X-Rays Spex – Page 488 – A Below fWAR Rays Fan Site

The New What Next: Rays Vs. Blue Jays — A Series Preview of Sorts

For the first time, fans will be able to walk all the way around the ballpark on a 360-degree walkway surrounding on the lower seating area. (Photo courtesy of Marc Topkin/Times)

Here we go! A month and-a-half (plus) of Spring Training have come to pass, and now we’re on the cusp of 162 meaningful games, in what could be the most successful season in the Rays (now) 16 year history — that is, if Sports Illustrated and ESPN’s predictions come to fruition.

I’ve been writing about all the moves Tampa Bay made in the offseason, and now it’s time to put the rubber to the road. If Spring Training was indicative of anything, it’s that not trading David Price, re-signing first baseman James Loney, acquiring free-agent closer Grant Balfour and trading for catcher Ryan Hanigan, reliever Heath Bell and utility-man Logan Forsythe may already be paying dividends. At 17-6-4, Tampa Bay walked away from Spring Training with their third Grapefruit League title in seven years. It bears mentioning: Tampa Bay went on to win the AL East the other two years (2008, 2010).

David Price has owned the Jays. The Rays ace has a 13-2 record and 2.45 ERA in 17 starts against Toronto since 2008 — including a complete-game shutout in 2010. And Price isn’t the only threat in the Rays’ rotation. Alex Cobb had the fourth-best ERA in the AL last year, among starters who threw at least 140 innings. Matt Moore had a dominant second half of last season, while Chris Archer finished third in AL rookie of the year voting behind Wil Myers.

Rays and Blue Jays Spring Training offensive statistics.

Untitled 4-1 — Rays and Blue Jays by the numbers (lite).

RA Dickey: Dickey has been tough on the Rays in the past, slashing .164 OBA/.229 OBP/.291 SLG/.520 OPS and relinquishing only 12 extra base hits (seven doubles, a triple, and four home runs) in his last two seasons of work. Granted he hasn’t had the best spring, in the controlled conditions of the Trop I’d imagine he could be deadly. Key match-ups: Ryan Hanigan (1-3, 2B, RBI), Logan Forsythe (2-8, 2 2B, RBI), Yunel Escobar (3-14, 2 2B, RBI), Ben Zobrist (5-22, 3B, HR, RBI, 3 BB), Matt Joyce (4-26, 2 HR, 4 RBI, 2 BB).

Drew Hutchinson: A slim right-hander with an assortment of pitches and tons of pitchability, Hutchison is a mid-90’s throwing fastball pitcher with some release point problems. A caveat: he has deception and has shown to get batters out even when his best stuff isn’t there.

Mark Buehrle: Buehrle posted an 0-2 record against the Rays in 2013, with a 5.76 ERA and a .310 OBA. Tampa Bay has had plenty of success against the 35 year-old lefty, with nine Rays posting a +.250 BA against Buehrle. Key match-ups: Yunel Escobar (5-14, 2B, RBI, BB), Ryan Hanigan (2-8, BB), Desmond Jennings (6-12, RBI, 3 BB), James Loney (5-15, 2 2B), Evan Longoria (8-25, 2 2B, HR, 5 RBI, 3 BB), Jose Molina (10-34, 2B, HR, 2 RBI, 4 BB), Wil Myers (2-6, 3 RBI), Sean Rodriguez (2 2B, 2 RBI), Ben Zobrist (5-14, 2B, 2 RBI, BB).

Brandon Morrow: Morrow put together a 2-3 2013 season, with a 5.69 ERA in 10 starts with the Blue Jays. A handful of Rays have posted decent numbers against the 29 year-old, right-handed fastball/slider/changeup pitcher. Key match-ups: David DeJesus (4-9, 2B, 2 HR, 4 RBI, BB), Desmond Jennings (7-13, 2B, 4 HR, 4 RBI, 4 BB), Matt Joyce (6-24, 2 2B, HR, 3 RBI, 2 BB), Jose Molina (3-11, 2 RBI), Sean Rodriguez (5-14, 2B, 2 HR, 6 RBI, 5 BB).

