X-Rays Spex – Page 531 – A Below fWAR Rays Fan Site

Looking Backward While Moving Forward: A Rumble Was Brewing in the Trop…

Jonny Gomes vs Luke Scott? Nobody wins in that fight...except all of us watching! — Jonny Gomes vs Luke Scott? Nobody wins in that fight…except all of us watching!

What to say about last night’s rumble in the ‘Burg that hasn’t already been said? Hmmm. I think Gordon Edes summed things up well,

“The object of the Rays’ ire was Sox starter John Lackey, who barked and gestured at their dugout in the second, then drilled Matt Joyce in the back with a fastball in the sixth, a “bush league move,” as Joyce described it afterward.”

The Boston Red Sox came out the victors of a 10-8, five-hour and 27 minute marathon, in what could be described as a very weird game. If I may, why does this kind of game always seem to happen when it’s being nationally televised on ESPN? I digress.

Last night’s match-up had everything — From a bench clearing aborted brawl, to a Rays team that could not seem to drive in runners in scoring position, who however was able to chink away at the armor of the Red Sox, ultimately grinding out eight runs. You guessed it, it’s time for another episode of The Good, The Bad, and The Argyle: A Bulleted Game Summary.

The Good

Alex Cobb did a good job of bouncing back after a six run first inning. In a very uncharacteristic start by Cobb, the Rays dependable RHP gave up six runs in a 39 pitch first inning — all with no outs. In fact, all of the Red Sox hitters got to face Cobb in the first, while eight men reached base on four singles, three doubles, and a walk. But something miraculous happened, Cobb wouldn’t relent another hit or run. In fact, he would only allow two other base runners on a pair of walks throughout the balance of his outing. It wasn’t easy, nor was it pretty. However I’m very encouraged by his ability to make adjustments in the game, which ultimately gave the Rays an opportunity to catch up to a Red Sox team that is — on average — outscoring is opponents by two runs per game, on the road. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not implying that his outing was sparkling — his line speaks to that, as does the fact that he and Moore have given up 15-runs over the course of nine innings. However, he was able clean things up, giving the Rays a fighting chance.
Ben Zobrist is an absolute beast! After a fairly quiet month of May, Ben Zobrist has started to pour it on. Zo went 5-for-7 with a run and an RBI Monday night, setting a career-high for the Rays utility player. Furthermore, he became only the second Rays player to collect five hits at the Trop. Going nine-for-13 with four doubles and one home run in the last three games, it’s nice to see Zo starting to come around.
Alex Torres did it again. Torres came on in relief of Alex Cobb in the fifth inning and looked great once more. Lasting a pair of innings, Torres was able to strike out four (a pair of swinging strikeouts on — you guessed it — his change-up), while inducing a weakly hit come-backer, and a line-out to left. Torres now has 13-1/3 innings under his belt, allowing only three hits, zero runs, and three walks. Did I mention that he’s wrung up 18 batters?
Watching the Rays offense grind it out was great. Forget that the Rays looked horrible wRISP — we’ll get into that below. Matt Joyce, Evan Longoria, James Loney, and Jose Lobaton all went yard Monday night, while Yunel Escobar went 2-for-5 and crossed the plate twice. They took advantage of quality pitched innings by Alex Torres, Joel Peralta, Jake McGee, and Jamey Wright, slowly and surely driving in a run or two — here and there — keeping the Rays in the game throughout the duration of the 14-inning marathon.

The Bad

Luke Scott, need I say more? I will. Luke went 0-7 Monday night, becoming the only player in the lineup — who started the game, that is — to not reach base even once. What’s more, the Rays designated out…urm, hitter stranded four men on the bags, while popping or flying out four times. I said it once, and I’ll say it again, “After Luke Scott’s less than outstanding 0-7 night at the plate, the initially far-fetched thought of cutting him in favor of Wil Myers has gained favor with many — myself included.”
The Rays looked horrible wRISP. Tampa Bay went 3-for-16 last night, while going 9-for-70 against the Red Sox this season. Comparatively speaking, they’ve hit .330 (148-for-448) with RISP against all other opponents. 13 men were stranded on base, including eight in scoring position. A runner was stranded at third in five different innings. Sure Cobb, Fernando Rodney, and Cesar Ramos gave up far too many runs. However, I’d argue that had the Rays hitters done their part when given the opportunities, Rodney never would have pitched two innings, and Cesar Ramos never would have given up the go-ahead runs in the top of the 14th, after putting together two scoreless innings prior to the final inning of the night.
The bottom of the 10th was particularly painful. The Rays could do nothing more with the bases loaded and no outs, after scoring a pair of runs on Jose Lobaton’s solo shot, and a Kelly Johnson bases loaded walk. Evan Longoria ground into a third to catcher to first double play, while Sam Fuld ground out to first on a surprise bunt. The bunt almost worked, but Pedroia read the play well, springing to the ball and getting it to the first baseman for the final out. Had Fuld dribbled it to the pitcher, Fuld is safe at first and the Rays win 9-8.

