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Tampa Bay Rays 4/13/18 pre-game notes and starting lineup

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Per Marc Topkin, Vaseline left Kevin Kiermaier with a wonderful homecoming care package on Friday. (Photo Credit: Marc Topkin)

The Tampa Bay Rays will kick off a 10-game home stand on Friday night with a three-game Grapefruit League series against the visiting Clearwater Phillies.

Prior to the series, and as I intimated earlier, the Rays added Johnny Field to the roster, giving the team a full compliment of position players. St Petersburg native Ryan Weber was optioned to Triple-A Durham to make room for Field on the 25-man roster, then subsequently designated for assignment to make room for him on the 40-man. Tampa Bay had been carrying an extra pitcher since Brad Miller was placed on the DL with a groin injury. This is the first call-up for Field, who was the last man cut in Spring Training.

Apparently Vaseline’s corporate contingent has been paying attention, as Kevin Kiermaier had a homecoming care package waiting for him today in clubhouse, with a personal letter and a few of their products (see picture above). If you are unfamiliar with the reference, Kiermaier had planned to cover his body with Vaseline to handle the cold during the team’s eight-game road trip.

Injury Notes

According to Neil Solondz (Rays Radio) Kevin Cash told reporters that starting pitcher Nathan Eovaldi played catch on the field earlier Friday, only weeks after undergoing arthroscopic surgery on his right elbow. Cash also said that infielder Brad Miller continues to ramp up his rehab, but has not done any field work yet as of Friday afternoon. The Rays placed Miller on the DL with a groin strain following Sunday’s game against the Red Sox.

Rays 4/13/18 Starting Lineup

Span DH
Kiermaier CF
Gomez RF
Cron 1B
Wendle 2B
Duffy 3B
Smith LF
Ramos C
Hechavarria SS
Faria RHP

LBWMF: Rays win second straight, 6-5; acquire Jeremy Hazelbaker from Arizona

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The Rays walked away with their first series win of the season on Tuesday. (Photo Credit: Tampa Bay Rays)

The Tampa Bay Rays continued their “winning ways” on Tuesday, edging the Chicago White Sox, 6-5, in what became a ninth-inning nail-biter. Shocker, I know.

What follows are The Good, The Bad, and The Argyle from the matinee ball game.

The Good

— After an unlucky start to the season, with the Rays performing to a .267 BABIP over the first nine games, the luck dragons now appear to be nipping at the heals of opposing pitchers. Tampa Bay put up a .385 BABIP against Boston on Sunday, a .419 BABIP on Monday, and a .400 BABIP Tuesday afternoon. To be certain, gaudy BABIP’s as such are not sustainable. However, a subpar .267 figure also shouldn’t be expected over the long haul.

In the words of our buddy Robert Smith — no, not the singer of the Cure — So many things went wrong during the Yankee and Red Sox series. No way those threads would continue.

This offense isnt great. Many people think it will be worse than last year. But people equate HRs with effectiveness. We were 25th int he league in runs. It was not a good offense.

I think when all is said and done, that this offense will score more runs than we did last year.

— For the second consecutive day, everyone in the lineup reached base. Carlos Gomez crushed a massive 424 foot home run to center (see below) and reached on a single, Mallex Smith reached on a pair of base hits, Daniel Robertson continued to rack up solid OBP figures with two singles and a walk, and Joey Wendle continued his five game hitting streak with a single (also reaching on three walks).

— A mere 10 games after he first strode out onto the field on Opening Day, Wilson Ramos plated his first run of the season, driving in Duffy from second.

— Three hours and 48 minutes makes for a long game, however, the Rays did a good job at being patient at the plate and working good at-bats. Tampa Bay’s batters reached base 22 times on 11 hits, 10 walks, and one hit by pitch. Egad, it’s almost like the Rays of old, under the watchful eye of Joe Maddon, where a walk was as good as a hit!

— The Rays went 5-for-16 with runners in scoring position, good for a .313 wRISP batting average. To that end, those numbers also appear to be improving; Tampa Bay has improved its wRISP batting average over the course of the first three series, from .176 in the Opening Series to .235 against the Yankees, then .240 again vs Boston. They also went 5-15 wRISP on Monday, good for a .333 batter’s average.

— Blake Snell fanned 10, induced seven ground outs, and gave up just one hit and one run. From a boxscore perspective, he looked unflappable. He also finished six innings which put the bullpen in a reasonable position. All that glitters is not gold, however, which I’ll talk about that in the next section.

