X-Rays Spex

A Below Average Rays Fan Blog

Rays Roster Moves: Wilson Ramos likely headed to the DL

By Leave a Comment

Rays All-Star catcher, Wilson Ramos, is headed for the disabled list with a left hamstring strain. (Photo Credit: KEYE CBS Austin)

The Tampa Bay Rays received some bad news Sunday afternoon, All-Star catcher Wilson Ramos is likely headed to the disabled list with a left hamstring strain suffered in Saturday’s matinee contest against the Twins.

The team doesn’t have a timetable yet for how much time Ramos will could miss, but as Marc Topkin (Tampa Bay Times) writes, it could be weeks, or maybe even a month. Topkin added a DL stint could impact and possibly eliminate the opportunity to trade him.

Not the best news, manager Kevin Cash said before Sunday’s game. He’s going to miss some time.

The injury occurred as Ramos ran out a ground ball to third in the sixth inning yesterday afternoon.

Ramos is still planning to travel to Washington D.C. to participate in the All-Star Break festivities. Cash said they will have a better idea on the extent of the injury, and the length of his absence, when Ramos returns to St. Petersburg, yet he is in all likelihood headed to the DL.

We’re going to have to make a decision, Cash said. We’ll see how he responds over the break. I think it’s fair to say he’s going to miss some time. …

I don’t have an exact timetable yet. We had doctors look at him (Saturday). We really don’t know anything until we get home and let our doctors look at him as far as the length of it.  Every hamstring is different. Every pull is different. People’s bodies respond differently. I would hate to say he is going to miss less or more without really knowing.

Even though Ramos stated that he’d like to re-sign with the Rays in the pending offseason, he was considered to be one of Tampa Bay’s most valuable trade pieces, and thus likely to be moved before the July 31st trade deadline. The free-agent to be is making $10.5-million this season, and is expected to land a lucrative deal this winter.

Depending on the grade of the strain, the hamstring injury could sideline Ramos for a couple of weeks or a month, taking us through the trade deadline. As Topkin noted, even if the Rays got him through waivers to make an deal there is an Aug. 31 deadline to be eligible for postseason play.

Tampa Bay doesn’t have many in house options for a replacement, though it is thought that either Nick Ciuffo, who is with Triple-A Durham after serving a 50-game drug suspension, or Adam Moore — who has big league service time under his belt — will be promoted.

Tampa Bay Rays 7/15/18 pregame notes; injury and roster news

By Leave a Comment

The 19 runs on Saturday matched a franchise record. (Photo Credit: Tampa Bay Rays)

After scoring a season high 19 runs against the Twins on Saturday, matching a franchise high, the Tampa Bay Rays look to end the ceremonial first half on a high note in Minneapolis. The win yesterday solidified the Rays’ plus .500 record at the All-Star Break, while a victory today could help determine if the team will be buyers or sellers at the trade deadline, or if they’ll stay put.

It was announced after Saturday’s contest that Wilson Ramos, who was pulled early — in the sixth inning — due to left hamstring tightness, will not be able to play in the All-Star Game on Tuesday.

Ramos said the injury occurred when he was running out a ground ball to third.
Ramos will travel to DC for the game, but it is uncertain whether he’ll hit the disabled list.

I was very excited to participate in that game, Ramos said. Now, I’m very sad. I worked really hard to make that team. But I will be there with my family and get some time there.

Hopefully it gets better soon. I still have half a season left … It’s better to miss one game than two months. Just have to be smart, do my rehab well and come back strong.

The Rays also made a roster move, acquiring the recently DFA’d southpaw Hoby Milner from the Phillies for cash considerations.

Milner, 27, broke camp on the Phillies’ Opening Day roster, however, he performed to a 7.71 ERA in 10 appearances before being optioned to Triple-A Lehigh Valley. Last season he had worked to a 2.01 ERA in 37 appearances.

In order to make room on the 25 and 40-man rosters, Tampa Bay optioned RHP Chih-Wei Hu back to Triple-A Durham, and designated RHP Ryan Weber for assignment.

When a player is DFA’d, he is immediately removed from the 25 and 40-man 40-man rosters. Within seven days of the transaction, the player must either be traded, released or placed on irrevocable outright waivers.

