Jake Odorizzi pitching in an intrasquad game, Monday, in Port Charlotte. (Photo courtesy of Marc Topkin)
The Tampa Bay Rays return to action today in Clearwater, where they’ll take on the Philadelphia Phillies for the second time in a week. Alex Cobb will make his third start of the Grapefruit League season.
Jake Odorizzi threw in an intrasquad game Monday, where his focus was — and has been throughout the spring — on improving upon his 2014 campaign. In his four inning appearance, Odorizzi threw 61 pitches (37 strikes) and allowed five base runners to reach (three hits, two walks) while ringing up three. The relaxed setting afforded Odorizzi to work in a pressure free environment, and manager Kevin Cash, pitching coach Jim Hickey and president of operations Matt Silverman were reportedly pleased with what they say. Cash told Marc Topkin (Tampa Bay Times), following Jake’s outing
He looked good. The last inning was kind of good to get his pitch count up and have some traffic on the bases to let him pitch out of a little bit when he was probably a little bit tired.
The Rays number four starter threw lots of first pitch curve balls and cutters, and he feels that he is in good place as far as preparation goes,
I think there’s plenty of room for improvement from last year to this year, and him being down doesn’t really change the way I need to think about myself.
Continuing with,
It went really well actually. You never know how these things can kind of go, but I thought overall it was really beneficial. I got to work on a lot of stuff that you typically wouldn’t work on in a spring training game.
Odorizzi told reporters that jumping to the third spot in rotation wouldn’t be a problem with Drew Smyly likely being out to start the season, meaning he’d pitch on April 8th against Baltimore instead of the 10th against the Marlins. Telling Topkin there is plenty of time to adjust his (Smyly’s) schedule, Odorizzi joked he’d miss getting to hit in Miami.
Rays 3/17/15 Starting Lineup
Kiermaier CF
Loney 1B
Cabrera SS
Longoria 3B
Jennings LF
Souza RF
Rivera C
Forsythe DH
Elmore 2B
Cobb P
Noteworthiness
Jake McGee is scheduled to throw off the mound today for the first time since his mid-December surgery. From there, McGee is slated for a couple of weeks of bullpen sessions, then will start his rehab assignment in mid April — rejoining the Rays by the end of the month or the first week of May.
Drew Smyly played catch for the second consecutive day, increasing to a distance of 90 feet.
After rejoining the team Sunday after a 2-1/2 week absence, Grant Balfour played catch with LHP Jordan Norberto and will likely face hitters in a bullpen session today, including OF Brandon Guyer (oblique/lat strain).
The Tampa Bay Rays earned their fifth win of the spring after beating the New York Mets by a score of 8-4. (Photo courtesy of the Tampa Bay Rays)
The Tampa Bay Rays head into their first off-day of the spring on the heels of an 8-4 win over the New York Mets, bringing their Grapefruit League record to 5-6-1. After first posting an abysmal 1-5-1 record, Tampa Bay has won four out of their last five while averaging 5.4 runs per game. Although Spring Training records and statistics don’t matter, especially this early in the game, winning certainly is a feather in the cap in the feel good department.
Starter Matt Andriese posted three innings of shutout ball Sunday, relinquishing four hits and a walk, while striking out a batter on 42 pitches (24 strikes, 57% K/BB). Andriese pitched to contact and was aided by the fielders behind him.
In the second inning, Steven Souza made an impressive running catch at the center field wall, then spun around to relay the ball to Nick Franklin who nailed Kirk Niewenhuis as he attempted to tag and score from second base (26 seconds in the video below).
Then in the third inning, after Wilmer Flores singled on a liner to center, Souza made another sharp defensive play — throwing to Franklin at second after the Mets’ shortstop tried to stretch a single into a double. For a team that erred 88 times in 2014 — costing the pitchers 33 unearned runs — quality defensive run prevention plays like these will prove crucial in the upcoming season.
Burch Smith, too, was able to get three innings of work under his belt. Despite a rough two run, three hit third, Smith settled down and allowed only one other base runner to reach on a sixth inning walk.
The Rays offense, which has progressively gotten more consistent, put up another four plus run game — the third this week, and fourth overall. It stands to reason, the more at-bats any given batter gets, the more consistent he will be.
