Rays 9/22/15 Starting Lineup
Guyer LF
Mahtook CF
Longoria 3B
Forsythe 2B
Cabrera SS
Souza Jr. RF
Loney 1B
Shaffer DH
Maile C
Moore RHP
Noteworthiness
― You can read about tonight’s pitching matchup in our series preview.
― Only 13 of the 149 homers this season have come with runners on base. The 8.7%t is the lowest in the majors. Unlike their opponents, Tampa Bay has not hit a grand slam this season. Their last was on July 9, 2014 when Kevin Kiermaier hit one Kansas City. Make that a stretch of 218 games.
― Curious news broke (via the Tampa Bay Times) today, it seems that the Atlanta Braves could call St. Petersburg their Spring Training home at some point in the near future. A proposal by SportsPark Partners LLC a group ― a development group led by Darryl LeClair ― would move the Braves Spring Training quarters from the Orlando area to a new stadium complex in the Toytown area of St. Petersburg. The question begs, might this represent an opportunity for the Rays to improve their footprint in the Orlando market?
You might recall, LeClair put together a Rays stadium proposal in the Carillon area of St. Pete three years ago. That plan, however, never gained traction with the team’s ownership group.
The initial bid on the Toytown property was made the beginning of the month, though the bid was not made public at that point, and it was assumed that LeClair might consider using the property toward another Rays stadium bid ― after all, it’s in the East/Central part of Pinellas County, it’s right off the highway, and it’s not far from the Howard-Frankland Bridge. It should also be noted, Pinellas County has the money to pool together for a new stadium.