Looking Backward While Moving Forward: Rays Tagged the Yankees For 11 Runs, and the Sun Came Out Again

The Rays came back to beat the Yankees in grand fashion Friday night, beating up the Bronx Bombers by a score of 11-5 in front of 26,079 fans at Tropicana Field.
The Rays came from behind to beat the Yankees in grand fashion Friday night, beating up on the Bronx Bombers by a score of 11-5 in front of 26,079 fans at Tropicana Field.

The Rays came from behind to beat the New York Yankees in grand fashion Friday night, beating up on the Bronx Bombers by a score of 11-5 in front of 26,079 fans at Tropicana Field. The Rays put a halt to their four game skid, while the offense reasserted itself. Since I live blogged the game from section 143, the following recap will be of the game peripherals sort. You can read our blow-by-blow account of the game at our Tumblr page.

Game Peripherals

  • First, it’s not easy to quantify emotions. Besides, I’m no mathematician and I’d rather spend the time dealing with those emotions, rather than assigning an algorithm to them. If I may, the leverage index graph (below, provided by Fangraphs) accurately depicts my emotional state throughout the course of the (almost) four-hour contest.
This Fangaphs generated graph accurately depicts my emotional state throughout the course of the (almost) four hour contest.
This Fangaphs generated graph accurately depicts my emotional state throughout the course of the (almost) four-hour contest.
  • Erik Bedard entered the game with a meager task lingering on his shoulders: keep the Rays in the game. He did well in the first, third, and (most of) fourth innings. However, he was tagged for four runs (all earned) in the second — an inning which spelled his fate. Brian McCann led off the inning with a single to center. Yangervis Solarte followed with a single of his own, moving McCann to second. Former Ray Kelly Johnson reached on a fielder’s choice to first, moving the runners up, and bringing Scott Sizemore to the plate. With only one out and danger looming, Sizemore cleared the bases with a hard hit, three RBI double to center. Ichiro Suzuki was next, reaching on a contentious bunt single to third. Despite being called out initially, Girardi came out to dispute the call and the play was overturned, putting runners on the corners with only one out. Brett Gardner reached on the second botched fielder’s choice of the inning, plating the Yankees fourth run, and the captain finally put the inning to rest when he grounded into a double play.
  • Bedard almost sailed through the fourth inning, if not for a botched double play. Though I’d call myself a Bedard detractor, the score should have been 3-0 (if not 2-0) when he left the game. The second inning misplays proved costly. Bedard wasn’t great, but he was better than his four run line may have suggested.
  • Brad Boxberger came on in relief and was insanely good. Boxberger did what Bedard wasn’t able to, stabilizing things throughout his two innings of work. He allowed Alfonso Soriano and Solarte to reach on a pair of fifth inning walks, though he appeared to be pitching around the two in order to get to Kelly Johnson, who hit an inning ending soft popper to right. Boxberger impressively induced soft contact throughout his 30 pitch (17 strikes) outing. He was optioned back to Triple-A Durham following the game. Joe Maddon acknowledged he was a big reason the Rays won Friday night. I can’t wait to see Boxberger get recalled in the future.
  • The Rays were down until the seventh inning when they started to put the clampdown on the Yankees. Overall, Tampa Bay tagged the Evil Empire for 11 runs on 15 hits, including two James Loney and Ryan Hanigan doubles, and a Sean Rodriguez two-run homer in the eighth. Loney ended his night by going 2-4, with four runs batted in. Wil Myers was Myers was 3-4 in RISP situations. Could he be coming around?
  • Tampa Bay scored only 14 runs total in their previous three series’. They’ve come back to score 13 runs in their last two games, while going 4-for-8 wRISP last night, and scoring all 11 of their runs Friday night with two-outs. The Rays went 42 innings without a lead until James Loney doubled home two runs in the seventh.
  • After a hideous three hit-by-pitch performance, Cesar Cabral was DFA’d by the Yankees. 

