Rays acquire RHP Sergio Romo; FS1 and CJ Nitkowski charged for geographical indifference

Sergio Romo (54) smiles to the crowd after the Giants took a moment to commemorate his time with the Giants on the bideo scoreboard as the San Francisco Giants played the Los Angeles Dodgers at AT&T Park in San Francisco, Calif., on Monday, April 24, 2017. (Photo Credit: San Francisco Gate)

Last night, the Tampa Bay Rays made a move designed to help the bullpen, acquiring RHPR Sergio Romo from the Dodgers for cash considerations or a player to be named later (Twitter link).

Romo previously spent his first eight seasons with the Giants before signing with Los Angeles. He was an All-Star in 2013 and was a part of San Francisco’s World Series Championships in 2010, 2012, and 2014. The Rays tried to land a deal with the right-hander in the offseason, mainly because of his effectiveness against right-handed hitters.

I’m excited, Rays manager Kevin Cash told the media after last night’s ball game. It’s a guy that had big-game experience and pitched in a lot of high-leverage situations. I think he’ll complement our bullpen pretty well.

After posting excellent numbers with the Giants from 2008-16, Romo signed a one-year, $3-Million deal with Andrew Friedman and the Los Angeles Dodgers. The switch, however, didn’t fare well for the 34 year-old right-hander, who pitched to a 6.12 ERA/5.75 FIP in 30 appearances (totaling 25 innings) as a Dodger. He also posted career-worst walk (4.32 per nine) and home run (2.5 home run per nine) rates — yielding home runs on 26.9% of fly balls; a 13% increase over his 13.9% mark from 2016 — as well as WHIP (1.40). As a result, the Dodgers designated Romo for assignment on Thursday.

To his credit though, Romo’s career 0.98 WHIP is tops in the big leagues, and he’s held right-handed hitters to a .189 average over his career.

What he (Romo) brings to the table, the ability to miss bats, a lot of that’s still there, said Rays GM Erik Neander. … A guy with the competitiveness, the experience, coming to a league that hasn’t seen him before, we think there’s a chance he can really help us down the stretch.

Romo will slot into a bullpen that has seen impressive campaigns from Alex Colome, Tommy Hunter and Brad Boxberger, yet inconsistency and turnover from other. He is expected to arrive in Tampa Bay this afternoon, and will be activated ahead of the upcoming series against the Orioles.

Note: This move shouldn’t be viewed as the end-all-be-all by the Rays, leading up to the July 31 trade deadline.

Ken Rosenthal on Twitter

Romo will NOT be #Rays’ last bullpen addition. Team attracted to K rate (11.16/9) and big-game experience. Simply taking a shot.

Per Ken Rosenthal (Fox Sports) the Rays — who are also linked to AJ Ramos, Brad Hand and Pat Neshak — aren’t done preparing to make a run at a postseason berth.

Considering his most recent numbers on the hill, Sergio Romo’s outspokenness about Mexican-American issues, such as immigration, might be the best thing about the right-hander. (Photo Credit: El Tecolote)

Noteworthiness

— Hear ye, hear ye … CJ Nitkowski, FS1, ESPN, and/or any other major media outlet and/or announcer for that matter, you have been formally charged with misnaming St. Petersburg as Tampa, and the team as the Tampa Rays. Because of these apparent crimes against humanity the citizens of St. Petersburg and/or geography aficionados everywhere, you have been formerly charged for geographical indifference by the First Kangaroo Court of Pinellas County. How do you plead?

Nitkowski and FS1 become a geographically challenged two headed monster that seemed incapable getting its whereabouts correct during last night’s telecast.

CJ even got the location wrong in his twitter feed:

We — Charlie Frago (Tampa Bay Times), the Tampa Bay Baseball Market blog, Shadow of the Stadium blog, X-Rays Spex, and a few others — have concocted a plan to charge any media outlet (or broadcaster) that misnames the area for geographical indifference in Kangaroo Court, and fine them accordingly. By our estimation, we should be able to collect enough fine money to fund a downpayment for a new stadium for the Rays.

— You’re a pretty funny guy, CJ. That, however, doesn’t preclude you from knowing your geographic location.