Tampa Bay averaged 2.6 runs per game in the first six games of the Grapefruit League season, and 5.4 runs per game since. More importantly, however, a good number of players who the Rays will depend upon in 2015 are coming to life at the plate. Desmond Jennings has seven hits, two runs, and an RBI; Evan Longoria — who was again productive Sunday — has four hits on the spring (including a double), a run, and an RBI; of John Jaso’s four hits, two have been doubles, and he has scored twice; and Steven Souza… Although his spring batting average isn’t anything to write home about, he has started to come around of late. Souza mashed a homer and a double within the last week.
Which brings us back to Sunday’s game.
Under the previous manager, scoring early and often was referred to as the swarm. Although a witty name for the Rays offense has yet to be penned, they swarmed (wolf packed?) Bartolo Colon and the Mets early, tagging the 41 year old righty for five runs on seven hits and a walk in the first two innings of the game. David DeJesus led off the Rays half of the inning with his first double of the spring. Nick Franklin, batting from the left side, responded by moving DeJesus to third on a line-drive base hit to right. Evan Longoria put Tampa Bay on the board with a long sac-fly to center. After a swipe of second by Franklin, James Loney plated the second run of the inning with a base hit to right.
Tampa Bay was far from done.
Corey Brown, the Rays Spring Training beast, worked a one out walk, then moved to second on a Bobby Wilson liner to center. One out and two batters later, Franklin hit another single to right, scoring Wilson from second and bringing John Jaso to the plate. Jaso proceeded to power in a pair of runs on a double to right.
Jaso was re-acquired by Tampa Bay for his ability to work good at-bats and make contact. He will be incredibly important in the lineup, especially if he is able to exceed his 2015 Steamer projections.
Longoria drove in his second run of the day in the fourth inning, and Alan Dykstra and Juan Francisco went back-to-back, uncorking a pair of solo shots which capped the Rays scoring for the day.
The New What Next
Despite the off-day, Jake Odorizzi will throw an intrasquad game in Port Charlotte, Monday. Tuesday the Rays will travel to Clearwater for another contest against the Phillies. Alex Cobb will make his third start of the spring after allowing three earned runs in 2-1/3 innings against Toronto, Thursday.
Noteworthiness
Closer Jake McGee is looking forward to Tuesday when he take the mound for the first time since going under the knife to throw a bullpen session in Port Charlotte. McGee told Bill Chastain (MLB.com) that he hasn’t experienced any setbacks throughout the rehab process,
I’m pretty excited about it, because last week I was [throwing from] up to about 135 feet. I was able to carry the ball on a line.
I feel like my arm strength is pretty close to where it needs to be. And [head athletic trainer] Ron [Porterfield] was saying, ‘If you can carry the ball at 130 feet, your arm’s kind of ready to go on the mound.’ So [it’s] pretty exciting. Another step.
Rays manager Kevin Cash announced his second round of roster cuts, Sunday. Infielders Ryan Brett and Hak-Ju Lee, catcher Justin O’Connor, and pitchers Grayson Garvin, and Jose Dominguez were optioned to Minor League camp. Additionally, Dylan Floro, Robert Zarate and Luke Maile have been reassigned. Tampa Bay now has 54 players in camp. Cash was complimentary of Maile and O’Conner,
With Maile and O’Connor, you definitely see the upside with both of them. Ryan Brett, I apologized to him because it just didn’t work out where he was going to get a lot of at-bats; we had so many people. But he’s very much a priority with what we’re doing going forward. Hopefully he enjoyed the camp as much as we enjoyed having him in.
Cash also acknowledged that Lee may have gotten the short end of the stick, thanks to the glut of infielders in camp,
Then Hak-Ju was more or less, it’s time for him to play. He came in and did a really good job of getting his body in shape in the offseason and now it’s time to get some consistent ABs. Dominguez? He’s going to help us at some point this year. [We] wanted him to get down and get some consistent innings.
Marc Topkin (Tampa Bay Times) writes LHP Drew Smyly might be ready early in regular season. Despite Smyly’s bout with tendinitis, which effectively halted his progress, it is possible that he may not miss a start, thanks to the off-day between the third and fourth games of the season. Tampa Bay could go as far as April 15 before needing a fifth starter.
