Grapefruit League Archives

LBWMF: Hill, Roe, and Reed sharp against the Twins; Noteworthiness

March 14, 2021 By Schmitty Leave a Comment

“Maaaaaverick,” as said like Tina Fey imitating Sarah Palin. (Photo Credit: Brett Phillips)

After a well-pitched 1-0 loss to the Minnesota Twins on Saturday, the Tampa Bay Rays look to bounce back against Atlanta this afternoon.

Rich Hill started for the Rays on Saturday and was fantastic, allowing just a hit and a walk across three scoreless frames. The left-hander was efficient, needing 36 pitches on the day (25 strikes, 70% strike rate). Hill, who was coming off a disappointing outing where he didn’t make it out of the first, said he felt the conviction in his pitches was the biggest change.

That was the biggest biggest difference getting on top of the ball, throwing the ball downhill. committing to the pitch and the task at hand right there. And just continued to have that downhill plane with the fastball and the curveball. And that’s a pretty successful recipe.
— Rich Hill

The southpaw did not overpower batters on Saturday; his fastball sat at 88 mph. However, he was able to locate his curveball down in the zone against Minnesota. He channeled all the disappointment he felt after his first outing of the Spring and rediscovered the feel and downhill plane he was looking for in two live batting practice sessions between starts. Simply put, everything clicked into place.

Once you get into the games, it’s a different feel, a different adrenaline. Whether it’s a game here or a game on the backfield or it’s the World Series, it’s always going to be that same intensity for me. So being able to find that consistency of the arm path and executing the ball on that plane is something that’s huge for me.
— Rich Hill

Following the game, Hill said he’d like to get to the five-inning/75-pitch mark by the end of Spring Training, which would put him in line to throw six innings or 100 pitches at the start of the regular season. Rays skipper Kevin Cash indicated that he made a good step in that direction.

He was really efficient. We didn’t have plans to throw him but two innings but his pitch count was so low, and he felt good and (Pitching Coach) Kyle (Snyder) said send him back out, let’s see what we’ve got. …For him to get three innings, it’s really good. Now we’ve kind of reset that a little bit, that delay, and he should be in line to get to that ‘magic number’ in Spring Training.
— Kevin Cash

Chaz Roe followed Hill and posted his own bounce-back performance, tossing a perfect fourth while striking out catcher Willians Astudillo, who is pretty hard to punch out. Roe told the media he was much more aggressive in the strike zone on Saturday.

Just getting my feet wet the first time was a little flat. The ball was moving side to side instead of getting a little bit of sink to it. I made some adjustments the last couple days and it worked out.
— Chaz Roe

.@Cody_Reed23 with the 🔥 today pic.twitter.com/JCJnZl3u2J
— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) March 13, 2021

Meanwhile, Cody Reed — who has been called the left-handed Chaz Roe — continued his impressive Spring, striking out Alex Kirilloff and Tzu-Wei Lin in a clean fifth. In three Grapefruit League outings (all against Minnesota), Reed retired all nine hitters he faced with four strikeouts.

Ryan Sherriff and Jeffrey Springs also threw scoreless frames. Cash says Reed was especially impressive.

He’s had a really good three outings, so that’s encouraging to see. He looks totally healthy. He’s landing the breaking ball in the zone.
— Kevin Cash

The New What Next

Drew Strotman will get the start against Atlanta this afternoon. Right-handers Diego Castillo, Pete Fairbanks, and Nick Anderson, and Yacksel Ríos are also expected to pitch.

Rays 3/14/21 Starting Lineup

Franco 3B
Mejia C
Adames SS
Brosseau 1B
Phillips CF
Smith DH
Boldt LF
Brujan RF
Quiroz 2B
Strotman RHP

Noteworthiness

— Ji-Man Choi had his right knee examined by Dr. Koco Eaton on Saturday (along with an MRI). Eaton noted some inflammation in Choi’s knee. The first baseman/DH will be shut down for 7-10 days before being re-evaluated.

Should Choi be added to the Injured List, Yoshi Tsutsugo, Mike Brosseau, or Yandy Díaz could take over at first.