— Got those third time through the order blues…

LBWMF: Rays fall in disappointing 4-3 loss to the Rangers

The Tampa Bay Rays kicked off their six-game home stand with a stinging 4-3 loss to the Texas Rangers. (Photo Credit: Anthony Ateek/X-Rays Spex)

With the exception of a ninth inning, two-run homer, Alex Cobb put together his best start of the season Friday night — working into the ninth inning for the first time this season. Yet the Texas Rangers rallied late against both Cobb and Brad Boxberger, and beat the Rays 4–3.

The Rangers scored the first run of the night when Elvis Andrus hit a first inning solo-shot on a fastball that Cobb left over the middle of the plate, and not high enough to miss the bat.

But Brad Miller got the Rays on the board when did the same thing with two outs in the fourth inning off Yu Darvish.

Through the front five innings, each starter matched the other — almost pitch-for-pitch — and allowed just one run on two hits. While Darvish challenged the Rays within the zone, dominating them to the tune of 12 strikeouts, Cobb pitched to contact and got more than his fair share of weak contact. But both hurlers were ultimately  susceptible to the long ball — a fact that became evident in the sixth, eighth, and ninth innings.

Tampa Bay took the lead in the sixth inning when Corey Dickerson crushed a 94 mph, center cut fastball off the batter’s eye.

It was the 18th homer for Corey “the pride of Old North East St. Petersburg” Dickerson, and his first since June 24th.

Then in the eighth, Mallex Smith hit an opposite field homer off Darvish, ending a 1-for-24 stretch, for a two-run lead.

It was Smith’s second homer of the season.

With 95 pitches under his belt, Cobb retook the mound in the ninth inning. Joey Gallo welcomed Cobb rather rudely with a double to right-center on the first pitch he saw, before Shin-Soo Choo hit a first pitch opposite field homer to left, to tie the game at three.

That chased Cobb, who allowed three runs on five hits, while striking out four without walking a batter. Up to that point, Cobb had pitched very well, and he leaned very heavily on his split/change. Of the 99 total pitches pitches thrown, 46 were split/changeups, 33 were fastballs, and 24 were curveballs. 34 of Cobb’s split/changeups went for strikes (74%, 26 swings, 9 swings-and-misses).

Alex Colome took the mound in relief and retired the next two batters before Adrian Beltre singled to right. Mike Napoli then worked a walk on a 3-2 pitch after falling behind in the count 0-2. That brought Rougned Odor to the plate. The  heavy fisted lefty grounded out to second, keeping the game tied.

Brad Boxberger took over in the 10th inning and quickly walked Jonathan Lucroy on four pitches — the dreaded leadoff walk. Delino DeShields Jr. pinch-ran for Lucroy, and was sacrificed to second by Carlos Gomez. Gallo was next, and flew out to right which moved DeShields up to third. After Choo was intentionally walked, Andrus reached on a well-struck infield hit which drove in the go ahead run. The hit and the run were this first of each that Boxberger had given up since returning from the DL.

Alex Claudio, who threw a perfect ninth inning, allowed a leadoff single to pinch-hitter Steven Souza Jr. to start the 10th. However, Hechavarria bunted into a double play on a ball in front of the plate, and pinch-hitter Trevor Plouffe lined to left, ending the game with a bitter taste in the mouths of the 24,461 fans in attendance last night.

The New What Next

Game two of the series takes place tonight with Chris Archer (7-5, 3.91 ERA, 3.12 FIP) on the mound. He’ll start opposite Andrew Cashner (4-8, 3.58 ERA, 4.56 FIP).

Archer struggled Sunday, yet he limited the Angels to just two runs over six innings — picking up his fourth consecutive quality start. Even though the right-hander issued no more than three free passes in any of his previous 10 starts, he walked five Angels … although to his credit he was able to pitch around his control problems for the most part. Archer looks to snap a streak of 12 consecutive outings with at least two runs allowed Saturday. He notched a win against the Rangers on May 31, the only time he faced them this season.

