The Hangover: Carl Crawford Saves The Day

Devil Rays 5, Blue Jays 4.
It was the type of game that can help a team salvage a little dignity in a lost season. It was the type of game that can remind team that they do know how to win a game.

Andy Sonnanstine allowed 2 runs in the first inning and immediately we assumed it was going to be just another night like most other nights in the last month and a half. The Rays cut the lead to 3-2 in the 5th inning, but Sonny was touched for a 4th run in the top of the 7th and it appeared that the Rays would play just well enough to tease us and just well enough to lose. We envisioned a final score of 7-2 with the Bullpen falling apart in yet another hapless game a the Trop.

We never harbored any hope of a win last night. We had lost our optimism weeks ago. But there were two factors we did not account for. The first was the suddenly revamped Devil Rays bullpen. Last night, five relievers, including two acquired over the weekend and a third that was called up from Durham, combined for 4.1 shutout innings.

The second factor was Superman. Carl Crawford took batting practice before last night’s game and his sore wrist needed at least one more night off. In fact, it now looks like C.C. will battle a sore wrist for the rest of the season. In the 9th inning, Crawford pinch ran for Jonny Gomes after he drew a 1-out walk. Crawford’s legs are just fine and he immediately moved into scoring position by stealing second base. He then moved to third on a fly ball to right field by Greg Norton. A Josh Wilson base hit and the game was tied.

We still assumed the bullpen would implode in extra innings. We can only expect them to hold the opposition down for so long. Al Reyes gave up a lead off double in the 10th but settle down to retire the side. In the bottom of the 10th, Crawford once again factored into the game without even making a plate appearance. With Brendan Harris on second with 2 outs, Delmon Young singled on a ground ball up the middle. With Crawford and his sore wrist on deck, Harris tried to score but was thrown out at the plate.

In the 11th, Scott Dohmann allowed the first two batters to get on base. “Here we go again,” is all we could muster. Yet somehow, Dohmann pitched his way out of trouble.

Superman is due to lead off the bottom of the 11th. Joe Maddon decides not to pinch hit for C.C. despite his sore wrist. Would he try a drag bunt? No. And on a 3-1 pitch, Crawford fouled off a ball on his first swing and winced in pain. Now we wondered aloud if we would not only lose this game, but we would lose Crawford for longer than “day-to-day”. But this is Superman. Crawford took the very next pitch to just left of center field for a walk-off home run.

In baseball, more so than football, fans often root for the players as much as the team. We try not to get too attached to any one player. If a trade is presented that will significantly improve the team, we want Andrew Friedman to make the move no matter what the Rays have to sacrifice. But Carl Crawford is the one player that we hope the Rays never trade. He is the one player in which we make sure we never miss a single pitch in which he is at bat or on the bases. He is the most exciting player in baseball. He can do it all…even with a sore wrist. Superman.

Here is hoping that Carl Crawford is a Tampa Bay Devil Ray for the next 15 years.

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…

• Jays fans are not taking last night’s game very well. Great name for a blog, by the way. Before Tampa had a team, we spent much of our childhood in Dunedin for Spring Training and we were just as frustrated as most Jays fans every time Dave Stieb just missed a no-hitter. [THE TAO OF STIEB]
• They really aren’t taking it well. [Drunk Jays Fans]
• Entering last night’s action, the Rays had struck out in 23.7% of their at bats in July. ouch. [ESPN]
• The Rays may not be done dealing, as several teams may be interested in the Rays veteran relievers and/or Jonny Gomes. [tampabay.com]

[Andrew] Friedman said Monday night he “wouldn’t characterize anything as close or even likely to happen,” but acknowledged it could change quickly.

• Andrew Friedman could be actively trying to move Dan Wheeler who was just acquired from the Astros. MLB Trade Rumors offers some scenarios in which the Rays would move Wheeler for younger players. [MLB Trade Rumors]
• Al Reyes may be the Rays most valuable trading piece that remains. While the Rays do have an option on Reyes for 2008, we still believe that trading him is the best move. He will be 38 in 2008 and is only one year removed from his second Tommy John surgery. Now is the time to sell high. [TBO]
• Could the Mets be trying to acquire Carl Crawford? [MLB Trade Rumors]
• With Ty Wigginton gone and Ben Zobrist recalled from Durham, Brendan Harris will likely become the team’s most-days second baseman. [Devil Rays]
• JK Ryu was optioned back to Durham where he will enter the Bulls’ rotation to be a starting pitcher. [Devil Rays]
• Don’t get us wrong, we loved the way Ty Wigginton played the game, but for some reason we never really had such a strong affinity for the player, and were not all that sad to see him go. With Akinori Iwamura and Evan Longoria there was no r
  oom at third base with Iwamura likely to move to second base sooner rather than later. In addition, Carlos Pena looks like a fixture at first base for the next few years. Wiggy was a nice bat. He hit some clutch home runs and he was consistent defensively. Still, he was never going to be any better than a 20-home run, 90-RBI bat with no range defensively. The Rays pitchers have extremely high BABIP numbers and part of that is due to an infield that lets more groundballs through for base hits than would normally be expected. [TBO]

Wigginton was nothing but classy and professional during his time here but he also was soon to be a man without a position.