The Bad

— Snell yielded five walks and got himself into 12 three-ball counts. At points in the game he appeared to get ahead of batters only to fall behind, and admittedly tried to get a little “too nasty” in the hope that he could get Chicago’s free-swinging batters to chase. At other points in the game his command was all but there. 114 pitches (2018 high water mark; 62 strikes) over six innings really isn’t the model of efficiency.

— Oh my, that ninth inning…

With a cushy five run lead in the ninth, Ryan Weber made his first appearance in a Rays uniform. But, Weber promptly allowed a lead off double to Tim Anderson, whose grounder got by Duffy at third and dribbled down the foul line, caroming off the wall. In all fairness, Anderson did not exactly hit a bullet, rather the odd carom factored into the two-base hit. Nevertheless, the shortstop easily swiped third and scored on a sacrifice-fly, drawing Chicago within four.

With the base paths clear, Wendle bobbled a routine grounder which allowed Leury Garcia to reach first base. After Weber walked Yoan Moncada, Cash decided to bring in Alex Colome to what now was a save situation.

Colome coaxed a weak comebacker from the first batter he faced, allowing the base runners to move up 90-feet … albeit with two outs and a four-run lead. Colome jumped out in front of the next batter, Jose Abreu, with an 0-2 count when he went for the game ending punch out. Yet Colome didn’t bury his put-away cutter, and instead of swinging over the off-speed offering, Abreu golf-clubbed a three-run homer to center — bringing the White Sox within one.

Adding insult to injury, Colome walked the next batter, which brought the winning run, represented by Omar Narvaez, to the plate. Narvaez, however, lashed a line drive to Mallex Smith in right for the final out.

The Argyle

— This Leverage Index graph clearly is not as benign as it looks.


Source: FanGraphs

The New What Next

The Rays will try for the sweep on Wednesday with Yonny Chirinos (0-0, 0.00 ERA) on the mound. He’ll be opposed by “Big Game” James Shields (1-0, 5.73 ERA).

Yonny Chirinos was dominant over his five inning, 54-pitch (38 strikes, 70.3% strike ratio) outing, relying primarily on a heavy sinker that coaxed a lot of early in the count ground ball outs. The right-hander didn’t walk a batter and struck out four, giving up just three hits along the way — none of which were struck particularly well by Boston’s lineup.

James Shields, former friends of the Rays, struggled over his first two starts of his 2018 campaign. He has given up seven runs over 11 innings, while walking two and striking out just one. He, however, has been very good against his former team, coasting to a 3-0 record with a 1.35 ERA over three starts. He has fanned 23 along the way. The Rays have not faced Shields since 2016. Key matchups: Carlos Gomez (4-9), Adeiny Hechavarria (3-10), Kevin Kiermaier (1-2, 2B), Brad Miller (4-10, 2B, HR, RBI, BB), Wilson Ramos (1-3, HR, 3 RBI, 2 BB)

You can read about the series in our preview.

The New What Next: Rays vs ChiSox — a series preview

Rays 4/11/18 Starting Lineup

Span DH
Kiermaier CF
Gomez RF
Cron 1B
Wendle 2B
Duffy 3B
Smith LF
Hechavarria SS
Sucre C
Chirinos RHP

Noteworthiness

— Following the game Tuesday, the Rays acquired outfielder Jeremy Hazelbaker from Arizona in exchange for cash considerations. To clear a spot on the 40-man roster, Tampa Bay transferred RHP Jose De Leon to the 60-day disabled list.

Steve Adams (MLB Trade Rumors) wrote about the deal, saying:

Hazelbaker, whom the D-backs designated for assignment late last week, will head to Triple-A Durham. De Leon underwent Tommy John surgery during Spring Training, so he’ll be out for the entirety of the 2018 season.

The 30-year-old Hazelbaker will give the Rays some depth across the board in the outfield, as he’s plenty experienced in center and in both outfield corners. The left-handed-hitting Hazelbaker was the talk of MLB two years ago when he broke camp with the Cardinals and posted an absurd .317/.357/.683 slash in the month of April. However, he cooled off considerably over the remainder of the season and was ultimately waived by St. Louis and claimed by Arizona.

Last year with the D-backs, Hazelbaker logged 61 plate appearances and again posted some eye-popping numbers, hitting .346/.443/.577 with two doubles, two homers and two triples. In all, Hazelbaker is a .258/.327/.500 hitter in in 285 MLB plate appearances, and he owns a .277/.336/.452 slash in parts of seven Triple-A seasons.

