Down On The Farm: Let’s Play Nine?

Richmond 2, Durham 1. Mitch Talbot dropped to 12-9 after walking 5 in 5 innings and allowing 2 runs. Evan Longoria was 1-3 with a walk and 2 strikeouts.

Montgomery 12, Carolina 6. Reid Brignac was 2-4, driving in 3, including his 17th home run. Fernando Perez was 2-4 with 2 walks and scored 3 runs. He also stole his 28th and 29th bases.

Vero Beach 10, Jupiter 0 (game 1). Josh Butler pitched a 2-hit shutout, striking out 7 and walking just 1. He is now 4-3 in 9 Vero Beach starts and 9-4 overall. Sergio Pedroza was 2-4 and drove in 4.

Jupiter 4, Vero Beach 1 (game 2). Jackson Brennan had 2 hits in 4 at bats.

Columbus 2, Charleston 1 (game 1). Will Kline pitched 5 shutout innings, and has only allowed 2 runs in his last 14 innings, covering 3 starts. He struck out 4 and walked 2. Nevin Ashley and Ryan Royster both hit solo homers.

Columbus 2, Charleston 1 (game 2). Heath Rollins pitched a complete game, allowing only 1 unearned run. He allowed 4 hits, striking out 4 and walking none to increase his Devil Rays organizational record to 17 wins. Ryan Royster was 2-3 and hit his second home run of the double-header. He has 30 on the season to go with 98 RBI.

Hudson Valley 2, Brooklyn 1. Josh Johnson, the Rays 16th round pick this year, improved to 4-2 with 5 innings of 1-run ball. He struck out 5 and walked 1.

Johnson City 1, Princeton 0 (game 1). Kyle Ayers, a 14th round selection, allowed only 2 hits and no walks in 4 innings, but picked up his 3rd loss as the Rays only managed 5 hits.

Princeton 4, Johnson City 1 (game 2).

NOTES FROM DOWN ON THE FARM…

• Justin Ruggiano makes this week’s Baseball America “Prospect Hot Sheet”, coming in at #11. [Baseball America]
• The Herald-Sun sits down for a one-on-one with Chad Orvella. [Herald-Sun]
• The Biscuits have now won 11 in a row and their magic number is down to 2 to clinch the South division. Wade Davis will take the mound on Friday with an opportunity to clinch the division crown. [Montgomery Biscuits]

The Hangover: Innings Start To Pile Up For James Shields And Scott Kazmir

Red Sox 3, Devil Rays 0.
Well, you saw that one coming. Not only did the Rays not get to their hotel until 6:30 in the morning, but Red Sox fans are so desperate these days that one panicked member of Pink Sox Nation felt that the Scarlett Ho’s needed help against the team with the worst record in baseball. That’s right, at 8:00 AM the fire alarm at the Rays’ hotel “mysteriously” went off.

We never thought we would do this…but we are openly rooting for the Yankees to overcome the last few games so that the 2007 Red Sox go down in history as the team that blew a 14.5 game lead.

With James Shields throwing 6 more innings last night and Scott Kazmir on the mound tonight, the biggest concern for the last few weeks of the season is the number of innings pitched by each pitcher. After tonight, if Joe Maddon sticks to his five-man rotation for the rest of the season, both pitchers will have eight more starts. Kazmir is averaging 6 innings per start which puts him on pace for 205 for the year. Shields is averaging 6.8 innings per start and is on pace for 225.1 innings.

Young pitchers are notorious for having off-years after seasons in which they throw considerably more innings than they are used to. Kazmir’s professional career high is 186 innings in 2005, and if he throws 205 this year, that would only be a 10.2% increase over his previous career high. However, Kazmir may have felt the effects of throwing all those innings in 2005 by experiencing a tired shoulder in the second half of 2006.

Shields threw 186 innings last year which bested his previous career high by 43 innings. We may have seen the effects during a recent 8 start stretch in which he went 2-6, during which he may have been suffering from a “dead arm”. Still, Shields is on pace to top last years’ innings total by 21.1% which must be of concern for Joe Maddon, Andrew Friedman and Devil Rays fans everywhere.

