Rays fall 1-0 to Orioles; Archer sharp in final WBC tuneup

Chris Archer notched five strikeouts in three perfect frames Saturday in his last outing before joining Team USA. (Photo Credit: Tampa Bay Rays)

Chris Archer looked sharp in his final tuneup for the World Baseball Classic on Saturday, throwing three perfect innings in Port Charlotte against the Baltimore Orioles. Yet in spite of the 16 total punch outs of the Orioles’ hitters, the Tampa Bay Rays​ fell 1-0 in the 2-1/2 hour Grapefruit League contest.

Takeaways from the ball game:

— Archer allowed just two balls to be hit out of the infield, and fanned five. The right-hander threw 30 of his 49 pitches for strikes, while his fastball ranged from 93–97, consistently hitting 95.

Archer’s three perfect innings

Archer intermittently incorporated a slight pause in his delivery, ala Alex Cobb, which he said is to improve his balance more than to throw off a hitters’ timing.

One way or another it likely will have an impact on the hitters, especially if he can maintain his fastball velocity and the break on his off-speed stuff.

I’m just tinkering with getting to a strong balance point really more than anything, Archer said. Not thinking what it’s doing to the hitter or whatever. Really just trying to get in a strong position at the top of my delivery and staying behind the baseball. There’s no method, I just want to feel myself over the rubber more than anything.


(Audio Courtesy of Rays Radio)

Both manager Kevin Cash and pitching coach Jim Hickey were surprised when they saw him unveil the pause in his first start last week:

When he did the first time Hick and I kind of looked at each other – I think it’s something that he’s probably tinkering with and I’m guessing to kind of keep him gathered a little bit longer. Whatever works – if he has outings like that, that’s fine.


(Audio Courtesy of Rays Radio)

— Tommy Hunter and Dana Eveland took the mound after Archer and threw scoreless innings. Eveland allowed a runner to reach second on a pair of fifth inning singles, but worked his way out of the jam by striking out Paul Janish to end the frame.

Danny Farquhar struck out both batters he faced, and Diego Moreno retired his only hitter on strikes.

— The Orioles scored the go-ahead run in the seventh inning against LHP Blake Snell when Chris Johnson hit a first-pitch ground rule double to left field, and pinch-runner (and former Rays product) Joey Rickard advanced to third on a wild pitch. Rickard came home on Logan Schafer’s ground out to short.

Snell was sharp though, allowing just one hit over 2-2/3 innings of work, while striking out a pair. He departed after reaching his pitch limit (throwing just under 50 pitches) with two outs in the ninth.

Really liked the way Blake threw, Cash said of Snell. He had everything getting over the plate, that was great to see for him.

The New What Next

The Rays will head to Dunedin today to face Marcus Stroman and the Toronto Blue Jays with Alex Cobb on the hill. Evan Longoria, Kevin Kiermaier, Brad Miller and Rickie Weeks will also make the trip, while Ryan Garton, Jacob Faria, Jaime Schultz, Hunter Wood and Justin Marks are slated to take the mound after Cobb.

Rays 3/5/17 Starting Lineup

Dickerson LF
Kiermaier CF
Longoria 3B
Miller 2B
Weeks 1B
Beckham SS
Maile C
Franklin DH
Smith RF
Cobb RHP

Noteworthiness

— Marc Topkin (Tampa Bay Times) speculated what the Rays might do if Matt Duffy, Logan Morrison, Steven Souza Jr. and Colby Rasmus are not ready to go on Opening Day. We could see Tim Beckham at short, Rickie Weeks at first, and Mallex Smith in left-field in the interim.

— The old, and much maligned, turf has been pulled up Tropicana Field, however, installation of the new Shaw Sports Turf can’t start until after a March 10-12 boat show.

— A new mandate has been handed down from the commissioner, base coaches must be in their boxes before each pitch. Many within the organization have deemed it the “Charlie Montoyo Rule,” for how far the Rays third-base coach strays.

— Jake Odorizzi has been added to the WBC reserve list, replacing Sonny Gray. He could be added to the roster if the team advances to the second or third round.

Rays bounce back with 5-2 win, Yarbrough impressive, Smith makes debut

In his first game of the spring, Mallex Smith dropped a textbook bunt down the third base line to load the bases during 5-2 victory over the Tigers. (Photo Credit: Will Vragovic/Tampa Bay Times)

After falling to the Red Sox on Thursday, the Tampa Bay Rays (5-2-1) returned to the winning side of the ledger Friday, defeating the Detroit Tigers 5-2. Left-hander Ryan Yarbrough was impressive in his first start in a Rays uniform, Rickie Weeks continued to rake at the plate, and Mallex Smith made his debut with Tampa Bay — filling in for the ailing Kevin Kiermaier.