The Argyle

What you all have been waiting for, the aborted brawl. It all started in the second inning when Matt Joyce launched a massive 3-0 foul ball, that would’ve been a homer had it stayed fair — Joyce initially dropped his bat as if it had remained fair, this fact is relevant. After Joyce grounded out to end the inning, John Lackey was seen yelling something curt at the Rays dugout as he made his way off the field. In kind, Sean Rodriguez was seen yelling something right back him, but at that moment we didn’t know what either of them had to say. Fast forward to the sixth inning. With two outs in the Rays half of the sixth, Lackey drilled Joyce in the back. Though Lackey attempted to act like it was unintentional, it was obvious that the act was quite deliberate. Joyce clearly mouthed, “That’s bullshit” as he walked toward first base, and the benches cleared. No punches were thrown — surprising if you ask me, considering the personalities on each squad — and warnings were issued. Ben Zobrist followed the debacle with a single to right, moving a heated — angrily muttering — Joyce to third. He, arguably, could — and should — have scored from first, though he was held up at third to end the inning.
I mentioned that I’d talk a bit about how Matt Joyce’s bombastic foul, and Sean Rodriguez’s subsequent response to Lackey, applied to the aborted brawl. The folks at Rays Index delved into that very subject,

“Earlier tonight, John Lackey hit Matt Joyce and the benches emptied. This happened a few innings after Lackey got into a shouting match with Sean Rodriguez.Well, after the game, the Red Sox studio crew tried to explain the plunking of Joyce and boy do they sound like complete idiots. And if they are right, well the Red Sox are complete idiots.

The studio crew says Joyce got hit because he “dropped his bat” on a long foul ball after hitting a home run earlier in the game. They believe Joyce has not earned the right to “pimp” his home runs. Because apparently dropping a bat is “pimping a home run.”

To add to their idiocy, they point to Lackey yelling at the Rays dugout and say he is yelling at Joyce. YOU CAN SEE JOYCE IN THE PICTURE. Lackey is not yelling at Joyce.

They then go on to blame Luke Scott for the pushing and shoving as if Lackey never hit anybody on purpose. This is a hundred types of dumb. Here’s the video…

The New What Next

The Rays are back at it tonight, with a somewhat erratic Roberto Hernandez on the mound, and I’d imagine that warnings may be issued prior to the first pitch. He’ll be up against a very good Jon Lester. You can read more on the pitching match-up here.

Rays 6/11/13 Starting Lineup

Jennings CF
Rodriguez LF
Zobrist RF
Longoria 3B
Escobar SS
Loney 1B
Roberts 2B
Molina C
Joyce DH
Hernandez RHP

Noteworthiness

Jennings back in the leadoff spot, Johnson gets night off, and Joyce dropped to ninth vs LHP Lester.
The Rays have called up Jake Odorizzi — who was to start tonight for Durham — so there’s a fresh arm in the pen. In turn, Alex Cobb has been placed on the bereavement list due to death of his grandmother, and will miss at least three games.
Matt Joyce and Joe Maddon’s response to the events of last night were practically mirror images of one another. Joyce called Lackey’s actions, “bush-league,” while Maddon went on to chide Lackey, calling him a “bad teammate,” for potentially getting one of his own players hurt.
Per Roger Mooney of the Trib, “Price said he’s not heard from ump Hallion, who’s working series, about apology stemming from incident in Chicago earlier this season.”

