12:14 PM update: Tampa Bay Rays outfielder Brandon Guyer has been sidelined after feeling “a little grab” in left side this morning following batting practice. Rays manager Kevin Cash called the injury a “mild strain” in area of the lat/oblique, while Guyer doesn’t think he incurred anything serious.
The Rays OF is scheduled to receive an MRI, and will reportedly miss a few days as of now.
With Guyer out, the Rays are afforded the opportunity to see Steven Souza in center field this afternoon. Roger Mooney (Tampa Tribune) added, Cash wants Desmond Jennings to play LF to get him reacclimated to his old spot.
We’ll have more on this as it breaks.
The Tampa Bay Rays logged their first win of the Grapefruit League season Friday, edging out the Minnesota Twins by a 2-1 score. If you’re keeping count, the Rays are 1-0 in this year’s Knutson Classic. Jake Odorizzi started the game and worked a scoreless inning, Steven Souza racked up his first RBI as a Ray — the first of many — and Kevin Kiermaier got another assist in his second consecutive game. A few highlights follow.
Rewind the clock to a year ago when Jake Odorizzi found himself competing for the fifth starter spot with Erik Bedard. Odorizzi had to prove his worth to the roster and didn’t really get the opportunity to prepare for the season. Fast forward to 2015, the presumed fourth starter has the chance to concentrate on improving various aspects of his game rather than focus on results in games that ultimately don’t count. Odorizzi focused mainly on his fastball Friday afternoon, throwing only four off-speed pitches. And though he walked both Jordan Shafer Chris Herrmann on four pitches, he also forced a pair of critical grounders, including an inning ending double play (11 second in the video below).
[youtube_sc url=”http://youtu.be/LmV3sQv5aro”]
In a post-game interview (seen below), Odorizzi mentioned that he has the opportunity to work on things and get ready for the year, because he knows he has a spot in the rotation:
[youtube_sc url=”http://youtu.be/i1fq2D9YnWM”]
Steven Souza came up big in the fourth inning when he lined a fastball on the inner third of the plate, beneath the glove of the Twins’ third baseman (53 seconds in the highlight video above). Desmond Jennings came home from second base, subsequently tying the game at one apiece. For Souza, it was his first RBI as a Ray.
The Rays scored their second run in the sixth inning on an errant throw by Jorge Polanco scoring, Bobby Wilson.
Speaking of Polanco, Kevin Kiermaier gunned down him down at second as he tried to stretch a single into a double. The moral of this story, don’t try to run on The Outlaw! Kiermaier now has two assists in the still young Grapefruit League season.
A few other odds and ends appear in Noteworthiness, below.
The New What Next
Alex Cobb will make his first start of the spring on Saturday afternoon when the Rays travel to Brandenton to play the Pirates. Cobb was tabbed as the team’s Opening Day starter earlier in the week. Other pitchers expected to see action include LHP Grayson Garvin and Everett Teaford, and RHP Dylan Floro, Andrew Bellatti, and Bryce Stowell. Rays 3/7/15 Starting Lineup
Beckham SS
Jaso DH
Jennings LF
Longoria 3B
Loney 1B
Franklin 2B
Souza CF
Butler RF
Wilson C
Cobb RHP
Noteworthiness
- Following another fielding gaffe, David DeJesus left the game early after being hit by a pitch on arm. All is well, he was seen laughing and joking in the dugout.
- The Twins put together a rally in the fifth inning, thanks to two singles off Brandon Gomes, and an error of aggressiveness by Kiermaier as he charged a ball. Yet Gomes struck out the final batter of the inning and ultimately escaped without any damage. He racked up a pair of batters in that almost disastrous inning.
- The newly converted reliever Mike Montgomery was credited with the save.
- Souza was one of two players involved in a fourth inning double steal. The Rays are hopefully taking lessons from the Royals’ 2014 squad (or the 2008 Tampa Bay Team) — steals, or the mere threat of one, can be very dangerous for the opposition.