Down On The Farm: Durham And Columbus Open Playoffs With Wins

Durham 11, Toledo 8 (Bulls lead series 1-0). The Bulls got off to a fast start with Jon Weber, Jason Pridie and Justin Ruggiano hitting back-to-back-to-back home runs to start the game and giving Durham an early 3-1 lead. They stretched the lead to 6-2, including Ruggiano’s second home run of the game, before the defense failed JP Howell. Three errors in the top of the 6th led to 5 unearned run giving Toledo a 7-6 lead. The Bulls immediately answered with 5 runs in the next two innings including home runs by Wes Bankston and Elliot Johnson giving the Bulls 6 on the night. Chad Orvella pitched a perfect 7th and 8th, with Shawn Camp throwing the 9th, allowing 1 run on 3 hits.

Columbus 11, Augusta 2 (Columbus leads the series 1-0). The Catfish had an 8-0 lead by the 4th innings to support the strong pitching performance by Heath Rollins. Rollins tossed 7 innings, giving up 5 hits, 2 walks and 1 run, while striking out 3. Matt Fields, Nevin Ashley and Quinn Stewart all homered for Columbus. Maiko Loyola led off and was 3-5.

Hudson Valley 7, Vermont 4.

NOTES FROM DOWN ON THE FARM…

• There is a new blog in the Devil Rays Universe that has the potential to be very interesting. George is the batboy for the Vero Beach Rays and he has started a blog entitled “Life Inside A Minor League Baseball Team”. Unfortunately the site was started after the regular season ended and the Rays will only be in Dodgertown for one more season, but we will be following along closely. [Life Inside A Minor League Baseball Team]
• Catcher John Jaso of Montgomery was named the Southern League’s player-of-the-month for August. He hit .378 with 20 RBI for the month. [Our Sports Central]
• Heath Rollins was named the SAL pitcher-of-the-week for the 4th time. Rollins led all of minor league baseball with 17 wins. [Basil’s Blog]

Carlos Pena Is Having A Great Year, But…

We mentioned this a while back but we need to mention it again that Carlos Pena is the Devil Rays nominee for The Hank Aaron Award.

We have made our feelings about the award clear in the past. In short the award is severely flawed and was created as a sponsorship cash-cow for Major League Baseball, in effect tainting the name of one of the all-time greats.

So why are we mentioning Carlos Pena’s nomination for a second time? Because for some reason DRays Bay seems to think that Pena should win the award.

really there’s no reason Carlos shouldn’t win.

We have no problem supporting a member of the Devil Rays. In fact, we think all Rays fans should go vote for Pena to show our support and appreciation. But to say that there is “no reason” he shouldn’t win reeks of homerism unseen since the last time we listened to Hawk Harrelson on a White Sox home broadcast. The award is supposed to be given to “the best overall offensive performer in each league”. In essence, it is supposed to be the hitters version of the Cy Young Award.

Pena is having a great season and we don’t want to diminish what he has accomplished. He is hitting .275 with a club record 35 home runs and 98 RBI to go with a .996 OPS. But El Gato should not win The Hank Aaron Award.

5 Reason’s Carlos Pena should not win…

1. Alex Rodriguez (.310-46-131, 1.054 OPS)
2. Alex Rodriguez
3. Alex Rodriguez
4. Alex Rodriguez
5. Alex Rodriguez

3 Other reasons Pena should not win…

1. Maglio Ordonez (.354-26-120, 1.016 OPS)
2. Vladimir Guerrero (.326-22-110, .952 OPS)
3. Justin Morneau (.282-29-99, .865 OPS)

Congratulations go out to Carlos Pena on having a great year. One could make an argument for Comeback Player of The Year (although we are unsure if one decent season in the past is a mark of having already “been there”) but Pena is not the top hitter in the AL this season.