It will be interesting to see how Maddon handles both pitchers down the stretch. We could see Maddon limit their pitch counts with both pitchers being pulled after 80-90 pitches in an effort to save their arms. The other option which may be more likely, is to see Friedman promote Jeff Niemann and go with a 6-man rotation for the final month of the season. Such a move would mean 1-2 fewer starts and 12-13 fewer innings in 2007.

Spring Training 2008 has already begun and several pitchers are auditioning for jobs. Such is not the case for Kid K and James Shields. Those two can already be penciled in at the top of the rotation so there is nothing left to prove in 2007 and no reason to push them too hard. Let them continue to work and continue to improve, but it is time to reel them back a little bit and ease up on their workload as a preventative measure for 2008.

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…

• Tim Wakefield had a no-hitter through 6 innings that was broken up by Carl Crawford. [TBO]
• Both David Price and Fernando Cabrera remain unsigned. Why is everybody all worked up about Cabrera, a pitcher with a 5.00+ ERA each of the last two seasons? We have no idea. Could he be good? Sure. But people are acting like this guy is a savior. Calm down folks. His numbers mirror Chad Orvella. [TBO]
• Remember the crazy Canadian that tortured himself by writing about (pronounced “A-BOOT” in Canadian) the history of the Devil Rays? Well he is back today with a look at how things are getting better. [Jack Jock’s Thought]
• According to The Pig Pen, the Devil Rays have the worst uniforms in the American League. Certainly they do not have the history of the Yankees or the Red Sox, but the Rays green and grey are not that bad. In fact, we are hesitant to see the change of colors to be presented this fall. [The Pig Pen]

Down On The Farm: Chad Orvella Continues His Resurgence

Durham 8, Richmond 5. Jae Kuk Ryu gave up 4 runs in 5.2 innings and but picked up his 2nd win in 5 starts. His ERA is now 4.37. Chad Orvella allowed only 1 walk in the 9th inning to pick up his 8th save. In 6 appearances since returning to Durham, Orvella has allowed only 1 hit and 2 walks in 6.2 innings, while striking out 7. He has not allowed a run. Brent Butler went 2-5 and hit his 3rd home run while driving in 3. Ben Zobrist was 2-4 with a double and his 3rd stolen base.

Mississippi 13, Montgomery 6. Derek Feldkamp gave up 7 runs in the first inning. Reid Brignac hit his 8th home run and drove in 2. Evan Longoria was 0-4 and struck out twice.

Sarasota 12, Vero Beach 10. Matt Walker gave up 7 runs (3 earned) in 3.1 innings. He struck out 6 and walked 2. Aaron Sisk was 3-4 with 2 doubles and a home run. He drove in 5. Rhyne Hughes was 2-5 and hit his 9th home run. Hughes is hitting .343.

Staten Island 7, Hudson Valley 3.

Elizabethton 20, Princeton 6.

11 Questions For Chad Orvella

Chad Orvella was recently sent to AAA Durham after 10 appearances with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. In only his 4th full season as a pro, Orvella has spent parts of each of the last three seasons with the Devil Rays, but has yet to achieve the same level of success he has experienced at the minor league level. In 169 innings as a minor leaguer, Orvella has a 1.49 ERA and has recorded 241 strikeouts and only 33 walks which equate to 12.8 K/9 and 7.3 K:BB. Those numbers are incredible at any level. Still, Orvella has struggled at the major league level. In 82.1 innings he has an ERA of 5.79 and has only recorded 66 strikeouts with 53 walks. His rates at the major league level have dropped to 7.2 K/9 and 1.2 K:BB. Since being back in Durham, he is back to his dominating ways, with 5 strikeouts and no walks in 3 appearances (3 ip). He has allowed only 1 hit.

In order to better understand the struggles of the young relief pitcher, we emailed him some questions. He emailed us some answers…

[our thoughts on Chad’s comments follow the Q&A]

1. You were used sparingly as a pitcher at NC State. When did you first realize that your best chance of making it to the majors was as a pitcher and were you surprised that the Devil Rays drafted you with the intent of making you a full-time pitcher?

