X-Rays Spex

A Below Average Rays Fan Blog

Looking Backward While Looking Forward (Rays vs. A’s, 8/24/12 starting lineup included)

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Tampa Bay Rays’ Sam Fuld, right, scores ahead of the tag by Oakland Athletics catcher Derek Norris during the fifth inning of a baseball game Thursday, Aug. 23, 2012, in St Petersburg, Fla. Fuld and Jose Molina scored on a double by Matt Joyce. (AP Photo/Chris O’Meara)

“The Tampa Bay Rays have played so well recently it’s hard to believe their lineup failed to produce a base runner a little over a week ago,” noted the author of ESPN’s preview of tonight’s match-up, which pits Matt Moore (10-7, 3.57 ERA) against Jarrod Parker (8-7, 3.48 ERA). I’ll give them some credit for what was written, if only because ESPN actually gave the Rays a compliment, albeit a backhanded one. The forgot to acknowledge that Tampa Bay has been doing well since the All-Star break. I’m more inclined to debate them though, after all, the Rays won seven straight a game prior to being perfecto’d…not to mention that they’ve seemingly turned that corner. Besides, did you really think those fat bloated blowhards would offer the Rays anything but a backhanded compliment?!

Any who, the Rays have been playing on another level lately where five run games almost seem par for the course. The rule, not the exception as it were. We like that. We also like that Tampa Bay starts the night just two-and-a-half games behind the Yankees in the AL East, while leading the AL wild-card race. That certainly doesn’t suck. Ponder this, if you will: The Rays have outscored their opponents 134 to 62 over the last 30 games while going 21-9. Too, on July 24th, the Rays were eight games behind the Yankees and sixth in the wildcard race. Their resurgence has been quite refreshing.

Sure, there are still a number of things that the Rays needs to work on offensively. But I can’t help but feel that the Rays are finally putting action to words. Joe Maddon has said all along, Tampa Bay was better than the results indicated back in June and July. I don’t think his sentiments are up for debate any longer.

Some thoughts going forward. The addition of a few more bats in the lineup when the rosters expand in September is all but certain. Lots of speculation has been made over the potential of Henry Wrigley or Leslie Anderson (or both) getting called up on September first. At this point, I’d think it to be reasonable to assume that Wrigley will be making his was up sooner than later. Call me crazy, but the way that Carlos Pena has been playing doesn’t really inspire that much fear in the opposing pitcher. Pena hasn’t quite cut it, and the Rays will need to bolster their lineup from within before the post-season. Henry Wrigley or Leslie Anderson, two first-basemen, would give the Rays some defensive flexibility. I’d also imagine that if Robinson Chirinos isn’t reactivated by the end of the month, Chris Gimenez will likely be recalled.

Now Cobber…the Rays find themselves in a convoluted situation with Alex Cobb, especially with the imminent return of Jeff Niemann, while also taking into consideration what Cobb has given the Rays this season. What’s more, Cobb has accrued a significantly higher number of innings under his belt this season than Jeff Niemann. For all intents and purposes, Alex Cobb has been the Rays fifth starter in 2012, not Jeff Niemann. Call me crazy, but Cobbs 9 IP/4 H/0 R/2 BB/8 K gem last all but solidified his position in the starting rotation. Cobb was incredible, and it would be a damn shame to the see him get bumped down to the pen because of Niemann…who, incidentally, hasn’t been so hot in his rehab stint. In either case, Cobb certainly hasn’t made it easy for Niemann to just reclaim what was his after Spring Training. It also bears mentioning that with a certain degree of certainty,  Cesar Ramos, Brandon Gomes, and possibly Chris Archer will return to the fold to help bolster an already lights-out bullpen. As much as I’d like to speculate any further, there’s a game to be played tonight.

Jarrod Parker will toe the mound for the A’s tonight. Parker is coming off of a complete game shutout of the Indians where he gave up only six hits while inducing 17 ground balls and 11 fly balls. He’s a decent pitcher, though he’s given up four or more runs in six of his 21 starts. The A’s have only won two of those six games. Tampa Bay has posted a combined .348 BA/.423 OBP/.435 SLG/.858 OPS line against, with a pair of doubles, three RBI, and three walks in 23 total at-bats. Ryan Roberts (2-3, RBI), Jeff Keppinger (2-3, 2B), Desmond Jennings (1-2, 2 BB), and Carlos Pena (1-3, 2B) have had their way with Parker, and will play an integral role against him tonight. Parker had a decent outing against Tampa Bay on August 1st, allowing three runs in six innings of a 4-1 loss. It should be noted that that was prior to the Rays offensive upsurge.