Cashner is 1-3 with a 4.76 ERA in his last four starts and 4-5 with a 4.28 ERA in his last nine. The right-hander relies primarily on a 92 mph two-seam sinker and a 94 mph four-seam fastball, while also mixing in an 85 mph changeup, an 88 mph cutter and an 82 mph curveball; and is 2-6 with a 4.33 ERA in nine starts on the road. This will be his first career start against the Rays. Key Matchups: Peter Bourjos (2-4, 2 2B, 1 RBI), Corey Dickerson (2-3, 2B, 3 B, RBI), Brad Miller (2-2, RBI, BB), Logan Morrison (3-7, 2B, BB), Shane Peterson (3-5, 2B, 3B, BB)

You can read about the series in our preview.

Rays 7/22/17 Starting Lineup

Souza Jr. RF
Dickerson LF
Longoria 3B
Morrison 1B
Ramos C
Miller DH
Beckham 2B
Smith CF
Hechavarria SS
Archer RHP

Noteworthiness

— Should Cobb have started the ninth?

A question remains: Did Kevin Cash manage with his heart or head last night? In other words, should he have let Cobb attempt to throw a complete game? To his credit, Alex hadn’t allowed a runner past first base since the first inning, and hadn’t thrown less than 60% of strikes in any frame. What’s more, from the third inning through the eighth, the Rangers collected only two hits, both singles. Those alone lead you to believe that the bulldog should have retaken the mound in the ninth. But as Jason Collette (The Process Report) noted, after the homer to Choo, 16% of Cobb’s runs in 2017 have come when he’s been allowed to face hitters a fourth time through the order. The lineup was about to flip over for a fourth time, and Cobb is no stranger to Times Through the Order misfortune.

A quick look at Cobb’s wOBA* through the order show that Cobb, over his career, is very good the first-through-third times through the order, although he falls off a cliff the fourth time through: .305 first, .275 second, .292 third, and .507 the fourth. His numbers in 2017 conform to that trend: .303 first, .286 second, .299 third, and .494 fourth. Friday night was no different.

Collette dug a little deeper and found that Choo, although not traditionally successful on the night against Cobb, saw a good number of pitches and wasn’t fooled by what was thrown his way.

Choo, who as you recall hit the homer, saw a total of 10 pitches from Cobb heading into his ninth inning plate appearance, and had not whiffed on any of them. Rather he made hard contact (but right at Adeiny Hechevarria) to start the game, then softly grounded out the other two times he stepped into the box. Still, contact is contact, and the odds were against Cobb coaxing a strikeout in that particular plate appearance. At most, Cobb could have hoped for a soft grounder that would have allowed the runner to move up to third.

A rested Alex Colome — who has a 12.6% swinging strike rate (compare that to Cobb’s 6.8% SwStr% on the season) — was warming in the ‘pen, and he should have started the frame. In the very least, Cash should have pulled Cobb at the first inkling of trouble … you know, like a line drive double to right on the first pitch of the ninth. The rest, as they say, is history.

Whatever the case, a tough decision had to be made by Cash … one in which there was about a 50/50 chance of success. Unfortunately things did not go as hoped for by Cash, and during a pennant race costly decisions here or there can make or break a postseason berth.

*Stats and figures, courtesy of The Process Report.

Rays 7/21/17 starting lineup; pregame notes

Wilson Ramos is ready for the weekend series … are you? Get out to the Trop, chumps! (Photo Credit: Tampa Bay Rays)

Wilson Ramos (seen above) and the Tampa Bay Rays are back at it Friday night when they open a three-game series with the Texas Rangers on Friday.

Rays 7/21/17 Starting Lineup

Smith CF
Dickerson LF
Longoria 3B
Morrison 1B
Ramos C
Miller DH
Beckham 2B
Peterson RF
Hechavarria SS
Cobb RHP

Noteworthiness

— Steven Souza Jr. got in some early running work at the Trop this afternoon, testing out his strained left hip. He will not be in the lineup tonight, however, he is available tonight off the bench.

— Kevin Kiermaier, who is feeling good and aiming for an early August return, also got some work in under the big top this afternoon. Kiermaier told Roger Mooney (Tampa Bay Times) he’s thrilled with how rehab has gone, an feels he can begin playing minor league games “in the next week or so.”

— You can read about tonight’s Cobb/Darvish pitching matchup in our series preview.

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

The boys are back in town! (Photo Credit: Tampa Bay Rays)

The Tampa Bay Rays return home from a successful 4-2, post All-Star Break road trip, ready to start off a six game home stand against a pair of sub .500 teams. The Texas Rangers will be the first to enter the Trop on Friday night.

