Down On The Farm: Jeff Niemann Still Not Dominating At AAA

Rochester 3, Durham 0. Jeff NIemann had a typical Niemann outing last night. At least it was typical of this season. He struck out 7 in 6 innings but gave up 6 hits, 3 walks and 3 runs. Not bad, but not good either. His ERA is now 4.02 and while he has 57 strike outs in 53.2 innings, he also has given up 54 hits and allowed 20 walks. Ben Zobrist had 2 of Durham’s 8 hits.

Mississippi 14, Montgomery 5. After two stellar outings, James Houser struggled with his control last night. He only gave up 2 hits and 1 earned run in 5 innings, but he walked 4. Still in his last 16.1 innings he has only given up 6 hits. As a team the Biscuits walked 10. Evan Longoria was 0-2 with 2 walks. Reid Brignac was 1-3 and committed his 10th error which led to 3 runs. John Jaso was 2-3 with his 5th home run and is now hitting .339.

Tampa 5, Vero Beach 2. Jacob McGee struck out 8 in 6 innings. He gave up 2 runs on 4 hits and 1 walk.

Columbus 2, Savannah 0. Woods Fines pitched 6 scoreless innings with 4 hits, 1 walk and 4 strike outs. Desmond Jennings stole 3 bases and now has 21 on the season good for 3rd in the SALy.

NOTES FROM DOWN ON THE FARM…

• We got nuthin’ today.

The Hangover: Finally! Jae Seo Gets Some Run Support

Devil Rays 13, Mariners 12.
What is the over/under these days for runs needed by the Rays offense when Jae Seo is on the mound? 13 sounds about right. It is sad when your team has a 12-4 lead after 5 innings and you are still scared. Sure enough, Seo had another typical Jae Seo outing in which he allowed 7 runs in 5+ innings on 13…count ’em…THIRTEEN hits. How did he only give up 7 runs? But hey, Seo did look good in that start against Toronto….which is of course what we will still be saying in October…”Jae Seo…he sure looked good in that start against Toronto.”

On a side note, remember when the Rays were one of the last two teams in the majors to commit an error this season? Neither do we. The Rays committed two more errors last night and now lead the majors with 45. Those 45 errors have led to a major league-leading 33 unearned runs. It is bad enough when your pitching staff has the highest ERA and allows the most earned runs all on their own. Add to that a shaky defense and the most unearned runs and all of the sudden the offense needs to score 13 runs to win ballgames.

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…

• Elijah Dukes sat again yesterday afternoon, but the Rays have stated that he will be in the lineup in the White Sox series this weekend.
• It is true, right now the Rays appear stuck with Rocco Baldelli and Elijah Dukes but eventually the injuries and the troubles will pass over enough that the Rays will be able to move one or both.
• The Rays finally made it official and placed Josh Paul on the DL with a sprained elbow. the team recalled Shawn Riggans from Durham. Paul could miss 6 weeks. At 26, Riggans needs to take advantage of the next month and a half and prove that he can be a major league catcher. In the Spring, Riggans hit well (.316), but base stealers were successful on 10 of 11 attempts.
• Ahhhh…hindsight. All of the sudden everybody wants to talk about how the Rays should have traded Rocco Baldelli. Yeah, and I should have bought Google at $85.
• You can just see Toby Hall biting his lip in this piece as the former Rays catcher prepares to play his former team for the first time. It is just a matter of time before he says something stupid.

Down On The Farm: A Grand Debut For Matt Spring

Durham 10, Rochester 6 (14 inn). Second straight strong start for JP Howell as he tries to get back on the radar with the Rays front office. Howell threw 5 shutout innings of 1-hit, 1 walk ball. He struck out 3. He retired 11 of the last 12 batters he faced. Joel Guzman hit his 6th home run and drove in 4. Justin Ruggiano added his 4th home run.

