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Looking Back Fondly: Blake Snell, Rays stymie ChiSox, 5-1, on 4/8/19

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Blake Snell tore through the White Sox’s lineup on Monday, allowing one just one run across six innings. (Photo Credit: Tampa Bay Rays)

With the 2020 season on hold due to the COVID-19 outbreak, I thought it would be apropos to recap the ball-games replayed on Rays Rewind in Primetime, courtesy of Fox Sports Sun.

Without further ado, here is the recap from Tampa Bay’s 5-1 win over the south-siders, on April 8, 2019, with a few minor updates of the original.

On April 8, 2019, Blake Snell threw six impressive innings en route to the Tampa Bay Rays eighth win of the season, 5-1, on the south side of Chicago.

The Rays bats swarmed early, scoring two runs in each of the first two innings against right-hander Carlos Rodon, who previously allowed just two earned runs total in his first two starts.

In the first inning, Yandy Diaz singled to right-field, Tommy Pham walked — extending his on-base streak to 43 games — and Daniel Robertson hit a single to right, loading the bases. After Avisail Garcia went down swinging on a 93 mph fastball on the inside corner, Guillermo Heredia walked, forcing home the game’s first run. Ji-Man Choi followed with a sacrifice-fly that Adam Engel ran down in left-center, preventing an extra-base hit.

Then in the second inning, Willy Adames led off with a double to left-field before he was wild-pitched into third base. Pham walked for the second time in as many innings, and Robertson followed with a perfectly executed safety squeeze bunt for an RBI hit, extending the lead and moving Pham up 90 feet.

After Robertson and Pham swiped second and third (respectively), the Pham came home on a Garcia’s RBI base hit for a four-run advantage.

Yet while Tampa Bay had chances to add on more, the team left a lot of chicken on the bone — stranding 13 men on base (.188 BA wRISP), despite collecting 11 hits and eight walks. Suffice it to say, it made for a frustrating 5-1 win.

Be that as it may, the Rays were able to tack on one last run against reliever Carson Fulmer in the eighth inning on a bases-loaded walk to Austin Meadows, capping the scoring. On the bright side, they have scored four or more runs in five of their last seven games — inching their runs per game (RPG) average up to four after starting the season with 2.75.

Snell allowed just a single run on six hits across the first six frames. He didn’t walk a batter and struck out 11.

Snell fanned five of the first six batters he faced and didn’t allow a runner beyond second base until the fifth inning when he gave up a two-out homer to left to Jose Rondon.

The reigning AL Cy Young Award winner got in trouble in the sixth inning, nevertheless, Mr. .083 BA wRISP did not break. Snell allowed a double to Leury Garcia to start the inning and an infield hit to Tim Anderson that glanced off of Snell’s glove, putting runners at the corners. However, the southpaw buckled down and struck out Jose Abreu, Welington Castillo, and Yoan Moncada to keep the lead intact.

Snell has now struck out 24 batters in his last two starts, the most he’s ever had in back-to-back outings. Snell coaxed 24 swings and misses, after a career-high 25 in his last start.

Hunter Wood, who was recalled from Durham, followed Snell and threw three scoreless innings, for his first big league save. Wood struck out three, allowing just three hits.

It was awesome. I was grateful to get the opportunity to go in, and kind of hopefully prove myself. I want to be here and I want to help this team out any way I can. … I know the bullpen was kind of running low so it was really big to step up and save the bullpen for a day.

— Hunter Wood

The New What Next

The Rays look to win their fourth series in a row on Tuesday afternoon with Charlie Morton (1-0, 1.64 ERA) on the mound. He’ll pitch opposite of Ervin Santana (2018, 0-1, 8.03 ERA).

Charlie Morton is looking for his third consecutive quality start as a member of the Rays. In two starts this season, the right-hander has struck out 14 batters across 11 innings and has a 1.64 ERA. In two career outings against the White Sox (totaling 12-2/3 innings of work), Morton has been good, going 2-0 with a respectable 3.55 ERA.

Ervin Santana, who the White Sox signed to a minor league deal, only made two Cactus League appearances in his extended Spring, and in doing so he gave up six runs on 12 hits across nine innings. Given his late start, he’s remained in Arizona to keep working to get ready for when the White Sox would need a fifth starter. Santana relies primarily on his 83 mph slider, a whiffy 91 mph four-seam fastball with natural sink, and an 85 mph changeup with slight cut action and a lot of backspin, while also mixing in a 91 mph sinker. Santana is 7-7 with a 5.31 ERA across his career against the Rays. Key Matchups: Avisail Garcia (7-27, 2 2B, 2 HR, 4 RBI, 3 BB), Mike Zunino (3-6, 2 HR, 4 RBI, BB) 

You can read about the series in our preview.