Noteworthiness

Baseball in Montreal? Hmph… “You’d think that surely there must come a point,” writes Andrew Stoeten of The Score, “when there is only so much sentimentality that one can stomach, but this afternoon’s matchup between the Jays and the Mets here was yet another tremendous feel-good exercise — especially with the 1994 Expos in the house, and 50,000 fans, bringing the stunning two-day total for le retour du baseball majeur à Montréal to over 96,000 — completing a storybook finish to the first step towards making a reality the big dream of bringing baseball back to this city.” Riding the wave of sentimentality, baseball fans are seeking to make Montreal a big league city once again.

Stoeten goes on to write, “It was about the appetite for baseball in this city — even in this crumbling facility. And that appetite — aided, perhaps just a little, by MLB’s current problem markets, and thoughts of overflowing toilets in the Oakland Coliseum, and the sparse crowds we’ll see next week in Tampa Bay — shone through unmistakably.”

But hold on one minute retroactive Expos fans, a few factors stand in your way of reaching your goal of leaching the Rays or the A’s. First, both commissioner Bud Selig, mentioned that MLB doesn’t want to move a team or expand. Furthermore, Rays principal owner Stuart Sternberg made mention that he doesn’t want to go anywhere out of the Tampa Bay area. “It is a great baseball city with very passionate people,” Sternberg wrote of Montreal in an email to The Wall Street Journal. “I cannot envision the Rays out of the Tampa Bay market, and we have no intention of attempting to move this team.” Not discussed by many is the $500M-$1B cost to actually make it happen.

Marc Topkin writes, there have been, “15 different DHs in Rays 17 openers, with Matt Joyce starting today.
Six Rays will have their first opening day in the majors Monday: Chris Archer, Logan Forsythe, Brandon Gomes, Brandon Guyer, Jake Odorizzi, and Wil Myers.
How have the Rays fared in Opening Day since 2008? 2008 at Baltimore 6-2 W, 2009 at Boston 5-3 L, 2010 vs. Baltimore 4-3 W, 2011 vs. Baltimore 4-1 L, 2012 vs. New York 7-6 W, 2013 vs. Baltimore 7-4 L

Rays Drop Game to Le Tigre, 6-3, Etc

The Tampa Bay Rays lost to the Detroit Tigers by a score of 6-3, in their final meeting (of the spring) against a big league lineup. There isn’t much to say about the Rays offensive output. Rather, to put it succinctly, the Tigers started a big league squad, and the Rays did not. Simple as that. There were a few noteworthy post-game positives.

Matt Moore’s 3 IP/7 H/3 ER/0 BB/4 K line doesn’t look too impressive. I’d argue however, there were a handful of upsides to his outing. Moore didn’t allow a walk — a huge improvement after a pair of multiple walk games. He also settled down after a four hit/two run first inning. It should also be noted that the third inning run had more to do with Jose Molina’s lackadaisical effort in blocking a pair of pitches in the dirt — which allowed Ian Kinsler to go from first to third following a lead off single — than it did with a lack of control by Moore.

“For me, personally, it’s a little bit easier to walk away from a game like this, where I was in a zone,” Moore said. “They beat me. I didn’t put them on. Try to work around some of those base hits, and we’ll be ready for the season.”

Grant Balfour and Josh Lueke put together impressive one inning outings; with Balfour working a stunning six pitch 1-2-3 fifth, and Lueke working around a leadoff base hit in the eighth, coming out unscathed. It also bears mentioning, Brandon Guyer mashed a two-run homer in the ninth off Drew VerHagen.

You can read a blow-by-blow account of the game at our Tumblr page.

The New What Next

Chris Archer will start Saturday afternoon, when the Rays travel to Montgomery to play the Biscuits, the Rays’ Double-A affiliate. It will be Archer’s final spring start before making his first start of the season Thursday night against the Blue Jays.