— Michael Wacha threw an intrasquad game on the backfields on Saturday, tossing three innings, then facing a batter to simulate starting the fourth inning. Cash said he has been impressed with Wacha’s fastball, cutter, and changeup.

He creates a lot of depth on the cutter and the changeup. Asking (pitching coach Kyle Snyder) at different times, ‘Which one was that?’ I guess it doesn’t matter if it’s going underneath the barrel. Either one will work.
— Kevin Cash

— Brent Honeywell Jr. also threw in the intrasquad game, which was his first live batting practice of the Spring. The right-hander, who hasn’t thrown in a minor league game in three-plus seasons, tossed 20 pitches and looked really sharp.

I think everybody walked away very encouraged. Fastball velocity was really good. The changeup, the breaking ball, everything he threw was really crisp, really sharp. Just excited for him, I think most of our entire camp was out there watching.
— Kevin Cash

LBWMF: Glasnow hits the century mark in his first Spring start, while Joey Wendle avoided serious injury

March 2, 2021 By Schmitty Leave a Comment

Tyler Glasnow leaned heavily on his triple-digit fastball on Monday.

Tyler Glasnow hit the century mark with his fastball in his first start of the Spring, while Joey Wendle avoided injury on Monday, as the Tampa Bay Rays fell to 0-1 in the 2021 Knutson Cup, losing to the Minnesota Twins, 6-5.

Wendle walked off the field with just a facial contusion after he was beaned in the helmet by a Lewis Thorpe fastball in the first inning. After he was hit, the infielder stumbled out of the batter’s box and doubled over near the dugout, where he was checked by manager Kevin Cash and the Rays training staff. Wendle said he was checked over again after he exited the game and doesn’t have any further testing scheduled.

It was pretty close. Probably more scary than anything. I wasn’t sure immediately where it had hit, but I’m pretty confident it got all helmet and then the helmet just kind of whacked my face pretty good. But everything feels good, thankfully. … There’s nothing too tender. It just kind of feels like I got punched, not necessarily got hit by a baseball, so I’ll take the former of those two. Everything feels fine. Might have some bruising or might not, but overall, I think I lucked out big time. … Thankful, honestly. It was a close call, and (I’m) glad it was nothing more.
— Joey Wendle

Rays manager Kevin Cash said that Wendle was already scheduled to sit out Tuesday’s contest, and if he’s cleared to play Wednesday, he’ll return to the lineup against the Pirates. He was thankful that they, presumably, avoided the worst possible outcome.

We were all scared. Hopefully, we avoided something. We’ll check on him this afternoon, throughout the day, throughout the night. But Joe popped back down after Joey went up and said that he thinks he’s going to be all right.
— Kevin Cash

Meanwhile, Glasnow hit triple digits four times in a 10-pitch first inning, including seven strikes. Then in the second, he allowed a first-pitch home run to Brent Rooker and got the next two outs before he walked three of his final four batters. Overall, he was charged with two runs on two hits and three walks with three strikeouts across 1-2/3 frames. Most of his pitches were close, throwing 20 of 35 pitches for strikes (57% strike rate). He was pleased by his first outing of the Spring.

I’m a relatively slow starter. I just think it’s more of getting a rhythm and getting back to that competition aspect. It was honestly just really good to be out there again, to feel that again and then kind of figure out what you need to build on and then just go out and do it again in five, six days. … I think especially for the first one of Spring as long as I can go out and like have some good quality reps I’m good to go. Second inning didn’t go as planned but I feel very good, and I’m happy with where I am right now.
— Tyler Glasnow

Glasnow mostly threw heaters against the Twins, although he also mixed in three curveballs, a 92-mph changeup (taken for a called strike), and a few of the cutter/slider breaking pitch he’s been working on, which clocked in around 86-87 mph. The right-hander said that he doesn’t need his new toy to be “devastating” per se, rather he was pleased by the shape, velocity, and that he could throw it for strikes.

Cash mimicked those thoughts, saying:

I know he’s pretty excited about it, and he should be because he feels like he can land that pitch (for strikes) fairly consistently,. With Glas, it’s a lot of fastballs at the top of the zone [and] featuring that snap curveball right off that fastball. … A slider has a little bit more shape, a little bit more tilt to it, and something that he can harness in the zone a little bit better.
— Kevin Cash

The New What Next

Michael Wacha will get the start on Tuesday against Boston. Right-handers Odom, Gomez and Hunt, and southpaws Gray, Quroz, Lukes, Boldt, and Mastrobuoni are also available to pitch in relief of Wacha.