Rays catcher Reńe Rivera crushed a two run homer in the fourth inning of Saturday’s Grapefruit League game against the Baltimore Orioles. (Photo courtesy of the Tampa Bay Rays)
The Tampa Bay Rays followed a one run loss Friday afternoon, with a one run victory against the Baltimore Orioles, Saturday. There were a few noteworthy highlights; Nathan Karns tossing a perfect four inning start, and catcher Reńe Rivera’s two run, fourth inning blast to left field being just a couple. The Rays walked away from Sarasota with their fourth win of the spring, bringing their Grapefruit League record to a respectable 4-6-1.
Highlights follow.
— Nathan Karns, perfect through four. Suffice it to say, the Rays starting rotation will be strapped to start the season, thanks to Alex Colome’s bout with pneumonia and Drew Smyly’s bout with tendinitis. Enter Nathan Karns. PECOTA projected that Karns would factor into things on the starting rotation with the big league squad. If Saturday’s start was indicative of anything, he’s all in for one of those open spots. The challenge for Karns, Saturday: face a lineup consisting largely of Opening Day starters.
With a past drought with command issues ideally behind him, Karns pitched four scoreless innings of no-hit baseball, striking out two and walking none. The Rays righty threw 53 pitches (33 strikes, 62% K/BB) overall, and they pitches — especially his knuckle curve ball — looked sharp.
Karns spoke with Michael Kooligian (MLB.com) about the possibility of earning a spot on the starting rotation,
I’m just out there playing the game that I enjoy and love playing every year, and whatever happens that’s their decision. I’m just here to put my best foot forward, no matter what.
Also speaking about the lineup he faced on Saturday, which bore a resemblance to the Orioles’ regular season batting order, Karns continued,
It’s always going to be a challenge out there, facing all these hitters. But if I want that [starting] position, these are the lineups I’m going to be facing in the league. Why not face them now and see what happens?
Manager Kevin Cash praised Karns, noting his strike throwing and his ability to get on track after falling significantly behind a hitter. “A very, very strong outing,” Cash told Marc Topkin (Tampa Bay Times) in his post game presser.
— Rene Rivera hit a two-run blast to left in the top of the fourth inning, plating John Jaso in the process and giving the Rays a 2-0 lead.
— Kevin Kiermaier drove in Jaso on a ground-rule double to left in the sixth inning, giving Tampa Bay the extra run needed to take Saturday’s game.
— The defense had a hand in Karns’ success. True, Karns was deserving of his perfect line. However, I’d be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge the guys in the field too. In the fourth inning, utility player Jake Elmore made a beautiful glove side diving play by to cut down Alejandro DeAza for the first out of the inning. Previous to that, in the second inning, David DeJesus mades a sliding catch in foul territory to retire Adam Jones.
The New What Next
The Rays will face off against the New York Mets in Port Charlotte, Sunday. Matt Andriese will take on his swarthy counter part Bartolo Colon. Andriese has shown promise in his previous two Grapefruit League outings as he continues to battle for one of the open spots in the Rays rotation.
Rays 3/15/15 Starting Lineup
DeJesus LF
Franklin SS
Jaso DH
Longoria 3B
Loney 1B
Souza CF
Elmore 2B
Brown RF
Wilson C
Andriese P
Noteworthiness
The MASN game announcers reported that Drew Smyly (tendinitis) is expected to throw off the mound Sunday afternoon. Be it as it may, Topkin reported Sunday morning that even if everything goes well, it is unlikely the lefty will be ready to start the season. Smyly was expected to pitch in game three of the Opening Series against the Orioles, though Cash said Odorizzi may get that start instead. Smyly could be ready soon thereafter and shouldn’t miss too much time — at least as of now.
#Rays Cash acknowledges today what has seemed to be the case, that Smyly, even if all goes well, is unlikely to be ready for start of season
Cash said it was “status quo” on RHP Alex Colome (pneumonia) who could be released from hospital Sunday. Colome will need at least seven days before he gets back on the field, making it likely he won’t be ready to start the season.
It’s an illness that certainly will sap him of some strength, Silverman told reporters. We will need to be aware of that and be patient with him as he builds himself back up.
It was also reported that Matt Silverman is exploring rotation options to patch the potential holes in their rotation for the start of the season.