LBWMF: Rays halt losing skid at eight in 5-4 defeat of the White Sox

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Joey Wendle hit his first home run of the season on Monday. (Photo Credit: Tampa Bay Rays)

The Tampa Bay Rays put to bed their ugliest losing skid of the last few years on Monday, eking out a 5-4 win against the Chicago White Sox — their first win since Opening Day.

For the second straight game Tampa Bay collected double-digits in hits, thanks in part to outfielder Mallex Smith who went 4-for-4 with two stolen bases.

All told, Tampa Bay amassed a season-high 14 hits, including multi-hit games from the aforementioned Smith, Matt Duffy, Joey Wendle, and Wilson Ramos.

The Rays struck first and took a 1-0 lead in the opening frame after Carlos Gomez singled with two outs, moved to second on a walk to C.J. Cron, then came home on an infield single by Duffy.

Be that as it may, the White Sox answered in the bottom of the inning against Chris Archer, who was bereft of command right out the gate. Archer allowed a run to cross the plate without the benefit of a hit — walking a pair of batters and hitting another to load the bases, before he allowed a sac-fly to Yolmer Sanchez.

In the third inning, Archer was able to work around a Yoan Moncada leadoff double, keeping the score knotted at one until the top of the fourth.

Daniel Robertson started the rally when he worked a one-out free pass before he advanced to second base on a wild-pitch. The baseball gods allegedly took pity upon the Rays and allowed Smith to steal back the lead with an RBI triple to center, his second hit of the day.

Then in the top of the fifth inning, Joey Wendle hit a 2-0 leadoff laser-shot to right, his first homer of the season.

Later in the inning, Matt Duffy singled home Gomez (who reached on a double) giving the Rays a three-run lead — their biggest lead of the day. The difference didn’t last long, however.

Archer couldn’t put together that all important shutdown inning, ultimately allowing a two-out, two-run homer to Nick Delmonico on a hanging 0-2 slider, bringing the ChiSox within a run.

Fortunately enough, the Rays were able to add an important insurance run in the sixth inning after Denard Span singled home Smith from third base. The extra tally proved crucial, as Archer allowed an RBI double to Omar Narvaez in the home half of the frame, once again making it a one-run contest. Archer’s day was done.

Chaz Roe entered in relief and got the final out in the sixth and the first out of the seventh. Jose Alvarado followed and picked up the second out before Sergio Romo finished out the frame.

Romo took the mound once more in the eighth and struck out a pair of batters, putting an end to yet another White Sox rally, and setting the stage for a dramatic ninth.

Brett Phillips (DRaysBay) did an excellent job narrating what could have been another disastrous ninth inning, so without further adieux…

Colome did his darnedest to give this game away in the ninth. I mean it, he really, really did. First off, he walked Jose Abreu, who was 1-for-6 with 4 K’s against Colome lifetime. Then, he allowed a hit to Nicky Delmonico to put men on first and second. Colome was missing his spots, and missing badly. After going ahead 0-2 to the next batter (who was swinging away and not bunting), Colome just decided to do his work for him and advance the batters anyway. A wild pitch put them at second and third with no outs. At this point I nearly turned the game off, but I’m glad I didn’t. Because like I said before, this was the game nobody wanted to win.

Delmonico chopped a weak ball back to Colome for the first out. Then Cash pulled the infield in, and put a very strange shift on Tim Anderson, with three men on the left side pulled in. You could see the game-winning hit coming a mile away. Except, as it turns out, this was a perfect defensive alignment. Like clockwork, Anderson chopped it right to Duffy, who almost tagged out Abreu at third with a modest lead. Dewayne Staats then said “Colome would really like a ground ball to first base here” and, as if by magic, three seconds later Leury Garcia chopped an easy grounder to C.J. Cron at first, sealing the Rays win. It happened by the skin of their teeth, and it happened basically because of some offensive ineptitude by a Chicago team in full-rebuild…but it happened.

The New What Next

The Rays will play the second game of the series on Tuesday, when Blake Snell (0-1, 5.00 ERA) takes the mound opposite of Carson Fulmer (0-0, 5.40 ERA).

Snell was tagged with a loss after he allowed five runs on four hits and three walks over 3-1/3 innings Wednesday. He struck out five. Snell allowed a leadoff single to Brett Gardner, then served up a mammoth two-run homer to Giancarlo Stanton two batters later. The southpaw allowed another two-run shot in the third inning — this time to Gary Sanchez — before he was chased after recording just 10 outs on 90 pitches.