Montgomery 7, Mississippi 6 (12 inn). In his first game since being promoted from Columbus, Matt Spring hit a grand slam. Spring, the Rays 4th round pick in 2004, was hitting .197 with 1 home run and 8 RBI at Low-A. Chris Mason pitched 6 innings and allowed 3 runs on 5 hits and 4 walks.

Tampa 9, Vero Beach 8. Rhyne Hughes hit his 6th home run and went 1-4. He is now hitting .327. Paul Moviel had his worst outing of the year, allowing 9 runs on 12 hits in 4+ innings.

Charleston 3, Columbus 2. Wade Townsend struggled with his control as he walked 5 and gave up 4 hits in 5 innings, but scrambled to only give up 2 runs. Nevin Ashley hit his 3rd home run.

NOTES FROM DOWN ON THE FARM…

• Reid Brignac is struggling early in the season. In 44 games he is hitting .249 with only a .666 OPS. He has 10 doubles and 4 home runs with a 30 to 12 strike out to walk ratio.

An Open Letter To Elijah Dukes

Dear Mr. Dukes,

You don’t know me and I don’t know you. I don’t know what kind of person you are. I don’t know if you are funny or sweet, smart or dumb, a “nice guy” or just a plain asshole. I have no idea what kind of person you are, but unfortunately I know more about you than a baseball fan would normally find on the back of a baseball card.

I know that you have been arrested at least six times, including one as recently as this past January for marijuana possession. I know that you have five children with four different women, of which two were born eight days apart. I know that during your professional baseball career you have been suspended five times, three of those were by your own employers, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

You are only 22 and you have the world’s greatest job. You are a major league baseball player. I wish I could say that you are risking this blessing with all your emotional outbursts. I wish I could say that you risk ending up like Lawrence Phillips. Do you remember Lawrence Phillips, Mr. Dukes? I do…barely. He had all the talent in the world, but he kept running afoul of both the law and his various teams. He had all the talent in the world and teams kept giving him chances, hoping that they would be able to keep him under control and Phillips would finally realize his potential. But unfortunately for Phillips he wasn’t that great of a football player and teams finally gave up. Last I heard he was in jail or heading there. But I honestly don’t know, because nobody cares anymore.

I hope for your sake that you won’t be Lawrence Phillips. I hope you have too much talent. Maybe you will end up like Pacman Jones? No, that’s not fair, and besides the baseball union is too strong to ever let you be suspended for an entire season. More likely, you will be Milton Bradley or a player you may be more familiar with, Carl Everett, who is also from Tampa. Both players are extremely emotional which can be great when harnessed and used to inflict pain on a baseball, but every once in a while, that emotion gets them in trouble. How have things turned out for Bradley and Everett? Not bad. Both have been fortunate enough to have long baseball careers. They have earned a lot of money, but they could have earned a lot more. Nobody likes them, and all their teams eventually get tired of the antics and realize the talent just is not worth it. But they are talented and there is always another team waiting to give them a chance.

You were the one player I was looking forward to seeing on opening day this year. I had followed your career since the Rays drafted you. I don’t have children, but every time you got in trouble it felt like one of my kids getting in trouble. I was upset, but I still pulled for you. There were times I felt like giving up, but the talent was too great. The great athlete. The great Elijah Dukes. Just this past week I had been pondering the future of the Rays outfield and I found myself thinking for the first time that it would be OK to lose Rocco Baldelli in a trade. You had shown that you were more than capable of filling the void. Now my gut tells me the future center fielder is BJ Upton, whose career includes two games at the position.

So, Mr. Dukes, what kind of person are you? We know that you are an immensely talented baseball player. We also know you are emotional, and sometimes irrational. We know that sometimes you do stupid things. We know that you are losing the trust and respect of the fans, your team and teammates. And you may be losing money down the road.

But what kind of person are you? Do you care about any of this? Do you care about the fans? Do you care about your team and your teammates?

