It was another one of those nights we’ve, sadly, become accustomed to. Stop me if you think that you’ve heard this one before; a Rays pitcher notched a good outing, keeping the team in the game, yet the stagnant offense couldn’t come up with the key hits when it so desperately needed to. Yes, it happened again — though, at least it wasn’t a shutout. In lieu of a formal game recap, below are some thoughts and game peripherals.
Game Peripherals
Wow, the Rays’ Spring Training in June REALLY paid dividends thus far! You, the astute follower of the Rays, are probably aware that Joe Maddon had the team work on baseball fundamentals — both offensively and defensively — throughout the course of the home stand. If you weren’t aware, I’d imagine you could click the link above, then pop back over here. I’ll wait. Cool, now we’re on the same page. It was a novel idea, considering the Rays have struggled on both ends, though mainly offensively. And one would have hoped there to be some massive sea change in their approach because of it. Yet, there hasn’t been a noticeable difference. Case in point, last night’s game. Tampa Bay was still unproductive with runners on base, unable to capitalize until it was too late. In the second inning, with runners on first and second and only one out, Yunel Escobar grounded into a pitcher-to-second-to-first double play. No indication that the extra small ball work helped. Then with Jose Molina on third with two outs, and the Rays RBI guy coming to the plate, Evan Longoria hit a weak bloop to right field, ending the threat. Mind you, this came on the heels of a Molina stolen base! Again, no indication that the extra small ball work helped.
Jose Molina led off the eighth inning with a single, and was promptly pinched for more speed in Sean Rodriguez. When Jarrod Cosart tossed an 0-1 pitch in the dirt, Rodriguez took off for second — a good idea on paper, yet there was a problem in the execution. Castro kept the breaking pitch in the dirt in front of him, easily recovered, and handily threw Rodriguez out at second. SeanRod failed at base running 101. The irony: Logan Forsythe hit a single to right three pitches later, which would have moved Rodriguez to third with no outs. Desmond Jennings and Kevin Kiermaier followed with an infield pop-out and a strikeout (respectively), and once again there was no indication that the extra small ball work helped.
Tampa Bay finally got on the board in the bottom of the ninth inning against Chad Qualls. Evan Longoria reached on an error by short stop Jonathan Villar, then James Loney came through with a big single to put a man in scoring position. Joe Maddon called upon the mighty bat of Matt Joyce — who promptly struck out (swinging) on four pitches. He then called on the struggling Ben Zobrist…who chopped to the first baseman, while the Astros took the fielder’s choice at second. With runners on the corners and two outs, Yunel Escobar laced a low liner through the right side, allowing a run to score and advancing Zobrist to second. But Ryan Hanigan fanned — the replacement for Sean Rodriguez after a pinch run for Jose Molina — and the game was over. Needless to say, there was no indication that the extra small ball work helped.
As Daniel Russell (of DRaysBay) wrote of David Price’s outing,
Price entered this game with 121 strikeouts on the season, of his 997 career K’s, and just 10 walks over fifteen starts. He got to that mark this season by pitching in the zone, and he continued that trend tonight. To a fault in two at bats, truth be told. Change ups to the dead center of the zone allowed Jose Altuve and George Spring to score on the latter’s longball to the corner of stands in left field. No matter for an ace, though.
After being punished for leaving it too easily hit, David Price settled in. He went on to pitch eight innings of 12 strikeout ball, with his season worst three walks. With that, the ace of the staff crosses the 1,000 strikeout mark in another stellar start. It’s a pitch the offense offered no support.
Oh hey, according to Marc Topkin, there were scouts at the game last night:
Among teams with scouts (top or more than normal) watching #Rays Price tonight: #BlueJays, #Cardinals, #Giants, #Indians, #Yankees
— Marc Topkin (@TBTimes_Rays) June 20, 2014
You know what they say, when there’s smoke there’s fire. And well…I’d reckon this could be a four alarmer. But hold your horses Jim Bowden, there’s approximately a 0.0% chance the Rays would trade Price to another AL East team. Furthermore, Tampa Bay is wont to trade Price to a team with a deep farm system and quality prospects. As Eno Sarris wrote in an excellent piece title The Rays As Sellers,
We’re looking for a strong farm system on a contender. Using John Sickel’s farm system rankings, the best fits are the Boston Red Sox, St. Louis Cardinals, Colorado Rockies, Texas Rangers, Los Angeles Dodgers, Toronto Blue Jays, Baltimore Orioles, and San Francisco Giants. Get any lower on the rankings, and you’re asking too much from largely barren systems like the Nationals’ and Yankees’.
In-division trades happen, but in this case seem unlikely — the Rays would like to compete again in 2015. So take those teams out, too. And an organization like the Cardinals’ hardly seems like it needs pitching. Shake up the contenders again, and you get the Rockies, Dodgers, Giants and Rangers. The Rangers and Rockies are down to close to 10% playoff odds, so you might be looking at a west coast standoff for the services of Price.
The Rays may have to swallow hard and trade in their division, though, if a package of ready arms is what they seek. The Giants have Kyle Crick and Edwin Escobar, but both are struggling and Crick doesn’t seem ready. Add to that the fact that Brian Sabean spoke repeatedly of the young arms that the Cardinals have stocked up, and he may not want to let go of his own. The Dodgers have Zach Lee and Julio Urias, but Urias is a teenager and Lee doesn’t really have the upside you’d expect from a cornerstone in a Price trade.
There are reasons that a Price trade hasn’t happened yet, in other words. History suggests that it will happen, especially with the Rays as sellers this year, but that it’s likely to happen in the offseason. Even if a Price trade does happen in the next couple of months, it’ll be mostly business as usual for the team, and may not be accompanied by much other selling. This is a team that tries to keep its cost-controlled core intact while always building for the immediate future, and most of their team will return in 2015.
Things get complicated when you factor in the imminent return of Jeremy Hellickson. Helly hasn’t done so well in his rehab stint with Triple-A Durham, and it’s all but certain he won’t return to the fold until he’s 100% ready. Hellicson is slated for one last evaluative start tomorrow, ahead of the decision of how to move forward. That is, it would be counterintuitive to replace David Price with a lackluster, unready Jeremy Hellickson.
The New What Next
Jake Odorizzi will attempt to tack on win number three this afternoon against RHP Jake Buchanan, who is making his MLB in lieu of the ailing Brad Peacock. Buchanan is described as having an average fastball with two plus-breaking pitches, and having “Superior control for a young pitcher. He has averaged 1.8 BB/9 in the minors including a sparkling 1.3 in 2013. He has also averaged 3.11 K/BB so far – with an extremely good 4.50 in 2013. Woj is okay in these categories – 2.5 BB/9 in his career – 2.9 last season and 2.85 K/BB ratio in his career and 2.37 in 2013.”
Rays 6/21/14 Starting Lineup
Jennings CF
Zobrist 2B
Kiermaier RF
Longoria 3B
Loney 1B
Guyer LF
Joyce DH
Escobar SS
Hanigan C
Odorizzi RHP
Noteworthiness