Fulmer was impressive in his season debut last Wednesday, giving up three runs in five innings while walking just one. He struck out five. Fulmer has above-average arm speed and relies primarily on a 91 mph fastball with modest arm-side run and late life, a big breaking 11-5 curveball with significant depth, an 87 mph cutter with average movement and average control, and a show me changeup that he throws to lefties. He does have occasional inconsistency at release, and sometimes over-throws. This will be Fulmer’s first start against Tampa Bay.

You can read about the series in our preview.

Rays 4/10/18 Starting Lineup

Span LF
Wendle 2B
Gomez CF
Cron 1B
Duffy 3B
Smith RF
Ramos C
Hechavarria SS
Robertson DH
Snell LHP

Noteworthiness

— Rays of hope…

Tampa Bay has improved its wRISP batting average over the course of the first three series, from .176 in the Opening Series to .235 against the Yankees, then .240 again vs Boston. If Monday’s game is any indication, the Rays could be getting better in the batter’s box, as they went 5-15 wRISP for a .333 batter’s average.

What’s more, the Rays luck could be improving. The Rays put up a .385 BABIP against Boston on Sunday, and a .419 BABIP on Monday on the south side of Chicago. This, after they performed to an unlucky .267 BABIP over the first nine games of the season.

Rays look to get off the schneid on Sunday; facts and figures in historically bad start

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Austin Pruitt threw 4-1/3 scoreless innings on Saturday, retiring 13 of his last 14. (Photo Credit: Tampa Bay Rays)

The Tampa Bay Rays are in salvage mode today, looking to win the getaway game — a game, really — against the Boston Red Sox. Since Opening Day, the Rays have lost seven consecutive games, and have been outscored 31-11 over their last four.

As Neil Solondz (Rays Radio) noted, this is the toughest Rays start since 2011, when the team went 1–8 yet came back to end up with 90 victories and a playoff campaign. The Rays have scored 20 runs in eight games so far this year. The 2011 club scored 20 runs in the first nine games, and nine came in one contest.

And like the 2011 Rays, the 2018 squad next will head to the south side of Chicago where the former squad began to turn around its season.

Or as Bill Madden (N.Y. Daily News) put it, principal owner Stuart Sternberg “should be ashamed” for fielding an “unwatchable” and “terrible” team with “no pitching, no hitting, no exciting players other than Kevin Kiermaier.” It seems Sternberg is “just looking for an excuse to move the team to Montreal.” …Not that I put much stock in the Rays relocation rumors, but that’s for another day.

The Rays scored two in the first inning yesterday, yet Jacob Faria allowed eight runs over 1-2/3 innings in a 10–3 loss. To put things into context, Faria threw 73 pitches and got only five outs. According to the hurler, the game sped up such that he couldn’t slow things down.

Honestly, I don’t even know, Faria said. Nothing was there from the beginning. I couldn’t figure it out. Couldn’t make an adjustment. … Just letting things race in my head a little too much. Just letting the game speed up. Just not making the adjustment in time. …Just going through the motions pretty much. Just trying to find something that would work. …Every game before this, I’ve been able to kind of figure it out and grind through it. Today was one of those days I couldn’t figure it out. It’s frustrating, it’s embarrassing. We’re in the big leagues now and I can’t throw strikes to anybody. Three-one count to almost every hitter. This is embarrassing. That’s the No. 1 word I would use.

Andrew Kittredge will get the start in a bullpen day this afternoon. The right-hander has pitched well in both of his appearances this season — allowing two earned runs over 5-2/3 innings, while walking three (two intentionally) and fanning none — yet suffered the loss in each. Ryan Yarbrough and Matt Andriese are reportedly available to provide length in the bullpen if needed.

Eduardo Rodriguez will come off the disabled list to start for the Red Sox, who at 7-1 is off to their best start since 1920.

You can read about the series in our preview.

The New What Next: Rays vs Red Sox — a series preview, part two

Rays 4/8/17 Starting Lineup

Noteworthiness

— If it’s any consolation, odds are good that the Rays wouldn’t be any better at this point in the season had they held on to Evan Longoria, Steven Souza Jr., Corey Dickerson, Alex Cobb, or Logan Morrison.

Per Marc Topkin (Tampa Bay Times):

Longoria was 0-for-17 before homering for his first, and through Friday, only Giants hit, admitting his cold start was “a little bit magnified” with “a lot of people looking for me to come out of the gate hot, including myself.” Batting fifth (behind Buster Posey – irony, huh?), playing third, wearing No. 10 … okay it doesn’t have quite the same ring, though he is still walking up to Tantric’s Down & Out.

