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A Below Average Rays Fan Blog

LBWMF: Snell sharp in spring debut, Franco to see big-league action Thursday, the Vancouver Diamondbacks?

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Former Rays’ first baseman, Carlos Pena, chatted with Blake Snell in Port Charlotte ahead of his first appearance of the spring.

Blake Snell made his first appearance of the spring on Wednesday and put together a perfect frame in the Rays 10-8 loss to the Twins.

Snell threw 15 of 21 pitches for strikes (71% strike rate), saying he’s already ahead of last year’s pace.

I feel a lot more ahead, a lot more advanced. I can throw the ball in the zone, out of the zone. I feel a lot better than I did last year for sure. …Overall, first start, I’m happy with it. I liked the consistency of the pitches, and I liked the confidence and poise I had. Usually I’m pretty lost the first couple of games, just ‘cause I haven’t done it, but I felt a lot more in control and a lot more confident. So I felt really good about that.

⁠— Blake Snell

Snell leaned on four of his pitches, although he was frustrated that he didn’t throw a slider against a right-handed hitter — something that is a focus for him this spring.

Rays skipper Kevin Cash agreed with Snell’s assessment, saying he liked the way the southpaw mixed his pitches.

Kyle has put an emphasis on adding the slider a little bit more frequently. He did do that, which was good.

— Kevin Cash

Cash also thought that Andrew Kittredge and Diego Castillo were sharp, with Kittredge retiring all five batters he faced and Castillo putting together a perfect frame.

You can hear Cash’s post-game presser below, courtesy of Rays Radio.


Meanwhile, José Alvarado scuffled in his first appearance since enduring a season-ending elbow injury last August. Alvarado retired just one batter and struggled with his command, throwing just 12 of 27 pitches for strikes (44% strike rate). He allowed a pair of runs while striking out one.

In spite of the outcome though, Alvarado said he was “so happy” to return to the mound. He also mentioned that he’s confident his command will improve throughout the spring.

I got close to almost six months without seeing a hitter and not pitching in a game. I’m feeling great because I’m feeling the power in my arm. A little bit too quick and too early over my right arm, but everything is good. I’m feeling good.

— José Alvarado

After playing in left field on Sunday, and hitting out of the DH role on Monday, Yoshi Tsutsugo saw his first action at third base. Yoshi made one play, the only one that came his way.

Tsutsugo praised Willy Adames for his help in positioning, which both players spoke about after the game.


It should be mentioned, Tampa Bay led 5-2 before the starters left for both sides. Minnesota came back with eight unanswered runs before the Rays capped the scoring with three runs in the ninth inning for the final score.

The New What Next

The Rays will see split-squad action on Thursday, as they play host to the Tigers in Port Charlotte and will visit the Yankees just down the road from Mons Venus, in Tampa. Tyler Glasnow will get the start against the Tigers, while Aaron Slegers will get the start against New York. Of note, Wander Franco is expected to come off the bench and see his first big-league action in Port Charlotte.

Franco is the top prospect in baseball according to MLB Pipeline and is slated to replace Willy Adames at short halfway through the game.

Franco slashed .339 BA/.408 OBP/.464 SLG/.872 OPS across 52 games with Class-A Advanced Charlotte last season. The 18-year-old will also be in the starting lineup against the reigning World Series champions on Friday.

As Juan Toribio (MLB.com) made mentioned, Rays manager Kevin Cash has watched Franco play in instructional leagues at Tropicana Field and on television, but Thursday will be the first time he’ll get to watch the 18-year-old live in a game.

We’re looking forward to watching him play. You read about him, you hear about him. Our staff raves about him in player development all for good reason — now it’s our turn to not watch him on TV, and we get to watch him in person.

— Kevin Cash

Rays 2/27/20 Starting Lineup vs. the Tigers

  1. Austin Meadows LF
  2. Hunter Renfroe RF
  3. Yoshitomo Tsutsugo DH
  4. Yandy Díaz 3B
  5. José Martínez 1B
  6. Kevin Kiermaier CF
  7. Mike Zunino C
  8. Joey Wendle 2B
  9. Willy Adames SS
  10. Tyler Glasnow RHP

Rays 2/27/20 Starting Lineup vs. the Yankees

  1. Manuel Margot RF
  2. Brandon Lowe LF
  3. Daniel Robertson 2B
  4. Ji-Man Choi 1B
  5. Nate Lowe 3B
  6. Ryan LaMarre CF
  7. Michael Perez C
  8. Ronaldo Hernandez DH
  9. Taylor Walls SS
  10. Aaron Slegers RHP

Noteworthiness

— Interesting article by Ken Rosenthal (The Athletic; paid subscription), who wrote,

Still, the events of the past several weeks seemingly have created openings not only for the Rays, but also two other 2019 postseason qualifiers, the Twins and Athletics.