Rays 3/2/21 Starting Lineup

Adames SS
Mejia C
Arozarena LF
Franco DH
Margot RF
Phillips CF
Walls 2B
Padlo 3B
Kelly 1B
Wacha RHP

Noteworthiness

— Because they will play a nine-inning contest which will air on ESPN Tuesday afternoon, Monday’s game was called after six innings at the Rays’ request.

— Right-hander Chris Archer and southpaws Rich Hill and Cody Reed faced hitters in live batting practice on Sunday. Archer’s fastball velocity (clocking in between 91-94 mph) and the slider were both where the team expected them to be. Meanwhile, Hill spun his breaking balls from different arm angles.

Cash said while they all looked “totally game-ready,” they could throw one more live batting practice session before getting into Grapefruit League games. All three are on different timelines in order to be ready for Opening Day.

— Ji-Man Choi (right knee soreness) is expected to DH on Wednesday and if all goes well, would do the same on Thursday.

Kevin Kiermaier (hip tightness) took batting practice on Monday and will take live batting practice again on Tuesday. He was also in centerfield for pre-game cut-off/relay drills. Hitting coach Chad Mottola said the team was “probably going a little slow intentionally.”

Rather be sure than test it, and we have to protect him against himself sometimes. There’s plenty of time left. Six weeks (of Spring Training])is for the pitchers. It’s not for the hitters. … As far as functional movement, yeah, he’s full-go.
— Chad Mottola

Rays pre-game notes — on deck: the Grapefruit League season opener

February 28, 2021 By Schmitty Leave a Comment

Next stop Charlotte Sports Park, where the Rays will open the Grapefruit League season against Atlanta on Sunday.

Now that camp is a wrap, the Tampa Bay Rays will turn their attention to the Grapefruit League season opener on Sunday, against Atlanta.

A quick promotional note, you can read about what to expect out of Spring Training in our primer.

The X-Rays Spex guide to the Rays 2021 Grapefruit League season

Self-promotion aside, Rays skipper Kevin Cash said a fair number of players from last season’s team will take the field against Atlanta, including Randy Arozarena, Austin Meadows, Brandon Lowe, Willy Adames, Mike Brosseau, Yoshi Tsutsugo, and Kevan Smith.

28-year-old right-hander Chris Ellis will get the start for Tampa Bay, while Hunter Strickland, Andrew Kittredge, Stetson Allie, Tyler Zombro, Joey Krehbiel, and Yacksel Ríos are all expected to take the mound at some point in the seven-inning contest.

Speaking of shortened ball-games, the plan is to play at least seven full innings in each game for the first week regardless of the score, although Tuesday’s game against the Red Sox will be nine innings and televised on ESPN.

At any rate, the regulars may just get one at-bat early on in the shorter games. For example, Wander Franco will back up Adames this afternoon then DH on Tuesday.

The goal is not to carry an overwhelming number of players for road contests due to COVID protocols.

Don’t expect to see Ji-Man Choi or Kevin Kiermaier in the first few games of the Grapefruit League season. Choi is dealing with right knee soreness which isn’t anything serious; he wasn’t expected to play in the Grapefruit League opener regardless.

Meanwhile, Kiermaier — who has hip tightness — worked out and ran on the field on Saturday, although the Rays are expected to take it slowly with Kiermaier.

Rays 2/28/21 Starting Lineup

Meadows DH
Arozarena RF
B. Lowe 2B
Brosseau 1B
Díaz 3B
Tsutsugo LF
Adames SS
Margot CF
Smith C
Ellis RHP

Noteworthiness

— Tristan Gray, Kevin Padlo, Rene Pinto, Ryan Boldt, Garrett Whitley, Moises Gomez, and Blake Hunt are the available position players for Sunday’s contest.

The X-Rays Spex guide to the Rays 2021 Grapefruit League season

February 27, 2021 By Schmitty Leave a Comment

These guys appear to be ready for the first Grapefruit League game of 2021 set for Sunday.