Dickerson has been starting daily in left (which didn’t go well in the second half with Rays) and batting fifth, hitting .238 through five games, as he essentially replaces longtime star Andrew McCutchen. Tweeted for first time since May 2016 to thank Pirates fans for a warm welcome: “My family and I are glad to be here!”

Cobb will make at least one more minors start Monday before being activated after late-spring signing.

Morrison has been slotted fourth/fifth in lineup, splitting 1B and DH, hitting .067 (1-for-15), has large clubhouse presence.

Lucas Duda’s three-run opening-day homer was a nice introduction, but hitting a quiet .214 overall.

Tommy Hunter got $18 million for two years but hasn’t pitched yet due to late-spring hamstring strain.

Rays look to earn the ever elusive second win on Saturday

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One highlight from the Rays 3-2 extra innings loss to the Red Sox on Thursday, Matt Duffy (pictured) hit a two-run homer to give them a go-ahead lead. (Photo Credit: Tampa Bay Rays)

“Hot on the heels” of their 3-2, extra innings, walk-off loss on the Thursday, the Tampa Bay Rays look to put an even number in the win column this afternoon in Boston. For the Rays, Jacob Faria (0-0, 4.50 ERA) will take the mound in his first career start at Fenway, pitching opposite of former Cy Young Award winner Rick Porcello (1-0, 1.69 ERA)

A few hot-takes from Thursday’s loss before we look forward to Saturday afternoon:

— Rays rookie right-hander, Yonny Chirinos, was dominant over his five inning, 54-pitch (38 strikes, 70.3% strike ratio) outing, relying primarily on a heavy sinker that coaxed a lot of early in the count ground ball outs. The right-hander didn’t walk a batter and struck out four, giving up just three hits along the way — none of which were struck particularly well by Boston’s lineup. Marc Topkin (Tampa Bay Times) noted how humble, quiet and appreciative Chirinos has been of the opportunity.

The Rays initial idea was to go through at least the off-day heavy first six-weeks of the season with four starters and four long relievers. Yet that plan changed just before Opening Day when Nathan Eovaldi went down with an elbow injury requiring surgery, leaving the team with a three-man starting rotation. One would have to imagine that should Kevin Cash (and the pathologically frugal Stu Sternberg) add another full time arm to the rotation, Chirinos — who now has collected nine scoreless innings, including a four-inning relief appearance on Sunday in his MLB debut — would be the most sound choice.

— Not only did Matt Duffy hit a 410 foot home run to centerfield, he did so with a runner on the base paths. That’s not something that can often be said for the Rays.

— Brad Miller made a series of impressive plays at first base Thursday, repeatedly digging out throws in the dirt and bailing out Duffy and others. All this after he put up some pretty shotty glove work the day before.

— Adeiny Hechavarria took it to the bag himself in the ninth inning, then got it over to Miller in time for a clutch double play to put a victory well within the crosshairs.

Yet with two-outs, Alex Colome gave up the game tying hit that was just out of the reach of Mallex Smith.

I should have, Smith was quoted as saying after the game. It hit my glove, just the tip of it. Maybe if I have a little more room.

The New What Next

Jacob Faria faces the Red Sox again after he allowed one run in four innings against them on Sunday. He got the early hook on Sunday after throwing just 83 pitches (53 for strikes). He posted a solid 3.43 ERA and 8.7 K/9 over 86.7 innings last season, but his 4.16 FIP and .265 BABIP suggests he might have slightly overachieved. Faria will be making his first career start at Fenway Park.

Rick Porcello completed 5-1/3 solid innings and notched a win on Saturday against the Rays after he allowed one earned run on six hits and one walk while striking out four. While the right-hander had a successful 2018 debut, it remains to be seen whether his success will continue; after all he generated just two swinging strikes and allowed eight flyballs. That outing was good, just don’t assume Porcello is back to his 2016 form. Key Matchups: CJ Cron (2-4, 2B, BB), Matt Duffy (5-13), Brad Miller (11-40, 4 2B, 5 HR, 9 RBI, 2 BB), Rob Refsnyder (1-3), Denard Span (14-38, 4 RBI, 2 BB)

You can read about the series in our preview.

Rays 4/7/18 Starting Lineup

Span LF
Smith RF
Gomez CF
Miller 1B
Duffy 3B
Cron DH
Ramos C
Wendle 2B
Hechavarria SS
Faria RHP

Noteworthiness

— Rays starters have now compiled a sterling 0.86 ERA and yielded one or zero runs in each of the seven games. The offense, however, has been another story. Tampa Bay has scored just 17 runs in the first seven contests.