Justin “Moulin” Ruggiano on the 15 Day DL and Other Random Musings

This just in: Justin “Moulin” Ruggiano has been placed on the 15 day DL with left knee bursitis. In turn, the Rays have called up Wilford Brimley, urm…Reid Brignac, from AAA Durham to take Ruggiano’s place on the roster. Ruggiano hasn’t seen much playing time since Desmond Jennings’ return to the Rays roster on July 23. One would have assumed the injury in question had more to do with a pulled or strained glute from all of that bench warming. But you know what happens when you assume. Brignac has hit a robust .231 since being sent down. Yeesh.

In other news, Upton AGAIN did squat at the plate last night. Just a quick note to BJ. Cough…Dear BJ, arguing balls and strikes when you get caught looking at a pitch (a good pitch at that) on the outside corner is not akin to Kotchman selling close plays at first. If anything, it just shows what you are: a sub .240 hitter with a decent number of home runs and RBI’s.

In better news, it was nice to see Longoria’s bat show up for the game last night. The four RBI’s on a first inning, two run base hit, and a sixth inning two run home run were not too shabby! Here’s to hope his hitting woes may have come to an end.

And how could I forget the pitching performance by Complete Game James? The beast and his change up were on fire once again last night. Shields got his eighth complete game and fourth shutout of the season, holding the Royals to six hits and no runs, while walking three and striking out eight. Did I mention that because of his efficiency, last nights game went into the history books as being the shortest game in Rays history? Yeah, that too.

Tonight Wade Davis (8-7, 4.55 ERA) takes the mound as he tries to continue his streak of good starts. Incidentally, the Rays are 8-4 over the last 12 gamed. As always, go Rays!

Could This Be Sayonara BJ Upton?

As reported last night, LF Desmond Jennings has been promoted from AAA Durham and SS Reid Brignac has been optioned back down to AAA, to make room for Jennings on the roster. This does sound like a normal enough move considering the amount of players that have moved up and down in the last week or so. Not to mention that Brignac hasn’t really performed well this year and the Rays are lacking a solid LF. It does make sense to bring up the Rays über prospect, Desmond Jennings with all of this in mind. However, could something else be afoot?

 

The rumors of a potential trade involving BJ Upton have spread like wildfire. Even ESPN reported that though he (Upton) has not been traded, a deal does seem imminent. The St. Petersburg Times went as far as to report that Upton told the media, “See you guys tomorrow, hopefully,” as he left the clubhouse last night.

 

It seems as though Mr. 90+ Strikeouts with What Feels Like Only 10% of Those Strikeouts Being Swinging Strikeouts might actually be on the outs. Who would the Rays receive in return? That is uncertain at the moment. The Rays definitely need a solid hitting and defensive shortstop, outfielder (assuming Upton is indeed on the outs), and catcher.

 

It’s bears mentioning that the Nationals, who are in need of a center-fielder, have scouted the Rays earlier in the week. The Nationals do have a catching prospect in Derek Norris…and the Rays could use a catcher, you know?

 

…And so it goes

The good: The Rays started the game well and had Butthead, urm…Burnett on the ropes early. The Rays scored four runs in the first two innings alone. Alex Cobb pitched really well, giving up two runs (one earned) on three hits with three strikeouts in six innings. Oh, and how refreshing was it to see a Rays catcher get on base on more than one occasion?

The bad and the ugly: The Rays (again) weren’t able to bring home base runners, stranding 10 in the first six innings. BJ Upton alone stranded six base runners over the course of two at bats with the bases were loaded. When will Upton realize that he doesn’t have to be the hero in every at bat? A solid base hit to the corners, even in one of those at bats, would have scored two runs solidifying the lead early, and potentially assuring a win. Upton may be the Rays RBI leader and leading home run hitter, but he doesn’t gather those home runs and RBI’s with enough consistency to make him a legitimate threat especially to a team like the Yankees.

The pen was not able to hold on to the lead, giving up two runs in the eighth inning and the winning run in the ninth. To that end, Madden made some infuriating moves by sending in Farnsworth, someone with experience in high pressure/high leverage situations, to pitch in the eighth and Torres (a rookie appearing in his first MLB game mind you) in the ninth. I understand the move, bringing Farnsworth in that is. However, he’s had multiple inning appearances on many occasions, why not send him out there again in the bottom of the ninth? What was Madden thinking by sending Torres in in such a high leverage situation? Couldn’t he have sent Torres in before Farnsworth?

Madden has made similar decisions prior to this game, decisions that have blown up in his face. Most notably, he brought in a fresh off of the DL JP Howell to pitch in a few high leverage situations before he got re acclimated to the pace of the game. Remember those appearances? You know, the ones that found Howell having a 13 and some change ERA? This isn’t a knock on Torres in the least. After all, he’s done well in AAA Durham, and I have to believe that he’ll prove to be an asset to the Rays. Knowing the importance of this series though, I personally would have put in someone with the experience of pitching in high leverage situations instead of sending in someone with no MLB experience to pitch against a veteran Yankees team who thrive in situations like the one they found themselves in last night.

The almost optimistic: If the Rays are going to make a serious push toward getting into the playoffs, they are going to NEED to treat these next three games at home like their post season hopes depends on it. After all, their post season hopes do depend on it.