Some takeaways from Friday’s ball game:

— Yarbrough carved his way through the Tigers’ lineup, fanning five over two perfect frames, and throwing 20 of his 25 pitches for strikes. Rays skipper Kevin Cash called the start impressive:

He set the tone early. You know, he even got a lot of compliments from the home plate umpire Brian O’Nora …saying who is that guy? He worked quick, (was) efficient, had late action to his pitches so that was good to see. I know his first outing probably didn’t go as well as he liked, but it was nice to see him get a start and really just pound the strike zone.


(Audio courtesy of Rays Radio)

— Not to be outdone, the rest of the Rays pitching staff struck out 15 batters, and walked just one.

Two hurlers (among others) that are being slow-tracked early in spring, Xavier Cedeño and Alex Colome, took the mound, and each pitched a perfect frames their spring debuts. Colome struck out two.

Cedeño didn’t pitch the final month of the season because of a sore neck. He told Marc Topkin (Tampa Bay Times) it felt strange because of the layoff, although you would never know it based on his performance yesterday afternoon.

They’re just so efficient, manager Kevin Cash said. Sometimes they make it look easy out there, and it’s not. They command the ball really well, and they get guys to expand because they command the ball so well.

Jose Alvarado, David Carpenter, and Chih-Wei Hu also held the Tigers scoreless, with Hu working two frames. In his first appearance with Tampa Bay, Shawn Tolleson allowed a pair of two-out runs in the third on a broken-bat two-run double by Nicholas Castellanos.

— Rickie Weeks, who is trying to hit his way onto the team, doubled twice in as many at-bats. His line after five games: 7-10 with three doubles, two homers, six RBI, six runs, 16 total bases, a 1.600 SLG and a .700 OBP.

Weeks does not consider himself locked in, and is enjoying his first week on the field:


(Audio courtesy of Rays Radio)

Weeks, a second baseman for most of his big league career, told the media he is learning how to play first base this spring.

I played the infield for a long time, he said. (Fielding) ground ball’s nothing. Just learning positioning. Just be in the right spot. That’s the main thing for me.

— OF Mallex Smith made his spring debut a day early because of the stiff neck that has kept CF Kevin Kiermaier out of the lineup.

And though he he made a defensive gaffe center field in the first inning, the speedy Smith dropped a perfect bunt down the third base line in the second.

I love bunting, said Smith. I feel like it’s a lost art. I feel like I’m going to bring it to the table a lot. …It feels good because for the longest (time), that’s all I’ve been able to work on since I’ve been in camp. So to be able to go and execute right away is wonderful. It feels like hard work paying off.

Cash agreed.

The bunt was awesome. It was awesome to see a guy come in, do that and we got to watch him work on his craft for two weeks. He puts a lot of time and effort to it and, sure enough, he comes up and gets a first-situation opportunity. That was completely on his own. It’s good to get him out there. Now, we’ll start ramping him up probably on an every-other-day basis, as long as he’s good to go.

Adding,

The glimpses of shagging fly balls and stuff, you can tell he’s got pretty elite speed. He’s got a pretty defined approach during batting practice. I’m interested to see how that that works in the game, but he really focuses on looks, staying the other way, hitting the ball on the ground and utilizing his speed. So if that’s him, that’s interesting in the fact that we don’t really have that guy. He could be something interesting.

As for the error, Smith took full responsibility, and didn’t blame the gusty/windy playing conditions.

You know what, the wind didn’t play any part of me dropping the ball. I dropped the ball. But, it did make it fade a little bit on me. … But I dropped the ball. I was right up under it, it hit me in the glove. That should always be caught.

The New What Next

The Rays will face the Baltimore Orioles for the first time this spring this afternoon. Chris Archer will make his final tuneup before the World Baseball Classic. The right-hander is expected to throw three innings or 45 pitches, whichever comes first. Blake Snell, Tommy Hunter, Danny Farquhar and Dana Eveland are also expected to toe the rubber for Tampa Bay.

Rays 3/4/17 Starting Lineup

Franklin 2B
Sucre C
Souza DH
McCarthy LF
Robertson SS
McKenry 1B
Varona CF
Peterson RF
Hager 3B
Archer RHP

Noteworthiness

— Per Neil Solondz (Rays Radio), Evan Longoria originally was listed as the DH, but is now on the travel squad to play Sunday in Dunedin, and Tuesday in Tampa. Daniel Robertson is playing shortstop after Willy Adames initially was listed to play back to back days.