The New What Next: Rays Vs. White Sox — a series preview

Rays 4/9/19 Starting Lineup

  1. Meadows LF
  2. Pham DH
  3. Choi 1B
  4. Lowe 2B
  5. Diaz 3B
  6. Kiermaier CF
  7. Garcia RF
  8. Perez C
  9. Adames SS
  10. Morton RHP

Noteworthiness

— Willy Adames collected three hits and is 6-for-11 since his 1-for-27 start. Yandy Diaz has hits in nine of his 10 games played.

— Rays manager Kevin Cash said both Brandon Lowe, who tweaked an ankle running the bases, and Yandy Diaz, who hit his head diving back into second, were fine.

— According to Marc Topkin (Tampa Bay Times) … Tommy Pham walked in the first inning to extend his team-record streak of reaching base to 43 games, crossing the halfway point to Ted Williams’ 1949 record of 84.

— Tampa Bay has given up two runs or fewer in nine of the team’s 11 games, and have allowed just 20 runs total. Yet, of the 20 runs, 11 have come via the long ball. The bullpen overall has allowed just 10 runs across 44 innings.

LBWMF: Morton throws a simulated game, the Rays tie the Pirates, and the first roster moves are announced

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Guillermo Heredia’s legs weren’t the only things tied up by the end of Sunday’s 2-2 ballgame against the Pirates, on Sunday. (Photo Credit: Tampa Bay Rays)

While the Tampa Bay Rays played an exhibition game against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Sunday, resulting in a 2-2 tie, Charlie Morton got in a 60+ pitch simulated ballgame on the backfields of Charlotte Sports Park.

Morton got four ups and downs — the equivalent of four innings of work — and threw more than 60 pitches while facing his teammates in the simulated game. The right-hander felt that while he got in more work than he anticipated, that work was productive.

My second up, I couldn’t throw a strike and that gave me an opportunity to make some corrections, which I did.

— Charlie Morton

Kyle Snyder was behind Morton, voicing any concerns that popped up given that “some bad habits you can get to (and fix) early,” Morton said.

Morton was able to increase his pitch count and use all four pitches without worry that the Pirates, whom the Rays will face on March 26th — and who they squared off against on Sunday — would catch on.

Morton will throw a five-inning/75-pitch simulated game his next time out followed by one last Grapefruit League outing before his likely first Opening Day start in his 13-year career.

It’d be special. It’s an honor. It’s something that most guys will tell you that they’d like to do it at least once.

— Charlie Morton

Meanwhile, Josh Fleming, the Montgomery Biscuits’ MVP last season, made the start against the Pirates. Fleming allowed a run on a walk and a bloop single across three innings of work. He struck out two and threw 37 pitches (23 strikes, 62% strike rate).

He’s going to be a fun guy to follow this year. He can really pitch, he can really change speeds, and he uses both sides of the plate. He’s confident throwing off-speed pitches at any time in the count.

— Kevin Cash

Relievers Nick Anderson and Oliver Drake each threw scoreless frames. Anderson told Neil Solondz he feels good about where he is this spring.

Just working on stuff every day, trying to get comfortable on the mound again. Getting out there frequently and feeling better.

— Nick Anderson

You can hear Anderson’s interview in its entirety on the SoundCloud player below, courtesy of Rays Radio.

Prior to the start of Sunday’s contest, Tampa Bay made its first cuts of the spring, reducing the spring roster from 67 to 60. All of the moves were expected.

The Rays optioned Lucius Fox, Vidal Brujan, Ronaldo Hernandez, Kevin Padlo, and Brent Honeywell. Right-handers Paul Campbell and Tristan Gray were reassigned to minor league camp.

I think all those guys made really good impressions. All were positive conversations and time for them to get down there.

— Kevin Cash

Honeywell has been throwing bullpens as he continues to rehab from Tommy John surgery and a fracture in his throwing arm. Campbell was delayed due to injury at the start of camp, while Padlo was absent from camp for a couple of weeks due to severe headaches that are being controlled with medication.

Manager Kevin Cash was especially impressed by Brujan and Fox.

Brujan’s really athletic, can play second and short, and shows a knack at the plate. I think Lucius the same way. We challenged him a little bit, sticking him in the outfield. He seemed to be comfortable with that.

— Kevin Cash

With minor-league Spring Training contests still about a week away, more roster cuts can be expected over the next few days.

The New What Next

Blake Snell will take the mound on Monday, in Dunedin, a little over a week after receiving a cortisone shot in his left elbow. He’ll be opposed by the Blue Jays’ ace, lefty Hyun-Jin Ryu.

Rays 3/9/20 Starting Lineup

  1. Tsutsugo 3B
  2. Martínez 1B
  3. Kiermaier CF
  4. Adames SS
  5. Wendle 2B
  6. Robertson DH
  7. Perez C
  8. LaMarre LF
  9. O’Grady RF
  10. Snell LHP

Noteworthiness

— Yoshi Tsutsugo will make his first start away from the Charlotte Sports Park on Monday.