(Stats: ESPN)

Tampa Bay missed an opportunity to sweep the Oakland Athletics on Wednesday, as they dropped the series finale, 7-2. Still, the Rays entered their most recent road trip 3-1/2 games back of the Red Sox in the AL East, and returned down by just 2-1/2. As long as they win 37 of their next 66 games (a .560 clip) — allowing the team to collect a total of 88 wins — they should find themselves playing relevant baseball past October 1. The sheer fact that they start the series six games over .500, and have played .611 baseball since June 7, certainly doesn’t hurt their cause.

Texas closed out a four game series on the road against the Orioles on Thursday with their fifth consecutive loss. For a team that now finds itself five games under .500 — and one that considers itself as a fringe contender in the Wildcard race — the Rangers cannot afford to lose any more ground. Dare I say it’s telling that they are listening in on Yu Darvish going into the trade deadline.

The Rays took two of three in the last series between the teams May 29-31 in Arlington.

(Stats: FanGraphs)

Over the next three days, Kevin Cash will start Alex Cobb (8-6, 3.59 ERA, 4.16 FIP), Chris Archer (7-5, 3.91 ERA, 3.12 FIP), and Jake Odorizzi (6-4, 4.37 ERA, 5.58 FIP). Jeff Bannister will counter with Yu Darvish (6-8, 3.45 ERA, 3.73 FIP), Andrew Cashner (4-8, 3.58 ERA, 4.56 FIP), and Tyson Ross (2-2, 7.22 ERA, 5.86 FIP).

(Stats: FanGraphs)

Pitching Matchups

Cobb held the Angels to one run on six hits over 7-2/3 innings in his last start. The right-hander didn’t have his best stuff, although he didn’t allow a runner past second base until the seventh inning — when Luis Valbuena tagged him for a solo-shot to put Los Angeles on the board. Cobb coaxed a lot of long, loud outs, especially early on, and he didn’t miss many bats. He, however, was efficient. In spite of lapsed command — 59 of his 105 pitches went for strikes; 56% strike ratio — Cobb’s pitch count was only in the 50’s through the front five, and it didn’t start to climb until late in his outing. He struck out four and walked three. He is 4-3 with a 2.64 ERA at the Trop this , and 1-0 with a 2.77 ERA in four career starts against the Rangers.

Darvish is winless over his last six outings extending back to June 12. Moreover, he is 1-6 with a 4.09 ERA in his last 10 starts. Be that as it may, Darvish is 4-0 with a 1.09 ERA in five career starts against the Rays. We all should know what to expect from Darvish by now: a 95 mph four-seam fastball and an 83 mph slider, while also mixing in a 94 mph sinker and an 89 mph cutter. Key Matchups: Corey Dickerson (1-3), Adeiny Hechavarria (1-3), Trevor Plouffe (1-4, 2B, BB), Wilson Ramos (1-3)

Archer struggled Sunday, yet he limited the Angels to just two runs over six innings — picking up his fourth consecutive quality start. Even though the right-hander issued no more than three free passes in any of his previous 10 starts, he walked five Angels … although to his credit he was able to pitch around his control problems for the most part. Archer looks to snap a streak of 12 consecutive outings with at least two runs allowed Saturday. He notched a win against the Rangers on May 31, the only time he faced them this season.

Cashner is 1-3 with a 4.76 ERA in his last four starts and 4-5 with a 4.28 ERA in his last nine. The right-hander relies primarily on a 92 mph two-seam sinker and a 94 mph four-seam fastball, while also mixing in an 85 mph changeup, an 88 mph cutter and an 82 mph curveball; and is 2-6 with a 4.33 ERA in nine starts on the road. This will be his first career start against the Rays. Key Matchups: Peter Bourjos (2-4, 2 2B, 1 RBI), Corey Dickerson (2-3, 2B, 3 B, RBI), Brad Miller (2-2, RBI, BB), Logan Morrison (3-7, 2B, BB), Shane Peterson (3-5, 2B, 3B, BB)

Odorizzi pitched his best start of the season on the 17th, allowing one run on one hit over seven innings against the Atletics. Odorizzi pitched out of the stretch during that start and said he plans to only throw out of the stretch going forward. Was he dominant? Not really. He relinquished a fair amount of medium-to-hard contact that, luckily, was right at the outfielders. However, he was able to generate a fair amount of weak contact that allowed him to keep his pitch count in order, while also keeping himself out of the dangerous hitters’ counts that he’d been plagued by of late. And much like those who pitched before him — namely Jacob Faria, Chris Archer and Alex Cobb, none of which featured their best stuff in their most recent outings — he threw quality strikes throughout to keep Oakland’s bats at bay.