The Hank Aaron Award [MLB]
The Hank Aaron Award Has No Legitimacy And Needs To Be Fixed [Rays Index]
Vote for Pena [DRays Bay]

The Hangover: Aubrey Huff Takes Title of "Rays Killer" From Chuck LaMar

Orioles 8, Devil Rays 4.
If anybody is still wondering why the Rays struggle against the one team in the AL East that they should be able to compete with, they need look no further than Aubrey Friggin’ Huff. We are here to anoint Huff as Chuck LaMar’s replacement as the official Rays Killer. Some players play better against certain teams but we have never seen a player make an entire season out of playing against one team.

Aubrey Huff	G	AVG	HR	RBI	OBP	SLG	OPS
vs TB Devil Rays	17	.373	7	14	.439	.797	1.236
vs other 28 teams	120	.260	8	51	.309	.502	.811

And with one swing of Aubrey Friggin’ Huff’s bat, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays now fall four back of the Orioles in the AL East and more importantly five back in the loss column. The Rays have 23 games remaining while the Orioles have 25. If Baltimore goes 10-15 down the stretch, the Rays would need to finish 14-9 to pull out of the cellar. This will be a difficult task, at best, considering the Rays have two series remaining against the Red Sox, and series with the Yankees, Angels and Mariners, all playoff contenders. The other two series are against the Blue Jays.

Surpassing the Orioles is not impossible but it will be a long shot. If the team wants to have any thoughts of a 4th place finish, the Rays must win tonight’s game.

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…

• Not that anybody was holding their breath, but the loss last night guarantees that the Rays will finish with a losing record for the 10th consecutive season. Having already been officially eliminated from the division race, the Rays’ elimination number for the wild card is now 4.
• Marc Topkin thinks Josh Wilson’s fielding problems are “more mental than physical”. We think they are more because he is just not a very good defensive infielder. Either way, Mr. Anonymous is likely to be a one-and-done member of the Devil Rays as the team looks for an upgrade up the middle this off-season. [tampabay.com]
• If Rocco Baldelli does not return this season, he will have played in exactly 138 of the Rays last 486 games. John Romano believes that “it is impossible to know where Baldelli fits in the equation (team’s future)”. Oh. It is possible, because Rocco does not fit in the team’s future. It is clear that the team wants BJ Upton in center field and Rocco in another organization. Still, Romano believes that the team should pick up Rocco’s ’09 option and just cross their fingers. [tampabay.com]
• With 276 hits combined, Delmon Young and Aki Iwamura could become just the 5th pair of rookies in the past 20 years to combine for 300 hits. Also, Young (.297), BJ Upton (.311) and Carl Crawford (.313) could become the first outfield since 1996 (Cleveland) to have all three members hit .300. [Devil Rays]
• Scott Kazmir and BJ Upton both make the list of “Top 25 Under 25″with Delmon Young named as honorable mention. Nick Underhill does bring up a good point in regards to Upton. He may be a better center fielder but will Upton push for a return to the infield where he has a better chance to be a perennial all-star? [Im Writing Sports]
• In a case where “no news is apparently news”, Carlos Pena has yet to be contacted by the team concerning a contract extension. Pena is not a free agent, so nobody should expect any negotiations until after the season. [The Canadian Press]

Down On The Farm: Latest Prospect Hot Sheet Littered With Rays Prospects

Hudson Valley 11, Aberdeen 5.

NOTES FROM DOWN ON THE FARM…

• Five Rays minor leaguers have made the latest edition of Baseball America’s “Prospect Hot Sheet”. Evan Longoria (#6; He’s held his own in the International League), Wade Davis (#12; In many organizations, Davis would be the No. 1 prospect. In a system as rich as Tampa Bay’s, though, Davis has to fight for the spotlight), Ryan Royster (#20; tied for seventh in the minors with a .601 slugging percentage), Jason Pridie (Rising; grades out as average or above in every tool, with the hit tool being the biggest question mark because he doesn’t control the strike zone) Desmond Jennings (Rising; the No. 7 prospect in the Appalachian League in 2006, had a breakout year with Columbus of the South Atlantic League, hitting .315/.401/.465) [Baseball America]
  