I love writing about the Devil Rays. I do this for fun. I am not a writer or a member of the media. But I hate having to write about stories like this. The Devil Rays are already a joke in the eyes of many and this latest incident just confirms that status and takes the fun out writing about the team. It’s going to be difficult to forgive you this time. I want to root for you as a baseball player. But I can’t do that if I can’t root for the person.

I do hope for your sake that you keep hitting home runs, and become a great baseball player, because if you don’t you will become Lawrence Phillips. Teams will eventually give up on you. And the fans? We will remember you…barely.

Sincerely,
Cork Gaines (The Professor)
Rays Index

ELIJAH DUKES WEBTOPIA…

• Dukes was not in the lineup last night.
• If you missed Deadspin’s take on Dukes, take the time to read the comments section. It will be worth your time, or it may make you cry.
• The Devil Rays have issued the standard politically correct statement that says absolutely nothing.

The Devil Rays organization takes these types of allegations very seriously, but at this point it remains a private matter between Elijah and his family. We will continue to monitor the situation and provide ongoing assistance to Elijah.

• It doesn’t look as if anything will come of this most recent incident for Dukes as his wife will not file charges.
• Everybody has an opinion. Everybody.

The Hangover: Devil Rays Allergic To Basepaths

Mariners 5, Devil Rays 1.
The Tampa Bay Devil Rays are still tied for second in the AL with 54 home runs, yet they rank 12th in the AL with 196 runs scored. Only the Mariners and White Sox have scored fewer runs. Why the problem scoring runs? The Devil Rays simply cannot get on base. The Rays rank 12th in the AL with a .321 OBP. 12th in scoring. 12th in OBP. Coincidence? We thinks no. The Red Sox lead the AL in OBP and are second in runs scored. The Rays can hit all the home runs in the world, and it won’t mean squat if there is nobody on base. Last night, BJ Upton hit his 8th home run, a solo shot for the Rays lone run of the game. Granted this home run led off the game, but solo home runs are nothing new for the 2007 Devil Rays. Of the 54 home runs they have hit as a team, 36 have been of the solo variety. Ty Wigginton, Elijah Dukes and Upton have each hit 8 home runs. All three have 7 solo home runs. It is no coincidence that the Rays recent struggles have coincided with the injury to Akinori Iwamura. Iwamura has a .479 OBP and drew 15 walks (to only 10 strikeouts) in 19 games. Muu-Rahs return next week could give the offense a lift that it desperately needs.

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…

• Akinori Iwamura is progressing so well that he may not need to go on a rehab assignment and could rejoin the Rays as early as Monday at home against Detroit.
• Troy Percival is now one step closer to joining the Devil Rays as the Anaheim Angels of Los Angeles, near Disney Land will not seek to re-sign their former closer.
• We would like to thank The Baseball Student for pointing out something that we have known for sometime…spending money on the bullpen in the off-season was not going to make this team a contender. Joe Henderson of the Tampa Tribune seems to think that a couple of free agent relief pitchers and the Rays might well be 25-18 instead of 18-25 (prior to the Mariners series). How does Mr. Henderson expect a team to be 7 games above .500 with three starting pitchers with ERAs north of 7.00? With three starting pitchers that rarely pitch past the 5th inning? While we agree the bullpen is brutal, things would be a lot easier for them if they did not have to pitch 4-5 innings every night.
• The offense is struggling and Carl Crawford thinks it may be due to pitchers making adjustments two months into the season. So why can’t the Rays pitchers make the same adjustments?
• James Shields has made a list of “All-Witness Protection All-Stars“

Down On The Farm: Ryan Royster Drives In Seven

Mississippi 4, Montgomery 3. Chris Seddon had his second straight shaky outing. He gave up 5 hits and 4 walks that led to 4 runs. He fell to 3-3 with a 4.65 ERA on the season. Evan Longoria was 1-4 with a 2-run double. Jason Pridie was 3-4 and is now up to .310. He also added his 10th stolen base. Reid Brignac had an RBI but was 0-3 and is now 2 for his last 30 and is hitting .250.