With two starting pitchers that aren’t ready at this point, there’s concern. We’re continuing to evaluate options that we have within the organization as well as continue to monitor the other 29 teams.
Silverman continued,
It’s still early in spring, there’s a lot of time between now and Opening Day to determine plans. But the wheels are spinning, and we’re working on contingencies already.
Besides Nathan Karns, the team has a handful of in house options to act as a stop gap in the interim — righties Andriese and Burch Smith, and lefties Enny Romero and Mike Montgomery. The team could go outside for a starter or for depth to plug in at Triple-A Durham.
Reliever Grant Balfour is back, and reportedly has a good frame of mind after his father’s passing in Australia. Balfour told the media he’ll draw motivation from it. To honor Balfour’s father, David, who was a longtime executive with the Sydney Blue Sox in Australia, the team will wear blue socks (pictured below).
(Photo courtesy of the Tampa Bay Rays)
Jake McGee is excited for his first off-mound throwing session on Tuesday — a big step in his recovery from elbow surgery.
The Rays decided Brandon Guyer (oblique/lat strain) won’t play against the Phillies, Tuesday. He will take live batting practice against Balfour instead.
Evan Longoria collected two hits and an RBI in Friday’s Spring Training game against the Phillies. (Photo courtesy of the Tampa Bay Rays)
12:15 Update: Alex Colome has been hospitalized due to his battle with pneumonia. You can read about his hospitalization below — the update is in italics.
The Tampa Bay Rays dropped their sixth game of the spring, this time to the Philadelphia Phillies by a 2-1 margin, Friday. Despite the loss, starter Chris Archer put together a pretty good outing in his 3-1/3 innings of work. The loss can be blamed on the offense who was stifled by the Phillies hurlers.
Archer, who has been working on his change-up and a quicker delivery to the plate, gave up two runs (both earned) on four hits, including Ryan Howard’s first blast of the spring.
The Rays starter zipped through the first inning with a little help from Evan Longoria, who made a great play on a bunt off the bat of Cesar Hernandez. Archer was also dominant through the second and third innings — having thrown 40 pitches to that point (29 strikes) — allowing only a pair of runners to reach on a pair of base hits (including an infield single) yet things began to unravel in the fourth.
Chase Utley opened the inning with a line drive base hit to Kevin Kiermaier in center field, and Ryan Howard hammered an 88 MPH change-up to right — his first homer of the spring. Manager Kevin Cash allowed Archer to collect one more out — an infield popper to Asdrubal Cabrera at short — before pulling him in favor of Enny Romero. Romero got through the frame cleanly, racking up a strikeout along the way.
Archer threw 47 (35 strikes, 74% K/BB) pitches over the course of his start and collected three strikeouts (all swinging) along the way, including one against Howard in the second inning.
Howard talked about his strikeout and homer — also on a change-up — with Todd Zolecki (MLB.com),
He left a change-up up. I had a good pass at it. I feel like my first AB, felt good, felt like I was seeing the ball pretty well. He threw me a good change-up early on to strike me out, 3-2. But, the second AB, change-up up, put a good pass on it.
Archer also spoke of his ill-fated fourth inning change-up,
When you don’t execute something that’s 88 mph and you have a 30-home run, 100-RBIs guy, if you don’t execute, it’s going to get banged. And we have a lot of those guys in our division. … [It was a] 0-0 change-up, couldn’t-put-it-on-a-tee-any-better home run.
Still, as Archer told Marc Topkin (Tampa Bay Times), he was pleased with his work overall, and said there’s a learning moment in allowing the home run to Howard.
Unfortunately the offense couldn’t get anything started against the Phillies. Longoria proved to be the spark plug at the plate after going 2-3 with an RBI, yet Kiermaier, Cabrera, Desmond Jennings, John Jaso and Curt Casali seemed thoroughly baffled in the box — combining to go 0-16, with only three of the five reaching on a pair of walks and an error. This isn’t to say there weren’t scoring opportunities; Tampa Bay put together threats in the fourth and sixth innings. However Philadelphia’s hurlers clamped down and made the big pitch when they were needed the most. Meh, it’s only Spring Training.
