X-Rays Spex – Page 489 – A Below fWAR Rays Fan Site

Odds and Ends Following A Rainy Monday

The scene in Ft. Myers on a rainy Monday. (Photo courtesy of Marc Topkin)

Update: The Rays have released pitcher Erik Bedard, tweets Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times.

Any meteorologist around these parts would assure you that this is the dry season in Florida. Yet Tampa Bays’ finest were met with a steady curtain of precipitation in what could/should be called a wasted a trip to Ft. Myers, Monday. After another Grapefruit League rainout — the second of the spring, I’m sure the Rays would need more than the assurances of Joe/Jane Meteorologist of the “Dry Season Hypothesis.” Since there wasn’t any game action to recap, I’ll take this opportunity to sum up some odds and ends.

Scheduled starter Chris Archer threw in the cage in Port Charlotte to keep the rotation on schedule.

Monday brought the news that Rays prospect Alex Colome has been suspended for the first 50 games of the season, for a positive steroids test. The 25-year-old RHP tested positive for Boldenone — an anabolic steroid used primarily for veterinary use in the treatment of horses — the commissioner’s office said Monday.

Of interest, following a short stint with the Rays last season, Colome was placed on the disabled list with an elbow strain, and never returned. There was never any follow up as to why a good pitching prospect would miss two months with an elbow injury. I’m not certain whether the suspension and the inactivity following the elbow strain are connected.

Whatever the case, Colome was to start in Triple-A as a key part of the Rays depth/insurance for the back end of the rotation. The organization said in statement that they are “disappointed” in Colome’s violation, and will have no further comment.

Click the screenshot above, to be redirected to a collaborative piece including thoughts on the Rays from contributors to DRaysBay, Rays Colored Glasses, and yours truly. — Click the screenshot above, to be redirected to a collaborative piece on the Rays off-season (among other things) from contributors to *DRaysBay*, *Rays Colored Glasses*, as well as yours truly.

I’m honored to have been included in a project — along with contributors to DRaysBay and Rays Colored Glasses — from the folks over at the Cards Conclave. If you’re an avid reader of X-Rays Spex, you’re probably familiar with some of the content discussed in this piece, titled Playing Pepper 2014: Tampa Bay Rays, at least from my point of view. Now is your chance to see what Ian and Robbie have to say, in kind.

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.

The New What Next

Monday’s game will not be made up, and the Rays’ pitching rotation will stay on turn, with Odorizzi starting on Tuesday and David Price following him Wednesday.

Rays 3/25/14 Starting Lineup

DeJesus CF
Myers RF
Zobrist 2B
Longoria 3B
Loney 1B
Joyce LF
Rodriguez SS
Molina C
Escobar DH
Odorizzi RHP

Noteworthiness

Erik Bedard’s status — whether he will remain with the team — remains unknown, according to Rays manager Joe Maddon. With the loss of depth, at least for 50 games, the addition of Bedard to the 40-man and/or minor league roster could prove valuable. Maddon said Monday, “I don’t know, because I know Andrew [Friedman] gave him time to think about it. I have not had a chance to speak to Andrew. … So I don’t know. Because I know we gave him a lot of latitude with the whole thing.” JoeMa went on to say, “”We want to really emphasize with him that he’s still a Ray. As of right now, he’s a Ray — we feel that way. We want him to stay. So I’m not worried about him missing work or anything like that. He’s stretched out and ready to go. So we’ll see what kind of decision he comes up with, or the interest in him by other teams is also a significant part of it.” The Rays should know more early Tuesday.
The Rays announced that all the x-rays on Matt Moore were negative. Moore has “light soreness” but, is not expected to miss a start. Moore went through a light workout Monday.

On PED’s: A Childhood Stained or Whatever

Tampa Bay Rays pitching prospect Alex Colome has been suspended for the first 50 games of the season for a positive steroids test.

By staff contributor, Michael Nazzaro

Today, the MLB announced that one the Tampa Bay Rays’ top prospects, Alex Colome, was suspended for PED. use. This is following the whole Biogenesis stuff from last season, which followed, well, countless other times where you find out the players you grew up idolizing cheated their way to baseball history. As a lifelong baseball fan, it’s disappointing.

I understand it. Well, I understand the best I can. I don’t play in the MLB, however I know it’s incredibly competitive and that while there are hundreds, thousands, of players laying in wait in the minors, only 25 guys are a major league roster. It’s an extremely clogged funnel and only the strongest break through, so any edge one gets, well hey, that’s baseball Suzyn.