The New What Next

RHP Ryne Stanek (1-2, 1.92 ERA) will get the start in a bullpen day for the Rays, pitching opposite of RHP Fernando Romero (3-3, 4.38 ERA).

Ryne Stanek has sterling peripherals this season, posting a 1.93 ERA, 0.95 WHIP and 11.3 K/9 across his 27 appearances this season (32-2/3 innings). The right-hander pitched a scoreless frame with two punch outs in his lone appearance against Minnesota this season.

If history speaks to anything, southpaw Ryan Yarbrough (8-4, 3.68 ERA) will likely see some mound time this afternoon.

Fernando Romero has a solid-but-unspectacular 4.38 ERA in 51-1/3 innings this season, although his 2.04 ERA in 39-2/3 innings for Triple-A Rochester is quite good. In his previous start for the Twins, Romero took the loss after he allowed four runs in six innings. This season he has relied primarily on a whiffy 96 mph sinker with some slight armside run and some natural sinking action, a swing-and-miss 96 mph four-seam fastball with natural sinking action, and a 12-6 87 mph slider, while also mixing in a hard 91 mph changeup with some armside fade and natural sink.

You can read about the series in our preview.

The New What Next: Rays vs Twins part two — a series preview

Rays 7/15/18 Starting Lineup

Kiermaier CF
Duffy 3B
Bauers DH
Cron 1B
Robertson 2B
Gomez RF
Smith LF
Hechavarria SS
Sucre C
Stanek RHP

Noteworthiness

— A li’l R&R. After a long stretch of writing pretty much daily since the start of Spring Training, we’ll be taking a brief respite this week. Treat yo-self as it were. Fret not, if anything pressing needs to be reported between now and Friday, we’ll be on it. Otherwise, see y’all when the Rays return to action on Friday against the Marlins.

The New What Next: Rays vs Twins part two — a series preview

By Leave a Comment

How do you spell sweep? D-E-T-R-O-I-T T-I-G-E-R-S. (Photo Credit: X-Rays Spex)

After rattling off five consecutive wins, including a three-game seep of the Tigers, the Tampa Bay Rays are set to open a four game series against the Minnesota Twins, in Minneapolis. The Twins won the rubber game of their three game series with the Royals on Wednesday. The Rays, who enter the series four-games over .500 for the first time this season, swept the three-game series between the teams at home earlier this season (April 20-22).

(Stats Credit: ESPN)

Tampa Bay looks to build on its 48-44 record heading into the All Star Break. They still trail the Red Sox by 16 games in the AL East entering Thursday night, however, the Rays made up a game in a half in the Wildcard rankings, sitting 9.5 games out of the final spot with 70 left to play.

Minnesota bounced back from a loss in the middle game of the set with Kansas City, improving to 41-49 on the season with their sixth win in seven games. Although the Twins trail Cleveland by 8.5 in the AL Central, and the Rays by six games in the AL Wildcard rankings.

(Stats Credit: FanGraphs)

Minnesota has put 75 runs on the board over the last 14 days, as compared to Tampa Bay which has scored 23 fewer. Yet the Rays pitching staff has performed to a combined 2.47 ERA/3.19 FIP (1.66 ERA/2.21 FIP by starters, 3.00 ERA/3.84 FIP by relievers) over the same stretch. Compare that to the Twins, which have performed to a combined 4.95 ERA/4.69 FIP (4.92 ERA/5.33 FIP by starters, 5.00 ERA/3.83 FIP by relievers). Good pitching beats good hitting, advantage Tampa Bay.

If the Rays can win the series, they’ll enter the All-Star Break with a 51-45 record in the very least, six games over .500.

Pitching Probables

Over the next three days Kevin Cash will start Blake Snell (12-4, 2.09 ERA), Nathan Eovaldi (3-3, 3.35 ERA) and Chris Archer (3-4, 4.41 ERA), then rely on the bullpen (23-22, 3.46 ERA) in the series finale. Paul Molitor will counter with Kyle Gibson (3-6, 3.59 ERA), Jake Odorizzi (4-6, 4.28 ERA), Jose Berrios (9-7, 3.41 ERA), and a pitcher to be named before the game on Sunday.