The New What Next

Chris Archer will face off against Ivan Nova Saturday, when the Rays take on the Yankees in the third game of their current four game set. Nova has been knocked around a bit this season, though the Rays, historically, have had a hard time with the 27 year-old RHP. You can read about the match-up, and so much more, in our series preview.

Rays 4/19/14 Starting Lineup

DeJesus CF
Zobrist 2B
Joyce DH
Longoria 3B
Loney 1B
Myers RF
Rodriguez LF
Escobar SS
Hanigan C
Archer P

Noteworthiness

  • With the Rays optioning Brad Boxberger back to Triple-A, left-handed reliever CJ JRiefenhauser, whose 12-letter last name ties Jason Isringhausen for longest in club history, has been called up. Of note, Riefenhauser was the only relief pitcher selected to Baseball America’s 2013 minor league all-star team.
  • I absolutely love this tweet by Joe Maddon:

Screen Shot 2014-04-19 at 10.09.00 AM

Looking Backward While Moving Forward: When It Pains, It Roars

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You can say that again.

Going into Thursday night’s game, the Rays easily had the advantage over the Yankees — on paper. After all, of the 10 times Price has opposed Sabathia, Tampa Bay won eight of those matchups with Price going 6-1 with a 2.68 ERA, while Sabathia was 1-6 with a 6.11 ERA in his previous eight starts against the Rays, and 0-5 with a 4.50 ERA in his past eight at Tropicana Field. Then again, nothing, on paper, has panned out for the Rays this season. Tampa Bay was able to beat RA Dickey, yet lost to Mark Buehrle. They were also able to beat Johnny Cueto, yet lost to Miguel Gonzalez. They’ve had a lot of fun against Grimmace (urm…Sabathia) in the past, yet they collectively looked like a dear in the headlights against the soft tossing lefty Thursday night. Tampa Bay dropped the first game of their four game set against the Yankees by a score of 10-2. Oof. A few game low-lights are below.

Game low-lights

  • First, a senryu if I may:

Lifeless at the plate
Our ace was ineffective
Sean Rod, triple play

  • After giving up a run in the bottom of the first, and the hitters did nothing in the top half of the inning, Price came back in the second and got beat up. First, he gave up a double to Scott Sizemore. Then Brian Roberts scorched a triple (yes, Brian Roberts), scoring Sizemore. Jacoby Ellsbury followed, scorching a triple of his own, easily plating Roberts. Derek Jeter singled, subsequently driving in Ellsbury, and putting the Yankees up 4-0. It bears mentioning, Brandon Guyer gave his best Sam Fuld impersonation by diving for a ball — yet his dive was approximately 25 feet behind the ball. 
  • Things started to look up for the Rays in the top of the second. Evan Longoria singled to center and Wil Myers walked, putting two on and nobody out. Sean Rodriguez, with an opportunity to put Tampa Bay right back into the game, stepped into the box and promptly GROUND INTO A TRIPLE PLAY. Over the span of his career, the designated rally killer has ground into two triple plays. A simple question: Is this a statistical anomaly, or something telling about Rodriguez as a hitter? I’d argue it’s the latter, not the former.
  • Once again, things started to look up for Tampa Bay in the fourth. Logan Forsythe led off the inning with a single. Longoria followed up with a weak grounder to Jeter. The Yankees captain tried to turn a double play, but he was too slow to second with his throw. In kind, Roberts tossed a poor throw to first that Sizemore had to leave the bag to grab. Longo was called safe at first on the error. A real opportunity presented itself with two on and no outs, and Myers at the plate. Instead, Myers stood in the box and watched as an 88 MPH meatball passed over the heart of the plate for strike one. When he made contact a pitch later, Myers ground into a momentum erasing double play. Wil Myers looks lost out there, with no seeming ability whatsoever to make an adjustment.
  • In the fifth, Price gave up back-to-back homers to Alfonso Soriano and Brian McCann. Price’s outing amounted to him heaving meatball after meatball into the zone, which the Yankees hitters used as batting practice.

