The Hangover: A Day Off To Clear Our Heads

• We predicted a few days ago that Brendan Harris would start digging into Ben Zobrist’s playing time. That is starting to look like a reality.
• The question is whether the Brendan Harris we are seeing is the real Brendan Harris, or if we will soon see the player that was designated for assignment by the Reds.
• Where would the Rays be right now without the consistent dominance of Al Reyes?
• Buster Olney reports that there is nothing wrong with Brad Lidge’s arm or mechanics. His only problem right now is confidence. That could make acquiring him much more difficult.
• The White Sox are in the market for an outfielder….hmmmmm? Paging Mr. Williams.
• Season-ticket holder Dick Vitale is going to the mattresses with a local landlord over the closing of his favorite restaurant.
• An interview with Rays skipper Joe Maddon. The usual party-line commentary.

The Hangover: A Big Bounce-Back Win For The Rays

Devil Rays 6, Twins 4.
The Rays entered Sunday’s game having played 8 of their first 11 on the road where they had only won six of their last 35. Sunday’s win was an important victory on many levels. First the team rebounded from an ugly loss the night before. In the past, a game like Saturday’s could have easily led to a 5-game losing streak. Second, the win gave the Rays a split of a 4-game series on the road against a playoff-caliber team. It is one thing to think that last season’s road failures were an exaggeration. but the team needs to show they can win on the road if they want to be competitive. A string of early season road losses and pressure would start to mount on this young, impressionable team. Third, the win gives the team confidence. For the second time this season, the Rays were able to get to one of the top closers in the league in the 9th inning. Blowing leads late has been the MO for this franchise. But with the consistency from the back end of the bullpen and the Rays ability to score runs at any given time, they now have the confidence to come from behind and win games late rather than lose them. The win also gives the Rays momentum heading into a stretch in which they will play eight straight at home and 30 of 44 in the state of Florida.

• Jae Seo has now made 19 starts for the Devil Rays since being acquired from the Dodgers. He has one win.
• Jonny Gomes and Brendan Harris made only their second starts of the season yesterday. Both contributed to the win as Harris hit a home run and Gomes had an RBI single.
• The Devil Rays are the only team in baseball to have a home run in every game.
• Joe Maddon wants to see his young team bounce back better after tough losses like the one on Saturday and predicted that we would see a different team on Sunday.
• Scott Kazmir thinks his mechanics have improved significantly and that went a long ways towards his performance on Friday night.
• Rocco Baldelli displayed some veteran leadership that the team desperately needs by calling out his teammates after their lackluster performance on Saturday.
• MLB Trade Rumors comments on the speculation that the Astros may not want to trade Brad Lidge to the Rays if indeed they decide to move him. The reason being that the Astros would look bad if Lidge rebounds with his new club and with his former pitching coach, Jim Hickey, the Devil Rays would be the most likely place for him to be successful.

The Hangover: Edwin Jackson Reminds Us That He Is Still Edwin Jackson

Minnesota 12, D-Rays 5.
Edwin Jackson threw 66 pitches in 3+ innings and only 33 were for strikes. He also hit a batter and threw a wild pitch. The defense did not help matters by throwing a few of their own wild pitches. After going the entire first week without an error, the team is starting to make them in droves, including 3 more last night. BJ Upton, who looked solid at second base in the spring committed his 5th error of the young season and was lucky that he was not credited with a second error later on. After forcing one runner at second, Upton threw wildly to first trying to turn the double play (an official scorer cannot give an error on a double play attempt). Ruddy Lugo continues to struggle mightily, allowing 3 runs on 4 hits in 1 inning of work. He has now allowed 15 base runners and 8 runs in 3 innings this season. Carlos Pena continues to hit the ball well, connecting on his 2nd home run as a pinch-hitter in the 9th. It will be interesting to see if it is already pre-determined to head to Durham when Greg Norton comes off the DL.

• The Rays still have not won back-to-back road games since June 30 of last season.
• Edwin Jackson says that he “pitched like a ——“. Actually, the Tampa Tribune used the word “wimp” in place of the actually word used by Jackson. Hmmm? What could it have been? Jackson has a potty-mouth.
• This just in…The Rays bullpen is not so good.
• Joe Maddon wants to treat the 2007 season like an instructional season in the hopes that all the athletes on the team become better fundamental baseball players. One of the glaring problems early in the season has been the Rays inability to lay down a successful sacrifice bunt.
• The Rays now a team era of 6.41, almost a run and a half more than any other team. The preseason projections that had the Rays pitching staff giving up more runs in 2007 may have been right. Simply put, the Rays have the offense of a .500 team, but the pitching of a team that could lose 100 again.
• Today Carl Crawford will wear #42 in honor of Jackie Robinson. CC admits that before he was drafted by the Rays he knew nothing about Jackie Robinson. Let’s hope that today’s tribute will help inform many others about Mr. Robinson and his legacy.
• Joe Maddon hopes that more players on the team will follow Akinori Iwamura’s lead and start working counts.
• Another baseball power ranking. Devil Rays #25. That’s about right.
• Was Friday’s win over the Twins and Johan Santana the greatest win in the history of the franchise?
• Maintaining a trend started last season, the Rays have held the lead in 8 of their first 11 games.
• The Brad Lidge to Tampa Bay rumors just won’t die.
• The Reds Ryan Freel may start playing infield for the Reds. This would help Josh Hamilton to become an everyday player.