Rays 6/10/13 Starting Lineup, Price Bullpen Session, Noteworthiness

Joyce RF
Zobrist 2B
Johnson LF
Longoria 3B
Loney 1B
Scott DH
Jennings CF
Lobaton C
Escobar SS
Cobb RHP

Noteworthiness

And don’t forget about our piece on Wil Myers, which you can read here.

David Price threw a 45-pitch bullpen session today, which included a handful of breaking pitches. All involved were reportedly pleased. Per Marc Topkin, Price said today was the “Best I felt all year.” He said it several times, and shouted it, jokingly. He went on to say that he could have pitched in game today. Price notably hit 99 MPH on the radar, in the second of three bullpen sessions before progressing to a simulated game Saturday. Price will head out on a rehab assignment thereafter.

Per Jim Bowden, Rays Will Call Up Myers In A Little More Than A Week

A quick, applicable, story. I was at Fergs last Wednesday night, along with — what seemed to be — every other Pinellas County Schools employee. Rays beat writer Marc Topkin was also there along with his wife, taking in the night’s end of the school year festivities. While watching Alex Cobb dominate the Tigers on one of the various televisions broadcasting the game, Topkin was peppered with a common question by many a few strangers, “When is Wil Myers expected to be called up from Triple-A?” His answer: Not in the near future.

Fast forward a few days — June 8 to be exact — when ESPN’s baseball analyst Jim Bowden tweeted,

Rumors of the impending promotion of Myers began circulating, but I suspect that Bowden may have jumped the shark.

We can only assume that Bowden was referring to the Super Two deadline looming on the horizon. Granted the assertion that the Rays would have no financial incentive to keep Myers in the minors from that point on, is a correct one. However, Bowden may have overlooked a glaring fact — there really isn’t much of a need for Myers at the moment.

First off, let’s talk about Super Two status for a moment. Daniel Russell of DRaysBay did an excellent job of simplifying Super Two status,

“Super Two status is determined by a date that can earn prospects called up for “most” of the season an extra year of market-value salary. Normally a prospect would only fight for market-value salary for the final three years of his contract through a process called arbitration. The team and player talk, and if they can’t reach a consensus on a fair salary, they go before an impartial judge.

If a prospect is called up two weeks shy of a full season’s plate appearances, he’s under team control for an extra year. If that same prospect is called up before the “Super Two” date, he is then eligible for arbitration in the final four years of his contract, as opposed to the final three.”

That is, the Rays would be able to get Myers for an extra year — sans arbitration — in approximately a little more than 10 days. But a player would need to be benched, demoted, or put on waivers in order to make room for Myers. Who?

Kelly Johnson, Matt Joyce and Ben Zobrist have all performed well at the corner outfield spots this year. I couldn’t imagine any of them getting benched in favor of Myers. To that end, either Sam Fuld, Sean Rodriguez or Ryan Roberts would need to be shipped out in order to make room for the Rays über prospect on the 25-man roster, and I doubt the Rays would sacrifice bench depth. Topkin noted a caveat — If the Rays are ready to give up on a struggling Luke Scott*, they could create playing time for Myers by rotating several players through the DH spot. However if they didn’t cut Scott, Myers would be a man without a position.

Furthermore, Joe Maddon has noted from the beginning that any promotion would be a baseball-motivated decision — the focus on player development is the most important consideration when speaking about Myers. Though he has put together an impressive .286 BA/.359 OBP/.515 SLG/.874 OPS slash line, and he is his hitting .380 with eight homers and 27 RBIs over the past 16 games, Myers has been tasked with working on a few things in Triple-A. Tampa Bay will more than likely play the game of wait and see in order to determine if those numbers hold true over the long-haul, or until there is a dire need for Myers on the 25-man roster. If the Rays way speaks to anything, it’s the process. Myers’ readiness will ultimately be dictated by his ability to string together good numbers at the plate and in the field with constancy, not because they can get him on the cheap.

*We here at X-Rays Spex LOVE that option.

