The New What Next: Rays vs. Orioles, Part Four — A Series Preview

Steven Souza Jr. singles in the third inning during a game against the Philadelphia Phillies on July 22, 2015. (Photo Credit: Hunter Martin/Getty Images)
Steven Souza Jr. singles in the third inning during a game against the Philadelphia Phillies on July 22, 2015. (Photo Credit: Hunter Martin/Getty Images)

Two struggling teams will take on one another, when the Tampa Bay Rays host the Baltimore Orioles on Friday to open a three-game set. Both squads are 2-4 since the All-Star break after Tampa Bay dropped two of three at Philadelphia — which owns the worst record in baseball — while Baltimore was swept in three games in the Bronx.

The Rays have cooled off dramatically since holding a 40-30 record while leading the AL East, before they lost 19 of the last 27 contests.

Kind of a little bit of a gut check for all of us, I think. Myself included, Tampa Bay manager Kevin Cash told Marc Topkin (Tampa Bay Times) after a 5-4 loss Wednesday. If 24 hours off helps to do that, evaluate that, then so be it. We need to kind of flip a switch here. Now.

Tampa Bay is now 48-49, six-and-a-half games out of first place in the AL East.

On the other hand, the Orioles were outscored 16-8 by the Yankees and have struggled in their last 19 games — Baltimore are winners of just five games since June 28. Baltimore’s starters are 30-38 with a 4.34 ERA, while the relievers stand 16-10 with a 2.81 mark. It will be incumbent upon the Rays to hit Chris Tillman, Miguel Gonzalez, and Wei-Yin Chen early, lest they be faced with the tall task of trying to score runs off a top-notch bullpen.

The Orioles are now 46-48, seven games behind the Yankees and in fourth place.

Chris Archer, Erasmo Ramirez, and Matt Moore will take the hill for Tampa Bay over the next three days. Archer (9-7, 2.73) attempts to end a four-game winless streak after allowing two runs over seven innings in his last start at Toronto. The 26 year-old righty, who boasts 153 strikeouts in 128-2/3 innings, convinced Rays skipper Kevin Cash to give him the start Friday:

I just indirectly let Cash know that I’d like to pitch every five days as much as I possibly can just to impact the team while I’m feeling good.

There may come a point in the season where Smyly comes back and there’s a lot of off-days in August and I might ask if I can get six days. But the All-Star break rejuvenated me and my body feels good. So I kind of said I can throw every fifth day, I don’t need an extra day if it works out for the team.

Archer has been better on the road (6-2, 2.26 ERA) than at home (3-5, 3.13), and is 0-2 with a 5.40 ERA in two starts against the Orioles this season (1-4 all time in seven appearances).

Ramirez (8-3, 3.54 ERA) allowed just one run on four hits while striking out four in 4-2/3 innings on Saturday — although Ramirez’s short outing had more to do with Cash’s lack of trust in the hurler. Erasmo’s strength is keeping the ball in play. He’s only given up seven home runs this season and his ERA has been on a steady decline since April.

Moore (1-1, 7.23 ERA) struggled in a loss to the Phillies on Monday, allowing four runs in 4-2/3 innings. The lefty has struggled since his return from the DL, and likely hasn’t pitched more than 90 pitches because the team is trying to ease him back in. In his previous four starts, Moore has given up 15 earned runs, though he’s got a decent 4-3, 3.86 ERA in his career against Baltimore.

Rays and Orioles series starters over the last 30 days.
Rays and Orioles series starters over the last 30 days.
Rays and Orioles offensive production over the last 30 days.
Rays and Orioles offensive production over the last 30 days.
Rays and Orioles by the numbers.
Rays and Orioles by the numbers.