CO: When I went to the cape cod league I hit about .180 and realized I should probably get on the hill and scouts saw that I had a good arm and asked me to throw at a practice at NC State.

2. In only your fourth season as a full-time pitcher, you are still very early in your development. Explain how you work on your mechanics. Do you watch video of yourself or do you rely exclusively on the advice of the coaching staff?

CO: I’ve just started to watch video. It’s tough to work with a coaching staff because I’ve had so many different pitching coaches over the past four seasons. The one that’s seen me the most is Xavier Hernandez (Bulls current pitching coach) so if he has any advice I’ll listen to him.

3. This season you have worked with both Jim Hickey and Xavier Hernandez. How do their coaching styles differ? How are they similar?

CO: I think both of their styles are to be aggressive and be the aggressor as the pitcher. I haven’t really been able to work with Hickey too much but he seems like a good buy.

4. For a young pitcher that has bounced back and forth between the minors and the majors and from pitching coach to pitching coach, how do you adjust to the different environments and the many voices offering advice? How much do you lean on others besides your current pitching coach (other pitchers, catchers, former coaches, etc.)?

CO: You try to take a little advice from everybody and make it your own. Use what you can. Everybody has an opinion.

5. Dioner Navarro and Shawn Riggans are both talented catchers, but both are young. How important is it to a young pitcher and a young pitching staff to have a veteran like Josh Paul, in Tampa, or Raul Casanova earlier this season and Michel Hernandez now in Durham?

CO: I think it’s important because they may know some of the big league hitters, but having a catcher like Shawn Riggans, where he’s seen me throw for four years, I think is more important than having a veteran catcher that doesn’t know you at all.

6. After your most recent demotion, you once again were back to dominating hitters. It was reported that you discovered a flaw in the mechanics. If that was the case, what was the flaw and how was it discovered?

CO: Jamie Shields brought up an idea that my delivery has changed in the past couple years. A few years ago I used to squat down really low, in fact, the guys used to make fun of me because it looked like I was sitting in a chair. But I’ve gotten away from that and now my command has gotten worse. I’ve gone back to looking like I was crouching in a chair and it seems to be working.

7. When you do tweak your mechanics, how is the adjustment? Is it something that you are comfortable with and notice the improvement immediately or does it take getting used to?

CO: When I made this adjustment it was pretty quick. It’s just getting comfortable with it again. The biggest difference I see is in my off-speed stuff and how the hitters are reacting to that.

8. Have the Devil Rays indicated to you what you need to improve in order to be more consistent at the Major League level?

CO: They’ve just said that I need to be more consistent. I’ve always had a lot of success at Triple-A and throughout the minor leagues. They know I’ll do well here, but they’re sending me here to get more confidence.

9. In the minor leagues you have posted some prodigious strikeout totals and incredible strikeout to walk ratios. While it is not surprising that your strikeout totals have fallen at the major league level, it is surprising that you have struggled with your control. How would you explain the stark difference in your numbers from one level to the next?

CO: The strike zone is a little different. Calls that I might get in the minor leagues I don’t get up there. I think it just goes back to maintaining my aggressive style while in the big leagues and I’ve gotten away from that.

10. How would you describe pitching at the Trop? As a pitcher do you like pitching indoors? Does pitching so many games indoors make it difficult to adjust to games on the road? Would you consider it a hitters’ park or does it play fair?

CO: Pitching at the Trop is a little different. I don’t think anyone loves playing inside, but it’s something you get used to. It plays fair.

11. Who is one player on the Durham Bulls roster (pitcher or fielder) that may fly a bit under the prospect radar, but whom you think is on the verge of breaking out and will be a successful big leaguer?

CO: Jeff Ridgway. I think he’s got the stuff to be a very good big league pitcher. It’s just being consistent like everybody else. He’s on the verge of breaking out.

[Rays Index] We have been following Orvella’s progress for several years now and it is easy to forget that he has only been a pitcher for about five years. Also, looking back, Chad’s dominance at the minor league level may not have been the best scenario for his development.
While it gave him confidence to succeed, it may have also provided a false sense of security. It is telling that a young pitcher still learning the craft is just now beginning to use video. That indicates, that up to this most recent struggle, he has relied completely on natural ability, and never learned how to work through adversity.

