The Tampa Bay Rays limp back into St. Petersburg, where they are set to open a three-game series against the Detroit Tigers on Tuesday. Tampa Bay went 1-6 on the east coast jaunt up to Boston and back, with the bullpen and defense thwarting the team from maintaining any momentum accrued from the 5-2 start.
It would be incredibly easy to blame the offense for the recent spade of failure, after all (and for example) the number three and four hitters — Evan Longoria and Brad Miller — combined to go 10-48 with 20 strikeouts, and 3-16 with nine strikeouts with runners in scoring position during the last seven games. Longoria also grounded into three double plays over the course of the four-game set against the Red Sox, which certainly didn’t help. But when you consider that the Rays averaged almost five runs per game against Boston, something else seems to be afoot — namely a spotty bullpen and defense.
Over the last seven days, Tampa Bay’s relievers have pitched to an 0-4 record, and a 7.91 ERA/6.03 FIP. What’s more, in two of the last three games, the bullpen has been on the hook for the come-from-behind victories by the Red Sox.
To be fair, the defense up the middle has’t helped the cause.
Team Defensive Runs Saved Leaders
Rockies 13
Twins 12
Red Sox 12
Tigers 11
Rays 10Worst
Cardinals -11
Nationals -10
Diamondbacks -9— Mark Simon (@msimonespn) April 17, 2017
Sure, it is great that the Rays have collected +10 defensive runs saved (DRS) so far. Yet aside from Evan Longoria and Daniel Robertson, none of the infielders have pitched in…at least as it relates to DRS. In fact Tim Beckham has actually cost the Rays a run thus far.
Marc Topkin (Tampa Bay Times) painted a picture for how a sloppy defense can affect the team:
Brad Miller making an inexplicable error on a routine play at second base in the second, and nobody doing anything to keep it from costing them the game.
The gaffe cost Blake Snell and Tampa Bay three earned runs, and the loss, in the series finale with Boston on Monday.
Frustrating loss, Kevin Cash said. We talk about for us to have our best chance, we’ve got to play clean baseball. You could probably go back to a couple plays on this road trip that it just didn’t go our way. And it was very tough for us to overcome.
Enter the AL Central leading Detroit Tigers, who have gone 7-3 over their last 10 games, while also winning back-to-back-to-back series’ against the Red Sox, Twins and Indians. The Tigers are, well…the Tigers — a team with borderline-to-great ISO and wOBA ratings, a team that possesses solid defense, but one that strikes out often; although not as often as Tampa Bay. Their Achilles heel appears to be the relief staff that has hurled a 1-0 record with a 6.85 ERA/5.53 FIP over the last week.
Kevin Cash will throw Matt Andriese (0-0, 4.50 ERA, 4.93 FIP), Chris Archer (2-0, 2.21 ERA, 2.04 FIP), and Erasmo Ramirez (1-0, 3.72 ERA, 4.90 FIP) over the span of the three-game set. Brad Ausmus will counter with Michael Fulmer (1-0, 2.25 ERA, 3.43 FIP), Jordan Zimmermann (1-1. 5.06 ERA, 4.99 FIP), and Daniel Norris (1-0, 2.19 ERA, 3.50 FIP).
Pitching matchups
Andriese bounced back from a rough series debut to allow just one run on five hits and three walks through six innings on Thursday. He struck out five batters.
Fulmer is picking up where he left off last season, sporting a 0.92 WHIP with 11 strikeouts through 13 innings of work. He allowed three runs on four hits and a walk, while striking out seven batters over six innings Wednesday. The right hander tends to lean on a fly ball heavy 95 mph four-seam fastball and a 90 mph slider, while also mixing in a hard 89 mph changeup and a 95 mph sinker. Key matchups: Nope
Archer fanned five and gave up one earned run on six hits and two walks over 5-2/3 innings of the 10-5 win over the Red Sox on Friday. Archer fired 102 pitches across his start, and didn’t collect as many whiffs as usual — notching a modest nine swinging strikes. He, however, was able to limit the damage to just an RBI single in the sixth.
Zimmerman allowed five runs on four hits, while issuing five free passes over 4-2/3 innings on Thursday. After starting the game with a pair of scoreless frames, things spiraled out of control for Zimmerman shortly after. The right-hander said some of his struggles had to do with gripping the baseball. Zimmerman most often relies upon a 92 mph fly ball inducing four-seam Fastball, while also mixing in an 87 mph slider, a whiffy 81 mph curveball and an 81 mph circle change. Key matchups: Tim Beckham (1-2), Peter Bourjos (1-3), Corey Dickerson (4-6, 2B, HR, RBI), Kevin Kiermaier (1-4), Evan Longoria (3-10, BB), Derek Norris (1-3), Steven Souza Jr. (3-5, HR, RBI), Rickie Weeks Jr. (5-9, 3 2B, HR, 2 RBI, BB)
Ramirez will enter the rotation and start Thursday’s game in place of Jake Odorizzi, who has been placed on the 10-day DL.
Norris threw six scoreless innings Friday, allowing just two hits but issuing four walks while striking out five in a win over the Indians. Norris relies heavily upon a 94 mph worm-buring four-seam fastball, while also mixing in a hard 87 mph slider, a whiffy 86 mph changeup and a 77 mph swing-and-miss curveball. Key matchup: Evan Longoria (3-4, 2B, RBI, BB)
Noteworthiness
— We should see the return/debut of Colby Rasmus at some point during this six-game homestand.
— Per Topkin, the Rays struck out 11 more times Monday, making it 40 for the past three games and in double digits for six of the seven games on the trip. Overall, they lead the majors with 150.
— To better know Daniel Norris; I still love this story.
Rays to miss Miggy for some of the series? DRaysBay wrote about the prospect of that in their series preview:
Meanwhile, the big bats are starting to wake up. Miguel Cabrera was hitting .133/.278/.233 through the team’s first nine games, but had five hits (including a home run) in the weekend series against the Indians. Luckily for the Rays, Cabrera tweaked his lower back late in the Sunday finale and will likely sit out at least one game in this series.