— Ken Rosenthal

Shhh Ken, don’t blow our underdog cover!

— Shocker…well, it isn’t actually a shocker at all, but according to Sean Fitz-Gerald (The Athletic; paid subscription), Stu Sternberg isn’t the only owner who has attempted/is attempting to move a team north of the border, at least temporarily. In an article titled Why officials from a Major League Baseball franchise visited Vancouver, Fitz-Gerald wrote that B.C. Place Stadium was viewed as a potential home for the Diamondbacks in the event of a structural emergency at Chase Field, in Pheonix.

The Arizona Diamondbacks visited the Canadian city in 2018 amid concerns over the state of repairs at Chase Field, in Phoenix. Vancouver was on a list of a half-dozen potential (temporary) homes the team had received from MLB headquarters.

“While working at Major League Baseball, I provided the team with numerous possibilities, including Vancouver,” Joe Garagiola Jr., who is now special advisor to the Diamondbacks’ chief executive, said in a written statement to The Athletic. “Club executives visited there to determine the reality of making it a contingency plan.”

According to a government official in British Columbia who requested anonymity, the visitors received a walking tour of the stadium and were shown archival photographs from baseball games played within its walls. It opened in 1983 and has hosted everything from the Grey Cup to the Olympics to the Pope.

— Sean Fitz-Gerald

— Let’s just call this just desserts.

LBWMF: Rays throttle the O’s, 15-2; 2/26/20 pre-game notes

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Willy Adames greeted Yoshi Tsutsugo after he hit his first home run as a Ray, on Monday. (Photo Credit: Tampa Bay Rays)

The Tampa Bay Rays notched their second tally in the sping win column on Tuesday, throttling the Baltimore Orioles, 15-2. Charlie Morton made his first start of the spring and showed well, while Randy Arozarena continued to rake.

Morton tossed a scoreless inning on 11 pitches (five strikes, 45% strike rate) and walked one, Chris Davis, on four pitches. The right-hander was pleased with his first outing, although he would’ve liked to have thrown a couple more off-speed pitches — Morton threw just one of 11, although he expects to mix more of his arsenal in his next outing. He topped out at 95 mph on the in-stadium radar gun.

Following his outing, Morton joked with Rays Communication Manager, Karly Fisher, that at least the four-pitch walk was efficient. He also said that one of his biggest goals for the day was to not hit anybody on the Orioles.

Last year, I hit two of their guys. I hit two of their guys back-to-back on heaters, and I felt awful about it. I’m glad that didn’t happen.

— Charlie Morton

Mike Zunino was behind the plate and was pleased with where Morton is this early in the spring.

I think he’s right where he left off. I know today with one inning it’s tough to mix in everything.

— Mike Zunino

Jalen Beeks, Chaz Roe, and Peter Fairbanks followed Morton and had clean, efficient innings against Baltimore; none of the three allowed a base runner.

In the batter’s box, Tampa Bay collected 16 hits, including a three-run blast by Michael Perez. Brandon Lowe tripled in the second inning, then scored on Daniel Robertson’s single. Later, Lowe hit a bases-loaded double in the fourth inning during a five-run frame that pushed the lead to seven runs.

Lowe, who ended the season with a 34.6% strikeout rate, said he is focusing on improving his plate discipline.

That’s the main focus early on in Spring Training. I definitely want to get up there and refine my approach. I think last year I had moments of immaturity up there.

— Brandon Lowe

Arozarena added two more hits, bringing his total to four in as many at-bats to go along with a pair of walks.

Unbelievable. He can find the barrel. He’s got a lot of confidence to get deep in the at-bat, he doesn’t care and it seems when he gets his pitch, he’s not missing it.

— Kevin Cash

The New What Next

Blake Snell will make his 2020 Grapefruit League debut on Wednesday at Charlotte Sports Park when the Rays host the Twins. José Alvarado, Ryan Sherriff, Colin Poche, and D.J. Snelten will also take the mound for Tampa Bay.