Ross gave up nine runs in 3-2/3 innings in his last start against the Orioles. Before that, he was 1-0 with a 3.24 ERA over his previous three starts. The 30 year-old right-hander relies primarily on a 92 mph four-seam fastball with average velocity and an 84 mph fly-ball inducing slider. He will also mix in a whiffy 91 mph sinker and an 89 mph swing-and-miss cutter. He is 0-2 with a 9.00 ERA in four career games against the Rays, but he hasn’t faced them since 2013. Key Matchups: Corey Dickerson (5-14, 2B, 2 HR, 2 RBI, BB), Adeiny Hechavarria (2-5), Evan Longoria (2-5, RBI), Brad Miller (1-2, HR, RBI, BB), Logan Morrison (2-5, 2 BB), Shane Peterson (1-2, BB), Trevor Plouffe (1-3), Wilson Ramos (4-9, 2B, 2 RBI)

Noteworthiness

— Fun with numbers, courtesy of Dave Haller (Tampa Bay Rays Communication’s Department): Friday will be first time the Rays have hosted a game after the All-Star break while positioned to reach the postseason since September 23, 2013. In that game, James Loney hit a pinch-hit, walk-off homer run (off Tommy Hunter) for 5-4 win. The Rays then embarked on epic road trip taking them through New York, Toronto, Texas, Cleveland, and Boston.

— As we mentioned Thursday, Steven Souza Jr. had an MRI on his injured left hip. The MRI showed no damage, and he’s listed as day to day heading into the series.

— Rickie Weeks Jr. homered and walked twice in a rehab start for the Durham Bulls on Thursday.

— The Rays announced that RHP Jumbo Diaz has cleared waivers and has elected free agency. Awe, shucks.

LBWMF: Rays rally with two outs in the ninth to win 4-3

Adeiny Hechavarria: one of the heroes of last night’s come from behind win in Oakland. (Photo Credit: Tampa Bay Rays)

In an improbable turn of events, the Tampa Bay Rays rallied for two runs against Oakland’s closer with none on and two outs in the ninth inning. After the stunning 4–3 win over the Athletics, the Rays are now seven games over .500 for the first time this season.

A victory seemed highly unlikely early on, thanks to another inconsistent start by Blake Snell. Yet aside from a misplaced pitch in the first inning, which allowed Oakland to take a 2-0 when Khris Davis homered to centerfield, Snell looked good over the first three frames. The southpaw used his mid ’90s fastball to play off a devastating slider, allowing him to change the eye level of a number of hitters.

(Credit: Brooks Baseball)

Down by a pair, that gave the Rays an opportunity to come back and even the score.

Tampa Bay took advantage of a leadoff walk, and a fielding error, when Brad Miller hit a sacrifice fly in the second got the Rays on the board. Then in the third inning, Steven Souza Jr. drilled a solo shot to left-center — his 20th of the season, and second in as many days, tying the score.

At 113.2 mph off the bat, Souza’s shot was the the hardest hit by a Ray in the StatCast era.

Yet in the fourth inning the wheels fell off Snell, who needed 31 pitches (just 15 strikes) to notch three outs after he walked the first two batters of the frame. He got Matt Chapman to fly out to deep center, which allowed Khris Davis to move into third, before uncorking a wild pitch that bounced a couple of feet in front of home plate, and all the way to the backstop. No amount of cat-like reflexes would allow Wilson Ramos to make a play on a pitch so poorly yanked into the dirt. Davis scored from third, putting Oakland up 3-2.