Chris Tillman: Tillman (7-7, 4.96 ERA) is 5-0 in his last eight starts, allowing four total runs over the past four across 25-2/3 innings, and trimming his ERA by more than one run. The 27 year-old hurler’s last loss was May 31 against the Rays, when he was hammered for six runs (five earned) in 4-2/3 innings. Tillman is 5-8 with a 4.05 ERA in 17 career starts versus Tampa Bay. Key matchups: Joey Butler (2-3, 2B), David DeJesus (4-15, RBI, 2 BB), Jake Elmore (1-2), Brandon Guyer (2-6), John Jaso (4-16, 2 2B, 1 RBI, 5 BB), Evan Longoria (15-40, 3 2B, 6 HR, 9 RBI, 5 BB), Steven Souza Jr. (3-9, 2B, HR, 3 RBI).

Miguel Gonzalez: Gonzalez (8-6, 4.21 ERA) allowed six runs on nine hits and two walks with four strikeouts against the Nationals on Saturday. The 31 year-old righty has won two of this last three starts, however, the Orioles scored nine runs in both of those games. His ERA has ballooned from 2.93 in mid-May to where it sits now. And while he gave up six home runs in his first eight starts this season, in his last nine he’s given up 11. Nevertheless, Tampa Bay has an ugly, combined .223 BA/.317 OBP/.382 SLG/.699 line against Gonzalez in 157 total at-bats. Key matchups: Tim Beckham (1-3), David DeJesus (4-15, 3 BB), Jake Elmore (1-4), Logan Forsythe (3-9, 2B, BB), John Jaso (1-3), Steven Souza Jr. (1-4, HR, RBI, BB).

Wei-Yin Chen: Chen (4-6, 2.86 ERA) gave up three runs on 10 hits with three strikeouts and no walks against the Yankees on Tuesday. He has turned in six quality starts, and even in his last non-quality start against Boston Chen still won the game. This will be the 30 year-olds third start at the Trop this season — the previous two were non-decisions — but the Orioles won both games. Key matchups: Joey Butler (3-6, HR, RBI), Logan Forsythe (6-20, 2B, 2 HR, 5 RBI, 2 BB), Brandon Guyer (5-14, 3 2B), Kevin Kiermaier (4-9, 3B, HR, 2 RBI), James Loney (5-16, 2 2B, HR, RBI), Evan Longoria (8-28, 3 2B, 4 RBI, 6 BB).

Noteworthiness

— If the Rays are going to get back to their winning form, it will be up to the face of the franchise to lead the way.

But if they are going to get substantially better, or even slightly more productive, they have to look no further than the No. 3 spot in their lineup, writes Marc Topkin.

Evan Longoria hitting like the Evan Longoria of old — say, oh, 2013 — would provide the single biggest boost to their lineup, giving them that masher, that beast, that guy who can carry them and cause other teams to cower.

Longoria acknowledged the urgency of the situation, with Tampa Bay losing 19 of their past 27 games and their goal of playing meaningful (i.e., playoff-contending) games in September slipping away:

It’s been tough. It’s been tough just because I know I’m better than this. And I know at some point I’m going to figure it out. It’s just, I don’t know … I told (manager Kevin) Cash the other day, I felt like I never played the game before.

— Logan Forsythe has hit safely in all six games since the All-Star break, going is 8-19 with a homer and five RBI.

— Chris Davis has homered in back-to-back games and joins J.J. Hardy with a six-game hitting streak.

 

 

Looking Backward While Moving Forward: Rays Mid-Season Offensive Update

(Photo Credit: Tampa Bay Times)
(Photo Credit: Tampa Bay Times)

Suffice it to say, the offense has never been the Tampa Bay Rays’ strong suit, as solid defense and excellent pitching have been emphasized since their turnaround. Though a pair of breakout players — Joey Butler and Logan Forsythe — have made strides in keeping the Rays competitive, the other 23 players have performed much as they were projected, if not under. While the team has struggled to score runs, especially of late, they’ve managed to rack up a surprising number of wins (outperforming their Pythagorean Expectation of 46-51). A week into the ceremonial second half of the season, Tampa Bay finds itself a game under .500 and tied for third place of the AL East.