Tampa Bay Rays fall hard to the Boston Red Sox, 19-2

RHP Jose De León didn’t fare well in his start against the Boston Red Sox on Thursday. (Photo Credit: Tampa Bay Rays)

The baseball gods giveth, and they taketh away. On Tuesday, the Tampa Bay Rays put up 19 runs against the Minnesota Twins — becoming the first team to score 19 runs in a Spring Training game. Yet on Thursday, the Boston Red Sox became the second team to score that many runs, defeating the Rays 19-2 in Ft. Myers.

Some takeaways from the ball game:

— Jose De León had a tough first spring outing. The right-hander was pulled in the first inning after allowing a single off the left-field wall to Dustin Pedroia, then allowing back-to-back walks to Brock Holt and Mookie Betts; consequently loading the bases. After fanning Hanley Ramirez, Mitch Moreland hit a sacrice-fly before Chris Young blooped a full count single to left-center, scoring a pair of runs. De León, citing a lapse in fastball command, threw 16-29 pitches for strikes.

And though he couldn’t throw his 92-94 mph fastball for strikes, the 24 year-old right-hander shrugged it off as just a bad day at the office.

I just couldn’t locate my fastball, said De Leon. That’s the key to a pitcher, locating your fastball. I just couldn’t do it today. The changeup was good, but it doesn’t matter if you don’t have that fastball command. … I just have to keep working on it. I know the sun will come out again tomorrow.


(Audio Courtesy of Rays Radio)

Rays skipper Kevin Cash called it a combination of him being amped up for his first appearance, and the need for a slight mechanical adjustment to his delivery.

It looked like everything sped up a bit, Cash said. He came out and … he was frustrated but he wasn’t rattled to the point where he didn’t have a feel or a sense of what was going on. … He’ll be fine.


(Audio Courtesy of Rays Radio)

— Nick Franklin, playing his first game in centerfield since 2016, when he did so once with the Durham Bulls, misplayed a Brock Holt fly ball in the second inning, just before Ramirez hit a three-run homer off Chase Whitley to make it an eight-run game. Franklin also had trouble with multiple fly balls in center, illustrating just how easy Kevin Kiermaier makes it look…and how important an apt replacement for Kiermaier is, should The Outlaw incur another injury or need a day off.

Franklin was accountable following the game.

That was my first day out in center, but that was no excuse. There’s always room to improve. …  I know I’m a lot better than that.


(Audio Courtesy of Rays Radio)

— Having a 100 mph fastball does not always equate dominance, just ask Ryne Stanek, who gave up five runs in the fourth inning.

The New What Next

The Rays will host the Tigers on Friday afternoon at Charlotte Sports Park, in Port Charlotte. Ryan Yarbrough will start for Tampa Bay. Left-hander Matt Boyd will toe the rubber for the Tigers. Also slated to take the mound for the Rays are Xavier Cedeno, Alex Colome, Jose Alvarado, Shawn Tolleson, David Carpenter, and Chih-Wei Hu.

Rays *Addended* 3/3/17 Starting Lineup

Dickerson DH
Souza Jr. RF
Longoria 3B
Miller 2B
Weeks 1B
Beckham LF
Smith CF
Maile C
Adames SS
Yarbrough LHP

Rays win 7-2, Blake Snell makes proper in-game adjustment

Brad Miller congratulating Rickie Weeks on Sunday, is expected to get a start at shortstop on Tuesday. (Photo Credit: Will Vragovic/Tampa Bay Times)

After a second consecutive seven-run game, the Tampa Bay Rays will return home to face the Minnesota Twins in the second game of the Knutson Cup. On the heels of the 7-2 stymying of the Phillies on Monday, Alex Cobb will make his first start of the spring, opposite of Hector Santiago, on Tuesday.

Takeaways from Monday’s ball-game

— The flu, eh? Nick Franklin, one of only three members of the major-league squad to make the trip north to Clearwater, told reporters he was feeling sick and not expect too much from him performance wise. He, however, went 2-2 with a double to deep center, accepted a walk and scored a run.

He also reportedly doused the Phillie Phanatic with water prior to the game.

— Corey Dickerson = one-man wrecking crew. Not only did he walk and score in the first inning, he also hit a two-run homer in the fifth, extending the lead to 5–2.

Not your prototypical speedster, Dickerson — aided by the loss of 25-pounds in the offseason — went from first to third on Franklin’s single.

Really, that was probably the highlight of my day, Dickerson said. Get on the bases and be able to go first to third was pretty nice for the first time I got on base (in the game) and feel like I can run a little bit.