The New What Next
According to MLB.com Tampa Bay will use something closely approximating his Opening Day lineup for the second straight game Tampa Bay faces off against Baltimore in Sarasota. RHP Nathan Karns will take the hill in his third start of the spring. Jose Dominguez, Jeff Beliveau, Steven Geltz, Jhan Marinez and Robert Zarate are also scheduled to pitch.
Rays 3/14/15 Starting Lineup
DeJesus RF
Forsythe 1B
Cabrera SS
Jaso LF
Rivera C
Franklin DH
Kiermaier CF
Beckham 2B
Elmore 3B
Karns P
Noteworthiness
Another bout of bad news for Tampa Bay, pitcher Alex Colome will not make his Grapefruit League debut this weekend, after being diagnosed with pneumonia. You may recall, Colome didn’t report to camp until last Tuesday because of visa problems, and now he is out indefinitely because of the respiratory illness.
The Rays skipper told Paul Hagan (MLB.com),
He’s got a case of pneumonia. [He] went to the doctor, they’ve got him on antibiotics and then they’ll just monitor it. He’s going to be out a little bit. So we’ll wait. We don’t have everything quite yet. We’ll know more tomorrow. But he will not be pitching this weekend.
The manager added that Colome is in good shape otherwise,
The good thing is he did come in shape. His arm was good. He was keeping up to speed with everything. Hopefully this doesn’t set him back too much.
While the team should know more soon about a schedule for Colome’s recovery, it seems likely the number five candidate would need at least a week just to get back on the field. Additionally, Colome would have to rebuild his arm strength.
Cash didn’t seem overly concerned about the state of the starting rotation. While no date has been set for Drew Smyly’s return to throwing off the mound, he isn’t worried about the lefty who is penciled in as the team’s number three starter.
I think a lot of pitchers go through this in Spring Training where their arm barks a little bit, gets dead, dead arm phase, whatever it is. I’m really not that concerned, Cash said. I think the biggest thing is that he was thrown out of whack a little bit this offseason. We’re being very cautious on our end, making sure that he’s good to go when he is. But everything from him, he’s kind of champing at the bit.
12:15 Update: Alex Colome has been hospitalized in Port Charlotte for treatment of pneumonia. Team officials said Colome is being treated with antibiotics and could be released by the end of the day today or Sunday.
The severity of the illness means Colome is likely to be sidelined for an extended period of time, which is not good for a team that is already facing the potential of beginning the season less two starters.
There was a scare with outfielder Steven Souza Friday afternoon, after he slowly made his way down the first base line on a second inning ground out to short. Although Souza went up the tunnel with trainer Ron Porterfield, he rejoined the team on the field in the home half of the inning. Souza told Topkin he’s fine. As for the mysterious injury? Souza slipped and rolled his left ankle a little in the second, but it felt better as soon as he got to dugout.
Steven Souza got the scoring started with a solo shot in the Rays’ eight run fifth inning, Thursday. (Photo courtesy of the Tampa Bay Rays)
After putting together an abysmal, MLB worst, 1-5-1 Spring Training record — as if that kind of stuff really matters — the Tampa Bay Rays notched a pair of big wins, including a high scoring 10-3 routing of the Toronto Blue Jays, Thursday afternoon. Steven Souza and Logan Forsythe came up big Friday afternoon, while the pitching staff racked up an impressive 14 strikeouts.
Alex Cobb got the start Thursday afternoon and put together a 2-1/3 inning, 47 pitch (30 strikes, 64% K/BB) outing. The Rays ace looked sharp in the first inning and needed only 15 total pitches to get through the frame, notching a pair of strikeouts along the way. Yet things began to fall apart for Cobb in the second inning after allowing a run to score on three hits, and following with two more runs in the third on a walk and two hits, giving the Blue Jays a three run lead. Cobb was pulled from the game with one out in the third.
In an interview with Bill Chastain (MLB.com) following his outing, it became clear that Cobb viewed this start as a growth moment,
You can either hang your head and walk out the door and be upset about it. Or you can find some positives out of it and try to use that to make yourself better and grow for the season. By no means am I doubting myself. There was some good stuff that happened that I can learn from.