Let’s take a look at the Rays’ offensive output at the first half of the season, and compare it to each of the previous two seasons — 2014 when they posted a disappointing 77-85 record, and 2013 when they made their last postseason appearance.

Rays combined offensive production at the first half in 2013, 2014, and 2015.
Rays combined offensive production at the first half in 2013, 2014 and 2015.

First and foremost, the team has fallen off dramatically. They aren’t getting on base as often — a combined .240 batting average, .305 on base percentage, .682 OPS, .290 batting average on balls in play, and .300 weighted on base average speak to that — and even though they have a greater power potential this season over last (.138 ISO vs. .130), they just aren’t doing anything with it. Furthermore, the team has struck out more and walked less. The oversimplified result is 117 fewer runs and 115 fewer RBI than in 2013, and 45 fewer runs and 50 fewer RBI than the previous season, which was considered to be one of the worst in franchise history.

More disturbing, only 13% of base runners have scored on balls in play (14% is the league average), while they’ve stranded, on average, 3.34 runners in scoring position* per game.

To put things into perspective, if the Rays converted just .58 more of those runners in scoring position** into runs, they would have entered the All-Star Break having scored 385 runs; somewhere in-between their 2013 and 2014 midpoint totals. At this rate, Tampa Bay is projected score 591 runs by season’s end — some 21 fewer than in 2014, and 109 fewer than in 2013.

Marc Topkin (Tampa Bay Times) spoke with Rays principal owner Stu Sternberg at the start of the series in Philadelphia. Sternberg made it clear that they would not be buyers at the trade deadline:

Right now, even though we might not be performing as we’d like to be, or as others would like us to be, I can’t point to anything so glaring, or any of our players so glaring, that we could, or would, replace them…

People say, ‘Buyer? Seller?’ It will be no different than we’ve done in years past. I think we’re in almost precisely the same spot we’ve been in every year since ’08. Which is, we’re close, we feel we have a really good team. We’d like to see our team on the field all at once. And we’ll try to be opportunistic.

He also said they “absolutely” could trade away pieces if they were to drop out of the race over the next 10 days, but “we’re anticipating that we’re going to be in the hunt come the end of July.’

That is, don’t expect the Rays to look for offensive help on the market. Two things could bode well for the team:

— While it appears the other teams in the AL East are starting to pull away, there is the idea that if they can collectively tighten up their game, the six game chasm the Rays currently find themselves in might not be too wide to bridge. Evan Longoria hinted as much after Sunday’s disappointing extra innings loss:

Obviously, if we keep playing the way we’re playing, it’s going to fall apart pretty fast, our chances of competing for a playoff spot, and the teams in our division have started to play better. It’s not like early in the year where we’re getting opportunities because other teams are losing. We’re burying ourselves.

— The team could promote a player or two within the organization, and the most logical candidates would be INF Richie Shaffer and 1B/C JP Arencebia

Shaffer has hit 23 home runs in the minors, though since his experience is limited to first and third, he’d likely be a DH candidate in the least, or a right-handed platoon candidate with James Loney at most. Unless the brain-trust is willing to part ways with either Loney or John Jaso, I have my doubts this idea would gain traction

Arencebia also has 20 homers, which compliment his 42 runs and 47 RBI nicely. However, his overall .223 BA/.254 OBP/.464 SLG/.323 OPS line doesn’t look too appealing.

Whatever the case, Tampa Bay is slated for 32 more games against the AL East in the second half — 22 competitive games if you subtract Boston from the equation. And while the division lead and wild-card spots are getting further from view, there is the hope that if they could perform like they had in the first 70 games, as opposed to the last 27, the team could find itself playing relevant baseball in September.

*Note: that’s better than 2014 and 2013, when they stranded 3.63 and 3.60 respectively.
** The difference between the Rays and Orioles runners left in scoring position.

