Spring Training 2015 represents a symbolic moment of truth in the careers of couple of infield prospects: Tim Beckham and Hak-Ju Lee. The former is coming off a string of lackluster seasons in the Rays minor league system (his 2014 .258 BA/.281 OBP/.290 SLG/.571 OPS/.256 wOBA line speaks to tat), while the latter is coming off a disastrous, recovery season at Triple-A Durham. In short, both need to work their way into the Rays’ plans. And while one Spring Training game may not be enough boost his chances of making the Opening Day roster, Lee made a valiant attempt to leave an indelible mark on manager Kevin Cash, leading the Rays to a 5-2 win over the Minnesota Twins, Wednesday. Tampa Bay is now 2-0 in the Knutson Classic.
Beginning with two on and one out in the first inning, Lee saved starter Jake Odorizzi from an earned run when he flashed the leather on a play that Cash called, “one of the best plays I’ve ever seen.” Torii Hunter dropped a base hit down the left field line. Lee, running all the way out from his position at short, slid across the foul line to cut off the ball and fielded it cleanly. Lee popped up, and made an outstanding throw to catch Brian Dozier at home as he attempted to score.
Lee had always been considered an up-and-coming shortstop — the heir apparent to Yunel Escobar until he blew out his knee in 2013. The Rays extended Escobar’s contract on the heals of Lee’s injury, and we were left to wait for his fielding to take a shine once more. More over, many have waited for Lee to work out the quirks in his — suffice it to say his 2014 .203 BA/.287 OBP/.276 SLG/.544 OPS/.268 wOBA line left a lot to be desired. Again, one Spring Training game certainly isn’t enough to show growth in Lee, however, imagine the impression he could leave on the Rays brass if he continued to perform at this level?
In the third inning, Lee hit a line drive double over the head of center fielder Jordan Schafer. Unfortunately for Tampa Bay, Neither Logan Forsythe nor John Jaso could pounce on the opportunity. That would change for Lee in the seventh inning with the game tied at one apiece. The INF prospect hit a laser shot that barely cleared the wall in right field. If Matt Baker’s (Tampa Bay Times) tweet was indicative of anything, Lee wasn’t convinced of his Dustin Pedroia like shot:
#Rays SS prospect hak-Ju Lee with a two-run HR to right. He didn’t seem to think it was a home run, but looked like it went over to me.
— Matt Baker (@MBakerTBTimes) March 11, 2015
On the other end of things, Odorizzi took the bump Wednesday afternoon, departing after two strong innings. The righty allowed one run on four hits and two walks, fanning two along the way. Odorizzi told reporters his focus was primarily on his slider/cutter, before shifting that focus to the game situation in order to force a couple of ground ball outs in the second.
Back from the #Rays clubhouse. Odorizzi said he worked on a new(ish) pitch, a cutter/slider type of thing, to use the technical term.
— Matt Baker (@MBakerTBTimes) March 11, 2015
Andrew Bellatti, Brad Boxberger, Jeff Beliveau, and Jose Dominguez followed Odorizzi and combined to allow only two base runners to reach in four innings. Boxberger impressively coaxed three groundouts in a perfect fourth, while Beliveau rebounded nicely from his previous 2/3 inning outing, Sunday.
After allowing a seventh inning solo shot and a base hit, Steve Geltz settled down and finish the inning with the Rays’ one run lead intact.
Robert Zarate put together a shutdown, two inning save, scattering a couple of hits while striking out three.
Boog Powell (single) and Richie Shaffer (double) drove in a pair of runs to give Tampa Bay a 5-2 lead they didn’t relinquish. Rays win!
The Rays have been rather quiet at the plate this spring. Don’t think to much into things, as I wrote yesterday Spring Training at-bats can be deceiving if not meaningless. Still it is nice to watch the offense come to life progressively, with the team tagging the Twins for five runs.
The New What Next
Alex Cobb will butt heads with Mark Buehrle in his second start of the spring against the Toronto Blue Jays, Thursday. Alsoslated to see pitch are Ernesto Frieri, Kevin Jepsen, Brandon Gomes, Jordan Norberto, Kirby Yates, and C.J. Riefenhauser.
Rays 3/11/15 Starting Lineup
Jennings LF
DeJesus RF<
Cabrera 2B
Longoria 3B
Loney 1B
Forsythe DH
Souza Jr. CF
Rivera C
Beckham SS
Cobb RHP
Noteworthiness
The Rays outfield picture is starting to develop. Manager Kevin Cash revealed Wednesday, Kevin Kiermaier will exclusively play centerfield.
I’m very, very excited about that, Kiermaier told the Tampa Bay Times. That’s where I feel like I can help the team out the best.
As it stands, Desmond Jennings will be in left when Kiermaier is in the lineup, but will switch to center when there’s a lefty on the mound.
Cash compared Kiermaier and Jennings’ defensive ability to a former Rays outfield duo — B.J. Upton and Carl Crawford.
That was a pretty good tandem in the outfield, said Cash. I think there’s probably some comparisons — I don’t know if they’re fair — that that’ll be quite the outfield to have cover a lot of ground out there.
As friend of the blog Danny Russell (DRaysBay) wrote, for the Rays’ part, this was an expected outcome given player preferences and the arm of Kiermaier. If you read the tea leaves, you might have thought KK was headed for a star role even sooner, having been featured in several Rays promotions, including ticket sales advertisements and a bobble head for early purchases, as well as other local advertisements for the YMCA. He certainly has the good face.