The New What Next

Clark W. Griswold said it best,

“Worse? How could they get any worse? Take a look around you, Ellen. We’re at the threshold of hell! Ha ha!”

Erik Bedard will make his first start for the Rays tonight, toeing the rubber opposite of Hiroki Kuroda. Sure it’s Bedard, and sure he’ll, ideally, be serviceable at best. My question; Why make a big deal about the Rays three through five pitchers, when their ace and number two pitcher can’t get it done? You can read about Friday night’s matchup (and more) in our series preview.

Rays 4/18/14 Starting Lineup

DeJesus CF
Zobrist 2B
Joyce LF
Longoria 3B
Loney 1B
Myers RF
Forsythe DH
Escobar SS
Hanigan C
Bedard LHP

Noteworthiness

  • Tonight Erik Bedard will be the 21st starting pitcher used by Rays since 2008, three fewer than any other team (San Francisco Giants rank second).
  • “When you have all these kinds of adverse moments, like triple plays and line drives being caught, all that stuff, and then your best pitcher having a bad night, it just happens sometimes When you start lamenting it or crying about it or feeling sorry for yourself, that’s when it gets more profound.” — Joe Maddon
  • Marc Topkin wrote, “The Rays have always used data and metrics to position fielders. That trend has taken off, especially in the AL East, which has contributed to the Rays’ hitting woes.” On the subject of the use of sabermetrics, “I really believe with the buy-in by a lot of teams regarding defense, it makes offenses even less productive,” Rays manager Joe Maddon said. “And with the buy-in, all the metric stuff, it makes pitchers more effective. So there’s all this buying in going on everywhere all of a sudden, and I really wished they had not, because it really makes our job more difficult because now we’re looking in the mirror a lot more often. I really preferred (2008-10) whereas everybody thought we were nuts. … So when you’re talking about the razor-thin line between winning the league, this is a laser-thin line. We’re almost there and whatever comes after that.” 
  • A little ray of sunshine in the bleakest of moments; the Rays attendance is a hair under 20,000 (on average) so far this season. That number should continue to rise this series against the Yankees. Brett Morgan of Top Off the Trop put a positive outlook on things, writing, “I will continue to suggest that by supporting some key off nights and prime time games that we can upset the past balance of attendance and progress. It’s a young season but I really do think progress can and MUST be made here.” Whether it does or doesn’t depends on all of us. I, for one, would kill for an honest discussion of the Rays on the field, devoid of negative attendance talk.

 

Rays 4/17/14 Starting Lineup, Etc

I love when the race face off against Grimmace and the Yankees.
I love when the race face off against Grimmace and the Yankees.

Rays 4/17/14 Starting Lineup

  1. 2B: Ben Zobrist
  2. DH: Desmond Jennings
  3. LF: Logan Forsythe
  4. 3B: Evan Longoria
  5. RF: Wil Myers
  6. 1B: Sean Rodriguez
  7. CF: Brandon Guyer
  8. SS: Yunel Escobar
  9. C: Jose Molina
  10. LHP: David Price

Noteworthiness

The New What Next: Enter the Evil Empire — A Series Preview of Sorts

Ben Zobrist, center, carries his belongings out of the dugout after a baseball game against the Baltimore Orioles, Wednesday, April 16, 2014, in Baltimore. Baltimore won 3-0. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
Proof the Rays brought their bats on their recent nine-day road trip. Unfortunately for them, they didn’t use them. (Photo courtesy of AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

The Tampa Bay Rays return home Thursday following a 3-0 loss to the Orioles, and an abysmal 3-5 road trip. Suffice it to say, after going a combined 11-for-52 wRISP (21%), the Rays bats may have been in the dugout, but they certainly weren’t in the batters box. Tampa Bay has now dropped three in a row, while averaging under two runs per game over a ten-game span. Look at the bright side: The Rays are 7-8 after the first 15 games. Compare that to last season when Tampa Bay went 5-10 in the first two weeks of the season.