Rays 8/24/12 Starting Lineup

Jennings LF
Upton CF
Joyce RF
Longoria DH
Zobrist SS
Keppinger 3B
Pena 1B
Roberts 2B
Molina C
Moore LHP

Noteworthiness: Longoria is back at DH tonight with Luke Scott getting the day off. Jennings is also back in there in the top of the lineup. As always, Let’s Go Rays!

Looking Backward While Moving Forward (Rays vs A’ series preview included)

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Tampa Bay Rays’ Jose Lobaton eats ice cream in the dugout after hitting an eighth inning home run off Kansas City Royals relief pitcher Aaron Crow during a baseball game Wednesday, Aug. 22, 2012 in St. Petersburg, Fla. Teammate Luke Scott gave Lobaton the ice cream. (AP Photo/Chris O’Meara)

The Rays did it! Following a very successful 8-2 road trip, the good guys took their most recent three game home set against a pretty hot Royals, following their 5-3 win Wednesday. The story of the day was James Shields.

Juego G seems to have bounced back from his mid-season slump. Posting a 7.2 IP/5 H/3 ER/1 BB/7 K line against the Royals Shields threw 106 pitches (71 for strikes) in all. His most dangerous pitch on the day was his change-up, throwing it for a strike 73% of the time (with a 20% whiff rate). Shields did get in trouble in the eighth inning, giving up a single to Johnny Giavotella which was followed up by an Alcides Escobar RBI triple two batters later.

Jake McGee came on in relief and promptly gave up an RBI single to Alex Gordon. Kyle Farnsworth came in to get the final out of the eighth, leaving the Rays with an uncomfortable one run lead. Jose Lobaton was able to steal one run back on a 419 foot blast to center, giving the Rays a two run lead they wouldn’t again relent. Fernando Rodney came on in the ninth and did what he does best. The rest is history.

It was refreshing to see the Rays bounce back from Tuesday nights embarrassing two hit offensive implosion. Tampa Bay was able to score five runs on nine hits and six walks. They ended the day 1-13 wRISP while leaving 10 men on base. Suffice to say it would have been nice to see them tack on a few more insurance runs. However, they only struck out one time (as opposed to 10 times the night before) and continually applied the pressure to the Royals throats, eventually breaking through. We can only hope that the Rays offense shows up in the next series against the A’s.

Rays and A’s starters over the last 14 days.

Rays and A’s hitting at home and away, (respectively) and over the last 14 days.

Tampa Bay will start a three game series against the Athletics on Thursday. The Rays seek to hold on to their one game lead over the A’s for the first wildcard spot, while sitting pretty, a mere three games in back of the Yankees in the AL East following three straight losses. We’ve seen how dangerous the Athletics can be. Similar to the Rays, the A’s are 6-4 in their last ten games. BUT their pitching isn’t as strong on the road as it is at home, with a significantly higher team ERA and FIP on the road. The Rays have ample opportunity to pounce this weekend. If the Rays can continue averaging almost five runs per game as they have in the month of August, they could start to pull away from the rest of the pack in the wildcard race when they walk out of the Trop Saturday. And that friends, would rule.

By the by, my good buddy and friend of the blog, James, (from the band Against Me!) will be throwing out the ceremonial first pitch in Thursday nights game. How’s about you’s Rays fans come out and give him lots of cheers…and you know, help the Rays put more than 11,000 butts in the seats. You can read an interview that James did with ESPN.com a few months ago, here.

Because It Bears Mentioning….

News broke yesterday that A’s starter and Carlos Mencia lookalike, Bartolo Colon, failed an MLB drug test, and has been suspended for 50 games. Brett Anderson returned to the Athletics starting rotation yesterday, filling the hole vacated by the swarthy 39 year-old starter who went through a resurrection of sorts following his $2 MM acquisition this past off-season.