Rays 2/26/20 Starting Lineup

  1. Randy Arozarena LF
  2. Yandy Díaz DH
  3. Ji-Man Choi 1B
  4. Hunter Renfroe RF
  5. Yoshitomo Tsutsugo 3B
  6. Willy Adames SS
  7. Kevin Kiermaier CF
  8. Kevan Smith C
  9. Mike Brosseau 2B
  10. Blake Snell LHP

Noteworthiness

— Yoshi Tsutsugo blasted his first home run as a Ray on Monday, in Port Charlotte.

After Yoshi crossed the plate following the homer (against a southpaw, no less), Willy Adames bowed slightly and Tsutsugo did the same in response.

— Looking to watch wunderkind Wander Franco in action? According to Juan Toribio (MLB.com), you may only have to wait a couple of days.

A source tells MLB.com that Franco will get into Thursday’s split-squad game against the Tigers at Charlotte Sports Park, and there’s also a good chance that he will play in Friday’s Grapefruit League game against the Nationals in West Palm Beach, Fla. It’s also likely that Franco will play in other big league games throughout the spring.

Franco slashed .339/.408/.464 in 52 games with Class A Advanced Charlotte last season. The Rays haven’t made a decision on where Franco will begin the 2020 season, but it’s believed that the 18-year-old could be on Double-A Montgomery’s Opening Day roster.

— Juan Toribio

— On Monday, the Rays announced that the 1,000 or so $36 a month standing-room-only tickets sold out in an hour. The team is taking names for a waitlist and they could make more ballpark passes available.

Wait! You mean to tell me that when the Rays front office, and marketing department, approach the attendance problem in an out of the box fashion, the team has a better chance at selling tickets than it has when fans are continually badgered and belittled?!

LBWMF: Rays win spring home opener against the Yankees, 9-7

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Charlotte Sports Park before Yoshi Tsutsugo and Randy Arozarena helped light up Yankees pitching, on Sunday. (Photo Credit: Tampa Bay Rays)

The Tampa Bay Rays bounced back from a one-run loss on Saturday by lighting up Yankees pitching in the Grapefruit League home opener on Sunday, 9-7. Yoshi Tsutsugo collected his first big-league hit and a walk, while Randy Arozarena drove in the deciding runs in the eighth inning.

Yoshi, who played left field and hit fifth, went 1-for-1 with a walk and a sharply hit single to center in his first at-bat of the day.

In his second at-bat, Tsutsugo laid off a couple of tough pitches from Nick Nelson and ultimately drew a walk.

I think there’s a difference in the strike zone in the two countries, and also I was seeing different velocity here. This is the first game and I wanted to see it with my own eyes.

— Yoshi Tsutsugo, through a translator

He also showed well in the field, accurately hitting the cutoff man on multiple occasions while displaying solid communication with Gold Glove centerfielder Kevin Kiermaier on a Thairo Estrada fly ball hit to left-center field.

All you hear about is how he can hit and handle the bat, but he looks very comfortable out there in the outfield. I think he’s going to surprise a lot of people with what he can do on that side of the ball.

— Kevin Kiermaier

Tsutsugo will serve as the team’s designated hitter on Monday against the Red Sox, at Charlotte Sports Park. He is scheduled to hit fifth.

For the second consecutive game, Arozarena hit an extra-base hit in addition to showing off his skills on the basepaths. Arozarena went 1-for-1 with a go-ahead two-run triple in the eighth inning and two walks.

We think really highly of him. I know when we acquired him in the deal (with the Cardinals), he was a big part of that deal. We were excited about him, but any time you’re having success and finding the barrel like he has the last two days, it’s good.

— Kevin Cash

Later in the inning, Arozarena scored when Yankees catcher Wynston Sawyer overthrew the pitcher on the mound.

He seems like a very heads-up baseball player. Whether it’s outfield, at the plate, whatever it is.

— Kevin Cash

On the mound, Ryan Yarbrough got the start and tossed a scoreless first inning on 21 pitches (14 strikes, 67% strike rate). The left-hander struck out one.

For the first outing of the year, I felt really good. Everything was moving the way I wanted to and after the first couple of batters, I got ahead of the other two — it’s a matter of finishing guys off instead of just barely missing pitches. For the first outing of the year, I’ll take that every time.