It is also worth noting that Orvella was on the major league roster for over a month and yet he says that he really hasn’t yet had a chance to work with Jim Hickey. We are no experts, but if a guy goes from 12 Ks per 9 innings to 7 and all of the sudden can’t find the strike zone after having impeccable control in the minors, the first thing we would do is dust off some videotape of Orvella from 2005 or 2006 and see if anything had changed. It is amazing that James Shields was the only person that noticed a change in Orvella’s mechanics.

Many, us included, have wondered aloud if Chad Orvella is a classic AAAA pitcher, with the ability to dominate the minor leagues, but without the stuff to succeed in the majors. Still, his minor league numbers are too impressive to write off and we need to remember that he is still learning how to pitch, how to succeed and how to handle adversity. If Al Reyes is traded before July 31 as we believe he will be, look for Orvella to emerge as either the Rays’ closer or 8th inning set-up guy in 2008.

The Hangover: Andy Sonnanstine Earns First Win And A Nickname

Devil Rays 9, Marlins 4. It is all about winning series. Find a way to win 2 of 3 every time out. The win yesterday gave the Rays their second straight series win and both were highly improbable. After losing the opening game of each series with bullpen melt-downs of historic proportions, the Rays bounced back to win the final two games of both match-ups (Did you realize that the Rays are two nuclear melt-downs away from an 8-game winning streak?).

Yesterday it was Andy Sonnanstine to the rescue with his first major league win. Sonny will never be an ace and some nights he will get knocked around pretty good, but he is very capable of performances like Sunday. We just need to wait and see how often we see a performance like Sunday’s. If that turns out to be the rule more than the exception, Sonny will be a legitimate #3 or #4 starter in the Rays rotation for years to come. Still, at this point, just the fact that he is capable of a start like this is an indication that he is a far better option than Jae Seo or Casey Fossum ever were.

Before Sonnanstine was promoted, we heard that it was difficult to compare Sonnanstine to any major leaguers because of the accuracy and the movement of the pitches and the different arm angles. The most common name we head was a poor-man’s Greg Maddux. After his first start, we thought Paul Byrd was a more accurate representation. That is to say that he is a crafty right hander. Rare indeed. But Sonny throws much harder than Byrd, who rarely breaks 85 nowadays. So is there another player we can come up with? Well, we were watching the Marlins broadcast of yesterday’s game and the announcers tossed out a third name which we had not thought of before. Orlando Hernandez…We like it. El Duque is the only other pitcher that we have ever seen that uses as many different arm angles. Also, it seems as if El Duque has never thrown a straight pitch in his life. So, if Hernandez is 58 years old as rumored, is Andy Sonnanstine the second coming? Orlando “El Duque” Hernandez…Andy “The Duke” Sonnastine? Only time will tell, but we must admit The Duke is fun to watch pitch.

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…

• Andy Sonnanstine set a Devil Rays team record with 7 straight strike outs on Sunday.
• The Devil Rays had no choice but to shake up the bullpen, if for anything just to send a message to the rest of the team. On Sunday Chad Orvella and Tim Corcoran were optioned back to Durham.
• Buster Olney gives us a Q&A with James Shields. The interview is hidden behind the walls of ESPN’s “Insider”.
• Rocco Baldelli participated in an extended spring training game on Saturday. He is likely to play in four more before the team decides whether to activate Baldelli or send him on a rehab assignment.
• OK, maybe not the best reliever, but is Josh Wilson the second best?
• Maybe not, but we do like THIS SUGGESTION of making the rest of the staff watch the video of Josh Wilson’s performance. Maybe Joe Maddon could lock them in a room with the one inning on loop.
• Al Reyes and James Shields have much better chances to make the All-Star roster as pitchers than BJ Upton or Carl Crawford do as position players.
• Josh Vitters is NOT as good as Alex Rodriguez was in high school. So to compare the choice of David Price over Vitters as the same decision the Mariners made when they picked A-Rod over Darren Dreifort is ridiculous.
• According to Scott Kendrick the Devil Rays made a mistake by drafting the college pitcher over the high school hitter. He notes that the best #1 overall picks have been high school position players, pointing out the lack of a success among pitchers selected at the top of the draft. So, according to Kendrick, college pitchers should NEVER be drafted or David Price had a better chance of a solid major league career if he was drafted #2 or even in the 36th round. Neither makes sense. Mr. Kendrick…what we have here is what smart people call a “very small sample size”. Some pitchers succeed. A lot don’t. Whether or not a pitcher is going to be great has nothing to do with where he is drafted. It depends on the player and the team that drafts him. Maybe the position player is “safer” but hitters don’t win championships. Pitchers do.
• Based on the Rays drafting history only 2 or 3 of the 50 players selected
  will ever appear in a major league game.
  
