There were lots of big and little happenings this week in the world of Rays baseball. Let’s recap things a bit.
We got word of a Matt Moore abdominal strain toward the beginning of the week. After taking it easy for a bit, Moore began pitching again, including a 32 pitch bullpen session on Saturday. In kind, Evan Longoria got hit by a Matt Bush pitch in an intrasquad game on Thursday, bruising his right hand. Thankfully Longoria took it on a fatty part of his hand and there aren’t any concerns of lingering damage since the X-rays were negative. Both Moore and Longoria are expected to play either Tuesday or Wednesday this upcoming week.
We also heard how excited both Carlos Pena and Joe Maddon are of Pena’s return to the Rays. Maddon expects that Pena will see some playing time this upcoming week, on either Tuesday or Wednesday.
Not to be left out of the narrative, Rays principal owner, Stu Sternburg, popped up in Port Charlotte this week and opened his mouth. He, thankfully, didn’t use this opportunity to insert his foot…at least too much. If anything, he looked less like the owner from Major League (I know, the owner in Major League is female, but that’s beside the point) when speaking on the subject of increasing the payroll by 50%. Sternberg said, of that increase payroll and the long-term viability of the Rays in this market, “If I didn’t think it would work, we wouldn’t be spending what we’re spending here to win,” and. “I think the winning and the continued winning and the continued success gives us the best chance to ultimately put us in a position to have this sustainable.”
Thursday brought us the official news of the expansion of the post-season, with the addition of two more wildcard spots going into the 2012 playoffs. Fox Sports baseball analyst and bow-tie aficionado, Ken Rosenthal, best summed things up, “In the new format, each league’s three division winners earn a first-round bye; the Nos. 4 and 5 teams play a game to determine the wild card, which then plays the top-seeded division winner in the first round.” He went on to say, “For 2012 only, the five-game division series will begin with two home games for lower seeds, followed by up to three home games for higher seeds. This one-year change will eliminate a travel day prior to a decisive Game 5 of the division series and was necessary because the 2012 regular-season schedule was announced before the agreement on the new postseason was reached. Next year, the division series will return to the 2-2-1 format used in previous years.”
On Friday we brought forth news that Rays DH and Wolverine enthusiast, Luke Scott, used his god given ability to inanely (insanely too) speak his mind for good, rather than evil. Scott likes to make Red Sox fans cry, and we like him for that. I’m sure he’ll say something that will lessen my favor for him in the future, but that’s neither he nor now.
Tampa Bay renewed AL rookie of the year, Jeremy Hellickson’s, contract for $489,000 Saturday, some $5,000 less than they’d initially offered the pre-arbitration-eligible player. The Rays also took the field against the Twins yesterday. They ultimately lost their first spring training game 7-3, however some positives came from some of the Rays regulars. CF BJ Upton had a good day, smacking a double to left and a triple to right-center. “For where we’re at in spring training right now, I’m definitely in the right place…The key is keeping it where it’s at right now and trying to make it a little bit better,” Upton said Saturday. Not to be outdone, OF Matt Joyce blasted a two run dinger off of Twins starter Carl Pavano in the first inning. David Price started the game for the Rays and summed up his 26 pitch performance with one word: healthy. Though he hit the Twins SS, Jamey Carroll, in the head, he noted that he was pleased with most of his pitches.
Finally, if Luke Scott’s comments about the Red Sox fan-base weren’t enough to enrage those numb-skulls, former Red Sox manager, Terry Francona, recently had some wonderful things to say about the Rays organization. In an article in the Sunday edition of the Times, Francona was quoted as saying, “It’s not ‘pretty impressive’ — it’s more than that…It’s something. People in baseball realize it, but it’s a shame more people don’t watch it because they’re exciting, not just as a team but as an organization.”