Tsutsugo is slated to play third base against the Blue Jays — making his fourth start at the hot corner. Tsutsugo has put together a solid spring thus far, slashing .250 BA/.348 OBP/.450 SLG/.798 OPS with a home run and three RBI while splitting time between third base and left field.

— After throwing an impressive scoreless inning on Friday, two-way player Brendan McKay will make his first spring start on Thursday against the Phillies. McKay has yet to step into a batter’s box during an exhibition game this spring.

— The Rays and Austin Meadows have begun preliminary discussions about a potential extension. Per Marc Topkin (Tampa Bay Times), both sides are open to the possibility, although talks have not yet reached the exchange-of-numbers stage. Locking up the soon-to-be 25-year-old, who slashed .291 BA/.364 OBP/.558 SLG/.922 OPS with 33 home runs, 89 RBI, and a 142 wRC+ last season, would certainly be a boon for the ball club.

LBWMF: Chirinos and McKay impressive on Friday; notes on Morton and Honeywell

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Brendan McKay was strong in his first spring outing, on Friday.

Yonny Chirinos bounced back on the mound in his third start of the spring on Friday, while Brendan McKay was as impressive in his first Grapefruit League appearance.

Chirinos allowed just two hits while striking out a pair across three innings on 45 pitches (32 strikes, 71% strike rate). Chirinos topped out at 96 mph on the in house gun.

That was the first time that really this Spring I’ve been able to throw that hard. I didn’t expect it, but doing what I did in the off-season and the training that I did I feel like that’s been a result of it.

— Yonny Chirinos

McKay, who started late due to shoulder stiffness, was also impressive. After falling behind Jorge Polanco 3-and-0, the southpaw threw 10 of the next 13 pitches for strikes. He caught Josh Donaldson looking on a fastball, coaxed fly ball outs from Polanco and Marwin Gonzalez, and boasted a heater that peaked at 94 mph (and clocked in at 93-94 mph consistently) on 16 pitches (10 strikes, 63% strike rate). The only base runner McKay allowed came on an error, when he dropped Ji-Man Choi’s throw at first.

Felt good. Getting back out there, getting live competition, I was kind of going crazy just not being in there. But it is what it is, hopefully we’re passed it now and can move on and start preparing for a season now.

— Brendan McKay

McKay said he wants to be more conscious of adding a changeup, which he displayed on Friday, to his pitch mix.

Me being critical of myself, they weren’t as great as the one’s I’ve thrown before but that could’ve been the adrenaline. You’re trying to throw your best pitch and it doesn’t really turn out the way you want it and you’re taking away from the pitch itself rather than just letting it settle in and take over from there.

— Brendan McKay

McKay is a candidate to end up in the Opening Week rotation, especially if Blake Snell’s availability slightly in question … that is if he can get built up to a five-inning workload.

We’ve got plenty of time.

— Brendan McKay

Because of the shoulder stiffness that pushed him back a bit, Rays skipper Kevin Cash said the team will probably abandon the plan to move McKay from a six-day pitching schedule to the more standard five-day schedule to try to keep him healthy.

He’s going to be involved, in some way or form, he’ll be involved. We have to get him built up before we make those decisions.

— Kevin Cash

Even though Jose Alvarado allowed a fifth-inning run, the left-hander looked good once again. His lone tally came during what should have been a 1-2-3 frame, yet Tampa Bay could not convert a potential 3-1 putout.

USF product, LHP Shane McClanahan, dazzled once more, allowing just a single then striking out the next three batters he faced in the eighth inning. McClanahan’s fastball clocked in at 99 mph.

The left-hander has faced 26 batters across five games and struck out 10.

He’s fun to watch. A lot of talk about him for good reason.

— Kevin Cash

Cash also said he expects that McClanahan, who has been used in one-inning stints, to start the 2020 season as a starter. He is expected to get stretched out as the spring progresses.

The New What Next

The Rays will play host to the Orioles on Saturday and visit that team from Atlanta in split-squad play. Top prospect Wander Franco is listed as a reserve in the game against Atlanta. Sean Gilmartin is scheduled to start in Port Charlotte, while Joe Ryan will start the game against Atlanta.

Rays 3/7/20 Starting Lineup vs. BAL

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

Rays 3/7/20 Starting Lineup vs. ATL

  1. Arozarena LF
  2. Herrmann C
  3. Renfroe RF
  4. Choi 1B
  5. Wendle SS
  6. Robertson 2B
  7. Cozens DH
  8. Brosseau 2B
  9. LeMarre CF
  10. Ryan RHP

Noteworthiness

— Charlie Morton won’t make his scheduled start on Sunday, pitching instead in a simulated game on a backfield. The right-hander said it’s to give him a chance to build up his pitch count and innings in a controlled environment than avoiding the team he likely will face in the March 26 opener.