The Rays welcome the Yankees to the big top for a four game set. At 6-16 (against the Yankees) in their past 22 games at the Trop, the Rays will try to turn their misfortune around. The Yankees haven’t won a season series against Tampa Bay since 2009.

Much like the Rays, the Yankees are banged up. 1B Mark Teixeira, closer Dave Robertson and backup INF Brendan Ryan and C Francisco Cervelli have all been on the DL since opening day. SS Derek Jeter has missed a couple of games with quad issues, though was expected to return to the fold Wednesday night. Yet, the Yankees are atop the AL East with a 9-6 record, having won four in a row.

It bears mentioning, with a 5 IP/3 ER/3 BB/4 K slash line on 95 pitches (59 strikes, 62% K/BB), Jake Odorizzi put together a decent start Wednesday. Odorizzi kept the Rays in the game throughout his stint on the mound. In short, it is akin to what we should hope for (or expect, somewhat similar) out of Erik Bedard and Cesar Ramos, Friday and Sunday. It is essential for the bats to come to life — after all, three of their last six losses came by three runs or fewer. And if you accept the idea that a four run chasm is not an unbridgeable gap, the Rays could have won four of their last six games.

Rays and Yankees series starters.
Rays and Yankees series starters.
Rays and Yankees offensive production at home, away, and overall.
Rays and Yankees offensive production at home, away, and overall.
Rays and Yankees, by the numbers.
Rays and Yankees, by the numbers.

CC Sabathia: The Rays LOVE CC Sabathia. Thursday marks the 10th time Price has opposed Sabathia, and Tampa Bay won eight of those matchups with Price going 6-1 with a 2.68 ERA. Sabathia is 1-6 with a 6.11 ERA in his last eight starts against the Rays, and 0-5 with a 4.50 ERA in his past eight at Tropicana Field. Meanwhile, his velocity continues to plummet. Case in point, his first start of the season (against the Astros) when Sabathia’s fastball averaged 90.6 MPH, peaking at 91.6. The continued slowing of his radar gun readings has gone from “concerning” to “alarming,” while his ERA/FIP/xFIP/SIERA are all on a three-year rise. In short, facing the swarthy LHP could be just what the Rays need to jumpstart their offense. Key match-ups: David DeJesus (16-57, 7 2B, HR, 6 RBI), Yunel Escobar (11-36, 4 2B, 2 HR, 10 RBI, 3 BB), Ryan Hanigan (3-9, HR, RBI), James Loney (5-18, HR, 3 RBI), Evan Longoria (21-53, 6 2B, 6 HR, 13 RBI, 12 BB), Wil Myers (3-9, HR, 5 RBI), Sean Rodriguez (13-42, 3 2B, 3B, 2 HR, 6 RBI, 4 BB). 

Hiroki Kuroda: Per Rotowire, “Kuroda gave up four runs on six hits and three walks, while striking out five over 6.1 innings, in Saturday’s 7-4 win over the Red Sox.” Kuroda could be another godsend for the Rays. At 2-3 with a 7.36 ERA against the Rays over the last few years, Tampa Bay has had their way against the 39 year old RHP, tagging him for 26 runs (24 earned) in 29-1/3 innings of work. Overall, the Rays have slashed .268 BA/.321 OBP/.546 SLG/.867 OPS against Kuroda, with eight players posting a +.250 OBA. Key match-ups: David DeJesus (2-6, 2 2B, RBI), Yunel Escobar (4-16, 2B, BB), Logan Forsythe (1-3, BB), Desmond Jennings (3-11, RBI, BB), Matt Joyce (5-14, 3 HR, 3 RBI, BB), Evan Longoria (4-14, 2B, HR, 13 RBI, 5 BB), Wil Myers (1-2, BB), Ben Zobrist (5-12, 2 2B, 3B, 2 HR, 4 RBI, 3 BB).