It’s Saturday, and the Tampa Bay Rays have wrapped up camp. Their focus has shifted to the 2021 Grapefruit League season. As much as we love any baseball action, Spring Training scores and statistics are mostly meaningless, especially early on. There are a few things we should be taking away from Spring Training though, and because of it, there’s no time like the present for our annual X-Rays Spex Guide to Spring Training.

Sample sizes are so small that any meaningful conclusion about a player’s performance isn’t easy to glean.

Everyday starters and players, getting serious roster consideration, will get around 60 at-bats during the spring. Why? Among other things, the first statistic to stabilize for hitters is strikeout percentage, and it takes at least 60 plate appearances to do so. Ultimately, hitters aren’t as concerned about looking the perfect pitch to incur damage upon as they are trying to get their timing down; anything above and beyond that is the icing on the cake.

Take Ildemaro Vargas for example. During the Spring Training last season, clearly prior to the shutdown, the infielder slashed .395 BA/.425 OBP/.605 SLG/1.030 OPS with a pair of home runs in 38 at-bats. He, however, slashed just .196 BA/.222 OBP/.314 SLG/.536 OPS with just one homer across 54 regular-season at-bats with three different teams. Granted he bounced around from team-to-team, however, he certainly didn’t come close to his Spring success.

Conditions for hitting in south Florida are vastly different from The Trop.

The Rays play in a dome where there is less wind resistance on a ball in flight. Compare that with Charlotte Sports Park, where a stiff breeze blowing in can turn a home run into a routine fly ball.

Pitchers aren’t as concerned about punching out batters as they are with staying healthy and building arm strength.

Pitchers are focused on getting ready for the season, not punching batters out. It takes many pitchers time to build up their arm strength. Dips in velocity are going to happen and home runs are going to happen. A pitcher might look like crap prior to Opening Day, and a handful of poor performances aren’t indicative of thei future performance.

Pitchers use Spring Training to work on pitches.

It has been written that “The time for trial and error is now. Spending time during the season experimenting with a two-seam fastball or a circle change is not a good idea. That should be reserved for side sessions and bullpens. During Spring Training, however, there is absolutely no negative impact to trying out some changes that could eventually be beneficial. Sometimes pitchers will go out to the mound only throwing fastballs away in order to work on their command over the outer half of the plate. Sometimes a pitcher will only work inside and give up a couple of bombs from missing spots.”

Tyler Glasnow, for example, is working on a new pitch — an as of now un-named cutter/slider, which likely won’t be effective until he figures out the “shape” of the pitch. Glasnow, among others, will use his Spring bump-time to work out the quirks of any given development offering.

Players are going to make errors, and that’s fine.

Cloudless skies will turn poppers into doubles, while errors from players playing out of position likely wouldn’t happen during the regular season. Furthermore, Spring Training is a time for players to prove their worth, many of whom are untested players at the big-league level. Instead, watch how they jump on the ball. Are they quick? Do they have a good range? Do their movements seem fluid or stilted? What about their arm strength?

Take note of who plays where.

As I wrote the other day, Brandon Lowe will get some reps at third base this Spring while Mike Brosseau will spend some time at short. Yoshi Tsutsugo, already capable of playing in the outfield and at third, will try to add first base to his profile.

He (Brandon Lowe) seemed open to it. It could be in-game versatility if it goes one direction, if it goes another direction maybe it’s getting some starts over there. It allows Joey (Wendle) to stay at second base, stay up the middle. We’ll play all of them different and see what we come up with.
— Kevin Cash

Meanwhile, on Saturday, Joey Wendle played second base, shortstop, and third base as he has in the past

You can’t put into words the value that he’s brought to our club on and off the field. Joey has the ability to set himself apart in that he’s kind of a glue guy. He brings everybody together. He’s as consistent as any player you could ask. The way that he goes about his work, the way that he cares about his teammates.
— Kevin Cash

All this is to give the Rays a bit more defensive flexibility.

Watch for injuries.

As Neil Solondz (Rays Radio) wrote, a handful of Rays are currently banged up.