Looking Backward While Looking Forward; the Night-Cap Edition (Rays 8/22/12 Starting Lineup Included)

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ST. PETERSBURG, FL – AUGUST 21: Outfielder Matt Joyce #20 of the Tampa Bay Rays is picked off first base as Eric Hosmer #35 of the Kansas City Royals applies the tag during the game at Tropicana Field on August 21, 2012 in St. Petersburg, Florida. (Photo by J. Meric/Getty Images)

This will be another short one. I’m exhausted, frustrated, and frankly pretty upset with the outcome of tonight’s game. See, 10,877 people (myself included) endured what could be aptly titled the goddamn deluge, only to watch the Rays with their most potent offense since the month of April, get Hochevared once again.

Had you told me that the Rays would get two hit and shut out by a pitcher that had a 6-11 record with a 5.24 ERA prior to this game, I’d have laughed in your face. Yet with the exception of Luke Scott who hit a double, Tampa Bay’s offense forgot to show up. Ugh. I’ll bullet some thoughts below.

  • Props to Luke Scott on the aforementioned double. Scott came within 90-feet of scoring a run following an absolute blast of a sac-fly to dead center by Ryan Roberts. That sac-fly would have been a two-run bomb in any other stadium. Sadly Jose Molina and Desmond Jennings were unsuccessful in bringing LUKE home, with both striking out swinging.
  • Can someone please tell me why Jeff Keppinger, one of the Rays most consistent hitters, didn’t get the start at first in lieu of Carlos Pena? It could be argued that ‘Los had a negative effect on the team at the plate and in the field. Pena went 0-4 with two strikeouts, and two pop-outs. He also didn’t react to Ben Zobrist’s off-line throw in the tenth inning in a manner that would keep Jeff Francoeur out of scoring position. Sure the error was charged to Zobrist, and it would have been tough play to make even if he made a perfect throw. However in Zobrist’s defense, he did keep the ball low and it wasn’t air-mailed out of the reach of Pena. Carlos should have attempted to make the save, not the play. The fact of the matter is, had Pena taken his foot off the bag in an attempt to save the errant throw from ending where it did, Francoeur wouldn’t have made it to second on an infield hit. He also wouldn’t have come home on the Eric Hosmer bloop single that followed.
  • 0-3 wRISP, with four left on base. Ick.
  • What a shame of a waste David Price’s 8 IP/3 H/8 K gem.
  • Hochevar looked like Cy Young, collecting eight swinging strikeouts with 10 K’s total. The Rays looked like dear in the headlights, as Hochevar kept the ball down while pounding the glove side of the strike-zone.
Rays 8/22/12 Starting Lineup

Jennings LF
Upton CF
Joyce RF
Longoria DH
Zobrist SS
Keppinger 3B
Pena 1B
Roberts 2B
Lobaton C
Shields RHP

Noteworthiness: Color me surprised that Luke Scott, who actually has a hit against today’s starter mind you, isn’t getting the start at first yet Carlos “0-4 last night” Pena is. Mind = blown. Evan Longoria is again the DH, hitting in the fourth hole. Hey, at least Kepp’s back in the mix!

Rays 8/21/11 Starting Lineup

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Rays 8/21/11 Starting Lineup:

Jennings LF
Upton CF
Joyce RF
Longoria 3B
Zobrist SS
Pena 1B
Scott DH
Roberts 2B
Molina C
Price LHP

Noteworthiness: The Rays will try to extend the streak to six straight when they take on Hochevar and the Royals tonight at the Trop. The big news of the day, Evan Longoria is getting his first start at third base since April 30th. Luke Scott is also in the lineup at DH following his reactivation from the DL earlier today. This will also be the first time that Longo, Pena, and Scott have been in a game together since April. With Roberts hitting better, and knowing what ‘Los is capable of, my god…the one through eight spots look mighty beast like tonight. Too bad Keppinger can’t also catch.

Rays 8/20/12 Starting Lineup

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Rays 8/20/12 Starting Lineup:

Jennings LF
Upton CF
Zobrist DH
Keppinger 1B
Roberts 2B
Rodriguez 3B
Fuld RF
Lobaton C
Johnson SS
Hellickson LHP

Noteworthiness: First baseman Carlos Pena, right fielder Matt Joyce, and defacto DH Evan Longoria are getting the day off in game one of this three game set against the Royals. In their place are Jeff Keppinger, Sam Fuld, and Ben Zobrist. Elliot Johnson will also get the start at short. Luke Scott is expected to be reactivated prior to tomorrow nights game. Whispers have Sean Rodriguez being optioned to Triple-A (at least until September 1 when the rosters are expanded) in order to make room for Scott on the 25-man roster.