Predictions | Latest Tampa Bay Rays News and Twitter Posts | AllRays.Info

Bull's Revenge

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 08:25:00 MDT

Season: 44-26; Home Stand: 3-1Wrap, Box, Herald-SunThe really important question at hand last night, the 25th Anniversary of the opening of the movie “Bull Durham”, was not who was going to win the baseball game, but whether or not “Nuke” was ever going to win a race against either “Crash” or “Annie”. And so when the moment came and Nuke came out and simply blew ahead of Crash and Annie we thought, “OK, smart move, let Nuke win one. He’s gonna go to the show after all.” But, in a move of minor genius on the part of the Bulls staff, the bull from the original Bull Durham (or a close approximation) came out and took revenge for being hit by Nuke all those years ago. He body-blocked Nuke. Nuke went down as Crash and Annie skipped by. Crash won last night.Well, maybe that really wasn’t the most important event last night. For a Bulls fan, the biggest deal was probably the Bulls taking 3 of 4 games from the Indianapolis Indians, the team with the best record in the International League. It helps to be well out in front in the South Division as the Bulls approach mid-season (that would be tomorrow!). Of course, by September both teams will be very different, but the Bulls can hope that J.D. Martin will still be around. (Note: J. D. just name IL Pitcher of the Week!) And if he is, along with some of his colleagues from last night, players like Leslie Anderson, Vince Belnome, and Brandon Guyer, things look good for the playoffs.For thrills, maybe the biggest deal was that spectacular behind-the-back catch in center field by Jason Bourgeois in the 5th inning. One of those moments you hope to see when you come to a game.Certainly the oddity of the night was Indianapolis manager Dean Treanor getting ejected before the game even started, just after presenting his lineup card to the umps. Guessing was that Trainor was still upset about a call that ended the game on Saturday. Have to say that even for a boy’s game like baseball that seems a bit petulant on Treanor’s part.A close second as far as oddities go would be the decision by the radio station that broadcasts Bulls games to instead broadcast the U.S. Open golf tournament. Now, who in the world listens to golf on the radio? Especially within the rather limited radius of “AM 620 The Buzz!”The scary moment of the game came when Vince Belnome appeared to have twisted his ankle on a play at 1B in the 5th inning. At that moment there was, by my count, exactly one player on the bench, catcher Craig Albernaz. Now Albernaz is one heck of a ballplayer, but I’m guessing that at 5’8“ he doesn’t have a lot of playing time at 1B.Another highlight for Bulls fans was seeing Chris Gimenez back in catching gear and on the field for the first time in what seems like a very long time. Welcome back, Chris!A confusing moment in the 3rd inning was the shuffle of Brandon Guyer from left to right field, Leslie Anderson from 1B to left field, and Belnome coming in from his off day to play 1B. Then the twitterverse blew up with the story, the call-up of Wil Myers. We’ve had a lot of fun watching Mr. Myers this year. He has one of the most interesting swings that I’ve ever seen and the sound off his bat is unique. I’m betting he will do just fine with the Rays. And what better place to begin his career than Fenway? Good luck, Wil.Outside the game —In the 32nd transaction involving a pitcher this year, Josh Lueke has been called back up to the Rays. At a guess there are two more Bulls pitchers ”on the bubble“ to join the Rays today — Jake Odorizzi (did he even make it back? Guess not. He's reportedly starting today in Fenway.) and Alex Colome. We’ll see. But it does explain why Kirby Yates had back-to-back saves over the last two games. Good for Kirby!Infielder Ryan Roberts has been optioned down from Tampa Bay to make room on the 25 man for Myers. Roberts hasn’t been in the minors since 2010. The 32 year old usually played 2B for the Rays, but had a few games at 3B and 1B. At $3 million, I’m guessing he will be the highest-paid Durham Bull by a few bucks.Lastly, yesterday was Father’s Day and I really want to point you over to this amazing unattributed image at Bull City Summer. Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. In fact, if I’m not breaking any copyright I think I’ll just put it up. I’ll take it down if there’s a problem.From Bull City Summer

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.

Rays vs. Royals, game 1: Hellickson done in by the big inning once more

Thu, 13 Jun 2013 20:42:24 MDT

I do not understand Jeremy Hellickson, and I'm having real trouble pretending. Through five innings, he was outstanding. He gave the type of performance that makes me believe in both Jeremy Hellickson the FIP-beater and Jeremy Hellickson the quality pitcher. He used all of his pitches and he hit his spots. He threw his fastball by people, got them out in front of his changeup, and dropped his curve in for strikes. He worked fast, and threw his pitches for the most part where catcher Jose Molina set his mitt. His line after five: 16 batters faced, two singles, no walks, and three strikeouts.

