Recently someone reminded me that baseball is a season of work, not a season of segments. And while I agreed with his overall sentiment, I felt the need to contend the point.
I argued, though a team — say the Rays — will invariably be judged on its overall record, that overall records isn’t enough to give an accurate impression of a team at any place and time. The overall record doesn’t speak to a teams’ peaks and valleys, it doesn’t take into account hot and cold streaks, and it doesn’t take into account consistent and inconsistent play.
Yet regardless of how well a team performs over a segmented span of time, it will not be rewarded with a postseason berth unless that play is wholly consistent. That is, while the Rays played excellent baseball from June 11 to August 15, they dug themselves too deep of a hole at the beginning of the season, and they seem to be doing the same now. Wednesday night’s game was indicative of that.
Rick Porcello held Tampa Bay to only three hits in a 6-0, complete game shutout — the Rays’ 15th shutout of the season. They looked like the team of June 9, not the team of July 4. The at-bats were ugly, the misplays were egregious — a lack of communication between Escobar and Zobrist* on a first inning grounder to short allowed Cabrera to reach first base, Kiermaier then allowed Miggy to go from first to home on a ball he let roll to the wall, Longo couldn’t field a ready made infield grounder on a hop, and the usually sure handed Loney lost a foul popper in the lights — and they’re just not playing with the Joie de vivre they had for the last two months.
Source: FanGraphs
To be honest, it wouldn’t matter if the Rays were beat by a score of 1-0, 6-0, or 10-0, there is no way possible they could have won the game without scoring at least a run. Blame Jake Odorizzi and Kirby Yates all you want for yielding six, two-out runs, however, their offensive impotence shouldn’t be forgotten — mind you, only three Rays reached base. Not to discredit Porcello, he was excellent. However, his strikeouts — especially the caught looking variety — were in hittable locations. To me, that speaks to the funk the Rays have placed themselves in. Simply put, if you get beat on pitches you should have hit, then you’re left with a box score like that of Wednesday night’s game.
…And so it goes.
The New What Next
Alex Cobb will take on former Ray David Price this afternoon at the Trop. In spite of his okay 1-0 record in three starts with the Tigers, expect Price to pitch with maximum piss and vinegar. You can read about the matchup in our series preview.
Rays 8/21/14 Starting Lineup
Jennings CF
Zobrist RF
Guyer LF
Longoria 3B
Myers DH
Rodriguez 1B
Escobar SS
Casali C
Forsythe 2B
Cobb RHP
Noteworthiness
- Gary Shelton of the Times writes, “Then there has been Balfour. And, man, does it feel as if his fingerprints are all over this mess. For a guy who was supposed to turn out the lights on the opposing batting order, Balfour has spent a season in the darkness. Talk about a bad year. He has lost leads, he has lost control, and he has lost ownership of the Rays’ closer position. And, as it so happens, he has lost the crowd.”
- Quote of the day, “I’m not looking forward to it. Pitching against friends is always the worst.” — David Price, on facing his former team this afternoon.
- The Ray are the first AL team since 1976 (Angels, Orioles, and Rangers with at least 15 shutouts for their hitters and pitchers in same season.
- Just one day left until our next watch party. Hope to see all of you tomorrw, at Green Bench Brewing Company!
*Lest we forget the missed communication between these two, in Sunday’s series finale against the Yankees.