Goin Down In A Braze Of Glory

We must admit we were a bit worried this past off-season when Rays Management traded former first round pick Dewon Brazelton for another first round underachiever, Sean Burroughs. We have seen enough of Burroughs in San Diego to know that he will never live up to his first round hype. However, we do believe that he can be a serviceable player. If surrounded by good hitters, he has the potential to hit .300 and 15-20 home runs. Not exactly all-star numbers, but we would take them. More likely, he will make a good bat off the bench or a decent sub when Aubrey Huff, or another thirdbaseman is injured. We don’t mind having Burroughs on the team, but what worried us about the trade was our fear of seeing Brazelton become an ace in San Diego…well, worry no more. If his first two starts for the Pads are any indication, he is now their headache. In two starts, he has gone 6.1 innings (total) and given up 17 hits, 6 walks, and 17 (!) runs. Batters are hitting .472 against him and he is giving up more than 3.5 runners per inning, to the tune of a 24.16 era. This just in…that is not good.

Hey Mr. Gomes…Up Your Nose With A Rubber Hose!

We have to admit. We are beginning to fall in love with Jonny Gomes. Maybe its because he plays the game with so much emotion. Maybe it is because one of these days he is going to actually hit the cover off the ball, a la Roy Hobbs in The Natural. Maybe it is because one of these days he will be the first person to hit a ball out of the Trop. Maybe it is because he almost died of a heart attack at age 22. Or MAYBE…just maybe we love Jonny Gomes because he looks like Mr. Kotter. Whatever it is, we are beginning to believe that Gomes is one of those rare players that actually gets better when the game is on the line. Last night Gomes helped solidify his position as our favorite D-Ray with his first career grand slam to break a tie in the eighth inning against the Orioles. We all love Rocco Baldelli…we think Carl Crawford is immensely talented…we can’t wait to see what Delmon Young and B.J. Upton can do in the big leagues. But right now? Jonny is our guy. He is fun to watch.

Rays Get A Win In Grand Fashion [Tampa Tribune]

The Curse of LaMar-Naimoli, cont’d.

Apparently this is going to become a regular feature on Rays Index. At first we joked about the curse when Julio Lugo and Luis Ordaz went down on opening day. Then we began to wonder when Jorge Cantu was injured. Then we started to get scared when Mark Hendrickson went down after what may have been his best performance in a Devil Ray uniform. Now we have this…Aubrey Huff hurt his knee last night in a collision with Nick Green and has been placed on the 15-day DL. Now we wonder if there is something to this idea of a curse. Did Chuck LaMar and Vince Naimoli curse this team with their idiocy and their lunacy? We can only plead to the new team management…for the love all things good and decent, DO NOT…we repeat…DO NOT…under any circumstances call up Delmon Young or B.J. Upton, until this curse is lifted. We can only assume, that given Lamar’s and Naimoli’s track record, that the curse won’t last too long, since they never seem to do anything right…No word yet on who will replace Huff on the roster.

Damn You Chuck Lamar! Damn You Vince Naimoli!

One injury after another. The Curse lives!

Huff leaves game with knee injury [sports.yahoo.com]

You Need To Learn To Walk Before You Can Crawl…Reverse That

Jeff Niemann is back throwing long-toss and looks to be about two weeks from throwing from a mound. With as much money as the team has invested in their 2004 first round selection and lack of potential front-of-the-rotation starters in the system, you can understand the patient approach that the organization is taking. Although no official word has been made, look for Neimann to be on the mound for the Montgomery Biscuits in June with very limited pitch counts. If he can stay healthy and regain his fastball, we anticipate that Neimann will be in spring training with the parent club with a shot at making the 2007 rotation.

Niemann patient with recovery [Montgomery Advertiser]

RSS Feed Temporarily Down

While Julio Lugo is resting his sore ankle, he is earning a little spare change minding our site, as we enjoy the beautiful weather outside. Unfortunately he is not very savvy and our RSS feed is now as sore as his ankle. We promise that he is working on the problem and should have it fixed shortly…as soon as he figures out that the DVD tray is not a cup holder.