• We rarely cite the Raleigh News & Observer in this column because quite frankly the News & Observer rarely mentions the Durham Bulls despite being the only (?) professional sports franchise in the area. Well, now that the Bulls have made the playoffs, the News & Observer has remembered the Bulls and ponied up some gas money to send Luke Decock over to Durham and do a nice feature on Durham’s first-year manager Charlie Montoya. [News & Observer]

At 43, Montoyo still has the wiry build of an infielder to go with the accent of his native Puerto Rico. He was a winner last season with Double-A Montgomery, and the parent Tampa Bay Devil Rays moved him up a notch last winter to help clean up last season’s wreckage in Durham.

• MiLB.com have broken down the bracket and give us the International League playoffs preview. They predict Toledo in 5. [MiLB]

As for the Bulls, who could have figured they’d have this kind of turnaround from a year ago? With Elijah Dukes and Co. causing all kinds of problems on Tobacco Road, this looked like a franchise destined to flounder. But Tampa Bay brought in Charlie Montoyo to manage, and he did a splendid job changing the atmosphere and culture in Durham.

• Jae Seo was named IL pitcher-of-the-week for the third time. [Durham Bulls]
• Evan Longoria won a title with Montgomery last season and has a chance to add two more rings to his collection this season. [Montgomery Advertiser]

Bill Chastain Thinks Pitchers Are Like Cannibals And Pimps

Somebody at MLB.com is letting Bill Chastain make metaphors again, and we are all dumber for having read it…

In recapping last night’s victory over the Baltimore Orioles, Mr. Chastain makes mention of James Shields reaching 200 innings on the season. A nice little accomplishment for Shields as he is just the the third Devil Rays pitcher to reach the mark. One might think that Mr. Chastain would stop there. Maybe throw in a quote from Shields or manager Joe Maddon. Nope. Mr. Chastain looks back at the third inning, an inning in which Shields struggled and decides to toss us these little nuggets…

Eating innings often means swallowing one’s heart, and never was that more true than for Shields in the third, an inning that gave him the helpless look of a tourist wearing a zoot suit at a pickpocket convention.

We have read and heard more than our fair share of metaphors. Some are good. Most are unnecessary. And some are just plain dumb. But at least most of the dumb metaphors make sense.

“Eating innings often means swallowing one’s heart.”

What does that even mean?

“helpless look of a tourist wearing a zoot suit at a pickpocket convention.”

Do tourists wear zoot suits? Have tourists ever worn zoot suits? When you think of zoot suits, do you think of tourists? Or even gullibility? If we saw somebody wearing a zoot suit anywhere, we would think it was either Halloween or we accidentally walked onto a movie set of “I’m Gonna Get You Sucka 2”.

Of course, we wouldn’t be surprised if this is exactly how Mr. Chastain dresses on vacation. In lavender of course.

Rays begin homestand with win over O’s [Devil Rays]

The Hangover: Rays Continue To Win With 4th Place In Sight

Devil Rays 9, Orioles 7.
Could the Tampa Bay Devil Rays actually avoid last place for only the second time in their ten year existence?

With last night’s come-from-behind victory over the Orioles, the Rays have moved within 3 games of Baltimore for 4th place in the AL East. And while the worst record in baseball appeared to be a foregone conclusion three weeks ago, the Rays are now only 1.5 games behind the White Sox after making up 6 games in the last week and a half.

There have been plenty of reasons for the recent surge in performance, but most of the credit has to go to the revamped bullpen. The additions made before the trading deadline appear to be the spark that have reinstalled confidence in this young team, with the Tampa Tribune going so far as to call the new bullpen a “strength”.

“Our bullpen’s been outstanding,” RHP James Shields said. “This whole second half I think we’ve been great. It feels good as a starter to go out there and feel comfortable with coming out of the game.”