Rays Fall in Extra Innings, 5-4

Philadelphia Phillies' Domonic Brown, right, comes in to score the winning run on a single by Odubel Herrera as Rays catcher Rene Rivera, left, watches during the 10th inning Wednesday in Philadelphia. (Photo Credit: AP Photo)
Philadelphia Phillies’ Domonic Brown, right, comes in to score the winning run on a single by Odubel Herrera as Rays catcher Rene Rivera, left, watches during the 10th inning Wednesday in Philadelphia. (Photo Credit: AP Photo)
Let it be said, the Tampa Bay Rays did so much wrong on Wednesday afternoon, they deserved the 5-4 extra innings loss to the Philadelphia Phillies. The Rays wasted multiple scoring opportunities, and committed multiple gaffes on the field and on the base paths, yet the inconsistent pitching was ultimately the death of the team. In the end, Tampa Bay returns home losers of two-of-three to the worst team in baseball and with a losing record of 48-49.

If the takes don’t take you; hyphenated low-lights follow.

– Jake Odorizzi allowed two runs on four hits while needing 30 pitches to get out of the first inning. Yet he bounced back to keep his team in the thick of things, ultimately posting a 5 IP/5 H/2 ER/2 BB/5 K line on 83 pitches (53 strikes). Despite allowing runs in six of his last 13 appearances, including two in Wednesday’s game, Rays manager Kevin Cash went with Brandon Gomes in the sixth inning. Jake Odorizzi told the media that he was “not too happy” about being pulled after five innings, but would “leave it at that.”

– The Rays went 7-for-11 from the second to fourth innings, and had five men in scoring position, yet they couldn’t push across a run. Tampa Bay went 3-14 wRISP despite excellent scoring opportunities in the second, third, fourth, sixth, eighth and ninth innings.

In the words of Marc Topkin:

They loaded the bases with one out in the second, but Rene Rivera struck out and Odorizzi grounded into a fielder’s choice. They got the first two on in the third, thanks to a replay reversal giving Brandon Guyer a hit on a ball that dropped on the rightfield line, but Guyer, inexplicably, got picked off second and they did nothing further. Then Joey Butler singled and Tim Beckham doubled to start the fourth, but Jake Elmore, Rivera and Odorizzi couldn’t get the run home.

– Three errors proved costly, especially a gaffe by James Loney in the sixth that directly contributed to a run.

– Logan Forsythe should have broke for home while David DeJesus was caught in a ninth inning rundown. Forsythe walked and DeJesus singled put runners on the corners with no outs. But James Loney grounded to the right side, and was out. DeJesus got caught in a rundown, and got the Phillies to make three throws, yet Forsythe decided to not try to score, holding at third. Jake Elmore hit a slow roller to end the inning.

– The end came on a walk off single by Odubel Herrera off Brad Boxberger, but a game changing play proceeded the hit. The rally off Boxberger started with a bloop single to left by Domonic Brown. He went to second on a sacrifice-bunt by Carlos Ruiz. Boxberger clearly had a play at second, yet he chose for the play at first. The lapse in judgement proved costly – after Boxberger forced a comebacker out of Cody Asche, Odubel Herrera drove in the game winning run on a single to left-center, capping an 11-pitch at-bat.

Clearly frustrated by the outcome and the overall performance, Cash called the game a “gut check,” saying,

I don’t know what else to say. That was ugly. Not executing. Did a lot of things poorly. The Phillies got it done. Give them credit. They played well. Capitalized on their opportunities. We did not. That basically sums up the ballgame.

He continued,

That was pretty rough to sit there and go through. We just had opportunity after opportunity. Don’t capitalize. I don’t need to point out each at-bat, but it was pretty obvious what took place.

Cash also spoke about the sloppy play in the field,

Kicked the ball around a little on defense. Threw it around. … We have to make our own breaks. They were presented to us. It wasn’t like anything was working against us. We just didn’t execute and get it done. …Kind of a little bit of a gut check for all of us Myself included. If 24 hours off helps evaluate that, then so be it. But we need to kind of flip a switch here now.

Evan Longoria summed things up well:

Noteworthiness

– In the third year of the competitive balance process, the Tampa Bay Rays have been awarded a second round Competitive Balance draft pick.