Lakeland 5, Vero Beach 3. Matt Walker went 5 innings and gave up only 2 unearned runs on 2 hits and 3 walks. He struck out 5.

Columbus 7, Charleston 3. Ryan Royster came to the plate twice last night with the bases loaded. The first time in the 4th inning he hit a bases clearing double to give the Catfish a 3-1 lead. Then, with 2 outs in the 10th, with the score tied 3-3, Royster hit a walk-off grand slam to give Columbus the win. It was Royster’s 7th home run and he now has 29 RBI on the year to go with a .325 batting average. Royster was a 6th round selection in 2004. Josh Butler worked 6 innings and gave up 2 runs on 7 hits and 2 walks. He struck out 2. After allowing only 5 earned runs in his first 6, he has surrendered 8 in his last three and his ERA now stands at 2.30. Desmond Jennings was 4-4 to raise his average to .325

NOTES FROM DOWN ON THE FARM…

• Catcher Josh Arhart, of Montgomery, was placed on the DL with a back injury. Matt Spring was promoted from Columbus to fill the empty roster spot.
• Durham had an off day
• Ryan Fagan of Sporting News lists Evan Longoria as one of “The next big home run hitters“
• Matt Maniscalco, an infielder with the Bulls has announced his retirement. The former 8th round pick in 2003 was hitting .171 in 76 at bats at AAA.
  

The Hangover: Scott Kazmir Again Pitches Rays Out Of Game

Mariners 5, Devil Rays 2.
You can often tell in the first inning if Scott Kazmir is going to have a good night or not. Last night, Kid K did not allow a run until the 5th inning but we knew the Rays were going to have a difficult time winning this game. It took Kazmir 20 pitches to get through the first inning. Every pitch out of the strike zone…every foul ball…and we cringed and hung our heads. We lied to ourselves and said it would be fine. He just needed to settle down and motor through the second inning in about 10 pitches. 18 pitches later, and now Kazmir has 38 pitches in only two innings. At this rate, even if Kazmir doesn’t allow a run, he is going to be out of the game by the sixth inning. Four innings from the Devil Rays bullpen is a lot to ask for even if the Rays were still up 2-0. Rather, Kazmir did finally allow two runs and the bullpen was forced to maintain a tie game over four innings. Never gonna happen. The Rays were leading 2-0 but the game was over after the second inning.

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…

• Part of this week’s shift in the rotation was to allow Edwin Jackson an extra bullpen session before his next start. Apparently, Jackson has what he is calling a flaw in his mechanics.

It’s just a slight mechanical problem I was having over-rotating…It’s not something big. It’s something small that I was doing earlier that somehow I got away from and didn’t feel.

Something small? We think that the mechanical flaw is about as small as Jackson’s ERA of 7.78.

• Akinori Iwamura played three innings in an extended spring training game on Tuesday. Joe Maddon now thinks that Muu-Rah could rejoin the team as early as next week. Iwamura would likely begin a rehab assignment this weekend.
• Ty Wigginton is the team’s backup catcher as the Rays continue to await Shawn Riggans’ return from the minor league disabled list, so they can add Josh Paul to the major league disabled list.

We Like To Think Of Him As A Mischievous Badger

Elijah Dukes currently leads all major league rookies with eight home runs and is considered one of the best athletes in baseball. Dukes, who had numerous run-ins with the law throughout his minor league career, including a January arrest for marijuana possession, and has been suspended by the Devil Rays at least 5 times, is in trouble again. He is now accused of threatening to kill his wife and her kids.

Nishea Gilbert, one of four women with which Dukes has five children (two were born eight days apart) has now filed two separate restraining orders against him, saying she feels her’s and her children’s lives are in danger. Below is one of the messages that Gilbert saved on her phone.