You can hear more of his post game interview below.


(Audio Courtesy of Rays Radio)

— Minor adjustments make a major impact. Blake Snell, who allowed one-run on four hits over his two innings of work, fanned only one Philly, largely due to the fact that he threw just three of his first nine pitches for strikes. However, the southpaw identified the issue and made an in-game adjustment. He finished his outing by throwing 17-22 strikes. The culprit? His left shoulder was coming open during his delivery.

It was kind of cool to see I was shaky at first with the fastball. I threw no strikes with it, and the next inning throwing nothing but strikes with it, Snell said. It was coming out good. I felt more confident. Not that I wasn’t confident to start, but I finally felt like I knew what I was doing again.


(Audio Courtesy of Rays Radio)

Overall, Rays skipper Kevin Cash was pleased with what he saw out of Snell, although he added that the lefty needs to continue to work on his fastball command:

You look at his overall performance, really, it was pretty good for a young pitcher.

I think that’s going to vault him into a higher confidence going into the season. … Nothing really from a pitch-choice standpoint, but I think as soon as Blake can establish throughout this league that he can come in and throw strikes with his fastball, he’s going to put himself in a really good category of starting pitchers.

… I think what Blake has that maybe a lot of young pitchers don’t is four of what we view as quality pitches. Rarely do you see a 6-foot-4 power left-hander who can throw four quality pitches.


(Audio Courtesy of Rays Radio)

Ryan Garton also made his first appearance on the mound and allowed a solo shot over 1-2/3 innings. In his second appearance of the spring, Ryne Stanek fanned the only batter he faced.

The New What Next

As mentioned above, Cobb will get the start against the Twins on Tuesday, in Port Charlotte. Evan Longoria is slated to make his spring debut against the visiting Twins at third base, then is expected to DH on Wednesday against the visiting Phillies.

Brad Miller will get some reps at shortstop this spring, beginning onTuesday.

Rays 2/28/17 Starting Lineup

Dickerson LF
Kiermaier CF
Longoria 3B
Miller SS
Weeks DH
Casali C
Beckham 2B
Franklin RF
Bauers 1B
Cobb RHP

Noteworthiness

— Alex Cobb told Bill Chastain (MLB.com) he feels healthy after recovering from Tommy John surgery, and is ready for the 2017 season.

Deep thoughts following the Rays first loss of the spring

Willy Adames makes the tag on Austin Meadows in the second inning of yesterdays ball game against the Pirates. (Photo Credit: Will Vragovic/Tampa Bay Times)

The Tampa Bay Rays suffered their first (big) loss of the spring on Saturday, falling to the Pittsburgh Pirates, 7-2 in Port Charlotte.

With the loss in mind, I thought it to be a good opportunity to remind you that it really is not that big of a deal — it is just Spring Training after all. Last Sunday I posted a piece titled The X-Rays Spex guide to Spring Training 2017. Now is as good of a time as any to repost that in its entirety. Updates for today’s game between the Rays and Red Sox follow.

Sample sizes are so small that any meaningful conclusion about a player’s performance cannot truly be determined

Everyday starters, and players getting serious roster consideration, will get around 60 at bats during the spring. The small sample size isn’t enough to give an accurate depiction of what to expect out of a batter. Why? Among other things, the first statistic to stabilize for hitters is strikeout percentage, and it takes at least 60 plate appearances to do so. Ultimately hitters aren’t worried about looking for the perfect pitch to incur damage upon, they are trying to get their timing down. Anything above and beyond that is icing on the cake.

Conditions for hitting in south Florida are vastly different from The Trop

The Rays play in a dome where there is less air resistance on the ball in flight, and wind is not a factor. Compare that with Charlotte Sports Park, where a stiff breeze blowing in can turn a home run into a routine fly ball.

I distinctly recall a 2015 Grapefruit League game that took place in Tampa between the Rays and Yankees. Catcher Luke Maile hit a ninth inning double that should have left the confines of Steinbrenner Field, however, the wind resistance applied to the ball was enough to keep it in the park. True, that game took place in Tampa, not Port Charlotte, but you catch my drift.

Pitchers aren’t worried about setting up a hitter to freeze him with a nasty slider, rather they are concerned with staying healthy and building arm strength

Pitchers are focused on getting ready for the season, not getting batters out. It takes time for pitchers to build their arm strength. Dips in velocity are going to happen, homers are going to happen, and a pitcher might look like, well…crap prior to Opening Day. A handful of poor spring performances prior to Opening Day isn’t indicative of a pitchers future performance. A good example of that is Corey Kluber, the 2014 American League Cy Young Award winner. Kluber posited a gaudy 5.60 ERA in Spring Training, yet ended the season as the best pitcher in the AL.