You may be asking how the process works. Via MLB.com:

Twelve teams were eligible to win a pick in Round A this year: the D-backs, Rockies, Reds, Marlins, Padres, Rays, Brewers, Indians, A’s, Pirates, Royals and Cardinals. The six clubs that did not win a selection in Round A (the Padres, Indians, Twins, Brewers, Orioles and Rays), along with the three clubs who received revenue-sharing funds this year (the Orioles, Twins and Mariners) were eligible for a Round B pick. The Cardinals, Royals and Mariners were the three teams that were eligible but did not receive a pick.

In 2015, picks in Competitive Balance Round A added an average of $1,566,617 to each team’s pool. The Competitive Balance Round B picks augmented each club’s pool by an average $839,940.

The Competitive Balance Round picks are the only Draft selections permitted to be traded, subject to some restrictions. Each lottery pick can be traded only once and cash can’t be involved in the transaction. The choices can be dealt only during the regular season, up until 5 p.m. ET on the first day of the Draft.

Looking Backward While Moving Forward: Nathan Karns Pitches and Hits Rays to a 1-0 Win

Today’s cover photo comes courtesy of the Splash Bro’s. (Photo Credit: Tampa Bay Rays)

Tampa Bay Rays hurler Nathan Karns hit a solo shot on Tuesday which accounted for the only run in a 1-0 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies. A visibly sick Karns and five relievers combined for a four-hitter, as the Rays snapped their two game skid, and improved to 48-48 on the season.

The Rays found themselves in scoring position early on after John Jaso hit a leadoff double in the first inning, yet the team couldn’t take advantage — Steven Souza Jr. (0-4 in his return game) struck out looking, Evan Longoria went down swinging, and James Loney grounded out to second end the inning. The meat of the order — Souza, Longoria, Loney, and Logan Forsythe — combined to go 1-20 in the game, while the team went 0-4 wRISP.

With the game knotted at zero in the third inning, Nathan “the Rays offense” Karns belted a first-pitch fastball into the left field seats. It was the first hit by a Rays pitcher since July 23rd of last year, when Alex Cobb hit a double against the Cardinals. It also was just the second homer ever by a Rays pitcher, as Karns joined Esteban Yan as pitchers for Tampa Bay who homered. It also made Major League history. Before Karns Tuesday night, no pitcher — AL or NL — had ever homered, accounting for the only run of a 1-0 victory in interleague play.

After that, the Rays didn’t get another runner beyond second base.

On the mound, Karns worked around leadoff walks in the first and second innings, and got plenty of help defensively. After a walk in the second, Kiermaier gunned down Cody Asche as he attempted to go from first to third on a Domonic Brown single. Then in the fourth, Longoria made a terrific catch in foul ground on Ryan Howard to end the inning with a runner at third. In the fifth Kiermaier came up big once more, robbing Cameron Rupp of a hit with a diving catch, and James Loney started an excellent 3-6-3 double play to end that frame.

Karns allowed three hits, struck out four and walked two, marking the 14th game in which he has allowed two earned runs or less.

Steve Geltz and Xavier Cedeno combined to put up a zero in the sixth, although they received some help from Rene Rivera, who threw out Cesar Hernandez trying to steal to end that inning.

In the seventh, Jake McGee allowed a hit and a walk, but struck out Jeff Francoeur to end the Phillies’ uprising. Prior to his at-bat, Francoeur had been 8-16 as a pinch-hitter this season.

Kevin Jepsen put up a 1-2-3 eighth with a pair of strikeouts (both swinging) of Odubel Herrera and Galvis, and Brad Boxberger was credited with his 24th save of the season after working a 10 pitch (nine strike) 1-2-3 ninth.