Then, in the sixth inning, with Elliot Johnson leading off, everything fell apart. Johnson laced a single and Alcides Escobar doubled doubled up the right-field line. Alex Gordon then hit a liner straight up the middle to bring home the first run. Hellickson next threw a curve ball in the dirt to Eric Hosmer that Jose Molina was unable to control with his chest protector, and Escobar came home for another run on the wild pitch. Hosmer flew out harmlessly, but Salvador Perez knocked home another run home with a line drive up the middle. Now at first, Perez went in motion, causing Ben Zobrist to break toward second base and be unable to play Butler's chopper to his left, giving the Royals runners at the corners. Hellickson caught Lorenzo Cain looking with an inside fastball that was actually a ball, but David Lough hit a hard RBI grounder down the line and past Kelly Johnson playing third for the first time in his pro career.

That brought Elliot Johnson back to the plate for the second time in the inning. EJ has not exactly lit things up in KC. He had played in 41 games, striking out 27% of the time while posting an isolated power of only .044. He had only hit one home run on the year, that coming in a previous at bat against Jeremy Hellickson. He does seem to have Helly's number though, as he jumped on a 3-1 fastball and turned it into a three-run homer, ending Hellickson's night. Helly's line for the sixth inning was ten batters faced, eight earned runs on eight hits, one strikeout and no walks.

The recently recalled Jake Odorizzi finished out the game for the Rays in unexciting fashion, allowing a few more runs (including the rare Hosmer homer [to opposite field, no less]), but striking out four Royals with his rising fastball and sinking curve. It wasn't the type of appearance that makes me want to trade David Price, but he did save the bullpen.

A recap isn't the arena to figure definitively the nature of Hellickson's struggles. They are too complex to be dealt with effectively in the heat of the moment. Still, I'd like to hear your ideas. What do you see from him? Why does he seem to alternate between stretches of cool competence and stretches of complete and utter hitability? Do his mechanics falter, or is his approach uneven? Is this even a pattern, or just a trick of memory?

Some other notes:

In the top of the second, Lorenzo Cain hit a sinking liner into short right center. Desmond Jennings was shaded that way, and he got a great jump. He finished the play off with a sliding catch, but still managed to make it look routine. I've said this before about plays that DJ makes look routine. It was not.

In the top of the third, Miguel Tejada flew out to short center field. MIGUEL TEJADA IS STILL PLAYING BASEBALL?

In the bottom of the third, Sam Fuld hit a grounder into the hole by shortstop. Alcides Escobar made a great play, ranging to his right. He fielded the ball on the run away from first base, took two steps while he turned, and launched a strong accurate throw to first base while running full speed in the other direction to beat the hustling Fuld. It's plays like this by marginal offensive players that make Derek Jeter's gold gloves a travesty.

In the bottom of the seventh, Scott took a good swing at a fastball on the outside edge of the plate, and flied it the other way to the left-field wall, hustling around first for a double. A good sign on the Luke Scott power watch.

In the top of the eighth, when Elliot Johnson was batting, there was an audible taunter berating him for not hitting like that (three hits today, one a homer) when he was with the Rays. After Elliot laced a hard liner down the third base line for his third hit of the night, he appeared to have some gestures and words for the fan, so it appeared that the taunting got to him. I'm not going to tell you that you shouldn't ridicule a former player, but in this case it sure doesn't seem to be working. Maybe try a different approach? I call for a standing ovation before EJ's next at bat.

Tailgating With The Rays: Where The Rays Stand In Their Quest for 92 Wins

Wed, 12 Jun 2013 15:46:04 MDT

Playing A Little Pepper… Sometimes as fans we get a little too caught up in how many games back the Rays are in the standings. Ultimately, what is more important is just making sure the Rays take care of their own business and hope it turns out well in the [...]

TBTimes_Rays: In today's @TB_Times, #Rays Price feels best he has all year, and notes on @wilmyers, a cool signing, more on Monday http://t.co/4gWlQ6i9h2

Tue, 11 Jun 2013 08:45:31 MDT

TBTimes_Rays: In today's @TB_Times, #Rays Price feels best he has all year, and notes on @wilmyers, a cool signing, more on Monday http://t.co/4gWlQ6i9h2

Postgame Shot Of Joe: What’s Wrong With Matt Moore?

Sun, 09 Jun 2013 22:42:50 MDT

Joe is back with his postgame thoughts… One of the cool things about this season, prior to June, was the dominance of the new Rays’ ace, Matt Moore. In his past two games, Moore looked more Scotty Kazmir than David Price. Is Matt Moore hiding something? His velocity is down. [...]

Rays leapfrog O's in standings with shutout

Sat, 08 Jun 2013 17:03:09 MDT

Tampa Bay put away Baltimore when it had the chance Saturday, taking an 8-0 win in the late-afternoon affair behind Jeremy Hellickson at Tropicana Field.

Down on the farm June 7: Bulls run wild

Fri, 07 Jun 2013 05:00:06 MDT

No full recaps today since I was mostly focused on the draft last night and will continue to be today.

