Looking Backward While Moving Forward: Opening Day 2013 Among Other Things

The Trop as seen from the left field seats prior to the ceremonial first pitch on Opening Day (Photo courtesy of X-Rays Spex)
The Trop as seen from the left field seats prior to the ceremonial first pitch on Opening Day (Photo courtesy of X-Rays Spex)

The Orioles beat the Rays by a score of 7-4, taking the first game of a three game set to open the 2013 season. The Rays had their ace David Price on the mound, toeing the rubber opposite of Jason Hammel in front of a sold out crowd at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg. It was apparent that Price didn’t have his best stuff, though he was able to limit the damage and keep the Rays in the game until the seventh inning when LHP reliever Jake McGee would ultimately give up five runs and the lead to the Orioles — a lead that they would never relent.

Posting a 6 IP/7 H/2 R/2 ER/2 BB/4 K/1 HR slash line, Price got into trouble in the first inning after giving up a double to Adam Jones who was driven home by Matt Wieters on a 415 foot blast to left field in the very next at-bat. Wieters’ home run was the first Price has given up in the first-inning of any game since July 20, 2011, when Curtis Granderson went yard against the LHP. It would ultimately take Price 23 pitches to get out of the first inning, though he would calm down in the second, fourth, fifth, and sixth innings. Price did have a shaky third inning as well, having given up a pair of hits and a walk to load the bases with only one out. But he was able to induce a Chris Davis double play to get out of the inning relatively unscathed. The lack of velocity in Price’s fastball was noticeable, yet Price battled, giving the Rays a fighting chance.

“You don’t just come out here and turn yourself into Cy Young in the first outing,” Price said. “I’m fine with the way I threw the ball. I battled. When you don’t have your best stuff, that’s what you’ve got to do, and I felt like I did okay” Tuesday.

Granted 100 pitches (68 for strikes) in six innings may not represent the best outing, keep in mind that Price put together a quality start, and he was able to escape major damage which, as Joe Maddon put it, “Is also the sign of an excellent pitcher.”

The Rays would battle their way back into the game thanks to a fourth inning solo shot by Ben Zobrist, and a pair of sixth inning Desmond Jennings and Ben Zobrist RBI’s, giving Tampa Bay a 3-2 lead. Zobrist would end the day 2-3 at the plate with two RBI and a run. Jennings and Zobrist would ultimately account for four of the Rays six hits and three of the Rays four runs.

The Rays offense was slow to start, getting only two hits between the first and fifth innings. However watching Desmond Jennings do what he does best — swiping bags and getting into scoring position — was rather encouraging. That Zobrist and Jennings created the bulk of the Rays offense was no fluke. The success of both players is critical to the success of the team in 2013.

Evan Longoria and Sam Fuld both contributed defensively, flashing the leather while stealing hit after hit from the Orioles. All told, Longo and Fuld accounted for (at least) seven outstanding plays in the field. I’d imagine that any questions over why Fuld got the start in right field were answered. I’d also imagine that if his play Tuesday was an indication of what’s to come, we may as well just hand Evan Longoria the gold glove now. According to ESPN,

“Evan Longoria made a career-high 4 Good Fielding Plays (GFPs) as video tracked by Baseball Info Solutions today in the Rays loss to the Orioles. Previously, he had 15 games with 3 GFPs. Just check out the video (below) of a few of Longoria’s defensive gems.”

Click the photo for video of Longoria's stellar defensive plays Tuesday.
Click the photo for video of Longoria’s stellar defensive plays Tuesday.

Hadn’t McGee blown the lead in the seventh, the Rays would have won a very close game to the Orioles — something we’re all familiar with by now. The loss literally came down to a couple of misplaced pitches from the hard-throwing lefty.

At this point, my concerns are two-fold:

A. Can the Rays offense crank things up, and do so consistently?

B. I can’t help but wonder why Jamey Wright is on the 25-man roster. Wright, a pitcher with a career 56.2% ground ball percentage, was only able to induce one ground out against the seven batters he faced. Wright kept the ball up, giving the Orioles an opportunity to get underneath the ball.

We’ll see if the Rays can tighten things up Wednesday when Hellickson faces Chen and the Orioles in a 7:10 matchup at the Trop.

Rays 4/3/13 Starting Lineup:

Jennings CF
Rodriguez LF
Zobrist RF
Longoria 3B
Duncan DH
Escobar SS
Roberts 2B
Lobaton C
Johnson 1B
Hellickson RHP

Noteworthiness:
Another day, another lineup. Joe Maddon liked Johnson more than Fuld in the lineup against Chen, while he liked Rodriguez in left field with Hellickson — a fly ball pitcher — on the mound, so Johnson it is at first. Also of note, former Ray Scott Kazmir (right side) threw a 30 pitch bullpen session, saying he feels like he can start Saturday, but its up to Indians/medical staff.

The New What Next: Opening Day…Urm, Series!

opening-day-tampa-bay-7-yankees-6

Ladies and gents, Tuesday marks the day every Rays fan has pined for for seven months, Opening Day. The Rays will open things up at home against the Orioles for the third time in four years, followed by a three game set against the Indians at the Trop prior to their first road trip of the 2013 season.

Both the Rays and the Orioles are coming off 90 win seasons, and it goes without saying that there’s an ever present expectation for the Rays to start strong in April. And though we see a myriad of unfamiliar players on the roster — unfamiliar to the average Rays fan, that is — the expectation that accompanies success is no less. Rather, the Rays have embraced those heightened expectations,

“We feel we have a group that is capable of getting to the playoffs, playing the last game of the year and winning it,” said Rays third baseman Evan Longoria Monday.

Rays skipper Joe Maddon echoed Longoria’s sentiments,

“You should never run away from expectations. We don’t believe it’s hyperbole. We really think it can be done.”

That’s not to say there aren’t any concerns — there are still questions regarding the starting rotation, there’s a very realistic possibility that the bullpen will be overworked, and there are still holes in the offense. What’s more, it will be next to impossible for the Rays pitching staff to repeat the success they had in 2012, especially with the new faces that fill the gaps left in the wake of James Shields, JP Howell, Burke Badenhop, and Wade Davis.

However, the Rays made moves to shore up the defense, and they added players like James Loney and Yunel Escobar who can do something that seemed nearly impossible for a player like Carlos Pena in 2012: make consistent contact with the ball. There’s also the exciting possibility of seeing Wil Myers and Chris Archer at some point this season. Me? I’m optimistic about what’s to come in 2013.

Note: we'll focus on last season's stats one full time through the rotation.
Note: we’ll focus on last season’s stats one full time through the rotation.
Note: we'll focus on last season's stats one full time through the rotation.
Note: we’ll focus on last season’s stats one full time through the rotation.
  • Tuesday, Price vs. Hammel: David Price has held the Orioles to three home runs over 81.1 innings. Furthermore, the O’s scored exactly one run off of him in 22.1 innings last year. Hammel has only faced the Rays once, going 3.2 innings in his final regular-season start last year before being removed due to his knee acting up.
  • Wednesday, Hellickson vs. Chen: Chen faced the Rays more than any other team last season and acquitted himself pretty well. Hellickson and Chen have fairly similar slash lines, so this pitching matchup looks like a good one.
  • Thursday, Hernandez vs. Gonzalez: Like Chen, Gonzalez faced the Rays more than any other team. Gonzalez gave up three homers, 13 walks, and plunked three Rays in 22 innings of work. He’ll be a nice juxtaposition against the Tampa Bay newcomer Roberto Hernandez who still seems largely unproven coming out of Spring Training with a five-plus ERA.
  • Rays have played .620 ball at home over the last five seasons, tweets Richard Justice. Only the Yankees are better at home in that time.

Noteworthiness:

 

 

 

 

Rays Opening Day Lineup Announced

In a somewhat surprising move, the Rays released their Opening Day lineup a day early. It was also announced that the game is sold out, with the Rays having sold out eight openers in a row

Rays Opening Day Lineup:
Jennings CF
Fuld RF
Zobrist 2B
Longoria 3B
Joyce LF
Escobar SS
Loney 1B
Molina C
Johnson DH
Price LHP

Noteworthiness:
Kelley Johnson will fill the DH hole, hitting ninth. I’m a bit surprised that Ben Zobrist is starting at second instead of right-field, while Shelley Duncan isn’t in the lineup at all. We’ll post a series preview in a bit

Rays Season Preview, Hello Shelley Duncan, and Other Roster Moves

Introducing the Rays defacto DH, Shelley Duncan
Introducing the Rays defacto DH, Shelley Duncan

Alright ladies and gents, with this being Opening Day, I figured that it couldn’t hurt to repost the Rays season preview that I wrote for All Sports Talk. I made a few changes to make it relevant to where we are, just shy of t-minus two days and counting until the Rays officially start the 2013 season. The Rays also made some roster moves which you can read about below.

………..

As Cole Stevenson of Opposing Views put it, “The Tampa Bay Rays continue to be the perfect model of how an organization should be run. Not just in baseball, but in all of sports.” And though the head of the players union, Michael Weiner, may see things a bit differently, there is something to be said about a team that’s won 90 games in four of the last five seasons. Though Tampa Bay lost a few key pieces following the 2012 season – namely Wade Davis, J.P. Howell, Jeff Keppinger, James Shields, and B.J. Upton – I think that the Rays are in line for another 90+ win season. Whether they can eke out a playoff spot is still unwritten. I’d reckon that it (somewhat) depends on the Orioles and Blue Jays; one team that had a quiet off-season following an incredible run in 2012, and another that made some monster moves though may not congeal as a team, at least in 2013.

Strengths:

Tampa Bay made some key off-season acquisitions that promise to shore up the Rays defensively. The Rays will likely ask Kelly Johnson and Yunel Escobar to do what they couldn’t in 2012 with the Blue Jays: match their career norms on offense while provide a steady middle infield defense. Escobar and Johnson’s contact skills have been in steady decline in recent years, but they could bolster the Rays offense if they if they can sort things out at the plate. It will also be interesting to see what impact Wil Myers and Tim Beckham could make this season, assuming they get called up at some point.

Then there’s the starting rotation. Following the Shields trade, the 2013 Rays success/failure will rest on the young and talented arms of the starting rotation. Joe Maddon and Co made an interesting choice in moving Jeff Niemann to the bullpen, making Roberto Hernandez the fifth starter in the rotation. If he can keep the ball on the ground — as he’s wan to do — and if the Rays infielders are as defensively sound as they have been in previous years, Hernandez could be another quality starter in a long line of quality pitchers. In the end, Niemann has everything to gain in the pen, while the fifth starter spot is Hernandez’ to lose.

Personally, I’d prefer to see Chris Archer on the Opening Day roster. However, the odds are good that we’ll see Archer at some point this season, especially if Niemann goes down again or is traded. Whatever the case, the upside potential of Moore and Hellickson is off the chart. We all saw what Cobb could do last season. And what more can be said about the 2012 Cy Young Award winner, David Price? USA Today has all 5 of the Rays starters in the top 81 (out of 150). If this staff can stay healthy and live up to expectations, they could singlehandedly keep the Rays in contention.

Ben Nicholson-Smith of MLB Trade Rumors put things in perspective, “The Rays won’t have an imposing offense in 2013. It’s a shortcoming, but one they’re accustomed to dealing with. Jose Molina’s pitch-framing skills, the versatility of Ben Zobrist and the depth of their pitching staff enable the Rays to prevent runs as well as any team (they allowed the fewest runs in MLB in 2012). As long as newcomers such as Escobar, Johnson and Loney contribute something on offense, the Rays should continue to outscore their opponents often enough to remain a threat in the AL East.”

Weaknesses:

Offense. Though Tampa Bay has done a lot to assure they’ll make fewer errors and give up fewer unearned runs, the question remains whether they’ll have enough offensive oomph to compensate for the loss of BJ Upton. What’s more, there’s also the question of Evan Longoria’s health.

Longoria, the Rays’ franchise player, has missed considerable time with injuries in 2011-12. The Rays had to compensate for the loss of Longo in 2012 by signing a laundry list of inferior players. Do the Rays have enough depth if, god forbid, Evan Longoria goes down again in 2013? To that end, can Luke “All Talk” Scott make an impact in 2013 after spending a considerable amount of time on the DL in 2012?

“The surgery is an 18-month process and I’m not even at that mark yet,” Scott was quoted as saying in October. “Reflecting back on my season personally, I had the 0-for-41 slump. That stunk. And I had the back and the oblique, but other than that, man, besides hitting .230, my production numbers for the amount of at-bats I had, they’re not bad.”

Scott has a point. His .439 slugging percentage was respectable, and another offseason of rest could make a difference. Then again, he’s always been a streaky player and has never gotten 500 at-bats in a season. Plus, if his stint on the DL to start the season is indicative of anything, Scott will be more of an injury risk than ever as a 34-year-old entering 2013.

Noteworthiness:

  • The Rays made a few roster moves Sunday to compensate for the loss of Luke Scott to the DL (let that be a lesson kids, don’t drink water) as well as to make room for Jamey Wright and Juan Carlos Oviedo on the roster. MLB Trade Rumors reported that Tampa Bay has DFA’d both Robinson Chirinos and Stephen Vogt to open up a couple of spots on the 40-man roster. They also promoted Shelley Duncan who will fill in at DH while Scott is incapacitated. Oviedo has been placed on the 60-day DL as he continues to recover from Tommy John surgery.

 

The New What Next: Just One Last Exhibition Game…

Photo courtesy of the Tampa Bay Rays
Photo courtesy of the Tampa Bay Rays

The Rays will waltz into the Trop today to once more take on the Tigers in their last Spring Training game of the 2013 Grapefruit League season. Le Tigre beat up on the Rays number two pitcher Jeremy Hellickson Friday, tagging him for eight runs (six earned) on seven hits with two walks in his three inning, 72 pitch, outing.

“I’m pretty disappointed,” Hellickson said. “That’s not how I wanted to go into the season. I feel good. I’m healthy. That’s the main thing. But I’m disappointed with today.”

The Rays offense will get one last opportunity to tune things up following a pretty poor showing in the batter’s box yesterday — Tampa Bay did not get a hit until the fifth inning when Kelly Johnson doubled to right. Sam Fuld hit a two-run homer in the eighth.

Matt Moore will get the start in today’s 1:10 PM game.

Rays 3/30/13 Starting Lineup:

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

Noteworthiness:

  • In case you haven’t heard, odds are good that Rays DH Luke Scott will start the 2013 on the disabled list. An MRI Friday showed a strain in his right calf muscle and Scott expected to see Dr. Eaton Saturday. The Rays should get a better idea of the severity of the injury following the appointment and will decide what move(s) need to be made from there.
  • The ever popular Meet the Rays video series is now available for your viewing consumption here.
  • Buster Posey and Justin Verlander just got their pay day. The two received contract extensions Friday, worth a combined $347MM.