The State of the Rays with Two Weeks Left of Spring Training

Back in February I received an interesting email from a fellow blogger. His challenge, if I chose to accept it: answer six simple questions (below) about the state of the Rays going into Spring Training and the 2014 season.

Rays Roll the Red Sox, 8-4, Noteworthiness (Updated)

The Rays are now 11-4-2 in the 2014 Grapefruit League season, following an 8-4 win against Boston, in Port Charlotte Sunday. David Price got his third start of the spring Sunday afternoon — and he did not disappoint. Slashing 6.2 IP/3 H/2 R/2 ER/1 BB/1 HBP/7 K on 91 pitches (61 strikes), the Rays ace was quite whiffy, with five of his seven strikeouts coming in the swinging variety. Price did not get into a three-ball count until the sixth inning.

Rays Fall to Red Sox, 6-2 (Updated)

Monday was one of those days where you have take the good with the bad. With this being Spring Training, you have the luxury to do as much. The good: Evan Longoria drilled a massive solo homer over the Monster (and out of the park) in the fourth inning, Jake Odorizzi put together a decent 2.1 IP/2 H/1 R/1 ER/1 BB/1 K outing where he threw his new pitch — a splitter-changeup — a lot, and Cesar Ramos worked 4-1/3 IP in a minor-league intrasquad game, slashing 5 H/1 BB/7 K on 64 pitches (40 for strikes). What’s more, Heath Bell also pitched in the aforementioned minor-league game, working 1-1/3 innings with just a walk on 20 pitches.

Rays Win Their First of the Spring, 6-3

The Tampa Bay Rays won their first game of the Grapefruit League season Sunday, taking the first game of the 2014 Knutson Clasic by a score of 6-3, thanks in part to a pair of blasts off the bats of Evan Longoria (his first of the spring) and Jerry Sands.

Sayonara Off-Season, Hello Spring Training; Part Two

Allow me to pick up where I left off yesterday. If you need a quick primer, I received an interesting email from a fellow blogger the other day. His challenge, if I choose to accept it: answer six simple questions about the state of the Rays going into Spring Training and the 2014 season. Below are my thoughts on the questions left unanswered in my previous piece.