The New What Next: Enter the Red Sox – A Series Preview of Sorts

Matt Moore can't look as Manny Machado rounds third en route to home on a J.J. Hardy's double in the second inning. (James Borchuck/Tampa Bay Times) — Matt Moore can’t look as Manny Machado rounds third en route to home on a J.J. Hardy’s double in the second inning. (James Borchuck/Tampa Bay Times)

The Rays will welcome the Red Sox into the Trop Monday, starting a three game set against their AL East rivals. This series, as with the previous series against the Orioles, promises to be an important one — Tampa Bay stands to make up at least a game against the AL East leading Red Sox. Just a few notes on Sunday’s game before we focus our attention on the upcoming series.

First, I won’t bore you with a complete game summary. You can check out my thoughts and observations of the game via our Tumblr page, where I live blogged the game from section 143 at the Trop.

Secondly, Matty Moore has dropped his second consecutive start. Win number nine has now eluded him in four starts — that is if you count the rain delayed game in Cleveland. Nevertheless, Moore missed handily with his fastball Sunday, throwing only 13 for strikes. I walked around the concourse at the Trop (editors note: Fatboy needed a slaw-dog and a soda), listening to Dave and Andy’s call of the game. One thing struck me. On the subject of Matt Moore’s breaking pitches, it was noted “If he doesn’t use it, he’ll lose it.” I suspect this could be a culprit: He was relatively rusty and became too predictable. Granted Moore was quite effective with his off-speed pitches, throwing his curveball for strikes 73% of the time, and his change-up for strikes almost 82% of the time. He however wasn’t able to throw quality strikes, leaving his pitches in very hittable spots within the zone. There’s also the thought that the league has finally adjusted to Moore, and he needs to adjust in kind. Alex Cobb was able to make the adjustment after getting beaten up by the Royals at the end of April, and the results speak for themselves. It’s now Moore’s turn.

Lastly, god bless the Rays offense. After scoring a run in every other inning, they were able to make the game interesting by scoring four runs late in the game, ultimately getting within three runs of the Orioles. Sunday’s loss was directly attributed to Matt Moore. From the offensive point of view, they should have won. Moving Forward.

The Red Sox are hot at the moment, having won six of eight after taking two of three at home against the Angels over the weekend. Then again so are the Rays, who’ve won 10 of their last 15 games.

Rays and Red Sox at home, away, and over the last 14 days

John Lackey: Per Rotowire, “Lackey’s string of consistent starts has a lot to do with finding the strike zone with his fastball, the Boston Herald reports. In Wednesday night’s start, Lackey threw 75 of his 108 pitches (69.6 percent) for strikes.” Lackey’s gone 3-6 with a 7.55 ERA in his last nine starts against Tampa Bay, dating to 2009. Boston has won five of six meetings with the Rays this year, with Lackey suffering the lone defeat after giving up five runs in 4-1/3 innings of a 5-3 loss May 14. Key match-ups: Yunel Escobar (7-13, 2 2B, RBI, 2 BB), Matt Joyce (5-15, HR, 5 RBI, 2 BB), James Loney (4-13, 2B, HR, 3 RBI), Evan Longoria (8-28, 3 2B, HR, 4 RBI, 3 BB), Sean Rodriguez (2-5), Luke Scott (7-18, 4 2B, 2 HR, 3 RBI, BB), Ben Zobrist (8-23, 2 2B, 3 RBI, 5 BB).

Jon Lester: Per Rotowire, “Lester allowed four runs on six hits and four walks while striking out five in Boston’s loss to the Yankees on Friday. He continues a three-game funk that’s seen him give up 14 runs (13 earned) on 23 hits and eight walks in 19.1 innings.” The Rays haven’t had much success against Lester this year, tagging him for only three runs in 14 innings of work. Furthermore, Lester has been good this year, giving up four or more runs in only four of his 13 starts. Key match-ups: Yunel Escobar (9-29, 2B, 2 RBI, 3 BB), Desmond Jennings (6-19, 2 2B, 3B, RBI, BB), Matt Joyce (2-5, HR, 4 RBI, BB), James Loney (1-3), Jose Molina (7-21, 2 BB), Ryan Roberts (3-8).

Noteworthiness

David Ortiz has homered in three of his last four games, and has batted .353 with 14 RBIs in his last 15 contests against the Rays.
As of Sunday, the Red Sox hitters led the majors with 4.07 pitches seen per plate appearance. Mike Napoli and Dustin Pedroia lead the list, ranking 1-2.
Per Marc Topkin, “The Sox have the league’s best record — 39-25 — and are the only AL team to be above .500 all season. They lead MLB in runs, doubles and on-base percentage and have a plus-80 run differential.”
Boston is 5-1 against the Rays this season. They lead the series overall 155-110, while going 69-64 at the Trop.