• The Washington Nationals are reportedly pursuing Elijah Dukes.
• MLB Trade Rumors indicates that the Twins may be interested in acquiring Ty Wigginton. With the emergence of both BJ Upton, and Carlos Pena, this move makes sense.
• Off day today with an intriguing match-up tomorrow as the Padres come to town and will send out Greg Maddux against Scott Kazmir.

Down On The Farm: Chad Orvella And Tim Corcoran Called Up From Durham

Although no official announcement has been made by the Rays, Tim Corcoran and Chad Orvella were unavailable for last night’s game for the Durham Bulls as they have been promoted to the Rays to replace the demoted Ruddy Lugo and the suspended Juan Salas, as reported by the Durham Herald-Sun. The move is not a surprise as both pitchers have experience at the Major League level. Orvella had a 2.76 ERA with 21 strikeouts in 16.1 innings. After a slow start, he had been much stronger and nearly unhittable recently as he has only allowed 1 run and 3 hits in his last 14.1 innings. Corcoran had a 2.51 ERA in 14.1 innings with Durham.

Durham 7, Norfolk 4. With the Bulls short two reliever, JP Howell knew he had to work deep into the game and struck out 8 in 7 innings. He did give up 4 runs in the 6th inning, but did not walk a batter. Elliot Johnson was 2-4 with his 4th home run. Justin Ruggiano was 3-4 with a double.

Montgomery 2, Tennessee 1. Chris Seddon gave up only 1 run on 6 hits and no walks in 8 innings. He struck out 4. Reid Brignac was 1-4 with his 4th stolen base and Evan Longoria was 0-2 with a walk.

Dunedin 7, Vero Beach 3 (gm 1).

Vero Beach 7, Dunedin 4 (gm 2).

NOTES FROM DOWN ON THE FARM…

• Desmond Jennings of the Columbus Catfish was named the Devil Rays minor league player of the month. In 24 games he hit .320 with 2 home runs and 12 stolen bases, that included a 17-game hitting streak.

Time To Get The Durham Shuttle Warmed Up

Let’s face it, Shawn Camp and Ruddy Lugo are not major league pitchers right now. In spring training Joe Maddon made it clear that there were no more free lunches. No more “scholarships”. This is why we were puzzled when Papa Joe appeared to guarantee Camp and Lugo spots in the bullpen at the beginning of the spring, despite being two members of the worst bullpen in baseball in 2006. Camp said during the spring that he was working on being more consistent. Mission accomplished. He has been consistently bad in 2007. In four appearances, he has recorded only 7 outs, yet he has surrendered 6 hits, a walk, and a hit batter, to go with 4 runs.

Last night Camp relieved Edwin Jackson with 2 outs in the 6th with runners at first and third and the score tied. Two batters later the Rangers were leading 4-2. Papa Joe had seen enough. Now it was Lugo’s turn to stop the bleeding. Four batters and zero outs later, the game was 8-2 and out of reach. Lugo has actually been worse than Camp so far in 2007. He has recorded 6 outs, and he has given up 7 hits and 4 walks which have led to 5 runs. That equates to an era of 22.50 and a 5.500 whip. That’s not an easy thing to do.