Ji-Man Choi had some right knee soreness on Saturday and did not work out on the field. Cash says Choi was just a little bit overworked, but it was not anything serious.
That said, Choi will not start at first base on Sunday in the first exhibition game as originally planned.
Kevin Kiermaier, who has hip tightness, did work out and run on the field. Tampa Bay is expected to take it slowly with Kiermaier and he’s not expected to play in the first couple games this week.
— Neil Solondz

The win-loss record at the end of the spring means nothing.

Prior to last season’s shutdown, the Rays owned a sub-.500 record, yet went on to post the best regular-season record in the American League, culminating in a World Series berth. A Spring Training record is ultimately meaningless.

Morton impressive in first Spring start; Rays pummel Baltimore, 10-5

March 2, 2019 By Schmitty Leave a Comment

Right-hander Charlie Morton made his debut with the Rays on Friday. (Photo Credit: Tampa Bay Rays)

After dropping the first four Grapefruit League games of the 2019 season, the Tampa Bay Rays have bounced back and are on a four-game win streak, including yet another shellacking of the Baltimore Orioles, 10-5 on Friday. Charlie Morton made his Rays debut, tossing 1-1/3 perfect innings.

The right-hander threw 11 of 17 pitches for strikes and struck one of the four batters he faced. Morton sat in the 93-95 mph range on his four-seam fastball. He also threw a couple of two-seam fastballs (clocked at 91 mph), not to mention a couple of breaking balls. His lone strikeout came on a high 95 mph fastball.

He threw several more pitches in the bullpen after his outing, telling reporters the plan was to finish the first frame and be efficient enough to face a batter in the second.

We accomplished our goals. I went down and threw a couple more in the bullpen just to get a couple more, and felt good. I got what I needed to out of the day.
– Charlie Morton

At the moment, it isn’t certain when Morton will pitch again because of an off-day on Monday. If he doesn’t take the mound Wednesday, again versus Baltimore, then Morton will likely pitch Thursday against Toronto.

It’s always nice to cross the lines. Go out there, compete and do what you love to do. And also, go out there with the guys, finally.
– Charlie Morton

You can hear the entirety of Morton’s interview courtesy of the Rays Radio SoundCloud player (below).

(Courtesy of Rays Radio)

Meanwhile, Tampa Bay made it difficult for former teammate Alex Cobb, who allowed four runs and could not make it out of the first inning. Austin Meadows started the rally with a four-pitch walk before Daniel Roberton lined a single to right center. Ji-Man Choi followed with an RBI single to right, plating the first run of the game.

Two batters later Kevin Kiermaier drove home a run on a groundout before Guillermo Heredia capped the rally with a two-run blast to left field that landed well beyond the bleachers.

He’s an exciting player. He goes and gets it and when they’re both out there, (Kevin Kiermaier) and Heredia, it’s going to be tough to find grass with the baseball.
– Kevin Cash

Meadows later took Matt Wotherspoon deep in the fourth inning, while Daniel Robertson went 3-for-3 with a pair of runs scored on Friday.

Yonny Chirinos, Hunter Wood, Adam Kolarek, Luis Santos, Cole Sulser, and Andrew Kittredge also pitched for Tampa Bay. Kittredge tossed two innings of shutout ball, picking up a strikeout along the way.

The New What Next

The Rays will play a pair of split-squad games on Saturday. They will play host to the Phillies in Port Charlotte – and no, Bryce Harper is not expected to play – with Tyler Glasnow scheduled to make his second start of the Grapefruit League season. Diego Castillo is set to pitch for the third time this Spring. Tommy Pham, Joey Wendle, Avisail Garcia, Robertson, Yandy Diaz, Emilio Bonifacio, Michael Perez, and Andrew Velasquez are scheduled to be in the lineup in Port Charlotte.

In the other game, the travel squad will make its way north to Dunedin to take on former Rays bench coach Charlie Montoyo and the Blue Jays. Wilmer Font will get the start in his first appearance since a lat injury ended his season last June. Emilio Pagan and Austin Pruitt also are due to be on the mound. Brandon Lowe, Willy Adames, Austin Meadows, Nate Lowe, Heredia, Kean Wong, Jason Coats, and Nick Ciuffo are scheduled to be in the Rays’ lineup in Dunedin.