(Stats Credit: FanGraphs)

Blake Snell allowed six hits and three walks while striking out nine across 7-1/3 scoreless innings against the Mets on Sunday. Snell threw 112 pitches (70 strikes, 63% strike rate), generated an impressive 16 swinging strikes (23% SwStr rate) and stayed out of trouble by coaxing 10 groundouts including two double plays. While the Mets typically struggle against left-handers, Snell has been dominant in his last three starts, fanning 29 batters across 21-2/3 innings. Those three turns on the mound have added to his impressive 2018 campaign, as Snell ranks among the AL leaders in wins, innings pitched, strikeouts, ERA and WHIP. (Cough, yet he was still snubbed for the All Star Game)

Kyle Gibson fired seven strong innings to earn the win over Baltimore on Saturday, allowing three runs on four hits and four walks while striking out nine. Gibson has been solid for most of the season and he continued that on Saturday, with most of the damage coming on a first-inning home run hit by Chris Davis. Even so, Gibson is 1-1 with a 5.21 ERA over his last three starts (19 innings), with seven walks but 19 strikeouts. The right-hander is 1-5 with a 6.81 ERA in eight career starts against Tampa Bay, including a 6-1/3 inning four run, five hit loss on April 21. Key Matchups: Ji-Man Choi (1-3, HR, RBI), CJ Cron (4-11, HR, 3 RBI, BB), Carlos Gomez (4-15, 2B, RBI), Adeiny Hechavarria (1-1, BB), Kevin Kiermaier (5-8, 3 2B, BB), Wilson Ramos (1-3, 2B, RBI), Joey Wendle (2-3, 3B)

Nathan Eovaldi blanked the Mets across seven innings, allowing just one hit while striking out nine. The right-hander has had his best stuff over his last three starts, allowing just two runs across 19 innings while striking out 23. Even considering the hefty number of punch outs he collected, Eovaldi was extremely efficient Sunday, needing just 79 pitches (59 strikes, 75% strike rate) to breeze through seven innings, but manager Cash decided to pull the starter due to a seven-run lead.

Jake Odorizzi allowed five hits and a walk while striking out five over six innings against the Orioles on Sunday. He now has thrown two scoreless outings in his last three starts. And while both of those starts have come against weak lineups — the White Sox and Orioles — the former Ray is making up for a rough stretch from late May and June, during which he allowed 22 earned runs across 20-1/3 innings. He has gone at least five innings without surrendering more than two earned runs in 10 of his 19 starts this season. Odo has never faced his former team, although a handful of batters have faced him over the last few years. Key Matchups: CJ Cron (2-4, HR, RBI), Matt Duffy (1-2, 2B), Carlos Gomez (2-7, BB)

Chris Archer did not fare well in his return outing after spending on the DL with an abdominal strain, allowing three runs on six hits and two walks over 3-1/3 innings Monday night. He struck out three. Archer threw 15 of 18 first pitch strikes and induced 11 whiffs, although he had a hard time putting batters away efficiently. He struggled in the third inning, when he allowed three runs on three hits and a walk, running up his pitch count before his removal with one out in the fourth. Archer appeared to be turning a corner leading up to his DL stint, firing off five quality starts over a stretch of seven appearances that was bookended by an injury marred, five inning outing against Seattle on the fifth of June. Over his last four previous starts against the Angels, Red Sox, Athletics and the Mariners, Archer allowed a total of three runs, while sporting a 2.18 K/BB.

Jose Berrios held the Royals to just one run on six hits over seven innings on Monday night. He struck out eight. Berrios has now thrown quality starts in six of his last seven outings. The right-hander leaned heavily on his curveball Monday, throwing it 41 times, inducing five swinging strikes and four outs in play with it. Overall, Kansas City’s batters whiffed 16 times (22% SwStr rate) on 111 (74 strikes, 67% strike rate) pitches as Berrios showed why he’s the ace in Minnesota. Aside from his 82 mph curveball, this season Berrios has relied on his 94 mph four-seam fastball and an 84 mph changeup. Key Matchups: CJ Cron (1-3), Kevin Kiermaier (2-6, 2B)

I will update this piece when the pitching probables for the series finale are announced.

Rays Roster Moves: Willy Adames optioned to Triple-A Durham

By Leave a Comment

Willy Adames, photographed during Spring Training, was optioned back to Triple-A Durham on Wednesday.

The Tampa Bay Rays optioned 22 year-old INF Willy Adames to Triple-A Durham on Wednesday following their 4-2 win against the Detroit Tigers.