So now we will see if Maddon and Andrew Friedman are true to their word. Are Camp and Lugo on “scholarship”? If not, they need to be in Durham. We have no idea what the problem is, but it is clear that neither is capable of getting major league hitters out at this point. If this continues, it will be damaging to this young team. This team started the season with a lot of confidence. To compete with the monsters of the AL East, this team needs confidence and there is no way they can be confident in the bullpen right now. The idea of Camp or Lugo even warming up in the bullpen during a game in which the lead is less 10 gives us the hibidy-jibidies.

We don’t know who should be in their place, but right now a Fungo could get more hitters out. At Durham, Steve Andrade has 7 strike outs in 4.1 innings, but gave up 2 runs in his first appearance. Tim Corcoran and Scott Dohmann both have major league experience and have been solid so far. Chad Orvella has struggled a bit early on, but was strong this spring with the Rays. Hell, we would rather have Seth McCl…ummm, nevermind. We aren’t that desperate yet.

Is it any coincidence that these are the two pitchers that were used during the now famous “Cat in the Hat” reading? Durham parents are checking the transaction page daily. Soon they will have to lock their children in the basement.

The good and, well, just the ugly [St. Pete Times]

The Hangover: Chad Orvella Never Had A Chance To Make Team

• Jae Seo came back down to earth a bit allowing 5 runs in the first inning of his final spring tune up. The Rays lost to the Reds 5-4. BJ Upton had 3 hits and 2 stolen bases.
• That the Rays decided to send Seth McClung down to Durham doesn’t surprise us (25 base runners in 9.1 innings this spring), but Chad Orvella’s demotion has us shaking our heads. One day after the team released Dan Miceli based in large part on his performance, why in the world was Orvella sent down? 13 base runners in 10.1 innings is not bad, but 0.87 ERA is pretty darn good. Granted we were not there to see Orvella pitch everyday but the numbers indicate he did just about everything that was asked of him.
• The seven members of the bullpen are now set, but they better not get too comfortable. In reality, there are about 12 members of the bullpen and JetBlue may want to schedule regular flights between Tampa and Durham.
• Carlos Pena will decide in the next couple of days whether to accept a demotion to the minors or declare himself a free agent.
• An interview with Joe Maddon. Nothing too revealing except Papa Joe states that he loves competing in the AL East and wouldn’t want to be in another division.
• HERE is a geographical argument for having the Rays and Nationals switch divisions.

The Hangover: Cantu Or Gomes For Final Spot

• Two big notes from yesterday’s 3-3 tie with the Pink Sox. Edwin Jackson worked six innings and yielded only a single walk while striking out 5. Jackson has only had one start this spring in which his control betrayed him. If this keeps up, Jackson could be in for a big season. The second item is that B. J. Upton started at second and Jorge Cantu was the DH. We touched on this yesterday, but it is now looking more and more as if Upton’s role as super-utility may actually turn into a regular gig at second base, while Cantu and Jonny Gomes are now battling for the DH spot,with the loser being sent to Durham.
• The final two spots in the pen will come down to Chad Orvella, Juan Salas, Seth McClung, and Jae Kuk Ryu. McClung has given up 25 baserunners in less than 10 IP this spring so he is a long shot at this point. With Brian Stokes and Gary Glover likely to make the team, there doesn’t appear to be a need for another long reliever, so Ryu is probably out. Ryu gave up two home runs yesterday. Orvella has been lights out this spring (o.87 ERA) and seems like a lock. Salas has also been strong.
• All three of the Rays walking wounded saw action yesterday. Of the three, Rocco Baldelli, Dioner Navarro and Josh Paul, only Paul sounded confident that he would be ready for opening day.
• Not Rays related, but Kenny Rogers was placed on the DL yesterday with a tired arm. Wouldn’t it be great if this worked in real life. Boss, I need to take 2 weeks off, with pay, because I have a tired head. Thanks.
• Manny Stiles makes a long-winded case for the greatness of Delmon Young.
• We have no idea how good Carl Crawford can be, but it sure is going to be fun finding out.
• On Tuesday against the Jays, Carl Crawford forgot his jersey, so he was forced to wear #98. Apparently #98 was not as lucky as his usual #13. He went 0-3.
• Lou Piniella is not the only former Rays manager in Chi-town. Remember Larry Rothschild? Seems forever ago.