— Ryan Yarbrough

Yarbrough didn’t mention any particular pitches that he is working on, although he did note that he will be progressively working on how to use certain pitches in certain scenarios throughout the season.

Andrew Kittredge was really impressive in his inning of work, fanning the side, while Diego Castillo punched out two and was charged with an unearned run in his frame.

The New What Next

Yonny Chirinos will get his first start of the spring on Monday against the Red Sox. Relievers Oliver Drake and Nick Anderson are also scheduled to pitch for Tampa Bay.

Rays 2/24/20 Starting Lineup

  1. Austin Meadows LF
  2. Yandy Díaz 3B
  3. Ji-Man Choi 1B
  4. Hunter Renfroe RF
  5. Yoshi Tsutsugo DH
  6. Willy Adames SS
  7. Kevin Kiermaier CF
  8. Chris Herrmann C
  9. Joey Wendle 2B
  10. Yonny Chirinos RHP

Noteworthiness

— José Alvarado threw live batting practice on Sunday in Port Charlotte. The southpaw tossed around 20 pitches during his session and he’s tentatively slated to pitch in his first Spring Training game on Wednesday against the Twins, at Charlotte Sports Park.

Rays regular hurlers look good in Grapefruit League opener; 2/23/20 pre-game notes

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The Rays struck for three late runs on Saturday but ultimately dropped the Grapefruit League opener to the Red Sox, 4-3. (Photo Credit: Tampa Bay Rays)

On Saturday, the Tampa Bay Rays struck for three late runs yet they dropped their Grapefruit League opener to the Red Sox, 4-3. More importantly though, since this was an exhibition game, the first four pitchers — including Trevor Richards, Jalen Beeks, and Pete Fairbanks — put up zeros.

Richards allowed a first-pitch single to Andrew Benintendi before he struck out two of the next three hitters. Richards threw nine of 15 pitches for strikes (60% strike rate) and told Neil Solondz (Rays Radio) that he worked on a slider to accompany his changeup and fastball.

It’s always a good feeling to get out there in a game situation. Throwing against someone with a different-colored uniform is always good.

— Trevor Richards

Beeks followed Richards with an efficient 10-pitch frame against his former team. Following his turn, Beeks said it was helpful to see how opposing batters reacted to him.

Working on the changeup, working on the slider. Threw two or three sliders today, and just trying to improve both of those pitches the most and get to where I’m trying to throw them in the zone and then out of the zone when I want to.

— Jalen Beeks

Beeks has had difficulty with consistently attacking the zone in the past. And while his first outing represented a rather small sample size, he worked efficiently and effectively which is a positive sign.

Guys early on threw the ball really, really well. Beeks was sharp, pitched good.

— Kevin Cash

Fairbanks, who has been working on a changeup, took the mound in the third inning and quickly allowed a pair of bad-luck singles to start the frame — a comebacker off his glove and a bloop single to left-center. The right-hander settled down though and got Benintendi to fly out to center before he punched out Jackie Bradley Jr. on a well-placed heater at the top of the zone.

J.D. Martinez walked on a borderline full-count pitch to load the bases, yet Michael Chavis whiffed to end the inning.

I was ahead of myself a little bit. I thought that I filled the zone up pretty well … Little rushed with the slider, fastball felt great.

— Pete Fairbanks

Offensively, Hunter Renfroe got his first hit in a Rays uniform, dropping a single into shallow right field…

…and Randy Arozarena hit a loud double off the Mini Monstah, just shy of a home run.

He smoked that ball. We knew that he really came on offensively at the end of last year and did some good things. You don’t see that in batting practice, everybody does it in BP, but to get out in a game like that and put a charge on the ball, it was impressive.

— Kevin Cash

The New What Next

More regulars are expected to take the field in Port Charlotte this afternoon, in the Rays exhibition home opener. Ryan Yarbrough will get the start for Tampa Bay, pitching opposite of Jonathan Loasiaga. Anthony Banda, Colin Poche, and Andrew Kittredge are also slated to pitch. Yoshi Tsutsugo will play in left field and bat fifth this afternoon.

Rays 2/23/20 Starting Lineup

  1. Meadows RF
  2. Diaz 3B
  3. Choi 1B
  4. Martinez DH
  5. Tsutsugo LF
  6. Kiermaier CF
  7. Adames SS
  8. Wendle 2B
  9. Zunino C
  10. Yarbrough LHP

Noteworthiness

— Former Ray Akinori Iwamura will be in Port Charlotte along with about 20 other members of the Japanese media. Iwamura is doing a feature interview for NHK.