Adames has played intermittently for Tampa Bay this season due to the log jam in the middle infield. The consistency he has shown at the Minor League level has yet to translate to the big leagues, with Adames struggling to a .226 BA/.275 OBP/.357 SLG/.632 OPS line, with three home runs and an alarming 36.3% strikeout rate over 95 plate appearances. He is still regarded as a highly-rated prospect, and he’ll spend some time getting regular at-bats in Durham.

It was a really hard decision,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. We thought about it and, in fairness to Willy, when we called him up, we thought we were going to be able to do a better job of creating a lane. We’ve got a lot of good infielders here right now playing. We needed pitching, which also went into it, obviously, with the two bullpen days back to back.

Ultimately, it was more about Willy, in fairness. We want him to be a shortstop. He’s got to get some reps down there and get some more consistency. But we anticipate he’s going to go do his thing. He was positive with the message, and get him right back up here.

The Rays corresponded by recalling THP Chih-Wei Hu, who will make his second big league stint for Tampa Bay this season. Hu made one appearance, allowing three runs in 2-2/3 innings against the Rangers on April 16, before being demoted. He has performed to a 4.66 ERA in 16 appearances (14 starts) for Triple-A Durham.

Rays reveal details and renderings of proposed stadium, part two — the unfavorable aspects

By Leave a Comment

(Photo Credit: Tampa Bay Rays)

On Tuesday, the Tampa Bay Rays hosted a press conference in which artistic renderings of a proposed stadium in Ybor City were revealed. The purpose of the presser was simple, to gin up enthusiasm for the project within the community and outside the urban core.

As with anything, many positives were expressed — and unintentional negatives were intimated — during the 45-minute meeting. In the spirit of conveying coherent ideas, as opposed to writing one long convoluted article, I decided to break the subject into two separate categories — thus necessitating two different articles — one on the positives, and one on the negatives. This piece happens to be about the unfavorable aspects from the press conference, which took place at the Italian Club in Ybor City, blocks from the the proposed 14-acre site.

As expected, the renderings painted a picture of an innovative, and breathtaking (by the accounts of many) facility which played well to those in attendance, as well as those streaming the press conference online.

Days ago Noah Pransky (WTSP 10 Investigates, Shadow of the Stadium blog) made a prediction of how the presser would play out, and dare I say it largely followed the script?

  1. Rays have thought of everything and they think their renderings are awesome.
  2. Pics took politicians’ breath away – they love them.
  3. But a lot of work lies ahead – they need businesses and the community to step up with money if this is going to happen.

A few crucial aspects of the team’s pitch were intentionally left off the agenda though, most notably a discussion about how to fund the project.

Stadium costs

The initial price tag for the proposed facility will be upward of $892-million, far exceeding Principal Owner Stu Sternberg’s initial “highball” estimate of $800-million. The costs break down into $809-million for the stadium itself and another $83-million for what the team calls “necessary infrastructure” improvements, including public realm and safety improvements, as well as mobility and resiliency improvements. The glass-domed roof will account for 30% of the total cost, roughly $245-million. Not included in cost estimates, however, are those associated with the relocation of the TECO substation, site acquisition, and the money owed to the City of St. Petersburg for the remaining balance on the stadium per the usage agreement, not to mention the cost of demolishing Tropicana Field.

The additional costs, assuming the Rays don’t pay for them on their own, bring the total price tag closer to $915-million for a stadium the team suggested it would contribute more than $150-million toward, but less than $300-million. Let’s instead say Sternberg commits anywhere from $250-million to $299-million — which clearly is a big “if” at the moment — that leaves Hillsborough on the hook for at least $616-million.

Flippant as he may be, Sternberg must be aware that $600-$700 million in public subsidies is a non-starter. And since the team hasn’t settled on a firm contribution yet, they clearly are playing negotiating shenanigans.

Stadium costs aside, Rays President Brian Auld conceded that the team has no answers on how to pay for the stadium, although he was quoted as saying, that it’s a “very compelling investment opportunity” for everyone in the room and is open to creative funding.

Rays executives had anywhere from five months (when they announced their preferred stadium site) and a decade to come up with funding ideas for a stadium, yet they waited until there are 5-1/2 months left in the MOU window to hammer out a deal. In plain English, the Rays have a park they want to build, but they don’t know how they will get it done.