Karns spoke on the defense, and how Kiermaier and company helped him out, among other things, after the game:

The New What Next

Jake Odorizzi (5-6, 2.80 ERA) will start get the start in the series finale, opposite of left-hander Adam Morgan (1-2, 3.91 ERA). Odorizzi looks to bounce back a less than optimal start last Friday in which he allowed a career-high-tying five walks, and a season-high six earned runs. He is 3-3 with a 3.51 ERA in seven career Interleague starts. Morgan has allowed two or fewer runs in three of his first four starts, and he has pitched more than six innings in two of his last three. You can read about the pitching matchup in our series preview.

Rays 7/22/15 Starting Lineup

Guyer CF
Souza RF
Longoria 3B
Forsythe 2B
Butler LF
Beckham SS
Elmore 1B
Rivera C
Odorizzi RHP

Noteworthiness

— How much history can you take? Per ESPN, Karns homer was just the sixth time in baseball history that an American League pitcher homered in a 1-0 game. Before Tuesday, the last time was April 18, 1962, when Milt Pappas did it for Baltimore in a win over the Yankees.

— Injury update (Drew Smyly and Desmond Jennings):

Drew Smyly threw 40 pitches in a live batting practice session in Port Charlotte this afternoon. He threw fastballs and breaking pitches, with his fastball velocity topping out at 89 mph. Smyly told Josh Vitale (Suncoast Sports Now) that he “felt great” during the session, although he doesn’t know what his next step will be just yet. As I wrote yesterday, the next step should be a rehabilitation assignment.

As for Desmond Jennings, the outfielder told Vitale that his surgically repaired left knee is “feeling good,” although he’s still trying to get the knee back under him. When asked when he would like to begin his rehab assignment, Jennings said “tomorrow,” yet he doesn’t know when that will begin.

Looking Backward While Moving Forward: Rays Fall to the Worst Team in Baseball, 5-3

Rays starter Matt Moore takes a step backward in his return from Tommy John surgery, lasting only 42/3 innings and allowing four runs. Getty Images
Matt Moore took a step backward in his return from Tommy John surgery, lasting only 4-2/3 innings and allowing four runs. (Photo Credit: Getty Images)

There’s not a lot to say about today – it was not pretty.

– Rays manager Kevin Cash

The Tampa Bay Rays took an early two run lead in the second inning on Monday night, but alas that lead didn’t hold – the worst team in the majors scored three runs in the bottom of inning, and beat the Rays 5-3. With the loss, Tampa Bay fell to 47-48 on the season, five games off the pace.

The Rays found themselves with an excellent bases loaded scoring opportunity in the first inning, yet they failed to score against David Buchanan, as Tim Beckham whiffed on four pitches to end the inning. The team, however, was able to cash in with a two-out rally in the second inning. Kevin Kiermaier reached on a double to right, then was moved to third on a well executed sacrifice bunt to third by Matt Moore. After Grady Sizemore walked, Logan Forsythe plated a pair with a two-run double to left center field.

The lead didn’t last long.

After throwing a 1-2-3 first, Moore lost his command of the zone. The lefty walked the first two batters of the inning (Jeff “Frenchy” Francour and Darin Ruf), although he was able to come back and coax a fly-ball to right out of Freddie Galvis for the first out of the inning. Yet Moore loaded the bases after Odubel Herrera reached on a bunt single to Evan Longoria at third. Cameron Rupp then popped out in foul territory for the second out, but with the pitcher Buchanan at the plate, Moore uncorked run scoring wild pitch. Buchanan inevitably walked, and Cesar Hernandez followed with a two-run double to left for a one run Phillies lead.

Something wasn’t right with Moore, be it his command or control of the strike zone, or the lack a good grip on the ball due to the heat – he was seen wiping the sweat off his throwing hand multiple times in the 36 pitch frame.

Rays skipper Kevin Cash said while Moore is competing, he isn’t consistently in synch:

He shows some glimpses but then he’ll have some hiccups along the way.

To his credit, Moore was able to throw a scoreless third and fourth, yet he left the game in the fifth with a runner at third and two outs. For those concerned about his velocity, Moore hit 93 and 94 mph with his fastball multiple times over the course of his 4-2/3 innings. The problem, however, doesn’t seem to be his velocity, rather the same thing that has always plagued Moore is hampering his progress now: his command, or lack thereof.