The Curse of LaMar-Naimoli, cont’d.

And the hits just keep on coming…Mark Hendrickson is headed to the DL with a stiff shoulder, and D-Rays fans everywhere head to the DL with a stiff drink and an eerily familiar sickness to the stomach. The Rays called up Jason Hammel, a 6’6″ righty, from Durham, who will make his major league debut tonight against Baltimore. This may come as a surprise to many as Edwin Jackson, who almost made the rotation out of spring training, was considered the top pitcher in AAA. However, these decisions are often made based on whose turn in the rotation is due on the AAA team. Hammel will be on four days rest when he takes the mound tonight. In addition, Hammel, one of the top pitching prospects for the Rays, was stellar in his first outing for the Bulls. He went 5 innings, giving up only 3 hits, no walks and no runs earning the victory against the Norfolk Tides. A quick scouting report from one of our readers (Tyler), “He’s got a good fastball that sits at 92-93 and touches 96. He also throws a hard sharp breaking curve, similar to Zito (not on the same level obviously) but still a real good pitch.”

Hendrickson headed to the DL [Tampa Tribune]

Julio Lugo On 15-Day DL With A Sore Brain

Nobody has ever accused Julio Lugo of being a math wiz. This was never more evident than a recent quote by Lugo as he is rehabbing his injured ankle. When asked about his performance at the plate on opening day and his 1.000 batting average, he had this to say..

“No, 2.000, baby, I got two hits.”

Apparently Lugo thinks he got four hits in those two at bats.

Notes: Hendrickson wants a repeat [MLB.com]

D-Ray Doodle Dandy

We have been introducing you to each of the Devil Rays minor league affiliates and highlighting a few of the players that we will be tracking over the course of the season. Today: The Southwest Michigan Devil Rays

While we were a little stumped as to where Visalia was, we are fairly confident that Southwest Michigan is in Botswana. As we have done in the three previous posts on the minor league affiliates, we introduce you to the Southwest Michigan Devil Rays mascot, Doodle. Wait! He is a bald eagle? Do they know something about the upcoming name change of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays that nobody else knows? Maybe they are on to something. The Devil Rays are named after a fish. The Southwest Michigan Devil Rays have a mascot that likes to eat fish. Of course…Our first thought was that the mascot may have predated the time when the team became an affiliate of the Devil Rays. While that may still be true, there is nothing in the history of the franchise to suggest the use of a Bald Eagle. Before the team was known as the Devil Rays, they were known as The Kazoos, The Battle Cats and the Yankees. We won’t even try to figure out why the mascot is named Doodle. The team is managed by former major leaguer Skeeter Barnes. Barnes, a utility player for four different clubs in nine seasons apparently is also in the barbecue business.

Key players we will be keeping tabs on throughout the season

Wade Davis (#33), 20 years old, SP. Davis a tall, prototypical right handed thrower (6’6″), was drafted in the 3rd round of the 2004 amateur draft. After a disappointing rookie campaign at the rookie league level in 2004, Davis rebounded with a solid performance last year for Hudson Valley, the short season-A affiliate of the D-Rays. In 15 starts, he went 7-4 with a 2.72 era and a league leading 97 strikeouts in 86 innings. He also showed decent control for a power pitcher with 23 walks. Davis is considered the 6th best prospect in the Rays farm system according to Baseball America. Davis is still very young. Look for the organization to be very patient with him. I would expect him to spend the entire season in Michigan, with a possible move to Visalia if he posts strong numbers.

Matt Spring (#34), 21, C. Spring was the 4th round pick of the 2004 draft out of Dixie State College of Utah. Spring has struggled at the plate in two seasons with Hudson Valley. He has a career batting average of just .204 in 100 games with 12 home runs. Spring is a very young catcher. It is well-known throughout baseball that catchers take the longest time to develop. Look for the Rays to be extremely patient with Spring. While there is a chance Spring will make it to the big leagues someday, it won’t be anytime in the near future.