Triple-A Durham Bulls (39-22) defeated Indianapolis 6-2

Game logBox score

Rich Thompson 2/2, 2 runs scored, 1 walk, 4 stolen basesBrandon Guyer 2/4, 1 run scored, 2 runs batted in, 1 walk, 1 strikeout, 2 stolen basesWil Myers 2/4, 1 run scored, 2 runs batted in, 1 strikeout, 2 stolen basesTim Beckham 1/5, 1 tripleJesus Flores 0/3, 1 run scored, 1 walk, 1 strikeout (Durham debut)

Jake Odorizzi 6 innings pitched, 6 hits, 2 earned runs, 2 walks, 8 strikeouts (improved to 5-1)

Double-A Montgomery Biscuits (30-30) lost to Pensacola 2-1 in game one and lost 6-5 in game two

Game log (1)Box score (1)

Mikie Mahtook 1/3, 1 run batted in, 1 walk, 1 stolen baseTodd Glaesmann 0/2, 1 walk, 1 strikeout

Enny Romero 6 innings pitched, 4 hits, 2 earned runs, 2 walks, 5 strikeouts (falls to 4-2)

Game log (2)Box score (2)

Mikie Mahtook 2/4, 1 run scored, 1 run batted in, 1 stolen baseKyeong Kang 2/4, 1 run scored, 1 double, 1 home run, 1 run batted in, 2 strikeouts

Victor Mateo 4.2 innings pitched, 6 hits, 5 runs allowed (4 earned), 3 walks, 3 strikeoutsErik Hamren 1.1 innings pitched, 3 hits, 1 earned run, 0 walks, 1 strikeout (falls to 0-1)

Class-A Advanced Charlotte Stone Crabs (26-31) were postponed

Class A Bowling Green Hot Rods (31-28DotF) defeated Dayton 6-1

Game log Box score

Tommy Coyle 3/5, 1 run scored, 2 doubles, 2 runs batted inAndrew Toles 2/4, 1 run batted in, 1 strikeoutTyler Goeddel 1/4, 1 run batted in, 2 strikeoutsPatrick Leonard 2/3, 1 run scored, 1 walkBrandon Martin 0/3, 1 run batted in

Dylan Floro 6 innings pitched, 5 hits, 1 earned run, 1 walk, 4 strikeouts (improves to 4-2)

CLICK HERE FOR ALL BOX SCORES

Star of the day- Rays front office for having a pretty nice first day of the draft.

Goat of the day- Montgomery had a rough time with one of the lesser teams in the Southern League.

Today's games (probables courtesy of milb.com)

Durham @ Indianapolis 7:15 PM (MiLB.TV)Mike Montgomery (2-0, 5.03) v. TBA

Montgomery v. Huntsville 8:05 PM (MiLB.TV)Victor Mateo (2-5, 6.45) v. Aaron Northcraft (1-3, 4.43)

Charlotte v. Palm Beach 5 PM DOUBLEHEADERFelipe Rivero* (3-3, 4.03) v. Juan Bautista (0-0, 5.63)TBA v. TBA

Both games will be seven innings

Bowling Green v. Dayton 8:05 PMSean Bierman (2-2, 1.62) v. Pedro Diaz (1-5, 6.25)

*Listed as TBA on milb.com

Scouting the opposition (standings current, stats through Wednesday's games)

Indianapolis Indians (Pittsburgh)41-21 (1st in IL West)Offense: 292 R (5th) .765 OPS (3rd)Pitching: 3.26 ERA (1st) 1.21 WHIP (1st)Top 30 Prospects: RHP Gerrit Cole (1), RHP Kyle McPherson (7), C Tony Sanchez (12), LHP Andy Oliver (13), RHP Vic Black (16), RHP Brandon Cumpton (25), RHP Duke Welker (26)

Huntsville Stars (Milwaukee)26-32 (4th in SL North)Offense: 225 R (6th) .701 OPS (3rd)Pitching: 4.05 ERA (9th) 1.38 WHIP (9th)Top 30 Prospects: RHP Taylor Jungmann (3), RHP Jimmy Nelson (5), RHP Ariel Pena (22), RHP Santo Manzanillo (26), OF Kentrail Davis (28)

Palm Beach Cardinals23-35 (T-5th in FSL South)Offense: 200 R (12th) .671 OPS (10th)Pitching: 3.80 ERA (7th) 1.37 WHIP (9th)Top 30 Prospects: 3B Stephen Piscotty (10), LHP Tim Cooney (25)

Dayton Dragons (Cincinnati)25-34 (6th in MWL East)Offense: 260 R (9th) .663 OPS (13th)Pitching: 4.55 ERA (16th) 1.42 WHIP (14th)Top 30 Prospects: RHP Robert Stephenson (2), RHP Nick Travieso (6), OF Jesse Winker (7), LHP Ismael Guillon (9), OF Jeff Gelalich (14), RHP Pedro Diaz (17), Seth Mejias-Brean (19), 3B Tanner Rahier (20), RHP Sal Romano (30)

The Rays Tank: Draft Day is here

Thu, 06 Jun 2013 07:41:03 MDT

Happy Draft Day, y'all.