Even more telling is this quote from Joe Maddon.

“These guys have learned their craft. They’ve waited for their opportunity. The seventh, eighth and ninth innings are a very hectic part of the game and you have to have a special makeup and personality to handle that. … It might take a seasoned veteran in a sense of lesser physical ability but more of a feel for the game to be able to accomplish that role.”

This is something that was lost on the Devil Rays front office in their first two years at the helm. Let’s chalk it up to growing pains. If there is one area where a team should be willing to sacrifice a little talent for experience, it is in the bullpen. On talent alone, none of the new guys (or even Al Reyes) are a pimple on the fanny of Juan Salas or Ruddy Lugo or Seth McClung. Yet all of the veteran arms in the bullpen have clearly outperformed those younger more talented relief pitchers.

And with a more stable (if not great) bullpen, the effects can be felt elsewhere on the team. Starting pitchers no longer feel pressure to work late in games or hand over a close lead. The hitters no longer feel the pressure to build a 6-run lead. And with less pressure on such a young team the change has been deafening.

Deafening…to the tune of 10-3 in the past 2 weeks and a real chance to move out of the cellar in the AL East and gain some confidence heading into 2008.

Rays’ bullpen has become a strength [TBO]
No-name pen makes strides [tampabay.com]

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…

• Carlos Pena has broken the franchise record for home runs in a season, by notching his 35th dinger last night. And in true El Gato fashion his home run hit a Gatowalk, breaking a 4-4 tie. [Yahoo!]
• We loved Patrick Kennedy’s take on Carlos Pena’s record breaking home run. We were wondering why Jose Canseco was not in attendance or why he did not delivery a video message to be played on the jumbotron. [DRays Bay]
• Carl Crawford was ejected after a blown-call at first base. While his tantrum was animated, and actually a little comical (in hindsight) we are not sure that the actions deserve a suspension. [TBO]
• Heading into last night’s game the Devil Rays are hitting .325 and averaging more than 9 runs per game since a team meeting conducted by hitting coach Steve Henderson. Including last night, the team is 9-3 in those 12 games. [Bradenton Herald]
• A strong finish by the Devil Rays to an otherwise disastrous season, may not seem significant to most baseball fans, but the importance is not lost on Joe Maddon. [Devil Rays]

“It is definitely a sign of progress, definitely a sign of measured progress,” Maddon said. “I just think finishing strongly — we’ve battled all season, we’ve had our setbacks and problems – and now we’re playing the kind of baseball we envisioned. Finish strong. You go into the offseason with a really good last month like this and you leave with a good taste in your mouth. And you know going into Spring Training, you have this nice little month to build off of. And you know what you’re capable of doing against good teams in a pennant chase.”

• In the real world, it takes the average person a period of time to receive the results of medical tests. However, that does not usually occur in the sports world where teams employ their own doctors and have access to specialists not known to the average citizen. This is why the recent news, or lack-their-of, concerning Rocco Baldelli is particularly perplexing. We have a strange feeling that the news is not good and the team is seeking a second and possibly third opinion before making an announcement. [tampabay.com]

“I still believe there’s a chance to get him back at least possibly to DH at some point,” manager Joe Maddon said Monday. “That may be something we can do; we just don’t know until we get the results of these tests.”

• The Devil Rays much-improved bullpen just got another boost with the return of Jay Witasick who missed more than a month. [Devil Rays]
• Stua
  rt Sternberg gave Joe Maddon yet another vote of confidence. The fact that this team refused to give up on the season when it would have been an easy thing to do, should have erased any of the lingering doubts in the Devil Rays Universe. [Devil Rays]
• Another member of the Devil Rays that many have doubted as to his place in the organization is catcher Dioner Navarro. We have long defended Navi and begged for patience as catchers are notoriously slow developers at the plate. Still, a team will have trouble surviving with a player that is hitting at or below the Mendoza-line and Navi needed to start hitting sooner rather than later. It is beginning to appear as though he is finding a comfort zone at the plate. After hitting .177 before the all-star break, he is hitting at a .272 clip since. [Devil Rays]
• Akinori Iwamura is still adjusting to life as a major leaguer, and is not satisfied with where his game is yet. Even more revealing in this piece is that Joe Maddon admits to making lineup decisions based on how the Japanese media might react. [asahi.com]