Snell’s night was done after 85 pitches and four innings; he struck out six but walked three. Simply put, the Rays cannot leave Snell in the rotation and have postseason aspirations. The team cannot afford the inning to inning inconsistencies, and the four-to-five inning starts each turn.

Until the ninth inning rally, 36-year-old journeyman Chris “Cy Young” Smith held Tampa Bay in check. The soft-tosser faced the minimum over his last four innings, and coaxed lots of soft contact from the Rays’ amped bats. Blake Treinen pitched a scoreless eighth, which set the stage for the ninth.

Trailing by a run, Evan Longoria was robbed of an extra base hit by Oakland’s third baseman — also robbing Longoria of a chance to extend his hitting streak to 11. However, after Logan Morrison went down swinging for the second out, Wilson Ramos kept the contest alive with a single to left off Santiago Casilla.

After the game, Ramos spoke about his big two-out hit:

To me the game’s not over until the 27th out, and I don’t like to be the 27th out.

Bench coach Tom Foley wisely pinch-ran Mallex Smith for the lumbering catcher — a move that instantly paid dividends for Tampa Bay. Smith’s presence on the base paths clearly rattled Casilla, who wild pitched the speedy outfielder into second. Smith then aggressively swiped third, putting a runner into prime scoring position. After Miller walked, Adeiny Hechavarria singled to right, tying the game at three.

It was the second time that Hechavarria had tied a game on the road with Tampa Bay down to its final out.

Shane Peterson then singled to right, putting the Rays in front for the first time at 4–3.

After Peterson stole second against Liam Hendriks, who replaced Casilla, Peter Bourjos struck out to end the rally.

Alex Colome took over in the bottom of the ninth and struck out Davis and Jed Lowrie to start the inning, before he hit Chapman with a 90 mph hanging slider; bringing former Ray Matt Joyce to the plate. Yet Joyce grounded to first, ending the game.

The New What Next

The Rays look to sweep the series on Wednesday with Jacob Faria (4-0, 2.00 ERA, 3.48 FIP) on the mound. He’ll get the start opposite of Sonny Gray (5-4, 3.72 ERA, 3.46 FIP). Last night’s win — which took the pressure off the Rays to win the series in the finale — was important, considering that Sonny has been pitching well of late.

Faria posted his seventh consecutive quality start on Friday, holding the Angels to one run on five hits over 6-2/3 innings for a no-decision. The right-hander was tough even without his best stuff. The cool as a cucumber rookie stranded runners in scoring position in the second, third and fourth innings — holding the Angels to 0-for-6 wRISP in those spots.

Gray tossed six shutout innings against Cleveland on Friday, giving up just two hits and walking one while fanning five and coaxing seven groundouts. The Rays were able to get to the 27 year-old right-hander the last time they faced him, tagging Gray for five runs (two earned) on nine hits over six innings … although he did strikeout 10. For whatever reason, Tampa Bay has fared well against Sonny over his career, as he is 2-2 with a 4.02 ERA against the Rays in eight starts. Key Matchups: Tim Beckham (4-5, 2B, HR, 3 RBI), Corey Dickerson (2-8, HR, 3 RBI), Evan Longoria (8-23, 3 2B, HR, 3 RBI, BB), Trevor Plouffe (2-7, HR, 4 RBI, BB), Mallex Smith (1-3)

You can read about the series in our preview.

Rays 7/19/17 Starting Lineup

Souza RF
Dickerson LF
Longoria 3B
Morrison DH
Ramos C
Miller 2B
Beckham SS
Smith CF
Plouffe 1B
Faria RHP

Noteworthiness

— The scoreless frame by Colome capped five scoreless innings by the Rays relief staff. Erasmo Ramirez tossed three perfect frames following Blake Snell. Andrew Kittredge, who made his MLB debut, and Adam Kolarek combined to throw a scoreless ninth, with Kittedge relinquishing just a base hit in the process. Kolarek was credited with his first MLB win.

— Speaking of Kittredge, how about his highly touted slider? He threw it six times, all for strikes, with an average of 4.63 inches of horizontal movement.

— How did Kevin Cash follow Tim Beckham’s called third strike tirade on Monday night? By arguing balls and strikes Tuesday, and consequently getting tossed. To his credit, and like Beckham before him, Cash had a point:

*Green dots are balls, red dots are strikes.