If you're like me, this is a day where you get arbitrarily excited or disappointed by the names of a bunch of kids about which you have almost no knowledge. You then proceed to forget most of those names for a year or two before they start creeping up the minor league depth charts, and then you begin to form unwarrantedly strong opinions when Michael asks you to rank them in the offseason community prospect list. I think that makes me a "silly person," so I took special enjoyment from The Silly Person's Guide to Top MLB Draft Prospects by Michael Baumann over on Grantland.

Luckily for you, though, not everyone is like me. Scott and Michael have been doing a bang-up job with pre-draft coverage, and you can catch up on all of their prep-work here. If you really want to be prepped, sift through everything written about the draft by an SB Nation site. And over at The Process Report, RJ gave a brief roundup of every player linked to the Rays in a mock draft so far.

When the draft starts, we'll have a separate GDT to comment on it, full of our most knowledgeable people, and also maybe me, plus writeups of each Rays pick as they are made.

Non-Draft

Jeff Sullivan is pessimistic about Matt Moore's control (I am not).

There's a great new piece up at The Hardball Times by Greg Rybarczyk about properly assigning run values to catchers, pitchers, and runners for stolen bases based on each other's running and throwing times. The data isn't there to easily put it into use in the public domain, but it's extremely cool.

Deep thoughts: Draft talk part two

Wed, 05 Jun 2013 09:05:39 MDT

Scott Grauer: If the Astros do take Moran, the chain reaction would certainly be impressive. I hope teams choosing in the top 10 did their due diligence on players they weren't expecting to be available, because they may have to make some tough choices. It seems like the Twins at #4 stand to benefit the most. They need pitching badly in the organization, and having Appel or Gray fall into their laps would make for a happy war room in Minnesota. If the Cubs and Rockies end up with Appel and Gray in any order, then Kris Bryant is right there for them, and they can add another third baseman with big power to the organization to go along with Miguel Sano.

Last year, I agreed with Houston's approach in taking Correa for the reasons you mentioned. The money they saved allowed them to make some great choices later in the draft, and they still got a player in the top tier of prospects available. This year is different though. Moran is not on the same tier as Appel, Gray and Bryant, but even if you save money with that pick, what are you using it on? High school outfielder Ryan Boldt, who we covered in our previews leading up to the draft, could be a target in the second round. Is a scenario in which Kohl Stewart falls all the way to the second round back in play? That still seems unlikely to me. You don't draft for need, but after you look at the pitching depth in the Astros organization, it's just hard to imagine passing up an arm like Appel or Gray.

Michael Valancius: As more and more mock drafts come out, we get an idea of which players are linked to a team. I'm not sure how much of it is actually real and not just speculation, overblown interest, or even posturing on the part of the team. Regardless, it makes sense to keep an eye on these players. So far, the Rays have reportedly shown interest in Marco Gonzales (LHP), Cody Reed (LHP), Nick Ciuffo (C), Devin Williams (RHP), Phillip Ervin (COF), and Tim Anderson (SS).

My personal preference is for the Rays to target a player who slips in the draft with their 21st overall pick. If there is no clear candidate fitting that profile, I would not mind them targeting a high school pitcher. With the way that bats have fizzled out in the organization, it makes sense for them to draft to their developmental strengths and add another arm to the system. Ian Clarkin and Kyle Serrano are two of my favorites, though Serrano could probably be had with the 29th pick. On the positional player side, I find Billy McKinney's bat intriguing. Austin Wilson, a favorite of mine out of high school, and Aaron judge also offer star level ceilings with their physical builds.

One of the more interesting players of the draft, and one I would like to see the Rays target, is Cord Sandberg, an outfielder from Manatee High School in Florida. A popular question among draft followers is who will be the next Mike Trout. In other words, which toolsy, athletic, and overlooked high school player will really surprise everyone? McKinney is the player who seems to best fit that description in this draft. His tools have been equated to those of Austin Meadows, one of the best prospects in the draft. However, since he is a very good quarterback with a commitment to Mississippi State, he has not devoted his full attention to baseball. I would like to see the Rays pick him with either their 29th, 60th, or 90th pick.