Pitchers use Spring Training to work on pitches

It was written elsewhere:

The time for trial and error is now. Spending time during the season experimenting with a two-seam fastball or a circle change is not a good idea. That should be reserved for side sessions and bullpens. During Spring Training, however, there is absolutely no negative impact to trying out some changes that could eventually be beneficial. Sometimes pitchers will go out to the mound only throwing fastballs away in order to work on their command over the outer half of the plate. Sometimes a pitcher will only work inside and give up a couple of bombs from missing spots.

‘Nuff said.

Players are going to make errors, and that’s fine

Cloudless skies turn poppers into doubles, and errors from players playing out of position likely would not happen during the regular season. Spring Training is a time for players, many of whom are untested at the Major League level, to prove their worth. Instead, watch how a player jumps on the ball. Is he quick? Does he have good range? Do his movements seem fluid or stilted? What about his arm? Also, pay attention to where a player is stationed.

Take note of who plays where and for how long

Earlier this week, Marc Topkin (Tampa Bay Times) wrote that Rays manager Kevin Cash plans have Brad Miller make the move to second base as the replacement for Logan Forsythe.

We’re going to get him as many reps as we can at second base, as simple as that, Cash said. He is up for the challenge. … Brad Miller is bought in and is all about the team. He’ll do whatever. But we think for our team this spring we need to get him as acclimated as possible at second base. He is still going to play short because we know that versatility will help us. But he is all about playing second base and being a really good one.

Tim Beckham, Nick Franklin and Daniel Robertson are other internal options on the right side of the infield.

Because the Rays re-signed Logan Morrison to play first, Miller is not likely to get much time there. Instead Rickie Weeks is expected to get some reps at first base, as well as DH, and perhaps the outfield.

Watch for injuries

Although minor, both Jose De Leon and Erasmo Ramirez incurred injuries earlier in the week — De Leon with mid back tightness, and Ramirez with a tweaked left hamstring. Both since have recovered, and are back on schedule. Small injuries are to be expected, while others can prove to be detrimental, like Alex Cobb’s season ending UCL tear in 2015.

The win-loss record at the end of the spring means nothing

The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim went 19-8 in the Cactus League last season, and the Minnesota Twins sported a 19-11 record in the Grapefruit League. The positive Spring Training outcomes were ultimately meaningless for both teams. Meanwhile Boston went 14-18 and the Cubs went 11-19, and both teams appeared in the postseason — with the Chicago winning the World Series.

The New What Next

Chris Archer will make his first spring start on Sunday against those dastardly Red Sox — his next-to-last tuneup before joining Team USA for the World Baseball Classic. Also slated to pitch are RHP Chase Whitley, RHP Kevin Gadea, RHP Chih-Wei Hu, LHP Ryan Yarbrough, RHP Jeff Ames and RHP Andrew Kittredge.

Justin Williams and Joe McCarthy, playing right field and left field respectively, are over from the minor league side of the Rays’ camp. With Colby Rasmus, Steven Souza Jr. and Mallex Smith recovering from injuries, and considering the long spring, the Rays do not want to overuse someone this early.

Tim Beckham will get the start at third base, although he should get some outfield reps some time this week.

Rays 2/26/17 Starting Lineup

Robertson SS
Kiermaier DH
Weeks 1B
Miller 2B
Beckham 3B
Sucre C
Williams RF
Field CF
McCarthy LF
Archer RHP

Noteworthiness

— Marc Topkin (Tampa Bay Times) has three takeaways from yesterday’s ball game:

  • CF Kevin Kiermaier is already ready to go. Kiermaier could barely contain his excitement over reporting to camp, and he was in full hustle mode in his Saturday debut, trying, albeit unsuccessfully, to get to second when a blooper dropped in and covering lots of ground in the outfield. “KK was flying all around the outfield,” manager Kevin Cash said. “He’s fun to watch.”
  • RHP David Carpenter could make a pitch for a bullpen spot. Dumped after a short stint in spring training last year, Carpenter worked hard, including a stint in the independent Atlantic League, to improve his velocity, and it showed. “It definitely did,” Cash said. “It looked like it was coming better out of his hand than at any point when we saw him the last time.” Though the stadium radar readings weren’t working early, Carpenter said based on the hitters’ swings he too felt his velo was better.
  • Rickie Weeks will be able to handle first base. Though he doesn’t, at 34, have the range to play second as he did most of his career, Weeks still has the smooth hands of a middle infielder and once he gets the footwork and positioning down he should be good to go.