Ivan Nova: Out of the starters listed for the series, Ivan Nova has been the toughest nut to crack for Tampa bay. The Rays, historically, have not fared well against the 27 year-old RHP. If his last outing speaks to anything, it’s how tough he can be on opposing batters. Nova bounced back from two bad outings to begin the season Sunday night, holding the Red Sox to two runs on eight hits over 7.1 innings. His velocity is down, as is his K/9. Still, if Sunday’s outing speaks to anything, it’s that Saturday could be a long day for the offensively strapped Rays. Key match-ups: David DeJesus (3-7), Desmond Jennings (6-22, 2B, 3B), James Loney 6-10, 3 BB), Evan Longoria (8-28, 2 HR,, 5 RBI, 2 BB), Wil Myers 3-12, 2B, BB), Sean Rodriguez (2-5, HR, RBI, 5 BB).

Noteworthiness

 

Stu Sternberg Makes A Comment, and the Media Goes Bananas

Tampa Bay Rays owner Stuart Sternberg, left, talks to fans on Opening Day. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)
Tampa Bay Rays owner Stuart Sternberg, left, talks to fans on Opening Day. (AP Photo/Chris O’Meara)

One of my favorite songs by Florida’s own Against Me!, is called Unsubstantiated Rumors Are Enough For Me (to Base My Life Upon). Though the lyrics aren’t necessarily pertinent to the Tampa Bay Rays Stadium debacle, I can’t help but feel the song’s title speaks to the Stadium Saga — if only loosely.

Why loosely… Or why at all?

A verifiable statement isn’t an unsubstantiated rumor; not in the least. In the case of Stu Sternberg, his tells are quite obvious. Sternberg isn’t happy in Tropicana Field (for a few reasons), and he wants his team to have a new facility. I can’t blame him. Furthermore, he would like the opportunity to vet a few different locations, throughout the region, for a new facility — not just, as many would have you believe, Tampa. I can’t blame him for that either.

I feel a certain level of frustration when I read the words of supposed journalists, who focus solely on one and only one point/issue, while ignoring the general context or the totality of an argument. This has become a rather common concurrence when speaking about the Stadium Saga. Ignoring the context, or the totality of an argument (or statement),  leads to unneeded hyperbole and zealotry. Case in point, a recent Associated Press article titled, Rays owner calls Tampa ‘very, very attractive’.

In the article, Sternberg was quoted as saying, “Tampa is obviously very, very attractive on the list, and we expect to at some point, hopefully sooner, look there as well as some other parts of the region,” during a panel at the MLB Diversity Business Summit. Sternberg went on to say, “We haven’t had the greatest success in attracting the what we call enough fans relative to the success we’ve had on-field, and we would like to explore other parts of the region, specifically Tampa and parts of St. Petersburg.”

Sports talk radio, among other media outlets, has been abuzz since news broke of Sternberg’s comments. Their obvious conclusion: Sternberg wants to look at Tampa, and Tampa only. Let’s break down what Sternberg actually said at the business summit.

Sternberg, indeed, said “Tampa is obviously very, very attractive,” however he also noted there are other locations “on the list,” meaning exactly what he said: he has his eye on few different locations. He also said he’d like to look in Tampa, “as well as some other parts of the region.” He wasn’t vague, he left nothing open to interpretation. Finally, and again, Sternberg blatantly said the Rays would like to explore other parts of the region, specifically Tampa and parts of St. Petersburg.

Was he asked specifically about Tampa in the business summit? One could only infer yes, based on the candor of his answer. Because of it, perhaps it’s unwise to jump to conclusions. After all, as the saying goes, “A man only has his word,” and we should take Sternberg at his word, devoid of spin and a lack of context.

Sternberg has essentially made the same argument, somewhat to a fault, for the better part of six years. That he said it once again is neither shocking or surprising. Rather, it’s fairly common place by now. Should his comments be heeded? Absolutely. Should his comments be misinterpreted or misappropriated? Nope. However, tell that to the contextual bandits who would like nothing more than to drive, or be a part of, the narrative. They can’t help but go bananas over anything, and everything, Tampa and Stadium Saga oriented.

In the end, Tampa is attractive… But so are other locations in the region. Can’t we just leave it at that for now?