SG: One more name I think I should throw out for the first round is Hunter Harvey. You covered him in our player previews, and he intrigues me in a couple ways. First, his lack of a college commitment gives teams a little more leverage in negotiations. His intention is clearly to sign quickly and begin his professional career, and as you said in your preview, that has to interest teams, and he wouldn't be a reach in the late first round either. He has some nice upside. To go back to your point about mock drafts a little bit, if someone is reading all of them, they may think Ciuffo is already a member of the organization. It seems like every source has him going to the Rays at 21, and if the first 20 picks go the way people expect and no one unexpected falls, he would be a good pick. High school catching is one of a few strengths in this draft, and he has a good all-around skillset. Player comparisons made by people on the internet rarely make sense, and this is probably no exception, but his scouting report reads a bit like Travis d'Arnaud's to me. He doesn't do anything great, but he does everything pretty well.When it comes down to it though, I think we should be looking at high school arms for the Rays. Pitcher development is their strength, and high school pitching is another strength in this draft. That's a nice combo. The Rays have always said that homegrown pitching is the key to sustained success in a small market, and since there's some depth in the high school pitching ranks this year, there's a nice chance for them to add to the organization and start a new wave of pitching prospects behind Guerrieri and Blake Snell.

MV: I agree with your thoughts on focusing on high school pitching. The way the Rays have been able to turn raw, young arms into talented prospects and players is one of the main reasons they are still competitive to this day.

I recall Friedman making a comment after last year's draft, explaining that he was frustrated that he was not able to draft more high school pitchers (I cannot find the quote, so you will have to take my word for it). Looking back at last year's draft, the Rays did not add much pitching talent to the organization; Nolan Gannon (fourth round) and Damion Carroll (sixth round) were the only two high school arms the Rays selected in the draft. While the Rays farm system is still home to many promising pitching prospects, the lower levels are relatively absent of high quality arms. The international signings of Jose Mujica and Jose Castillo help tremendously, but the lack of pitching prospects below Class-A Bowling Green is glaringly noticeable and mildly concerning.

If the Rays can add a few prep arms here and there in the first ten to fifteen rounds, it would help offset the deficiency. Obviously, the Rays can't just go out and pick high school pitchers with every pick. At the end of the day, you want them to select the best players available within their price range. But over the course of the draft, the Rays should be able to lean defer to pitchers when the gap between talents is practically nonexistent. If the Rays can come out of the draft with four to five high school arms in the first fifteen or so picks, I will be very pleased.

Tomorrow, the discussion wraps up with some predictions.

Grading the American League East - May 2013

Tue, 04 Jun 2013 10:00:13 MDT

Two months of baseball have passed, and each team in the division is about to reach 2200 plate appearances. We're officially leaving Small Sample Size territory and starting to find verifiable statistical ground. Let's dive in.

Standings

AL EAST

W

L

PCT

GB

POFF-ESPN

POFF-BP

Boston

35

23

0.603

-

77.5

74.7

New York

32

25

0.561

2.5

36.5

60.1

Baltimore

32

25

0.561

2.5

35.1

24.3

Tampa Bay

31

25

0.554

3

54.8

45.5

Toronto

24

33

0.421

10.5

1.8

1.6

This is the trouble with divisions only allowing one team free entry to the playoffs. All four teams challenging for the AL East title would lead the AL Central by a significant margin, contending with Texas and Oakland and maybe Detroit.

While only 3.0 games back in the division, the Rays are about even when considering playoff odds, with Baltimore the only slight. The Rays, Red Sox, and Orioles are all riding 7-3 win streaks over the last ten games, while New York has been faltering at 3-7.

Just like the last five years, it's going to be close. If there's any particular outlier in the top four, it's the Yankees. ESPN projects their playoff odds significantly under Tampa Bay, but Baseball Prospectus actually boasts significant confidence. The Yankees have been edging out games and finding wins behind surprisingly dominant pitching performances, while their offense may be underachieving.

While the Rays are normally a team to boast pitching and defense, they have become far more balanced this year. In fact,it's almost as if the top payrolls and the division pursued the opposite effect, striving for great pitching, decent defense, and seeing what sticks at the plate. The top three teams in the AL East for FIP are the TIgers, Yankees and Red Sox. Meanwhile, the Rays are ninth in the division but in the tip five for runs scored, boasting a better run differential than all but Boston.

Moving forward, I expect the Rays to continue trending upward. Baltimore is riding dominant hitting and a mediocre pitching staff, and their success does not seem sustainable if the staff cannot improve from the bottom third of the leaderboards. The Red Sox hitting is bound to slow down, while the Yankees offense is bound to heat up. It looks to be a three team race to the top, and the first to have the wheels fall off may not be able to recover.

Last year the Rays didn't fall out of contention until Game 160 of 162. As of May, with a glut of pitching prospects to sustain the rotation, an improving bullpen with lots of opportunity, and somebody named Wil Myers thumping home runs in Durham, I see no reason why the Rays won't contend all year.

Here are some stats from the Division.

Traditional Team Stats

EAST

RS

RA

DIFF

AVG

OBP

SLG

ERA

FIP

Boston

289

229

60

0.268

0.345

0.439

3.72

3.82

NY Yankees

230

222

8

0.246

0.307

0.399

3.76

3.75

Baltimore

287

269

18

0.275

0.330

0.464

4.50

4.75

Tampa Bay

282

252

30

0.261

0.332

0.425

4.22

4.09

Toronto

254

294

-40

0.254

0.317

0.423

4.70

4.71

Any stats in bold denote a top-5 rank in baseball.