Rays 3/29/14 Starting Lineup

DeJesus LF
Myers RF
Zobrist 2B
Longoria 3B
Loney 1B
Jennings CF
Joyce DH
Escobar SS
O’Conner C
Archer RHP

Noteworthiness

Unlike Friday, Joe Maddon has put together a lineup filled largely with the Opening Day regulars. Marc Topkin writes, “Rays regulars will play most of (the) game today in Montgomery, Ala. (They’re) Also bringing six-to-seven minor leaguers on (the) plane for (the) day trip up and back.”
After putting together a lackluster spring, Erik Bedard has re-signed with the Rays. Cough… I guess he couldn’t find work elsewhere as he previously assumed. I digress. The Rays are in need of depth on the mound after the announcement of Alex Colome’s 50-game suspension. Per Jeff Todd of MLB Trade Rumors, “The Rays have agreed to re-sign left-handed starter Erik Bedard to a minor league deal, reports MLB.com’s Bill Chastain via Twitter. Bedard will provide the club with some depth in the upper minors.”
Todd also writes, “The Rays have added infielder Mike Fontenot on a minor league deal, tweets Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. Fontenot was released earlier today by the Nationals. The 33-year-old had seen at least some time at the Major League level in every season since 2006 before spending last year with the Rays’ Triple-A affiliate. He hit .264/.335/.379 in 120 games.”
The Rays finally unveiled the Charlotte Sports Park inspired Porch in center field, answering the questions over whether the 360 project would be done before Monday. It, indeed, will be. Marc Topkin snagged a few photos of the porch, you can see them below:

Rays Beat Orioles, 4-3, Take Grapefruit League Title

The Orioles ground crew readying the field ahead of Thursday evening's game. (Photo courtesy of Marc Topkin) — The Orioles ground crew readying the field ahead of Thursday evening’s game. (Photo courtesy of Marc Topkin)

The Tampa Bay Rays walked away from Sarasota Thursday night, (following a 4-3 win over Baltimore) with their third Grapefruit League title in seven years. To many, that may not be significant. To the astute follower of the Rays, however, Tampa Bay went on to win the AL East the previous two years — 2008 and 2010.

In his final start of the spring, Alex Cobb put together a good outing, posting a 4 IP/3 H/1 ER/1 BB/2 K line. The Maddux-like RHP impressively kept the ball on the ground, tallying nine groundouts. This isn’t to say it was all smooth sailing for Cobb; two of the three hits relinquished, and his sole run, came in the first inning, while Cobb was responsible for the fourth inning exit of Nelson Cruz, after he hit the Orioles outfielder with an errant, helmet-cracking, curveball.

“I don’t think any pitcher wants to hit a guy in the head,” said Cobb, “It was a curveball, you know. If anything, any pitch you could hit him with, you’d prefer it to be that. It still stinks to see a guy go down like that. I’ve heard he’s OK, so that’s good.”

When all is said and done though, Cobb did a good job of making the proper adjustments, calling his four innings on the mound “A good little last minute lesson.” Cobb went on to say,

“I was good. I came out in the first and I was a little bit uncomfortable and then really, made an adjustment and got comfortable and we got more aggressive with my fastball.”

A few other game highlights

Longoria was on a roll Thursday night, hitting a towering solo homer and a double to the left center gap.
James Loney, who’s having a great spring at the plate, hit another RBI double in the sixth inning.
Matt Joyce reportedly likes the leadoff spot, started the game with double down right field line, then beat the shift with a bunt single to third base for the second consecutive game.
Brandon Gomes put together another spotless outing, this time giving up no hits, walks or runs in his inning of work, while striking out two

The New What Next

LHP Matt Moore will start Friday afternoon when the Rays travel to Lakeland to take on the Tigers — Mother nature willing, of course. Moore will be making his first appearance since getting hit in the mouth by a line drive Sunday against the Red Sox. Also slated to see work are right-handers Josh Lueke, Grant Balfour, and Joel Peralta along with left-hander Jake McGee.

Rays 3/28/14 Starting Lineup

Joyce LF
Molina C
Betemit 1B
Myers RF
Forsythe SS
Rodriguez 3B
Guyer CF
Olmedo 2B
Leonard DH
Moore LHP

Noteworthiness

Maddon said Wil Myers is fine after being hit by pitch Wednesday. He’s scheduled to play Friday, in Lakeland.
INF Jayson Nix hasn’t been released, and the Rays have given him a lot of time to think about his options. Maddon reportedly hopes he stays.
Nothing has been made official on the final bullpen spots, but indications are that Brandon Gomes and Josh Lueke will make team — as we predicted late last week.
The rotation has been set: Price, Cobb, Moore, Archer, Odorizzi. I’d have thought Archer and Moore would’ve been flip-flopped. Then again, I’d also imagine Maddon was going for variation in pitching styles, as well as separating the lefties and righties.
Maddon on clinching the Grapefruit League title, “Let the grapefruit juice flow — and make sure it’s Tropicana.”
The Rays announced the ninth straight home opener sellout for Monday. I hope you all got your tickets!
It looks as if the Rays 360 project is done. Note the added walkway and the change of the Batter’s Eye to The Porch in the picture below.