Curt Casali called it a quirk in his mechanics:

I think he was just struggling a little bit with the timing between his arm and his body. We had some conversations on the bench, what I saw and what Hick saw. But I was happy with the way he battled.

Moore concurred:

I would assume it was something like [a release point problem], but the way I’m working out there is more of a feel, going after the hitter and just competing. Not really thinking too much about what I’m doing. … I think some time in about the fourth inning, I started to feel myself in a good spot. And that’s too late. I have to be able to figure that out in the second inning out there. Keep them off the board.

I wouldn’t feel very good about it if I was timid out there and things like that. Even with the walks, I was attacking. The ball just wasn’t going where I was aiming. So there’s some things that we need to clean up.

Alex Colome came on in relief and quickly allowed a base hit to Maikel Franco off the left field wall to give Philadelphia a two run lead. James Loney, who committed only one error all year, misplayed a Franceour foul pop up in foul territory for an error. Frenchy then reached on an infield hit, and Evan Longoria’s throw got past Loney for a second error on the usually sure handed first baseman. Ruf followed with an RBI single off Colome to make it 5-2.

Buchanan settled in and retired the next 12 batters before Kiermaier tripled to lead off the seventh inning. Brandon Guyer plated Kiermaier on a one-out single to bring the Rays within two. Yet Tampa Bay went 2-9 wRISP, and didn’t get a hit over the final 2-2/3 innings against the Phillies back end relievers.

We didn’t do much at all to deserve to win the game, Cash said.

I couldn’t agree more, Kevin.

The New What Next

The Rays will look to get back to .500 on Tuesday when Nathan Karns (4-5, 3.63 ERA) takes the mound opposite Aaron Nola (3-1, 3.58 ERA in AAA), who makes his MLB debut. Karns will make his first start since July 9 at Kansas City, when he yielded a career-high seven earned runs. He finished the first half with 99 strikeouts, which lead all Major League rookies before the All-Star break. Nola is the number two prospect in the Phillies organization and number 28 in all of baseball. The rookie represents the 29th pitcher to make his debut against the Rays; Tampa Bay is 12-16 thus far. You can read about the pitching matchup in our series preview.

Rays 7/21/15 Starting Lineup

Jaso LF
Souza RF
Longoria 3B
Forsythe 2B
Kiermaier CF
Elmore SS
Rivera C
Karns RHP

Noteworthiness

– Rays principal owner Stuart Sternberg doesn’t expect Tampa Bay to be buyers at the deadline:

Right now, even though we might not be performing as we’d like to be or as others would like us to be, I can’t point to anything so glaring or any of our players so glaring that we could or would replace them.

– Injury update: OF Steven Souza Jr. (finger laceration) was activated from the 15-day DL following the game. Grady Sizemore was optioned to Triple-A Durham in order to make room for Souza on the active roster. The option was part of the agreement when Grady Sizemore signed with the Rays. Per Roger Mooney (Tampa Tribune), Sizemore said he stayed with team longer than he anticipated:

I committed to this team so I’m going to play and do what I can, just finish the season wherever I’m at, Sizemore said. Just continue to get at-bats and continue to get work in.

Drew Smyly (shoulder) is scheduled to throw a two-inning, 40-pitch simulated game today in Port Charlotte. If he continues to look sharp he should advance next to a rehab assignment. OF Desmond Jennings (knee) will bat against Smyly.

– The Rays have eight or fewer hits and scored four of fewer runs in each of their last eight games – the longest such streak in MLB this season. They are 3-5 in those games. The team is hitting .189 and have scored 21 runs during that stretch.

– The Rays, as expected, tweaked their rotation with the Thursday off-day. Chris Archer will get the start on Friday, Ramirez on Saturday, and Moore on Sunday.

– For the second consecutive year, Kevin Kiermaier has been nominated for the Heart and Hustle award. Congrats, Outlaw!