Hey, dawg. It’s on, dawg. You dead, dawg. I ain’t even bulls——-. Your kids too, dawg. It don’t even matter to me who is in the car with you. N—–, all I know is, n—–, when I see your m—–f——- a– riding, dawg, it’s on. As a matter of fact, I’m coming to your m—–f—— house.

Apparently worried that his point did not come across clear enough, Dukes then sent his wife a picture of a handgun (seen below). He is also accused of barging into a middle school, at which wife is a teacher, in the middle of a school day and threatening her. The school has since banned Dukes from the campus.

Let’s summarize…

• Left voice mails threatening to kill his wife and kids
• Sent at least one picture of a handgun
• Entered a middle school, while classes were in session, and threatened to kill his wife
• Has been arrested six times
• Has 5 children with 4 different women
• Was suspended two times in 2006 for run-ins with coaches and teammates
• Suspended two times in 2005 by the AA Southern League
• Suspended in 2004 for a month after a confrontation with a coach

At this rate, Elijah Dukes should be playing for the Cincinnati Bengals this fall.

[UPDATE] For a humorous take on this story, see Deadspin’s post and read the comments section.

Ballplayer’s wife: He threatened me, kids [St. Pete Times]
Elijah Dukes Is Not Subtle About Voicemail [Deadspin]

Down On The Farm: Heath Rollins Finally Allows A Run

Durham 4, Syracuse 2. After 5 consecutive losses, Jason Hammel got back on the winning track with 7 innings of 1-run ball. Hammel has been plagued by a lack of run support recently, but took matters into his own hands last night. His ERA on the season is now 3.30 despite a 2-5 record. He also 55 strikeouts in 57.1 innings. Ben Zobrist had only his 2nd 2-hit game since his demotion to Durham. He is hitting .206. Jon Switzer pitched 1.2 innings and gave up 1 run in his rehab appearance. Switzer is currently on the 60-day DL.

Lakeland 4, Vero Beach 3. Mike Wlodarczyk went 5.2 innings and gave up 2 runs (1 earned) on 5 hits and 3 walks.

Columbus 4, Charleston 2. Heath Rollins streak of 6 consecutive starts without allowing an earned run came to an end when gave up 1 run in 6 innings. His ERA actually increased to 1.16 on the season. He also has 61 strikeouts and only 14 walks in 54.1 innings.

NOTES FROM DOWN ON THE FARM…

• Heath Rollins streak of consecutive innings without allowing an earned run ended at 43 with 2 outs in the 5th innings. Over that stretch, Rollins allowed 2 unearned runs. Since his 1st start of the season when allowed 4 runs in 4.1 innings, Rollins has started 8 games and allowed 5 runs (3 earned) in 48.1 inings (0.56 ERA), with 27 hits, 12 walks and 52 strike outs. Rollins, an 11th round pick last year out of Winthrop University, should probably have his bags packed.

[THE HANGOVER] We Knew The Bullpen Was Bad, But Geez

Something smells…Let’s see if we can figure out what it is…

Yesterday, somebody in the comments section asked about the number of runners inherited that Shawn Camp had allowed to score this year. Of course, we really don’t need a statistics to tell us that the answer is somewhere between “too many” and “seriously? Shawn Camp?…again?”

While most media outlets still list wins, losses, saves and ERA, a true measure of a relief pitchers effectiveness is their ability to come in and put out a fire. Strangely, IR (number of inherited runners) IRS (number of inherited runners scored) and IRS% (percentage of inherited runners that scored) are elusive numbers. None of the giant online media outlets list the numbers. But never fear, after some searching, the fine folks over at Baseball Prospectus have come through (as usual).

First let us take a look at the numbers for every pitcher that has pitched in relief this season for the Devil Rays. In all Major League games this season, relief pitchers have faced a total of 1906 IR. Of those runners, 589 have come around to score for a ML average of 30.9%.