Jacob McGee (#21), 19, SP. McGee, still only 19, enters his third year of pro ball, with an already impressive resume. At 6’3 190, McGee is a tall lanky lefthander. Last season at Hudson Valley McGee went 5-4 in 14 starts with a 3.64 era and 89 strikeouts in 76.2 innings. Like Davis and Spring, expect to see McGee in Southwest Michigan all season.

Weekend In Review

This team will give us a heart attack before the season is over. This past weekend, the D-Rays took two of three from the Toronto Blue Jays. The series saw the Rays win a game they were trailing 6-0, lose a game they were winning 4-0 and win a second game in which they were trailing 2-1 in the 7th. In baseball, it is about winning series, and anytime you take two of three on the road against a division foe is reason to be happy. The D-Rays are 3-3 and will host the Orioles tonight for their home opener.

Highlights from the weekend
The offense is going to be fine. In the first week, the team scored 32 runs (7th in the AL) with a team batting average of .261 (9th). Not great numbers, but they are solid, especially when we consider that the team is missing their starting middle infielders, Jorge Cantu (day-to-day) and Julio Lugo (15-day DL). The power numbers are about what we would expect from this team as they have hit 8 home runs (6th). This is a team that is capable of the long ball, but still needs to manufacture runs to be effective. One cause for concern is the lack of stolen bases. The team has one stolen base in the first week of the season (Carl Crawford). Joe Maddon apparently is having the players be more selective when they are running, unlike past seasons when players like Lugo, Crawford and Joey Gathright were given the green light at all times to cause havoc on the basepaths.

The pitching on the other hand is going to give us agita all season long. In the span of four days the pitching staff pitched a complete game shutout (Mark Hendrickson), gave up six runs in the first three innings (friday), lost a game 8-4 in which the Rays were winning 4-0, and then Scott Kazmir, almost got his first complete game of his young career in a 5-2 win on Sunday. The team pitching is last in the American League with a 7.06 era, which includes Hendrickson’s amazing performance on Thursday night. The staff is also last in hits allowed (71), last in HR allowed (12), 11th in walks allowed (23) and 13th in strikeouts (28).

A bright note was Kazmir’s performance on Sunday. We have seen more dominating performances by Kazmir, but we have not seen a better pitched game by him, than what he displayed on the mound againt the Blue Jays. We commented last week after his opening day start that our biggest concern was his pitch count. Against the Orioles he threw 104 pitches in 4+ innings of work. On Sunday, Kazmir threw 119 pitches in 8.2 innings including a whopping 82 for strikes. But his pitch count only begins to tell the story. Kazmir showed guts and poise on the mound. In the third, after a sacrifice bunt, he faced second and third with one out. He proceeded to get Reed Johnson and Alex Rios to strikeout swinging to end the threat. In the fourth, with first and second and one out, he enduced an inning ending double play from Shea Hillenbrand. He also seemed to find his groove again late in the game. After giving up 2, 2-out runs in the fifth to fall behind 2-1, it would have been easy to give up on Kazmir and send him to the showers. But Joe Maddon stuck with him and Kazmir went 1-2-3 in the sixth and the eighth. From the sixth, until two outs in the ninth, Kazmir only gave up one hit and walked none. In addition, he was much more selective with his slider. In time, the slider will be Kazmir’s best pitch, much like Randy Johnson, another hard throwing lefty. Most people are aware of how hard Johnson throws, but baseball people know his best pitch is his slider. Only when he learned how to control the slider and when to use it did Johnson become the dominant pitcher that he is. For a pitch like a slider to be dominant it needs to be thrown less often, not more. There is a saying in baseball that a hard thrower doesn’t learn how to pitch until he hurts his arm. It was just one game, but Kazmir is beginning to show that he can be a good pitcher and not just a dominant one.