Morton plans to get to 60 pitches Sunday before he will throw again on the back fields to get to 75. From there, he is expected to pitch in a final regular spring game.

— Brent Honeywell “looked good” in his third bullpen session of the spring, Cash said. Honeywell mixed in about five changeups to his 20 pitch outing on Tuesday and Friday.

It has been kind of a long week, so a little tired, but everything is going well. … It’s bouncing back a little differently than Tommy John, so that’s good. Everything, as of right now, is on the right track. I like where I’m at right now.

— Brent Honeywell

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.

LBWMF: Rays win second straight against Houston, 4-1

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The rally flags were out in full force at Tropicana Field on Tuesday. (Photo Credit: Tampa Bay Rays)

The Tampa Bay Rays live to see another day. The Rays scored three huge first-inning runs against Justin Verlander on Tuesday and knocked the right-hander out of the ballgame in the fourth inning. That propelled the Rays to a second consecutive win over the Houston Astros in the American League Division Series, forcing a fifth game to be played on Thursday. The good guys held on to beat the ‘Stros by a 4-1 margin in front of 32,178 loud fans at Tropicana Field.

As he did six times during the regular season, Diego Castillo opened the game and fanned three batters after allowing a leadoff single to George Springer. His first inning of work included an absolutely filthy 99 mph fastball which cut in on a whiffing Jose Altuve, on the seventh pitch of the at-bat.

Meanwhile, Tommy Pham got the first-inning run-scoring rally going by drilling a 2-2 changeup over the wall into left-center for an early lead.

It was Pham’s second homer of the postseason.

Ji-Man Choi walked before Avisail Garcia laced a single to left. And with two on and one out, Travis d’Arnaud lined a single to left, scoring Choi for a two-run lead. Joey Wendle capped the scoring by ripping a double into the right-field corner, scoring Garcia for an early and unrelinquishable lead.

Castillo made his way to the mound once again in the second inning and allowed a one-out walk to Yuli Gurriel, but departed the game only after he got Carlos Correa to pop out to third.

Left-hander Ryan Yarbrough took over in his place and quickly got Josh Reddick to line-out to first, thanks to a great play by Ji-Man Choi — the first of two fantastic plays on the night.

In the fourth inning, Yarbrough found himself in trouble, although he was helped out by a terrific bang-bang throw at the plate.

Altuve singled to left to start the frame, and with one out, Yordan Alvarez hit a booming double to the wall in center. Kevin Kiermaier played the carom on a hop and threw a strike to Willy Adames, who was about 10 feet behind second base. Still, Adames quickly threw a bullet home to d’Arnaud at home to cut down the always dangerous Altuve.

Nick Anderson finished the inning by coaxing Gurriel into a ground out, ending the threat.

Then in a beautiful moment of serendipity, Adames led off the bottom of the sixth inning by crushing a 1-1 pitch off the D-ring in left-center, putting the Rays up by four.

It was willy’s second homer in as many days.

Verlander, who was pitching on three days rest, made an ungraceful exit three batters later. Tuesday’s game will go down as Verlander’s shortest outing ever against Tampa Bay. The presumptive Cy Young Award winner relinquished seven hits and three walks across 3-2/3 innings while striking out five. He threw 52 of 84 pitches for strikes (62% strike rate).

Anderson continued to pitch through the sixth inning, posting the longest outing of his big league career. In 2-1/3 innings of work, Anderson punched out two and allowed just one hit. The right-hander benefitted from another excellent play by Choi, who snared a line drive off the bat of Michael Brantley and stepped on first to turn the unassisted double play.

After Anderson, Colin Poche took over and collected five outs, while striking out two, before former Ray Robinson Chirinos hit a two-out homer to right-center to draw Houston within three, chasing Poche.

Tasked with getting the final four outs of the game, Emilio Pagan got the last out in the eighth, then took the mound again in the ninth. Pagan walked Altuve on a close full-count pitch with one out, bringing Alex Bregman to the plate. The 2019 All-Star singled to left-center, putting runners at the corners and chasing Pagan.

Blake Snell, making his first big league relief appearance, entered to face Alvarez, who represented the tying run. Alvarez went down swinging on a slider for the second out; allowing Bregman to move up 90 feet on defensive indifference. Finally, Gurriel grounded to Wendle at second base, ending the game with another orange roof.

All told, six pitchers combined to limit Houston to six hits and two walks. Compare that to Tampa Bay, which had 13 hits (including four from Garcia, and three from Pham).

Rays win, 4-1, one more ALDS ballgame to go.