Offense Specifics

Offense

wRC+

ISO

BABIP

wOBA

BB%

K%

FLD

WAR

Boston

109

0.172

0.323

0.341

10.0%

21.8%

4

10.5

NY Yankees

88

0.154

0.281

0.307

7.3%

19.9%

6.3

4.4

Baltimore

111

0.188

0.300

0.340

7.3%

16.8%

16.1

12

Tampa Bay

111

0.164

0.294

0.330

9.1%

17.9%

9.6

10.8

Toronto

100

0.170

0.287

0.323

8.1%

19.6%

-12.2

6.3

Any stats in bold denote a top-5 rank in baseball.

Pitching Specifics

Pitching

K%

BB%

BAA

WHIP

GB%

LOB%

BABIP

WAR

Boston

24.0%

9.7%

0.237

1.31

46.4%

75.4%

0.295

8.3

NY Yankees

21.6%

6.5%

0.255

1.26

45.0%

76.2%

0.304

8.3

Baltimore

17.8%

8.4%

0.262

1.42

44.2%

71.1%

0.293

2.7

Tampa Bay

21.8%

8.3%

0.236

1.26

41.5%

70.9%

0.279

3.9

Toronto

17.5%

8.9%

0.255

1.35

41.1%

73.4%

0.283

2.8

Any stats in bold denote a top-5 rank in baseball.

TBTimes_Rays: #Rays Maddon: “I’m really proud of our guys. That was about as cool a win as I’ve experienced in professional baseball.”

Sat, 01 Jun 2013 06:15:59 MDT

TBTimes_Rays: #Rays Maddon: “I’m really proud of our guys. That was about as cool a win as I’ve experienced in professional baseball.”

Down on the farm June 1: Romero wraps up May

Sat, 01 Jun 2013 05:00:08 MDT

The Dominican Summer League starts today. Off the top of my head, I couldn't tell you anything about the team other than they are in fact scheduled to play.

Triple-A Durham Bulls (35-20) defeated Scranton/Wilkes-Barre 8-4

Game logBox score

Brandon Guyer 2/5, 1 run scored, 1 home run, 2 runs batted in, 2 strikeouts, 1 stolen baseWil Myers 2/5, 1 run scored, 2 runs batted in, 1 strikeoutTim Beckham 2/4, 2 runs scored, 1 double, 1 tripleCole Figueroa 3/4, 1 triple, 2 runs batted in

Jim Paduch 6.1 innings pitched, 7 hits, 4 runs, 0 walks, 6 strikeouts (improves to 2-3)Matt Buschmann 2.2 innings pitched, 0 hits, 0 runs, 0 walks, 3 strikeouts (earns 1st save)

Double-A Montgomery Biscuits (28-26) defeated Mississippi 5-3

Game logBox score

Kevin Kiermaier 4/4, 2 runs scored, 1 triple, 1 walk, 1 stolen baseShawn O'Malley 2/4, 2 runs scored, 1 run batted in, 1 walk, 1 strikeout, 2 stolen basesMikie Mahtook 2/5, 2 runs batted in

Enny Romero 6 innings pitched, 6 hits, 2 runs (0 earned), 0 walks, 5 strikeouts (improves to 4-1)C.J. Riefenhauser 1.2 innings pitched, 0 hits, 0 runs, 0 walks, 1 strikeout (earns 5th save)

Class-A Advanced Charlotte Stone Crabs (23-28) were postponed

Class A Bowling Green Hot Rods (30-24) lost to South Bend 8-6

Game log Box score

Tyler Goeddel 3/4, 2 runs scored, 1 run batted inPatrick Leonard 2/4, 1 run scored, 1 home run, 4 runs batted in, 2 strikeoutsBrandon Martin 1/3, 1 run batted in

Sean Bierman 6 innings pitched, 4 hits, 0 runs, 1 walk, 4 strikeoutsMatt Ramsey .1 inning pitched, 2 hits, 2 earned runs, 0 walks, 0 strikeouts (blows 1st save, falls to 0-1)

CLICK HERE FOR ALL BOX SCORES

Star of the day- Romero ended May on a nice hot streak.

Goat of the day- Bowling Green's bullpen did not.