The Hangover: 7+2 Equals Rare Road Win

Every once and a while the Devil Rays are capable of putting together a complete game. Last night’s 6-5 win over the Rangers was far from perfect, but we could see the signs. The offense is going to score runs. This will not be a problem on most nights for the 2007 Devil Rays. If the Rays are going to win games this season they will need to pitch. They don’t need to be perfect, but the pitching staff needs to do their jobs. While a lot of attention has been focused on the failures of the bullpen, the starting pitchers have failed at their jobs also. Last night, James Shields did his job. He did give up 5 runs, 4 runs when the flood gates opened a bit in the 6th inning, but he worked 7 innings and gave the Rays a chance to win. Too many times Rays starters pitch well but have to be removed after 5 innings. Shields pitched well enough to get the team a lead after seven innings when Joe Maddon could hand the ball over to the Brian Stokes and Al Reyes. The bullpen deserves their share of blame, but if they have to pitch 4 innings every night, they are going to lose some games. Last night’s win was the way it is supposed to be done.

• The Devil Rays lead the major leagues in home runs and stolen bases. They are 6th in runs scored and batting average.
• Carl Crawford and Rocco Baldelli swapped spots in the lineup with Rocco in center field. Elijah Dukes will be back in center field tonight. Crawford “felt like a new man” in the #3 spot where he is more comfortable.
• Delmon Young (.375) and Aki Iwamura (.444) both have hit in all 8 games this season.
• Jonny Gomes is not playing but he is not going to dwell on it. He is working harder than ever and vows to be prepared when his number is called.
• MLB Trade Rumors weighs in on the Brad Lidge rumors. They don’t see it as a real possibility. Too much salary and too many question marks. We agree. Much ado about nuthin’.
• ArmchairGM reports that the Red Sox may be trying to acquire Brad Lidge.
• Bill Chastain talks with Elijah Dukes about his first week in the majors and his first major league home runs.
• When Carl Crawford signed with the Devil Rays and spurned a football scholarship to Nebraska and a basketball scholarship to UCLA, a lot of people back in the Houston area were surprised. His closest friends were not. In retrospect, it looks like CC made the right decision as he is now one of the most exciting players in baseball.

The Hangover: The Rays Being The Rays

Jae Seo was awful last night. Yes, the defense was atrocious with 3 errors in the Rays 12-9 loss to the Rangers, their 4th straight. Still, Seo gave up 8 hits, 3 walks, 1 hit batter, 1 wild pitch and 10 runs (5 earned) in 3 innings. The Rangers have now scored more runs in their two games against the Rays (20) than they did in their first six games combined (19). And the “Shake your head” stat of the night…Carl Crawford was caught stealing twice last night by the Rangers Gerald Laird. We think that qualifies as an anomaly.

• Elijah Dukes is now the most-days DH. In the spring we predicted that Jonny Gomes would only receive 300 at bats in 2007. Now it looks like he will struggle to get 200.
• Joe Maddon and Andrew Friedman aren’t ready to shake up the roster, but they will look at different pitchers in more crucial bullpen roles late in games.
• Andrew Friedman made it clear that the team is not happy with the performance of the bullpen and they will continue to talk trades with other teams in search of relief relief.
• Another look at the Rays bullpen struggles, via The Rays Review.
• The Rays could be interested in the Astros’ former All-Star closer Brad Lidge. Lidge hasn’t been the same pitcher since he surrendered a game-winning home run to Albert Pujols in the 2005 NLCS. Whether it is confidence or mechanics or health, we don’t know. But in the past year, he hasn’t looked much better than Shawn Camp.
• Baseball Analysts take an in depth look at Elijah Dukes minor league career and the first 5 games of his major league career. Two aspects stick out. First is that Dukes has actually improved at every level. The second is his patience at the plate, which is very uncharacteristic for such a young player. A point that hopefully will rub off on some of his teammates.
• Jorge Cantu will see time at third base and first base with Durham.Whether he will see time at those positions in Tampa or it is just an audition for other teams is left to be seen.
• After last night, the Rays have been outscored 22-9 in the 8th and 9th innings.
• The most wins ever by a pitcher drafted by the Devil Rays is 8. In 2002, Joe Kennedy went 8-11 for the Rays.
• Who’s got Aki-Fever!?!