“When we first got him, my thought was to hit him lower in the batting order until he got acclimated,” Maddon said. “My concern was if I started hitting him at the top of the order and then tried to move him to the bottom as the season was progressing, that would create quite a stir in Japan for no good reason. So I’d much rather move him up than down.”

• Including Jae Seo, it has been a rough season for Korean major leaguers. [The Korea Times]

Down On The Farm: Three Minor League Affiliates Set To Begin Championship Runs

Durham 2, Charlotte 1. Mitch Talbot finished the regular season by picking up his 13th win. He went 6.2 innings, allowing 6 hits, 1 walk and 1 run. Chad Orvella picked up his 20th save. Evan Longoria was 0-3 with a walk and 3 strikeouts. He finished the regular season hitting .269-5-19 in 31 AAA games. JP Howell led the IL with 145 strikeouts, while Mitch Talbot and Jeff Niemann were tied for the second most wins (12).

Montgomery 7, Jacksonville 3 (13 innings). The Biscuits head into the playoffs having won 15 of their final 16 regular season games to finish with the top mark in the SL at 81-59. Fernando Perez went 3-7 in the finale to finish the season with a .309 batting average, a .423 OBP and .908 OPS. John Jaso was second in the SL with a .316 average. Reid Brignac finished 2nd with 81 RBI. The Biscuits had three of the top four OPS marks with Evan Longoria leading the league at .930. Chris Mason led the league with 15 wins and was 4th with 136 strikeouts.

Vero Beach concluded their regular season on Sunday. After finishing 3rd in the division for the first half, the Rays fell to last place with a 25-44 second half record. Rhyne Hughes led the FSL with a .329 average. Sergio Pedroza was 2nd in the FSL with 22 home runs and both players were tied with the second best OPS (.907).

Columbus had their final seven games rained out. They will begin their best-of-3 first round playoff series on Wednesday against Augusta. Ryan Royster finished the regular season hitting .329-30-98 and has firmly established himself as one of the top hitting prospects in the Rays system. He was 4th in the SAL in hitting, tops in home runs, 2nd in RBI and lead the league with a .982 OPS. Desmond Jennings hit .315 with 45 steals in only 99 games, good for 4th in the SAL. Heath Rollinsled the league with 17 wins and was 2nd with 149 strikeouts.

Hudson Valley 10, Aberdeen 3.

Princeton concluded their regular season at 33-35, third in the AL East division. Michael Ross led the league with 36 stolen bases.

NOTES FROM DOWN ON THE FARM…

• Chris Mason was named the top pitcher in the Southern League while Evan Longoria took home the honor as the league’s MVP. [Montgomery Advertiser]
• Winning championships at the minor league level does not mean much when the parent club loses 90+ games every season, but the winning attitude must start some place and with the Montgomery Biscuits winning the Southern League championship in 2006, they are joined by Durham and Columbus in the playoffs this season. [TBO]
• The first round of the International League playoffs will begin on Wednesday with the Bulls facing Toledo. These two teams have won the last four IL titles. JP Howell will pitch the opening game, and will be followed by Jeff Niemann and Jae Seo. [Durham Bulls]
• The Devil Rays have announced their fall instructional league roster and it is a who’s who of the system’s top prospects, including David Price, Jake McGee and Ryan Royster. [Rays Digest]
• In their final regular season game, the Durham Bulls set a single-game attendance record (11,071) and broke the team’s single-season attendance mark (520,952). [OurSportsCentral]