It’s a stunning, albeit funny, admission that befuddled many.

Always the intrepid journalist, Pransky pointedly asked Sternberg how he plans to build the stadium he’s been dreamt of, and talked about, for years:

Pransky: $892-million. Can you afford it?
Sternberg: (Glibly) Well, potentially.
Pransky: What do you need from the public sector?
Sternberg: I haven’t even looked at it at this point really.
Pransky: You guys haven’t looked at it all?!?
Sternberg: Not to the point that’s necessary. We’ve been focused on what you saw today, which is in itself a huge, huge undertaking.

Pransky also questioned if there was a scaled-down ballpark model from the “Cadillac” version he rolled out, to which he said the showcased rendering actually is the “Buick.” In all fairness, they could scale-down bells, whistles, and costs later if necessary.

Then there was the query about what happens in five-to-six months if a deal doesn’t get hammered out? Sternberg, again, was glib, saying he hadn’t thought that far ahead.

It frankly was a disingenuous attempt to sell perception as reality. The team has thought long and hard about getting a stadium built which will be largely dependent upon public subsidization. Just slap together a few renderings and hope the general public will see the price tag as nothing more than a minor obstacle to overcome.

Neil deMause (Field of Schemes) put it another way:

So we are supposed to believe that the owner of a pro sports team, who for years has been demanding a new stadium as a way of improving his bottom line, went into designing and pricing out a new stadium with no thoughts at all of how it would be paid for or whether it would make money. Or the other possibility is that he thought, Hey, asking for hundreds of millions of dollars is a bad look — let’s just give the public lots of pretty pictures and hope they’ll be distracted enough not to worry about where the money will come from. I bet it’ll work on those stenographers at the Tampa Bay Times, anyway!

Since Tampa has been staked to tight budgets extending back to the recession of 2007/08, Mayor Bob Buckhorn didn’t sound too convinced the city could afford the price tag.

Buckhorn, however, allowed that a stadium is a want, not a need — one that is not worth leveraging the city’s future on.

It’s a lot of money. We’ve always known it was going to be a lot. I’m doing my best to try to get there, but I’m also willing to walk away if it doesn’t make sense…we don’t want to enter into a bad deal that’s going to burden my kids’ generation.

Moreover, Hillsborough County has limited funds available as it pays down debt on Raymond James Stadium, Steinbrenner Field and Amalie Arena over the next few decades.

Suffice it to say, coming up with a financial package over the waning 5-1/2 months will be a monumental task. When you add in the mounting resistance from people of all stripes, progressive and conservative, paired with Mayor Kriseman’s acknowledgement that he isn’t too keen on extending the MOU window, that monumental task becomes far larger.

St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman released a statement Tuesday after the press conference. Pay specific attention to the verbiage at the end of the statement.

Today represents another step in the process for the Tampa Bay Rays as stadium renderings are necessary in order to generate enthusiasm in a community. This is also another step in the process for the City of St. Petersburg. We are continuing to plan for a future both with and without a stadium on the Tropicana Field site. I encourage all fans of the Tampa Bay Rays to enjoy the exciting product on the field as the Rays organization and stakeholders in Tampa and Hillsborough County work toward a resolution.

To whit, Kriseman likely is aware that professional sports franchises contribute just a fraction of a percent to the local economy. In turn, St. Petersburg will continue to move forward with or without the team. If you didn’t catch it though, the last four words — work toward a resolution — suggests that the Rays and stakeholders in Tampa and Hillsborough County are at odds with one another … that they are far from coming together with a resolution that pleases everyone involved. That’s not how mutually beneficial teams are made.

In conclusion

To quote the theme song from the hit 80’s comedy The Facts of Life,

You take the good
You take the bad
You take them both and there you have
The facts of life
The facts of life

When the world never seems
To be living up to your dreams
Then suddenly you’re finding out
The facts of life are all about you

There are many great aspects to this ambitious project. Then again, the same can be of the unfavorable attributes. The facts of life, as it were. Finding a location and coming up with a design have proven to be easy and exciting, yet finding the money and the public will to build a stadium are proving to be an uphill battle. I, like many other fans, want my beloved team to play in a new stadium. Yet that facility must be in a more feasible location, less contentious location (more on that tomorrow) and should not depend the generation of new public subsidies.

One final quote,

…And so it goes.
— Kurt Vonnegut