Rays Tie O’s, 4-4, Our Daily Photo Contest, Etc

Goodnight Charlotte Sports Park, see you again next year. (Photo courtesy of Marc Topkin)

The Tampa Bay Rays walked onto the dusky field at Charlotte Sports Park for the last time of the spring Wednesday evening, and walked away with their fourth tie of the Grapefruit League season, this time matching the Baltimore Orioles by a score of 4-4. Wednesday night’s contest could easily be summed up thusly:

By calling it the Matt Joyce and Spencer Edwards offensive show.
David Price let the Orioles take advantage of him with two outs, in his last outing before Opening Day.
Grant Balfour, Juan Carlos Oviedo, and Brandon Gomes put together solid outings.

All four of the Rays runs could be attributed to two men — Tampa Bay’s defacto DH Matt Joyce, and a speedy minor leaguer named Spencer Edwards. Joyce, in the leadoff spot, started the game by laying down a beautiful bunt to the left side of the infield, beating the shift. James Loney moved Joyce to third on a liner to center, while Evan Longoria brought him home on a shallow sac fly to Nelson Cruz to right. Of interest, Joyce challenged Cruz for the first of two plays at the plate. Evan Longoria plated his second RBI on a soft single to Nelson Cruz, scoring Matt Joyce from third. Cruz attempted to gun Joyce down at the plate, but sailed an errant throw well over the head of Matt Wieters. The Rays were undoubtedly testing the arm of Nelson Cruz, and beat of the Orioles’ right fielder on both occasions — something Joe Maddon assuredly took stock of.

In the bottom of the seventh inning, Wil Myers was hit by a Darren O’Day pitch. Though he was fine, Maddon chose to pinch him in lieu of a speedy minor leaguer named Spencer Edwards. Wilson Betemit was next at the plate and sent a liner to center field, scoring Edwards from first. Then Edwards walked and quickly stole second with one out in the bottom of the ninth — subsequently making his way to third on an errant throw. The young outfielder came home on a Ray Olmedo fielder’s choice and an error, knotting the game at four.

When Rays ace David Price was on, he was great. However, he had a hard time at putting the Orioles away with two outs, in his four innings of work. Posting a 4 IP/5 H/3 R/1 BB/5 K line on 73 pitches (49 strikes), Price relinquished a pair of fourth inning, two-out runs, thanks to an RBI double by former Ray Delmon Young, and a Steve Lombardozzi single to left field. All told, all of the southpaw’s runs came with two outs. Price said he felt good with his outing, though he wasn’t pleased that he let the innings get extended with two outs.

Grant Balfour, Juan Carlos Oviedo and Brandon Gomes followed Price, and were excellent. The three combined for three innings of two hit/two strikeout ball, while Gomes continued his streak of excellent Spring Training pitching — inducing a weakly hit Chris Marrero ground out, and an inning ending double play by JJ Hardy. Gomes showed why he earned his spot on the Opening Day roster.

The New What Next

RHP Alex Cobb will make his final start of the spring Thursday, when the Rays travel to Sarasota to play the Orioles. Cobb pitched seven innings against the Orioles on Saturday and allowed three runs on six hits while striking out 12.

Rays 3/27/14 Starting Lineup

(Photo courtesy of Roger Mooney/Tampa Tribune)

Noteworthiness

We’ll be giving away some swag daily, leading up to Opening Day. All you have to do is name the Ray pictured (below), by way of a comment here or on our Facebook page, or by sending your answer to: belowaverageraysfansite@gmail.com. Be the first to do so, and you’ll win something — be it a Raymones shirt or a sticker. It’s as simple as that! You’ll be prompted to send us your address so we can send you your prize.

The only caveat: your pictured clue will be the eyes of the player or member of the coaching staff, nothing else. Good luck!