But it sucks. For the lack of better word to describe it, it sucks. Maybe I’m the minority, but I love baseball for the skill it takes to play. I don’t need 70 home runs, I want a nail-biting chess match that ends 1-0. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I love a good blowout as much as the next guy, but close games are far more interesting.

I love the walk off win. What’s more exciting that being last guy up, 2 outs, bottom of the 9th, game tied and you get a ball in your wheelhouse and drive it. Whether it be over the fence or in the gap, it’s incredibly exciting.

This is why I fell in love with baseball. This is why I continue to love it. This is why I play it still. It just may be the only sport I wholly love because it doesn’t only involve athletic skill, but also a whole lot of strategy. It involves looking and stats, and numbers, and tendencies. A MLB manager can be criticized for not putting that one reliever in against that one hitter that always hits poorly against side-winding lefties who through a lot of breaking stuff. A hitter can lauded for finding the pitch they never hit and taking it long. I love that it’s difficult. I love that it’s not football, where you can be fat and wide and push guys and be on major football team. I like that it’s not basketball where all you have to be is tall and you can be a bench rider in the NBA. There are so many levels of strategy that come into it.

So screw PED’s. Screw Sammy Sosa, Mark McGwire, and Jose Conseco. Screw Tony Bosch and every player involved in the Biogenesis scandal. Super screw A-Rod. And screw Alex Colome. Stop making baseball into a joke. If you’re good, you’ll get there. If you can’t hack it, maybe baseball isn’t for you. But please, please stop with all the steroids, especially ones that are for horses.

Rays Crush the Red Sox 9-2, Matt Moore Hit By Line Drive

Rays LHP Matt Moore being attended to by the Rays trainer, after being hit in the jaw by a liner up the middle. — Rays LHP Matt Moore being attended to by the Rays trainer after being hit in the jaw by a liner up the middle. (Screen shot courtesy of Rays Index)

With just over a week to go until the Rays take on the Toronto Blue Jays at Tropicana Field, Joe Maddon and company made their way to Ft. Myers for the first of two match-ups, in the last week of the Grapefruit League season, against the Boston Red Sox. The Rays absolutely pummeled the defending world champs by a score of 9-2, though the game was not without drama.

Matt Moore got the start on the mound, and looked as though he was building on his previous two starts. Moore sailed through the first two innings, needing only 21 pitches to shut down the Sox A-Squad. But Moore got touched up in the third inning, ultimately relinquishing his only run of the game. Though he never gave up a hit, his command was spotty at best. The Rays southpaw walked four and threw 38 pitches before he got through the inning. He came back in the fourth and got the first two outs before he got hit by a line drive comebacker (by way of a deflection off his mitt) on the left side of his jaw. The Associated Press put things into perspective,

Moore got his glove up just in time to deflect a line shot by Boston’s Xander Bogaerts, recovering to throw out Bogaerts for the final out of the inning. Moore lifted his jersey up to his lip, which was bleeding.

But that also ended Moore’s outing as he was driven from the field, sitting up in a cart.

The Rays said Moore received a couple of stitches, but had no concussion symptoms. He will continue to be monitored.

Moore’s injury comes just four days after Reds closer Aroldis Chapman was hit in the face by a liner and had surgery to repair a broken bone above his eye.

Per Marc Topkin, Maddon said his sense is that Moore will be okay to start season but obviously depends on medical staff. Moore reiterated those thoughts, saying he doesn’t see any reason he wouldn’t be ready to start the season. The Rays lefty has a swollen and bloody lower lip and some pain on right side. He’ll undergo X-Rays Monday on his jaw and the roots of his teeth. Moore tweeted after the game,

He went on to say,

It happened really fast. It’s not like I tracked it the whole way in and I saw it hit my mouth. It was like boom-boom. Boom, there’s the ball, get it. Probably very fortunate this happened on a Sunday, the Lord’s day and maybe not another day. I definitely feel fortunate to just have it hit my mouth and not anywhere potentially more dangerous.

Moore was followed by Brandon Gomes — who was excellent in his two innings of work, inducing weak contact while striking out two — and Juan Carlos Oviedo; both of whom held a no-hitter one out into the seventh inning. For Oviedo, it was his first appearance of the spring, his first appearance as Oviedo (formerly Leo Nunez), and his first appearance in a big league jersey since September of 2011. Oviedo gave up a run on three hits and a walk, and was surprised by his velocity which reached the 90’s, noting he didn’t know if he’d gotten out of the 80’s. He also noted that he wasn’t sure how much longer he’d need to be ready.

