Delmon Young To Be Featured On ESPN’s Outside The Lines

We are still waiting for the International League to annouce the length of Delmon Young’s suspension, which likely won’t occur until early next week. In the meantime, Young will be featured on Outside the Lines tonight on ESPN. The show, hosted by Bob Ley, will air at 11:30. Among the more interesting topics to be covered, will be Young’s history of on-field incidents. In fact, this most recent event was not the first time he has initiated physical contact with an umpire, nor is it the first time Young has thrown a bat at somebody during a game. All of these incidents are likely to be of great influence as the IL decides Young’s fate.

Delmon Young Video [Rays Index]
ESPN show on Delmon Young tonight [Montgomery Advertiser]

The Thunderdo…Err, We Mean The Tropicana…Err, We Mean The Trop…No, The Pit

The Trop is featured in a video today on Deadspin. The video is a humorous, albeit brief look at a Devil Rays game from one fan’s perspective. The actual video is below the link.

One Night At The Trop [deadspin]

A Look At The Future: Yesterday On The Farm

Indianapolis 7, Durham 4. Rough night for B. J. Upton. Upton committed 3 of the team’s 5 errors. As usual, it was his throws that got the best of Upton. Two of the errors were on throws and the third was a dropped catch. Upton went 0-2 with 2 walks and a run scored. He did steal his 14th base. CF Darnell McDonald hit his 4th home run of the season and is now hitting .327 after going 1-3 with 2 RBI. Edwin Jackson is not doing much to convince the organization that he belongs in the big leagues, as he continues to struggle with his control. He went 5.1 innings giving up 5 hits, 4 walks and 4 runs (3 earned).

Montgomery 7, Mississippi 4. Big night for C Ryan Christianson, as he went 2-4 with 2 home runs and 4 RBI. He now has 8 home runs and is hitting .257.

San Jose 10, Visalia 9. Aubrey Huff had his second rehab assignment game with the Oaks. He went 2-5 with a double, a run scored and an RBI. SS Reid Brignac went 2-4 with a double and an RBI but committed his 11th error of the season.

Beloit 8, SW Michigan 2.

Welcome Back Aubrey Huff…Welcome Back Julio Lugo

The Devil Rays offense should get a shot in the arm tonight when two of the teams regulars return to the starting lineup. At some point Joe Maddon is going to have to make some decisions regarding playing time and at bats, but not yet. Julio Lugo will slide right back into his usual shortstop position. Lugo’s return will bump Tomas Perez to the bench. Perez has been steady with the glove but he is only hitting .190/.229/.304. More importantly Lugo will be back to his custom spot at the top of the batting order. Maddon has used Carl Crawford and Joey Gathright as leadoff hitters in Lugo’s absence. While Gathright may develop into a strong leadoff hitter, he is not there yet. Crawford is a good leadoff hitter, but he is such a good hitter that he is more valuable in the #2 or #3 spots in the lineup. Aubrey Huff also returns to the lineup tonight. His return will move Sean Burroughs back to the bench. In 7 games since returning from the DL himself, Burroughs has batted .190/.320/.238. Huff and Lugo will instantly upgrade the offense. Where Maddon will have a decision to make is when Jorge Cantu returns and to a lesser degree when Rocco Baldelli returns. Ty Wiggington shifted to second base when Cantu went on the DL. Wiggington has been hitting the ball too well to be sitting on the bench everyday. One option is to shift Huff over to first base, move Wiggington back to third base and sit Travis Lee. This is not very likely as Lee has been outstanding with the glove and regularly saves the other infielders from errors. In fact, members of the Devil Rays public relations department put the unofficial total of “saves” for Lee at 13. When Baldelli returns, he will return to center field, which means Gathright goes to the bench. Gathright does not necessarily warrant a position as an everyday starter, but Maddon will be hard-pressed to get some at bats for him as he causes havoc when he gets on base. The most likely scenario has Wiggington filling in at various positions to give guys a day off. He probably won’t start everyday but we would not be surprised if he starts 4-5 games a week. As for Baldelli…The team is going to be very cautious with him and we expect to see him taking a lot of days off the first month or two after he returns.

Not Everyone At ESPN Is An Idiot…We Present Tim Kurkjian

Tim Kurkjian knows a good thing when he sees one, even if he is a little slow. About time others see what Devil Rays fans know.

Gomes has some serious strength [espn.com]

Aubrey Huff Begins Rehab Assignment

Devil Rays’ 3B Aubrey Huff began a rehab assignment last night for the Advanced-A Visalia Oaks. Visalia of the California League was the obvious choice as Huff is expected to rejoin the Rays on Friday when they begin a road trip in Oakland. Last night he played thirdbase and went 0-3 with a walk a run scored in 4 plate appearances. Huff has been on the DL since April 12. He has been sidelined with a hyperextended knee he injured when he collided with SS Nick Green while chasing a foul ball.