— Before the contest in Ft. Myers, Kevin Cash watched Tyler Glasnow and Chaz Roe throw live batting practice in Port Charlotte; both of whom he said were “filthy.” Glasnow threw 25 pitches (10 and then 15) and Roe threw 15.

It was impressive to watch. We sit behind the screen so many times, but I actually sat there and there was no screen, so I sat in the front row. That’s fun to watch from those seats.

— Kevin Cash

Glasnow threw his four-seam fastball, curveball, and the changeup he has been working on.

He got a couple of soft ground balls on (the changeup). Every changeup he threw, from my vantage point, was good down in the zone, and (he) didn’t leave anything up in the zone. Landed the breaking ball and also buried it a couple of times. The fastball, I don’t know what the velo was, but it was hard.

— Kevin Cash

— Brendan McKay (left shoulder stiffness) said he felt “really good” after throwing from 120 feet on Friday. McKay is tentatively scheduled to throw a bullpen session today. If all goes well, the left-hander could throw live batting practice this week, although that’s still unclear.

It was kind of the same thing I had at the end of the year last year. Throughout the offseason, it really wasn’t there, and then (it) just kind of popped back up with the intensity and a lot more throwing. Now that we got it all situated, I feel good about it.

— Brendan McKay

Rays 2/22/20 pre-game notes and starting lineup

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Both Ji-Man Choi and Wu-Tang Clan are for the kids. (Photo Credit: Juan Toribio)

With camp officially in the books, the Tampa Bay Rays are ready to start the Grapefruit League season on Saturday. Rays players were able to get in one last workout, albeit a shortened one, on Friday. Position players worked on popups as well as cutoffs and relays under the cloudy and windy conditions, while, Oliver Drake, Brooks Pounders, and Deck McGuire threw live batting practice.

Manager Kevin Cash was complimentary of Oliver Drake, who has been working on a slide piece.

I’ve heard that he said he wanted to certainly improve against all hitters, but righties were one. If the breaking ball works, that should help him out a lot.

— Kevin Cash

For his part, Drake said he was looking to improve on what he may have done poorly last season, namely facing right-handed hitters.

Just working on something was a focus this offseason, just trying to find how to improve on last year. Looked at what I did well, looked at what I did poorly. I think a breaking ball would help, so just fiddling with that and we’ll see how it works.

— Oliver Drake

Drake was a reverse splits pitcher last season, holding southpaw hitters to a .363 on-base plus slugging, while righties put up a .857 OPS.

Kevin Cash announced a tentative starting lineup (below) for Saturday’s contest against the Boston Red Sox. Starters are expected to get two at-bats.

Trevor Richards will get the start, while Jalen Beeks, Peter Fairbanks, John Curtiss, Joe Ryan, Tyler Zombro, Sam McWilliams, and Ryan Thomspon are all scheduled to pitch for Tampa Bay.

Rays 2/22/20 Starting Lineup

(Photo Credit: Juan Toribio)

Noteworthiness

— Manuel Margot, who has only played in centerfield at the big-league level, will get the start in left field after much contemplation by the Rays skipper. Margot said (through a team translator) that he is confident at either corner position in the outfield.

I’m just here to do the best that I can. I feel I’m a good enough athlete to adjust.

— Manuel Margot

— Yoshi Tsutsugo will get the start in left field against the Yankees on Sunday, in Port Charlotte. Cash said Tsutsugo looked comfortable at third base, where he got some early work.

He looked really comfortable over there. It’s not the easiest setting, the turf is kind of matted down to where it’s fast over there. Some of those guys that have been in camp the last couple years recognize that, but Yoshi did a good job.

— Kevin Cash

Tsutsugo said (through a team translator) that he’s looking forward to game action.

We still have some time until we open the (regular) season so I just want to keep it normal. I want to be consistent, to learn as much as possible until we get into the season.

— Yoshi Tsutsugo

— Jose Alvarado will throw his first live batting practice session on Sunday.

— Two-way player Brendan McKay has been dealing with shoulder stiffness, which is why he has not thrown live batting practice. McKay did throw from 120 feet on Friday and is expected to throw a bullpen session tomorrow or Sunday.

— Ryan Yarbrough, Andrew Kittredge, and Colin Poche are scheduled to pitch against the Yankees on Sunday.