Offensively, the Rays mashed nine runs on 13 hits (including five doubles and a homer) and three walks, going 5-for-14 wRISP, with four two-out RBI.

The offensive heroes of the day: Matt Joyce (2-for-4, R, 3 RBI, HR, .250 BA on the spring), David DeJesus (2-for-5, 2B, R, two RBI, .438 BA on the spring), and Desmond Jennings (2-for-3, R, 2 RBI, .389 BA on the spring). We’ll see if they can extend their hot hitting into the season.

I love blogged the meeting of the two AL East rivals. You can read a blow-by-blow account of the game at our Tumblr page.

The New What Next

The Rays will travel to Fort Myers Monday, to take on the Twins one last time in the spring. The Rays won the Knutson Cup last week, and are now seeking Spring Training dominance against Gardy’s boys. Chris Archer is slated to get the start for Tampa Bay.

Rays 3/24/14 Starting Lineup

Joyce RF
DeJesus LF
Zobrist 2B
Loney 1B
Betemit DH
Jennings CF
Forsythe 3B
Molina C
Escobar SS
Archer RHP

Noteworthiness

Marc Topkin writes, the “new batting order (is) more reflective of what Maddon said will be similar to (the) regular season — with Longoria of course.”
Also per Topkin, word in the Rays clubhouse is that Moore is okay, though he won’t cleared until noon when he gets X-Rays on his jaw. Alex Cobb talked to him, and said “he’s fine.” Cobb said he texted Moore “Welcome to the club” after seeing, on Twitter, he was hit. Moore has no more jaw pain and has been eating with no problem — both are encouraging signs.
Hak-Ju Lee will miss three-to-four weeks with a left calf strain, which is unrelated to his left knee injury/surgery from 2013.

Rays Tie O’s, 3-3, Pick the Fifth Starter (Updated)

Meet your fifth starter, Jake Odorizzi. (Photo courtesy of Will Vragovic/Tampa Bay Times)

Going into Saturday’s game against the Orioles, we all knew the big announcement of who would fill the fifth starter spot was just around the corner. The only question was when? And though the announcement was originally expected prior to the 1:05 game, we held our breath in anticipation for the end of the meeting of AL East rivals, while Alex Cobb put up a 12 strikeout outing in the game that ended in a 3-3 tie.

Cobb looked nearly un-hittable at times. The Rays RHP struck out the first three batters he faced en route to 12 total punchouts, over seven innings of work on 88 pitches (66 strikes). Even more impressive, Cobb didn’t get into a three-ball for the duration of his outing. Between all the strikeouts, however, Cobb gave up three runs on a few defensive miscues and hard-hit balls — including a massive solo blast over the scoreboard in center by former Ray, Delmon Young.

On Cobb’s outing, Joe Maddon said,

“He was outstanding. Great movement on everything — fastball, curveball, the changeup or splitter, whatever you want to call it, was really, really good. Everything that he’s been working on was really sharp today.”

Jake McGee, Joel Peralta, and Josh Lueke followed Cobb, and put together three innings of one-hit/one walk/two strikeout ball. Of interest, McGee threw a truly confounding curveball to Chris Davis, following it with a 95 MPH fastball to put away the Orioles slugger.

The Rays hitters jumped out to an early two-run lead thanks to a well struck, first inning two run homer to right field off the bat of James Loney. Ubaldo Jimenez settled in thereafter, holding Tampa Bay scoreless for the duration of his six inning outing. The Rays tacked on the tying run in the ninth inning when Alejandro Segovia singled on a soft fly ball to left, scoring Jonathan Quinonez from second.

After the game, Joe Maddon announced that Jake Odorizzi won the fifth starter spot, while Cesar Ramos would resume his role as the long-man in the bullpen. Maddon called it a very difficult decision. The Rays skipper said Odorizzi’s body of work set him apart, including what he did last September and his new split pitch, which is “spectacular.” Odorizzi said, he “Didn’t get much sleep last night, and said he was grateful to Alex Cobb for teaching him new change/split.” He also said he felt honored to be picked, noting any of the three could have gotten the spot in the starting rotation.

Maddon mentioned he was “highly impressed by Cesar Ramos,” said “he could see higher-leverage work from the bullpen and could start if needed in the future.”

