoRiveraFarewellTour, in Anaheim, Mo gets an original portrait courtesy of the Halos. pic.twitter.com/tzxOIsKp4J— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) June 15, 2013

-The Oakland A’s gave away a Grant Balfour Ragin’ Gnome yesterday. Check out the promo video they shot for it: Your browser does not support iframes.

It's finally here! Happy Father's Day & Balfour Ragin' Gnome Day! Tweet your #RAGE pics! RT @maldobros: pic.twitter.com/9vyNg4jEJ6— Oakland Athletics (@Athletics) June 16, 2013

-I wonder how much Grant Balfour raged went he and the rest of the A’s and Mariners were forced to share a locker room after the game. "The pipes backed up on the lower levels of the stadium during Oakland's 10-2 victory, creating a stink and pools of water in the clubhouses used by both teams and the umpires," the Associated Press wrote on ESPN.com. So gross.

-The Eugene Emeralds, short-season affiliate of the San Diego Padres, wore Beatles inspired jerseys yesterday. Gotta love the creativity that these minor league teams come up with for their uniforms!

Wil Myers promoted by the Tampa Bay Rays

Sun, 16 Jun 2013 15:59:23 MDT

Tampa Bay's star baseball prospect, heralded in the top five of any national ranking you will find, is officially on his way to the Rays roster. Five games back in the AL East, the Rays will play three games in Boston and four games in New York in the coming week, starting with a double header on Tuesday.

To say the least, Wil Myers has been destroying the minor leagues. Myers hit his fourteenth homerun of the season in a three hit performance yesterday, and has raised his batting line to .283/.354/.514.

More: Understanding Roberto Hernandez PITCHf/x Scouting Alex Colome Reviewing the Rays Draft

Myers started the season with a few struggles against same-handed pitching, something Rays de facto GM Andrew Friedman had chalked up to sequencing issues. There's some reason to worry that the 22-year old prospect will struggle making contact against Major League pitching, but with the Super Two deadline likely past, it's not enough to keep him in Triple-A Durham. The Oliver projection system and figures him for an above average .336 wOBA despite a high 26% strikeout rate (Oliver is highest on him, with ZiPS and Steamer slightly below).

Wil Myers Goes BOOM

Ten video highlights from the star prospect's season thus far.

In a corresponding move, 2B/3B Ryan Roberts was optioned to Triple-A Durham. He was in competition with Sean Rodriguez for a utility role on the bench, but Rodriguez held the added advantage of the ability to play shortstop and the outfield well.

In our discussion titled The Wil Myers Decision, 42% of the DRaysBay community believed designated hitter Luke Scott was the odd man out, but Luke Scott will be given the chance to regain his power in more limited at bats from the bench.

Normally a place would have to be created on the 40-man roster before Myers could be promoted to the 25-man, but the Rays front office has had a slot on the white board titled "Wil the Thrill" for about six months now. They've carried no more than 39-players for the entire season just for this occasion.

Now about that extension...

Royals 5, Rays 3: Wade Davis gets last laugh, bests former team. Is it Wil Myers time?

Sun, 16 Jun 2013 15:04:38 MDT

You have to feel bad for the Tampa Bay area dads that woke up this morning to Rays tickets from their kids. What they thought woud be a fun day at the ballpark with their sons or daughters turned into an ugly, sloppy baseball game that saw the Tampa Bay Rays lose their fifth game to the Kanasas City Royals, 5-3.

It only got worse from there as those dads had to suffer through an Imagination Movers post-game concert.

There isn't really much to be said about this game. Roberto Hernandez continued to pitch with mediocrity, giving up a bunch of hits, four runs, and got out-pitched by the former mediocre-Rays pitcher, Wade Davis. The Rays got off to a quick start with a two-run first inning that forced Davis to throw 35 pitches but then the offense checked out completely for the rest of the game. From the second inning on, only one Rays baserunner would reach scoring position and Jose Lobaton's 9th inning home run would be the lone run scored.

Meanwhile, the Royals put up 11 hits and five runs, including a homerun from Jeff Francoeur. The line drive blast from Frenchy must have really shaken Joe Maddon as he later elected to intentionally walk Francoeur with two-outs, first base open and the game still tied at two. The next batter, Alcides Escobar, promptly singled home the go-ahead run, ending Hernandez's afternoon. The baseball gods were clearly amused by all this as Francoeur then scored to make it 4-2 on an Alex Gordon single to off Jake McGee.

Much-maligned Luke Scott drove in the Rays first run with a opposite field double and then scored the second on a single from Desmond Jennings. However, Scott would later drop an easy fly ball that opened an inning in which Josh Lueke had to get five outs thanks to some very shaky defense. Hey, doesn't Wil Myers play the outfield? The Rays catching duo allowed three passed balls/wild pitches on the afternoon and were once again unable to control the running game.

The Rays have now lost five of six to the Kansas City Royals, including three out of the last four at Tropicana Field. For a fourth-place team that claims to have playoff aspirations, a series like this is a big punch to the gut. The team has been in a funk, from the manager on down to the starting pitching and now the offense is joining in. An off day tomorrow may help but this team needs to find a spark quickly before a small slump turns into a big problem in the standings.

One thing is for sure, The Rays will sure be happy to not see Elliot Johnson again for a while.

Happy fathers day, ya'll.

Maddon visiting Hazleton on Rays' off-day

Sun, 16 Jun 2013 12:20:37 MDT

Manager Joe Maddon will spend the Rays' off-day on Monday attending the grand opening of the Hazleton (Pa.) Integration Project's Hazleton One Community Center.

Tampa Bay Rays manager marches to a different beat

Sat, 15 Jun 2013 23:20:19 MDT

Tampa Bay Rays manager Joe Maddon is eccentric yet brilliant.