PITCHER	IR	IRS	IRS%
Shawn Camp	29	13	44.8%
Gary Glover	16	3	18.8
Brian Stokes	15	6	40.0
Ruddy Lugo	10	7	70.0
Juan Salas	9	3	33.3
Al Reyes	4	1	25.0
Tim Corcoran	2	1	50.0
Chad Orvella	2	0	0.0
Jae Kuk Ryu	0	0	0.0

Jae Kuk Ryu is the only pitcher that is yet to enter a game with a runner on base. As we can see from the numbers, Shawn Camp, as well as Brian Stokes and Ruddy Lugo (currently in AAA) have been atrocious. Gary Glover has been surprisingly effective.

Now let’s see how the Devil Rays rank as a team against the rest of Major League relief pitchers…

TEAM	IR	IRS	IRS%
Colorado	56	25	44.6%
St. Louis	47	19	40.4
TAMPA BAY DEVIL RAYS	87	34	39.1
New York Yankees	83	32	38.6
Baltimore	81	31	38.3
Kansas City	78	29	37.2

As a team the Devil Rays have allowed 34 of 87 IR (both Major League highs) to score or 39.1%. Sadly, the Rockies, as a team, have been nearly as bad as Shawn Camp, but they have faced 31 fewer IR than the Rays. The Yankees and Orioles actually have similar numbers to the Rays.

There have been 27 pitchers that have inherited at least 15 runners in 2007…

PITCHER	IR	IRS	IRS%
Shawn Camp	29	13	44.8%
Geoff Geary	28	5	17.9
Brian Shouse	25	2	8.0
Aaron Fultz	20	7	35.0
John Parrish	20	6	30.0
Micah Bowie	20	6	30.0
Joseph Smith	19	6	31.6
Mike MacDougal	19	5	26.3
Jack Taschner	19	5	26.3

Shawn Camp has inherited more base runners than any other pitcher, with 29 and has allowed the most to score by a wide margin. His IRS% (44.8%) is the 3rd worst among pitchers with at least 15 IR. If Camp only allowed the league average, he would have only allowed 9 IRS, so Camp has allowed 4 more inherited runners to score than an average pitcher would have if placed in the same situations. Ruddy Lugo is tied for the 7th most IRS with 7 and Brian Stokes is tied for 10th with 6. On a brighter note, Glover has the 5th best IRS% of pitchers with at least 15 IR (18.8%).

Of the 74 pitchers that have faced at least 10 IR, Lugo is the league leader with 70% of those runners scoring.

We’re no brain surgeons here, but maybe Camp and Stokes shouldn’t be entering close games with runners on base. Just a hunch.

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…

• Andrew Friedman recently spent 5 days in Durham watching each of the Rays 5 AAA starting pitchers. It appears as though we are getting closer to seeing some changes in the Devil Rays rotation. In the meantime our Jae Seo and Casey Fossum voodoo dolls are taking a beating.

Each pitcher from the group – left-hander J.P. Howell and right-handers Andy Sonnanstine, Jason Hammel, Jeff Niemann and Mitch Talbot – is working on a few specific areas of interest. Friedman wouldn’t handicap who might get the first call to Tampa Bay, but said he could see a couple being ready “very soon” while others have some work to do.

• The Rays have a catching problem. Josh Paul, who was hit by a pitch spiked on a play at home plate on Sunday, needs to head to the DL. The problem is, his replacement, Shawn Riggans is on the DL at AAA Durham and not eligible to come off until Thursday. The Rays do not have any other catchers on the 40-man roster, so if they wanted to replace Paul with somebody else, they would need to designate somebody for assignment. Instead the Rays will keep Paul active as the emergency backup catcher and hope they don’t play any 16 inning games in the Mariners series.
• The Mariners come to the Trop for a 3-game set beginning tonight. Seattle is 19-21, 5.5 games behind the Angels in the AL West. They are coming off a loss to Cleveland that was a makeup game from earlier this season. They have lost 5 of 6. The Rays were 3-6 against the Mariners in 2006.