Despite comments by Erik Bedard which gave the impression he’d be open to staying with organization, (if nothing else came up big league wise, that is) MLB insider Chris Cotillo broke the news that the veteran LHP opted out of his contract — even though the Rays hoped he’d the position in Triple-A. Plenty of organizations have been plagued by Tommy John surgery this winter, including the A’s and Braves, and one could assume that Bedard will find work elsewhere, and quickly.

The New What Next

The Rays hit the road Sunday to take on the Red Sox in Fort Myers. LHP Matt Moore is sscheduled to start for Tampa Bay, opposite of fellow southpaw Felix Doubront. Sunday’s game could also mark the return of outfielder Matt Joyce, who has missed the last three games due to a stiff neck.

Rays 3/23/14 Starting Lineup

Forsythe 3B
DeJesus DH
Myers RF
Jennings CF
Rodriguez 1B
Joyce LF
Hanigan C
Nix 2B
Olmedo SS
Moore LHP

Noteworthiness

A scary moment came in a Minor League game Saturday, when Hak-Ju Lee had to be pulled from the game early. Paul Casella of MLB.com wrote,

Rays No. 2 overall prospect, Hak-Ju Lee, left a Minor League game on Saturday after tweaking his left knee, the same one that cost him the entire 2013 season after he tore ligaments that required surgery to repair. Manager Joe Maddon said the shortstop’s removal was strictly precautionary and he does not expect Lee to miss substantial time.

Per Marc Topkin, “LHP Cesar Ramos, who lost out to Odorizzi, said he was disappointed but still excited to be in the big league bullpen.”

Matt Joyce is back in the lineup, and hitting sixth, for the first time since leaving Wednesday’s game with a stiff neck.

Rays Lose 5-0, Put the Decision On the Fifth Starter On Hold For the Moment

Evan Longoria in Port Charlotte, Friday. (Photo courtesy of Brett Morgan/Top Off the Trop)

The Tampa Bay Rays are coming off a 5-0 shutout loss against the Blue Jays Friday, in a game where LHP Erik Bedard was given one last opportunity to prove his worth to the Rays roster and starting rotation. Much akin to his last four Spring Training outings, Bedard did himself not favors by putting together a 5.2 IP/4 ER/8 H/1 BB/4 K/1 HR outing on 94 pitches (63 strikes). Rays manager Joe Maddon said entering the game that Bedard was very much in the thick of the competition for that final starting job, and a final decision is expected Saturday — though now we’re hearing there’s a chance the announcement will be delayed at least until later Saturday. Per a pair of Marc Topkin tweets,

Rays (are) not ready to name fifth starter, could be later today. Maddon says they are close to decision but need to talk again: “No white smoke yet.”

On the subject of his outing Friday, Bedard said he was happy with how he pitched and felt. He’s aware the fifth starter is “tough decision,” but believes he’s done enough. Further more, Bedard said he’d use the opt out clause in his contract if he doesn’t make the cut, and there’s an injury elsewhere. Otherwise, he’d go with flow and go to Triple-A Durham.

“I felt pretty good,” Bedard said. “I was throwing my breaking ball for strikes whenever, and I was also throwing my changeup and fastball,” Bedard said. “So I thought it was better than my other outing.”

As I mentioned the other day, I think the battle to be the number five starter will come down to Cesar Ramos and Jake Odorizzi, with Ramos (who’s had an excellent spring) ultimately winning the coveted spot. In that scenario, Josh Lueke would earn a spot in the bullpen by default, since he’s out of options. Then again, you never know. Maddon and Co. bequeathed Roberto Hernandez with the fifth starter spot last season, even though he had a lackluster spring.

The New What Next

The Rays will welcome the Orioles to Charlotte Sports Park Saturday, with RHP Alex Cobb slated get the start. He’ll be followed by setup men Joel Peralta and Jake McGee. Brandon Gomes and Josh Lueke, battling for the final spots in the Rays’ bullpen, are also scheduled to pitch. Former Ray (twice over) Delmon Young, whom Joe Maddon was quite impressed with Wednesday, will be in the lineup for Baltimore.

Rays 3/22/14 Starting Lineup

DeJesus CF
Zobrist DH
Longoria 3B
Loney 1B
Myers RF
Escobar SS
Molina C
Nix 2B
Guyer LF
Cobb RHP

Noteworthiness

Joe Maddon said if LHP Cesar Ramos is selected as the fifth starter, RHP Mark Lowe and RHP Brandon Gomes are options as long reliever.

Maddon on the fifth starter, it is “down to the cardinal from Argentina and the cardinal from Bologna. There’s no white smoke yet.”

No white smoke yet on the fifth starter, but it’s close. — Joe Maddon