Today's games (probables courtesy of milb.com)

Durham v. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre 7:05 PM (MiLB.TV)Alex Torres (2-2, 3.54) v. Chien-Ming Wang (3-4, 2.65)

Montgomery @ Mississippi 7 PM (MiLB.TV)Victor Mateo (2-5, 6.45) v. Aaron Northcraft (1-3, 4.43)

Charlotte @ St. Lucie 5 PM DOUBLEHEADERParker Markel (2-4, 6.96) v. Domingo Tapia (2-4, 3.86)TBA v. TBA

Both games will be seven innings

Bowling Green v. South Bend 8:05 PMTBA v. TBA

*Listed as TBA on milb.com

Scouting the opposition (standings current, stats through Thursday's games)

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (Yankees)24-29 (4th in IL North)Offense: 214 R (13th) .701 OPS (12th)Pitching: 4.11 ERA (9th) 1.39 WHIP (8th)Top 30 Prospects: RHP Brett Marshall (6), RHP Mark Montgomery (11), OF Melky Mesa (18), 2B Corban Joseph (27), OF Thomas Neal (28)

Mississippi Braves29-25 (T-1st in SL South)Offense: 229 R (3rd) .697 OPS (3rd)Pitching: 3.14 ERA (1st) 1.24 WHIP (4th)Top 30 Prospects: RHP J.R. Graham (2), C Christian Bethancourt (3), LHP Alex Wood (7), RHP Cody Martin (13), 3B Edward Salcedo (17), RHP Aaron Northcraft (30)

St. Lucie Mets29-22 (2nd in FSL South)Offense: 252 R (3rd) .703 OPS (5th)Pitching: 3.37 ERA (4th) 1.26 WHIP (4th)Top 30 Prospects: RHP Noah Syndergaard (3), RHP Luis Mateo (4), RHP Jeurys Familia (8), RHP Domingo Tapia (9), RHP Hansel Robles (12), 3B Aderlin Rodriguez (19), SS Matt Reynolds (23), C Cam Maron (30)

South Bend Silver Hawks (Arizona)35-17 (1st in MWL East)Offense: 241 R (6th) .722 OPS (5th)Pitching: 3.32 ERA (2nd) 1.29 WHIP (3rd)Top 30 Prospects: OF Socrates Brito (29), OF Alex Glenn (31), IF Brandon Drury

Rays vs. Indians, game 1 delayed

Fri, 31 May 2013 20:38:09 MDT

Umpire Gary Cederstrom

Blow, winds, and crack your cheeks! rage! blow!

You cataracts and hurricanoes, spout

Till you have drench'd our steeples, drown'd the cocks!

You sulphurous and thought-executing fires,

Vaunt-couriers to oak-cleaving thunderbolts,

Singe my white head! And thou, all-shaking thunder,

Smite flat the thick rotundity o' the world!

Crack nature's moulds, an germens spill at once,

That make ingrateful man!

Joe Maddon

O nuncle, court holy-water in a dry

house is better than this rain-water out o' door.

Good nuncle, in, and ask thy commisioners' blessing:

here's a night pities neither wise man nor fool.

Umpire Gary Cederstrom

Rumble thy bellyful! Spit, fire! spout, rain!

Nor rain, wind, thunder, fire, are my commissioner:

I tax not you, you elements, with unkindness;

I never gave you kingdom, call'd you children,

You owe me no subscription: then let fall

Your horrible pleasure: here I stand, your slave,

A poor, infirm, weak, and despised old man:

But yet I call you servile ministers,

That have with a pernicious scheduler join'd

Your high engender'd battles 'gainst a head

So old and white as this. O! O! 'tis foul!

Joe Maddon

He that has a house to put's head in has a good

head-piece.

The cod-piece that will house

Before the head has any,

The head and he shall louse;

So beggars marry many.

The man that makes his toe

What he his heart should make

Shall of a corn cry woe,

And turn his sleep to wake.

For there was never yet fair woman but she made

mouths in a glass.

Umpire Gary Cederstrom

No, I will be the pattern of all patience;

I will say nothing.

Enter Terry Francona

Terry Francona

Who's there?

Joe Maddon

Marry, here's grace and a cod-piece; that's a wise

man and a fool.

Terry Francona

Alas, sir, are you here? things that love night

Love not such nights as these; the wrathful skies

Gallow the very wanderers of the dark,

And make them keep their caves: since I was man,

Such sheets of fire, such bursts of horrid thunder,

Such groans of roaring wind and rain, I never

Remember to have heard: man's nature cannot carry

The affliction nor the fear.

Umpire Gary Cederstrom

Let the great gods,

That keep this dreadful pother o'er our heads,

Find out their enemies now. Tremble, thou wretch,

That hast within thee undivulged crimes,

Unwhipp'd of justice: hide thee, thou bloody hand;

Thou perjured, and thou simular man of virtue

That art incestuous: caitiff, to pieces shake,

That under covert and convenient seeming

Hast practised on man's life: close pent-up guilts,

Rive your concealing continents, and cry

These dreadful summoners grace. I am a man

More sinn'd against than sinning.

Terry Francona

Alack, bare-headed!

Gracious my lord, hard by here is a hovel;

Some friendship will it lend you 'gainst the tempest:

Repose you there; while I to this hard house--

More harder than the stones whereof 'tis raised;

Which even but now, demanding after you,

Denied me to come in--return, and force

Their scanted courtesy.

Umpire Gary Cederstrom

My wits begin to turn.

Come on, my boy: how dost, my boy? art cold?

I am cold myself. Where is this straw, my fellow?