Aubrey Huff Rehabbing with Visalia [Visalia Oaks]
Huff goes on DL; could be out 4-6 weeks [espn.com]

A Look At The Future…Yesterday On The Farm

Montgomery 6, Mississippi 5. Big game for 3B Aneudi Cuevas. Cuevas went 4-5 with a walk-off RBI double in the bottom of the 9th that broke a 5-5 tie. SS Matthew Maniscalco went 3-5 with 3 RBI, but committed 2 errors. 2B Elliot Johnson hit his 5th home run of the season and is now batting .318. SP Tony Paguero was the victim of shaky defense. He went 7 innings, allowing 7 hits, 1 walk and 4 runs (1 earned). He struck out 8 in the no-decision.

San Jose 8, Visalia 7. C Coltyn Simmons went 3-4 with 3 RBI, and 1B Chris Nowak 2-5 with 2 RBI. Top Prospect SS Reid Brignac went 1-5 with a run scored and played flawless defense. He is now hitting .337.

The Hangover: Last Night In The AL East

New York 4, D-Rays 2, 10 innings. And just like that, the Rays have lost three in a row and are now 4.5 games behind both the Yankees and the Red Sox. Casey Fossum had his best outing of the season unravel in the 7th inning. After retiring the leadoff hitter, Fossum gave up back-to-back hits before being relieved by Chad Orvella. Orvella could not hold the lead as both runners score. In the 10th, Alex Rodriguez, who happens to make almost as much as the Devil Rays entire roster, drove in the go-ahead run with a single. Tyler Walker picked up the loss. Walker who brought hope to the struggling Rays bullpen has been the losing pitcher in three games already. The lone offensive output came from light-hitting Tomas Perez, who hit a 2-run home run in the 5th inning. The Yankees are now 14-11 and tied with the Red Sox for first place.

Toronto 7, Boston 6. The magic of Jonathan Papelbon’s mohawk has finally worn off. Although not a save situation, Papelbon gave up the go-ahead run in the 9th inning. The RBI double off the bat of Russ Adams was the first run that Papelbon had surrendered all season. Remember folks…Papelbon received the mohawk when he WON a bet. No word on what he has to do now that he lost a game. Boston is 15-12 and tied with the Spankees for first place. They are 4-6 in their last 10. The Jays are 14-12, a half game behind.

Texas 2, Baltimore 1, 12 innings. WOW! you mean the Rangers win games against teams not from Tampa? Mark DeRosa making his first start of the season hit a walk-off home run in the bottom of the 12th. The Borioles are now 14-15 and 2 games back of the division leaders.

One Columnist Wants To See The Axe Come Down On Delmon Young

Joe Henderson of the Tampa Tribune, has suggested that the International League suspend Rays’s minor leaguer Delmon Young for the rest of the season. That would, in essence, be a suspension of 124 games.

Baseball Needs To Send Young Tough Message [tampa tribune]

A Look At The Future…Yesterday On The Farm

Durham 4, Syracuse 1. Brian Stokes continues to impress and make a bid for a shot at the big club’s rotation. Stokes, 26, has had a solid, if not spectacular ascent through the Devil Rays farm system since being signed as an undrafted free agent in 1998. Last night, the right hander picked up his first victory of the season while going 7 innings, giving up only 3 hits, 1 walk and no runs. He struck out 4. His ERA in 5 starts is now 1.93. Another player having a solid year for the Bulls is CF Darnell McDonald. The former first round pick of the Baltimore Orioles went 2-4 with an RBI and a run scored. He is now hitting .327. B.J. Upton went 2-3 with a walk and a run scored. He is now hitting .289. In the field, Upton did not commit any errors and turned two flawless double plays.

Montgomery 6, Mississippi 4. Andy Sonnanstine managed to “scatter” 10 hits and 2 walks over 5 innings and gave up only 2 runs (1 earned). Jason Pridie, who was returned to the D-Rays after failing to make the Minnesota Twins roster out of spring training went 1-4 with a walk and a RBI. He is hitting .235.

Visalia 5, San Jose 2. SP Christopher Mason pitched a gem to pick up his 2nd win of the season. He went 8 innings surrendering only a 1 hit and 1 walk. He struck out 6 and gave up 2 runs (1 earned). His ERA is now 1.86. SS Reid Brignac went 0-4 and committed his 10th error of the season. LF Patrick Breen hit his 7th home run and is now hitting .307.

SW Michigan 1, Peoria 0. Michael Wlodarczyk also had a very strong outing for the Devil Rays’ farm system. He went 8 innings giving up six hits and did not allow a r walk or a run. He struck 7 and his ERA is now 1.27 in 6 starts. C Matt Spring got the game-winning RBI in the 9th. He went 1-3 and is now hitting .273.