The Sun Came Out but the Bats Did Not, Roster Moves, Etc

What a difference a day makes. The Rays took on the Red Sox in Port Charlotte, Tuesday. (Photo courtesy of Marc Topkin)

Tampa Bay faced the Red Sox in Port Charlotte Tuesday, in what was their second to last home game of the Grapefruit League season. Unfortunately, the major league baseball leading (record wise) Rays fell to Boston by a score of 4-2 in, what could be described as an offensive blackout. All was not lost however; the pitching staff was great for the most part, and the fielders flashed some leather on this windy and cool South Florida day.

I live blogged the game, and you can read a blow-by-blow account of the contest at our Tumblr page. Otherwise, peruse a handful of game highlights, and other verbal bric-a-brack, below.

Click the screen shot to be redirected to our Tumblr page, for a blow-by-blow account of the game. — Click the screen shot to be redirected to our *Tumblr* page, for a blow-by-blow account of the game.

Jake Odorizzi looked good in his final outing against major league hitters, ahead of the regular season. Posting a 5 IP/4H/3R/2 BB/5 K on 92 pitches (58 strikes) line, Odorizzi was pleased with his outing, mentioning he was more relaxed since winning the number five spot in the rotation. His split/change looked good, though more impressive was his curveball which was quite whiffy. With the exception of a few mistakes, Odorizzi was solid. His next start will come Sunday in a minor league appearance.
Joel Peralta, Jake McGee, and Josh Lueke followed Odorizzi (after Cesar Ramos, that is) and combined for three total base runners, on two walks and hit, while striking out two.
The Dipsy Doo??? Peralta threw a side-armed/three-quarter arm slot pitch — with a lot of movement — to Dustin Pedroia in the seventh inning. Orestes Destrade summed up the pitch by noting it had a little “Dipsy Doo” to it. Well then. If anything, it serves as yet another potent weapon in Peralta’s aresenal.
Jake “Mr. 93% fastballs thrown in 2013” McGee struck out Jonny Gomes swinging at a curveball, following that with a swinging strikeout of Grady Sizemore on a 96 MPH fastball that was up in the zone.

The New What Next

David Price, who improved to 2-0 one the spring in Sunday’s 8-4 win against Boston, will get the start against the Orioles Wednesday night. Price allowed two runs on three hits and one walk, while striking out seven in 6-2/3 innings. Price has posted a 2.70 ERA through three starts. He has 15 strikeouts in 13-1/3 innings, while issuing two walks and hitting three batters. The contest against the AL East rivals will be the last home game of the spring.

Rays 3/26/14 Starting Lineup

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

Noteworthiness

Joe Maddon announced a few roster moves (official or otherwise) following Tuesday’s game, noting that Mark Lowe, Jayson Nix, and Wilson Betemit won’t be on opening day roster, though nothing has been etched in stone. Brandon Guyer has made the Opening Day roster though, which makes sense on a couple of different levels; he’s had a pretty good spring — especially in the field, and he’s out of options. Maddon said he hopes RHP Mark Lowe, and INFs Wilson Betemit and Jayson Nix remain in the organization — that they fit team extremely well. Betemit said he’ll go to AAA unless he gets a big league offer elsewhere. Meanwhile, the Rays released Mark Lowe in advance of his Friday opt-out, Which was expected when he didn’t make team. However, Tampa Bay Times’ Joe Smith tweeted, “Lowe still has jersey and hats in locker.”
On the subject of Guyer making the roster, the Rays fourth outfielder said he’s really excited to make team, going on to say “(I’ve) been working my entire life to make the Opening Day roster.”
Ray Olmedo and Mayo Acosta have been reassigned to minor league camp.
The bullpen is not set, Maddon said, that “It’s not automatic Gomes and Lueke are on.” Marc Topkin asserts something else could be in play.
Per Marc Topkin, Joel Peralta says suspended RHP Alex Colome is “frustrated,” that he “doesnt know what was the deal, why he tested positive.”
I’ll post more roster moves as the chips fall into place.
Don’t forget, a new batch of Raymones shirts arrived Monday, just in time for Opening Day! Want one? They’re currently available at our Big Cartel powered merch store. If you place an order one no later than midday Thursday, you should receive it ahead of the 4:10 first pitch, Monday. Of course you could always throw in some extra dough for expedited shipping as well. Don’t forget, you can snag one from Star Booty as well, conveniently located a few doors down from the State Theater on Central Ave, in the Sunshine City.