The art of our necessities is strange,

That can make vile things precious. Come,

your hovel.

Poor fool and knave, I have one part in my heart

That's sorry yet for thee.

Joe Maddon

[Singing]

He that has and a little tiny wit--

With hey, ho, the wind and the rain,--

Must make content with his fortunes fit,

For the rain it raineth every day.

Umpire Gary Cederstrom

True, my good boy. Come, bring us to this hovel.

Ext Umpire Gary Cederstrom and Terry Francona

Joe Maddon

This is a brave night to cool a courtezan.

I'll speak a prophecy ere I go:

When priests are more in word than matter;

When brewers mar their malt with water;

When nobles are their tailors' tutors;

No heretics burn'd, but wenches' suitors;

When every case in law is right;

No squire in debt, nor no poor knight;

When slanders do not live in tongues;

Nor cutpurses come not to throngs;

When usurers tell their gold i' the field;

And bawds and whores do churches build;

Then shall the realm of Major League Baseball

Come to great confusion:

Then comes the time, who lives to see't,

That going shall be used with feet.

This prophecy Merlin shall make; for I live before his time.

Exit

Some other notes:

Corey Kluber pitched two innings, Matt Moore pitched one. Neither pitcher allowed a man to reach base.

I can't really see it resuming after 11:00, either, but I guess they have to try. Going to be either a very tough series on the bullpens or a very easy one.

The Rays Tank: Sweep of the Marlins and Gaining Ground in the AL East

Fri, 31 May 2013 00:00:04 MDT

The Rays defeated the Marlins 5-2 last night and completed the sweep of the Citrus Series as Alex Colome shined in his MLB debut. Colome went 5.2 innings, striking out 7 while allowing only one run (unearned) on five hits and two walks. Erik explores Colome’s outing in the recap of the game which you can read here.

Joe Maddon had this simple statement to say about Alex Colome:

Alex Colome:expectations exceeded.— Joe Maddon (@RaysJoeMaddon) May 31, 2013

The Rays have won five straight games and have made up some serious ground in the AL East. Over the past four days, the Mets swept the Yankees and the Phillies split the series with the Red Sox, making things a lot more interesting in the division standings.

With one day left in the month of May, the Rays are currently three games out of first place in the division. The Red Sox and Yankees play each other the next three games as Baltimore takes on Detroit. Tampa Bay travels to Cleveland for the upcoming series where Matt Moore, Chris Archer and Jeremy Hellickson will take the mound, per Todd Kalas.

Yes, you read that right, Chris Archer will be starting on Saturday. After last night’s game ended, the Rays announced that Archer was called up and a corresponding roster move will be made later today.

The Durham Bulls GM, Mike Birling, tweeted his congratulations to Archer last night: So happy for @chrisarcher42.Heading back to The Show.In 20 years of @milb haven't met many people with more class than him. #rays #bulls— Mike Birling (@DurhamBullsGM) May 31, 2013

In Archer's last start for Durham on May 26th, he went five innings, allowing four runs (two unearned) off of five hits and three walks while striking out season. On the season, he is 5-3 with a 3.96 ERA, racking up 52 strikeouts, but walking 23 batters over the course of his ten appearances. He has allowed 50 hits over 50 innings and opponents are batting .251 against him.

Other Rays related tidbits:

Marc Topkin discusses Cesar Ramos’ fiance’s fight against Hodgkin’s lymphoma and how she is currently completing her last round of chemo.

Tommy Rancel of The Process Report took a look at Colome’s debut last night and discussed the command trouble on Alex’s fastball with former pitcher, Eric Knott:

Barring any setbacks from his bullpen session on Saturday, Alex Cobb is expected to make his next start on Tuesday in Detroit. He also talks about how his scratched start meant that Matt Moore had the bat taken away from his hands in Miami.

Jason Collette collaborated with Big League Stew for their Ballpark Roadmap series recently and discussed the must-see features of Tropicana Field.

Links:

-The Orioles played the Nationals during interleague play and the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network sat down with Bryce Harper and Manny Machado. Warning: The two say "you know" A LOT throughout the interview.

-NBC Sports’ Hardball Talk got some insight from MLB about what kind of TV monitors are being used for the umpire’s replays. Unfortunately, this insight came after they had received and shared some incorrect information from a "source who had access to the equipment" a few weeks ago. You can check out the updated post here.

-Not only will the Yankees sign Hideki Matsui to a one-day contract so that he can retire as a Yankee, but they will also be holding a special ceremony pre-game and giving out this Matsui bobblehead on July 28th (against the Rays): First 18,000 guests on 7/28 to receive THIS amazing Hideki Matsui bobblehead: twitter.com/Yankees/status…— New York Yankees (@Yankees) May 30, 2013

-MLB’s Mother’s Day memorabilia auction ends today and there’s quite a few Rays’ players bats and Fernando Rodney’s hot pink cleats up for auction.