Looking Backward While Moving Forward: Rays Clobber the O’s 8-0, Take the Series

On a day aptly titled the Goddamn Deluge, the Tampa Bay Rays jumped all over the Baltimore Orioles in a four hit shutout shellacking, demoralizing their AL East foes by a score of 8-0. Tampa Bay has been able to leapfrog Baltimore in the standings, now claiming sole ownership of third place by a half game. Just two-and-a-half games behind the AL East leading Boston Red Sox, the Rays will look to sweep their second consecutive series against the Orioles Sunday afternoon.

RHP Jeremy Hellickson truly earned his fourth win of the year, after putting together a solid six inning outing where he gave up only four hits, and nothing else. With the exception of a pair of inefficient 23-pitch innings — the first and fifth — Helly was downright deadly. It should be noted that even in those two shaky innings, Helly was able to get out of those jams unscathed.

Hellickson led with his fastball, throwing 25 of 40 for strikes. From there, he leaned on his secondary pitches to keep a dangerous Orioles lineup off balance — throwing a very good change-up for strikes almost 69% of the time, and his curveball for strikes 75% of the time. Maintaining his composure, Hellickson was able to quelch a pair Orioles uprisings in the first and fifth innings.

Helly gave up a couple of singles to Manny Machado and Adam Jones in the first inning. But with two on and two outs, the Rays righty was able to get Chris Davis to pop out to Evan Longoria, getting out of the inning. Hellickson also gave up a pair of base hits to Matt Wieters and JJ Hardy to start off the fifth. However, he was able to strike out Chris Dickerson, induce a Ryan Flaherty fielder’s choice, and get Nate McLouth to fly out to left to get out of the inning, maintaining the integrity of the shutout.

True, Hellickson went deeper into the game in his only other shutout of the year — a game where he pitched up to the eighth inning against the Athletics. However, this outing was significant, because it’s the first time he has been able to avoid that big run scoring inning in over a month and a half. It’s a huge esteem builder for the righty, especially since he’s now strung together three quality starts in four previous outings.

And how about the pen?! Alex Torres, Jamey Wright, and Kyle Farnsworth (yes that Kyle Farnsworth) were literally un-hittable, combining for three innings of four strikeout ball. Torres was again impressive, striking out both Chris Davis and JJ Hardy on a pair of nasty change-ups. Torres got out of the seventh inning cleanly after throwing only 10 pitches (eight for strikes). The Rays lefty has now posted 11-1/3 innings of scoreless ball, striking out 14 batters along the way.

Offensively, after scoring only seven runs over the course of three previous games, the Rays’ bats once again woke up, tagging rookie Kevin Gausman for seven runs on eight hits and three walks. The Rays went 6-13 w RISP, while Evan Longoria and Ben Zobrist drove in a pair of two-out RBI. Speaking of Zobrist, Ben had a monster day at the plate.

Zobris went 3-for-5 with an RBI and a pair of runs. Not to be outdone, both Jose Lobaton and Yunel Escobar were productive, teaming up to go 6-for-8, plating a pair of runs. Lobaton also crossed the plate on a Ben Zobrist single in the second inning. Even Luke Scott did something productive, shooting — no pun intended — a three RBI triple to deep right-field, giving the Rays a 7-0 lead in the fifth. Notable mentions to Desmond Jennings, James Loney, and Evan Longoria: The trinity each scored runs, while both Longo and Loney plated a pair.

The New What Next

Matt Moore will take the bump for the Rays Sunday against Chris Tillman and the Orioles. Moore will attempt to bounce back from a disappointing two-inning outing against the Tigers Tuesday. If the Rays win, they’ll pull a game-and-a-half in front of the Orioles, ahead of a big series against the Boston Red Sox. You can read about the pitching match-up here.

Rays 6/9/13 Starting Lineup

Joyce RF
Zobrist 2B
Johnson LF
Longoria DH
Loney 1B
Jennings CF
Roberts 3B
Molina C
Escobar SS
Moore LHP