Thanks to our friends at DRaysBay, we have video of Alex Cobb’s post-outing presser:
[youtube_sc url=”https://youtu.be/80S02hHttx4″]
This kind of outing is bound to happen in Spring Training, and it is better that it occurs now as opposed to the ensuing five months of the baseball season.
Mark Buerhle, who got the start for Toronot was, well… Mark Buerhle, and he stifled the Rays over the course of his 3-1/3 innings of work (per usual), scattering only two hits while striking out a pair of batters.
Despite being down by three runs, the Rays offense came alive in the fifth inning, thanks in part to Souza and Forsythe.
Souza put Tampa Bay on the board after he launched a deep solo-shot to left field, on a hanging breaking pitch that Marco Estrada left over the plate. Catcher Rene Rivera followed suit with an extra base hit of his own, crushing a double to the corner that one hopped the wall. With a runner on second and only one out, Tim Beckham joined in on the fun, driving in Rivera from second and putting the Rays behind by a run. Tampa Bay, however, was far from done.
Beckham made to third on a Desmond Jennings base hit, putting runners on the corners. And while David DeJesus popped into an unproductive out, Jennings took it upon himself to get into scoring position by swiping second with Nick Franklin at the plate. Franklin responded in kind, dribbling an infield hit that allowed Beckham to score from third and Jennings to advance 90 feet. Allan Dykstra sounded the death knell for Estrada by uncorking a massive RBI double off the top of the wall in right, giving the Rays a 6-3 advantage. Finally, with Matt West on the hill, Forsythe capped off the eight run, eight hit inning with a two-run blast to left center.
In the meantime, the Rays pitchers shut down the Jays following Cobb’s 2-1/3 innings of work. CJ Riefenhauser, Brandon Gomes, Ernesto Frieri, Kevin Jepsen, Jordan Norberto, and Kirby Yates worked around six base runners (two hits, four walks) in their combined 6-2/3 innings of work. Moreover, the aforementioned six pitchers rang up 10 batters for a grand total of 14 strikeouts. Jepsen and Frieri were particularly impressive, with the duo combining to strikeout four — all swinging.
The duo will be particularly important to the Rays in April while Jake McGee continues to mend from arthroscopic surgery on his elbow.
Franklin singled in another run in the eighth inning on a grounder through the right side; Corey Brown also came around to score on Chris Colabello’s fielding error on the same play, giving the Rays a mighty seven run advantage.
The New What Next
Chris Archer will make his third start of the spring against Joely Rodriguez and the Phillies in Clearwater, Friday afternoon. Of note, Archer has been working on his change-up and a quicker delivery to the plate with runners aboard. Also scheduled to pitch are Jim Miller, Mike Montgomery, Everett Teaford and Grayson Garvin.
Rays 3/13/15 Starting Lineup
Kiermaier CF
Jennings LF
Cabrera SS
Longoria 3B
Jaso DH
Souza Jr. RF
Loney 1B
Franklin 2B
Casali C
Archer RHP
Noteworthiness
Tampa Bay made the first roster moves of the spring, reassigning top prospect Daniel Robertson and Boog Powell to minor-league camp. The Rays skipper was reportedly impressed with what they did and how they did it, telling Marc Topkin (Tampa Bay Times),
I don’t know much you value first impressions, but they couldn’t have any better for both of those guys. Makeup was great, they really communicated well with the coaching staff, asked good questions. And when they got their opportunities they made the most of them for the most part. I don’t think it could have gone any better for those two guys, and for us as an organization, to look at like, wow, we got two really good players.
The Rays brass feel confident in their decision to hire Cash, so much so that they reportedly inked “an almost unprecedented five-year deal” with Joe Maddon’s predecessor — not bad for a first time manager with no managerial experience. According to Jon Heyman (CBS Sports), Matt Silverman expressed great faith in the former big-league catcher,
Rays general manager Matt Silverman declined comment on Cash’s deal. But he expressed great faith in the former big-league catcher, who is the youngest manager in baseball at 37 with a thin resume after his playing career, understandable since it didn’t end until this decade.
Silverman provided a glimpse on why the team is so high on Cash,
Kevin is a great communicator. He has a keen baseball mind. He’s the kind of guy who can be on the forefront of the changes in the game for years to come.
Cash coincidentally discussed how fortunate he and Matt Silverman are to take over a franchise with MLB Radio:
