Hey now, watch where you slap Luke Scott. You may just injure him…again.
Tampa Bay Rays DH Luke Scott may be headed to the disabled list with a calf injury he suffered earlier in the week.
In and out of the Spring Training lineup with leg injuries of some sort since early March, Scott was scheduled to get four to eight at-bats in a minor league game this afternoon. He, instead, left after only one at-bat because of tightness in his right calf. Scott was scheduled to undergo an MRI this afternoon.
Rays skipper Joe Maddon learned of the injury following the Rays 8-3 loss to the Tigers, though hadn’t talked with executive vice president of baseball Andrew Friedman at that point. He was, however, quoted as saying, “we’ll probably have to make some sort of decision or move.”
Who the Rays bring up from Triple-A Durham to replace Scott on the roster would depend on how many games they expect him to miss.
If he is not expected to miss more than the first half of the season the Rays will likely call up a player already on the 40-man roster, such as Chris Gimenez, Stephen Vogt or Brandon Guyer. Though if they determine he will be out for an extended period of time, they may have to bring up a non-roster player like Shelley Duncan or Leslie Anderson. Unfortunately that move would require the Rays to take a player off the 40-man roster and risk losing him to another team
Scott’s time on the DL will be backdated to last Sunday, making him eligible to return to the Rays by April 8th.
How this bodes for Scott’s 500 plus at-bat bonus is anyone’s guess.
And the decision for the fifth spot is… (Photo courtesy of the Tampa Bay Times)
The Rays left Ed Smith Stadium Thursday night with a 4-4 tie to Buck Showalter and the Baltimore Orioles who they’ll face next week in the first three games of the season. David Price looked sharp in his final start of the spring, one last tune-up before Opening Day if you will. Posting a 4 IP/1 H/0 R/1 BB/3 K slash line, David Price threw 51 pitches in his four innings of work, though he admittedly didn’t pitch the same as he will Tuesday in the regular-season opener.
“I feel like I threw some pitches that I might not have thrown in a real game situation. But I was able to get outs with it, so it is encouraging,” he said. “But you do pitch them a little different because you don’t want to throw them the same way you’re going to throw them in five days. So it works both ways.”
Price, who said that he felt as though something was missing earlier in the week, noted that he felt invigorated by pitching in a night game following his outing Thursday night.
“That was what we needed to do… That was good to lead up to the next five days. I felt good. My body feels great. Arm, back, legs, it all feels ready for April 2.”
If Thursday night’s action was an indication of anything, Desmond Jennings and Evan Longoria are ready for Opening Day. Desmond Jennings went 4-5 in the lead-off spot with a stolen base and a run, while Longo went 2-3 with two runs and two RBI. Longo also hit a 400 foot plus blast to center field in the sixth inning, his second homer of the spring. Speaking of being ready for Opening Day, Luke Scott.
According to Marc Topkin, Luke Scott’s status for the opener remains in question. Topkin went out to say,
“Scott has been sidelined for nearly a week with right calf tightness, and though he felt well enough to run the bases during a workout at Tropicana Field and was said to have done well, he will return to action today as a DH in a minor-league game. That’s a sign of concern because it preserves the Rays’ ability to backdate a disabled-list move to Sunday (the day after his last major-league appearance) and would allow him to miss only six games and return April 8.”
Rays skipper Joe Maddon mentioned that it wasn’t necessary for Scott to play in Saturday’s exhibition finale to be on the active roster, “if legitimately he can look you in the eye and say ‘I feel a lot better, and everything looks pretty good.’ ” It bears mentioning that one of us here at X-Rays Spex may have a friendly bet with a writer from the Rays Tank. That bet is predicated on whether Luke Scott can get the bonus in his contract for 500 plus at-bats. This may be the dumbest bet ever.
The Rays announced their decision for the fifth starter Friday morning. Roberto Hernandez will get the last spot on the starting rotation, while Jeff Niemann makes the transition to the bullpen — at least for the time being. Joe Maddon said that they view Niemann as more of a starter than they did Wade Davis, who was put in a similar situation last year when he went to pen and stayed. Niemann’s role to start will be long relief, while continuing to build arm strength. Maddon also said that he sees his future role as a starter.
Based on match ups thru April, the Rays will have Hernandez pitch third in the rotation, followed by Matt Moore and Alex Cobb. According to a tweet by Roger Mooney of TBO, Maddon said they wanted to split Hellickson and Moore so a short outing won’t wear out bullpen on consecutive days.
“Though incumbent Jeff Niemann has seemed to pitch better this spring, free agent signee Roberto Hernandez seems to profile better — at least for the start of the season — and looks to be their choice,” writes Topkin
Niemann wasn’t particularly thrilled by the decision, saying,
“I couldn’t have done anything else to put myself in a better spot. It’s just where we are.”
The Rays will take on the Tigers in Lakeland Friday. RHP Jeremy Hellickson will get his last start of the spring in the early afternoon tune-up outing.
Rays 3/29/13 Starting Lineup:
Fuld DH
Joyce RF
Zobrist 2B
Loney 1B
Roberts 3B
Johnson LF
Rodriguez CF
Molina C
Hager SS
Hellickson RHP
Noteworthiness:
So, uhh…doing anything Saturday? Rays will play their final exhibition of the spring at Trop, with first pitch at 1:10 PM. All of the tickets are all GA in the lower bowl and cost $15.
I really liked Jonah Keri’s take on the the fifth starter decision, “Love the hand-wringing over Fausto vs. Niemann. As if either of them are going to hold off Archer/Odorizzi/Colome for long.”
Fuld being Fuld in Port Charlotte Wednesday. (Photo courtesy of the Tampa Bay Times)
The Tampa Bay Rays lost their last Grapefruit League game in Port Charlotte Wednesday by a score of 6-1 to the Toronto Blue Jays. The Rays packed their belongings following the game, shifting their base of operations back to the Trop. I know, I’m a regular Dr. Seuss. The big story was the outstanding outing by the Rays tall RHP Jeff Niemann.
Niemann worked six shutout innings, allowing only two hits and striking out three. He pounded the strike zone, throwing 11 first pitch strikes, while getting behind in the count only one time in his six inning outing. Niemann, impressively, kept the ball on the ground with fair majority of his outs coming via the ground ball. Though the tall righties velocity continues to sit in the mid-to-high 80’s (low 70’s on off-speed pitches), Niemann has a good amount of movement on his pitches. He kept batters off balance by changing their eye level and increasing or decreasing the velocity on his pitches, making an 88MPH fastball look like a 94MPH pitch when he preceded it with a knee-buckling curve. Niemann’s ERA now sits at 2.92 for the spring.
“Best I’ve thrown the ball all spring,” Niemann said. “It’s been a huge building process this whole spring, and I couldn’t be happier about how we ended up. … I’m proud of the body of work we presented. So let things happen how they’re going to happen.”
Orestes Destrade made a good point during Wednesday’s TV broadcast. Hernandez has a less rigid arm which, arguably, makes him a better candidate for the pen. And if Niemann can continue — injury free, that is — to be as solid as he been, the position is all but his. Whatever the case, the Rays are planning on waiting until Friday to announce their decision while Maddon sets up the rotation behind ace David Price.The only thing that’s certain at this point in time is that there is nothing more that Roberto Hernandez or Niemann can do to solidify their chances of getting the fifth starter spot.
Another bright spot came in the fifth when Sam Fuld did what Sam Fuld is wan to do, robbing the Blue Jays DH Nickeas of an extra base hit. Fuld, who’s been out of the lineup since early March nursing a hamstring injury, ranged to his right and made a dazzling sliding/diving catch to end inning, drawing a long ovation from the fans.
Sammy covers a lot of ground, I’d reckon. (Gif courtesy of Cork Gaines)
“I got dirty,” Fuld said. “That’s always a good day.”
As for offense, the Rays all but mimicked the production of the day previous. That is to say, they were anemic. The Rays had scoring opportunities a plenty, with runners reaching base some 12 times on six hits and six walks. They, however, could only push one runner across the plate.
David Price will get his last start of the spring Thursday night in Sarasota, as the Rays continue their march north to take on the Orioles, then a pair of games Friday and Saturday against the Tigers — in Lakeland and St. Petersburg respectively — prior to Opening Day April 2nd. We’ll post the starting lineup when it becomes available.
Rays 3/28/13 Starting Lineup:
Jennings DH
Fuld CF
Zobrist RF
Longoria 3B
Joyce LF
Escobar SS
Loney 1B
Lobaton C
Johnson 2B
Price LHP
According to MLB Trade Rumors, the Rays have traded RHP Dane De La Rosa to the Angels for righty Steve Geltz. They go on to say, “A Rays press release confirmed the move, and noted that Geltz will begin the year in Triple-A Durham. Both players had previously been outrighted to Triple-A by their former clubs.” This is an interesting move to say the least. Think back about a month and a half (or so) when the Rays DFA’d De La Rosa to make room on the roster for Luke Scott. De La Rosa cleared waivers however and remained in the Rays organization. Dare I say that it was a bit evident that they weren’t really interested in him at that point?
Noah Pransky recently put together an interesting read over at his blog, Shadow of the Stadium. Pransky’s piece is on Forbes latest franchise rankings. According to the piece, the Yankees are at the top of the list worth an estimated $2.3BB. The Marlins are now worth $160MM, and are projected to be worth $520MM in a few years. The Rays are still last at $451MM despite a 40% gain. A forty percent gain while ranking at the bottom of attendance in the MLB, mind you. What gives? How can a team that is struggling to sign or hold on to high dollar players, increase their worth by 40%? Simply put, attendance is becoming less and less important as TV revenue continues to climb. The question begs: Might the dropping dependence on attendance numbers affect the Rays argument for a new facility? I personally support a new facility for the Rays. It’s just the suggested “where” and “how’s” that I can’t fully get behind. But one wonders how an organization that’s hesitant to release any information on team revenue may frame the argument with this information in mind, since their initial argument was based on dwindling revenues due to a lack of attendance. Food for thought.
Just another beautiful sunny — if a touch chilly — day at the ballpark (Photo courtesy of Schmitty/X-Rays Spex)
The philadelphia Phillies romped the Rays…urm, shellacked the Rays…hmph, thwacked the Rays by a score of 10-1 in Clearwater Tuesday. This was truly a tale of two Roberto Hernandez’s, as the veteran RHP sailed through the first four innings, but struggled in the following two. As Marc Topkin put it, “Roberto Hernandez’s outing went from good to bad quickly Tuesday, but he didn’t appear to hurt his chances to win the final spot in the Rays rotation.”
Roberto Hernandez started extremely well against Phillies, allowing just one hit in four quick innings, while throwing only 35 pitches and getting nine ground balls for 10 outs with his trademark sinker. But something happened in the fifth and sixth innings. Hernandez allowed 10 hits and a walk on 51 pitches leading to nine runs in what ended as a 10-1 loss.
Tampa Bay skipper Joe Maddon was not displeased by the outing, saying,
“There was a lot of balls on the ground, I thought the ball looked alive from the side and he was really pitch efficient, which is important,” Maddon said. “With our regular season defense in the right spot it could be good. So I was not discouraged at all.”
A photo of the scoreboard in the eighth inning. (Photo courtesy of Schmitty/X-Rays Spex)
Many within the confines of Brighthouse Networks Field could be heard discussing Hernandez’s performance, questioning why he was still on the mound after having given up four runs in the fifth, and following that up with five runs in the sixth. Had this been a regular season game, I’d imagine that someone would have been warming up in the pen between the fifth and sixth innings. Since it was a spring training game, it could be assumed that Hernandez remained in the game for a couple of reasons.
First, Hernandez has been known to lose his cool in stressful situations, on many occasions relying on a low 90’s fastball left up in the zone, that subsequently finds itself in the outfield stands. Perhaps Maddon and Co. were testing Hernandez to see how he would react in a jam, though in a low leverage situation that is ultimately meaningless. Then again, Hernandez is a ground-ball pitcher and he, for the most part, did his job; he kept the ball on the ground. A quick glance at the box score is all you need to look at — Joe Maddon put together a lineup of largely untested players that will more than likely find themselves in the minors. It could be argued that the outcome would have been different had Longoria, Escobar, and Loney been in the lineup.
Offensively speaking, Tampa Bay looked horrendous. This, again, probably had more to do with the players in the lineup than anything else. The Rays lone run came in the third inning after Jason Bourgeois reached base on a bloop single to right field. Bourgeois was driven home by Sean Rodriguez who sent a well struck doublet to left field, scoring Bourgeoise from first. Tampa Bay ultimately scored just one run on three hits and two walks.
Jeff Niemann will make his final spring training appearance Wednesday, with Fernando Rodney also expected to see some time on the bump. This will be Rodney’s first appearance with the Rays since he returned from the WBC. “I’m going to try to do the same that I’ve been doing,” said the Rays reliever. “I’m not going to change nothing. Just try to throw first pitch for a strike.” Alex Cobb, Kyle Farnsworth, and Joel Peralta are slated to pitch in minor-league games Wednesday in Port Charlotte.
Rays 3/27/13 Starting Lineup:
Jennings CF
Fuld LF
Longoria 3B
Zobrist RF
Rodriguez 1B
Escobar SS
Lobaton DH
Molina C
Roberts 2B
Niemann RHP
Noteworthiness:
Super Sammy is finally back in the lineup following an early March hamstring injury. Hitting second Wednesday, Fuld said he is ready to go and there shouldn’t be any restrictions.
A decision on the fifth starter isn’t expected until after Jeff Niemann makes his final appearance of the spring Wednesday against the Blue Jays in Port Charlotte.
Marc topkin wrote that Joe Maddon is “curious” to see how LHP Matt Mooreperforms in the regular season after Moore continued a poor spring with a rough Monday outing. “He’s not been nearly as sharp as we need him to be or what he can be,” Maddon said. “I watch him, he’s well, he’s healthy. His delivery is sporadic where he’s on time sometimes and sometimes he’s not. He threw some really good curveballs (Monday) and others were bad. … He’s got a great arm, he’s a young guy. I tend to be on the patient side, we tend to be on the patient side. Knowing his history that he normally goes though these problems early in the season, I’m not overly concerned. Of course, I’d like to see better. And better being not results necessarily but better command of the fastball, consistency of where the pitches are going. That’s the one thing we’re probably not seeing.”
The quote of the day comes from Joe Maddon who said that had Rays third baseman Evan Longoria been healthy all of last season, “without exaggeration, I think we could’ve won 95 games.”
Senior adviser Don Zimmer will throw out the ceremonial first pitch on opening day — even though he likely will have his son Tom handle the actual tossing. Two thoughts: 1. Don Zimmer Rules! 2. Anything is better than watching Rick Scott throw out the first pitch.
David Price said he will give away 100 Opening Day tickets at some point over the weekend. Follow his twitter account for a time and a place.
Click the screen shot to be redirected to David Price’s Twitter account.
All packed up and ready to go. The Rays will break camp after today’s game and move to the Trop. When asked how long it felt they’ve been in Port Charlotte, David Price responded, “About three months.” Fair enough.
LHP Matt Moore pitching in Monday Night’s game against the Pirates. (Photo courtesy of the Tampa Bay Times)
After dropping five consecutive games, the Rays got back on the right track Monday night, beating the Pirates by a score of 6-2. The Rays will make the hour and a half trek north today to take on the Phillies in Clearwater.
Matt Moore had another shaky outing Monday night, lasting only 4-2/3 innings and throwing 106 pitches (60 for strikes) in his abbreviated outing. Allowing two runs on six hits, five walks, and a wild pitch — while striking out three — Moore was able to pitch well when his back was against the wall, allowing just two runs. Moore impressively got out of a basses loaded jam with only one out in the first inning without relenting a run.
To be fair though, he was to the one who got into the situation in the first place. Moore noted that he is continuing to struggle in getting a feel for his fastball. Moore, reportedly, isn’t concerned, “it’s there when I need it,” while Joe Maddon noted that the lefty is healthy and a “notoriously slow starter.” However, it would be reasonable to assume that the fears and concerns others may feel are not misplaced. Jeff Niemann will likely be the fifth starter; a pitcher who is very good when he’s on, though we’ve only seen his quality stuff in bursts as of late.
Niemann and Moore are not pitchers that we would consider to be “workhorses” and will, undoubtedly, wear out the the pen if they can’t consistently cull quality outings on a consistent basis. It took Moore well into June to really show what he’s capable of last season. Joe Maddon and Co made the decision to send Chris Archer back to Triple-A, at least to start the season. Far be it from me to question the Rays’ wisdom on that move. However, I can’t help but feel it may have been a bit short sighted at the moment.
Evan Longoria made two errors on the same play, though he ultimately redeemed himself by mashing a two-run blast in the fifth inning, his first of the spring. Ben Zobrist also mashed a two-run blast in the same inning last night, helping the Rays put together a five run fifth. Not to be left out in the cold, Shelley Duncan went yard for the fifth time this spring with a one-run homer.
Roberto Hernandez will make his final bid for the fifth spot on the rotation today. Jeff Niemann pitches tomorrow against the Blue Jays, with the rotation decision expected shortly thereafter. Maddon had nothing but praise for both pitchers, though he gave no indication as to who will be chosen. As they say, only time will tell.
Rays 3/26/13 Starting Lineup:
Rodrigues CF
Fontenot 2B
Roberts 3B
Duncan 1B
Lobaton C
Vettleson RF
Belnome DH
Bourgeois LF
O’Malley SS
Hernandez RHP
Noteworthiness:
The Rays made four more cuts after last night’s game, leaving the roster at 28. Shelley Duncan, Jason Bourgeois and Mike Fontenot were reassigned to minor league camp, while Chris Gimenez was optioned to Triple-A Durham. Though not unexpected, after all Jose Lobaton is out of options, Gimenez seemed to be the obvious choice for backup catcher (at least on paper) after tearing the leather off the ball this spring. Gimenez hit .368 with one home run and five RBI this spring, while Lobaton hit .257 with one home run and five RBI. With this move, Jose Lobaton will be the Rays backup catcher behind Jose Molina.
The Rays acquired minor-league catcher Curt Casali from the Tigers in exchange for LHP Kyle Lobstein, who had been lost in the Rule 5 draft to the Mets, who then sold him to the Tigers the same day.
The Rays also option Brandon Gomes back to Triple-A Durham, though Joe Maddon alluded to the fact that he will impact the Rays in some way, shape, or form this season, “He’s going to be such a big part of what we’re going to do this year — and in the future,” Maddon said. “Beyond his skills, this guy is such a great teammate, everybody loves having him there. If you take the Brandon Gomeses of the world, if in fact they don’t make a team coming out of spring training, they will impact, and when their time comes, they stay for a long time.” Gomes, who has had a remarkable spring allowing only two runs in 101/3 innings with 11 strikeouts and no walks, is the odd man out to veteran right-hander Jamey Wright who the Rays had to either release or pay a $100,000 retention bonus to go to the minors. On being optioned to Triple-A, Gomes was quoted as saying, “I knew it was a possibility. I’m obviously not happy about it. But that’s how it goes.”
By the by, we’ll be live tweeting from the lovely berm area of Brighthouse Networks Field in Clearwater. You can catch our witty synopsis of the game via our Twitter feed, or by looking at the left-hand column of our Tumblr page.