• Shawn Camp was surprised by his demotion…Shawn: Players have been castrated for less. [TBO]
• What if the Giants did move to Tampa-St. Pete in 1993? What if Barry Bonds was wearing a Tampa Bay uniform instead of a San Francisco uniform? [The Sporting Orange]
• Some bloggers made the trip to the Trop on Friday night and lived to write about it. [Sports Indeed]
• How many titles have the Devil Rays won? Well, since you asked, it is exactly one less than the Red Sox have won in the last 89 years. [the mighty quinn media machine]
• Red Sox fans did not take Sunday’s loss to the Devil Rays too well. [Surviving Grady]
• We are a little late on this, but congratulations to Casey Fossum and his wife on the birth of their third child. [Celebrity Baby Blog]

[THE HANGOVER] In The End, Even Old Yeller Had To Be Shot

Yankees 7, Devil Rays 6.
The Devil Rays lost three of four games to the Yankees, but for the first time in almost a month, the Rays were competitive. The starting pitching was better, but they still don’t put in enough time on the mound. And the bullpen is…well the bullpen is what it is. In the four games, the bullpen threw 11.2 innings and gave up 10 hits, 7 walks and 8 runs. The key number is 11.2, as Andy Sonnanstine was the only starting pitcher to work into the 7th inning. To expect any bullpen, especially the Devil Rays, who are missing their only two decent relievers (Al Reyes and Juan Salas), to hold the Yankees lineup scoreless for three innings is asking too much.

Manager Joe Maddon was up to his usual Pollyannaisms this weekend.

[After Sunday’s loss] We played a hard-fought game and they got it in the end and we didn’t…But our day will come. [tampabay.com]

[After Saturday’s loss] I’m looking at the effort. I’m looking at us doing the little things better. Good pitching tonight from our perspective. [devilrays.com]

For the record we do not have a problem with maintaining a positive attitude in the face of yet another last place season. Our problem is that as fans, we want the players and the coaches to be held accountable. When all we ever hear from Joe Maddon is how he sees so many “good things” it gives the appearance that he doesn’t see the “bad things” and that losing is an acceptable outcome. Nobody is expecting a winning ball club in 2007, but we would like to see signs that this team can be a winning ball club soon. Despite losing 3 of 4 to the Yankees, the competitiveness of the team was better, but in the end they still lost 3 of 4.

We envision little Joey Maddon as one of those children whose mother would always turn a movie off before the sad ending. Unfortunately we have yet to learn to turn the TV off before the 7th inning.

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…

• Saturday night and Sunday afternoon’s games were the 6th and 7th sellouts in Devil Rays history. Four of the previous five sellouts were on opening day. The only other non-opening day sellout was also against the Yankees on July 19, 2004. [tampabay.com]
• On Friday night, Scott Kazmir’s pitch count was once again too high forcing him from the game before the 7th inning. Still, Kid K seemed to have regained some of his confidence that has been lost most of the year. [tbo.com]

“I’ve been through a tough stretch where I’m trying to figure out what’s going on,” he said. “I’m switching sides of the rubber and changing my mechanics a little bit, but now I’m just going back to what I did last year and the year before. I’m just going to attack the strike zone and not worry about how I get the ball to where I want it, but just toe it up and throw it there.”

• Jonny Gomes brought a “good luck rooster” to the clubhouse before Friday night’s win. [DevilRays.com]

After Friday night’s win, Rays manager Joe Maddon sounded like he was ready to ride the rooster: “The rooster is a permanent part of the environment now.”

• James Shields leads Major League Baseball with 7.14 innings pitched per start. At the other end of the spectrum, Edwin Jackson averages the second fewest innings pitched per start (4.64). [Roto Authority]
• Carl Crawford has had an up-and-down season and thinks taking more walks will be the key to finding consistency. [DevilRays.com]
• Carl Crawford likes his women with a good left jab. [St. Pete Times]
• Marc Lancaster discusses several players that could be traded. [TBO]
• So far, signing bonuses for players from this year’s amateur draft are down approximately 10% from last year. Major League Baseball has made a concerted effort to curb signing bonuses. With a very early deadline for signing draft picks (August 15), it will interesting to see if more players will decide to re-enter the draft in 2008 and whether this will have an effect on whether the Devil Rays can sign David Price. [Sports Agent Blog]
• The Devil Rays recent 11-game losing streak is a rare achievement. Since the Devil Rays inaugural season in 1998, only 17 major league teams have experienced a 10-game losing streak. The New York Yankees have not lost 10 in a row since 1913. [SFGate.com]

The Hangover: Scott Kazmir Likes To Get His Work In Early

Royals 12, Devil Rays 4.
5 innings, 100 pitches. When we look back on the 2007 season, that could be the opening line. 5 innings, 100 pitches. The rest of the rotation (outside of James Shields) has been awful, but that was no surprise. The bullpen has been vomit-inducing, but we saw that coming. The only real disappointment on the pitching staff has been Scott Kazmir and his ability to look so good and so bad at the same time.

There has been a lot of speculation as to how this season will affect the long-term health of Kazmir. He leads the majors in pitches per inning and is among the league leaders in total pitches (4th with 2066). He is averaging 109 pitches per start despite averaging less than 6 innings per outing.

Those 109 pitches per start is the 4th highest rate in baseball. However, that number may not be as bad as it sounds. Of his 18 starts this season, he has thrown at least 100 pitches 17 times. Of those, he has 8 starts with greater than 110 pitches, but he has no starts with greater than 120. Baseball Prospectus has a formula for relating the number of pitches thrown in each start to a “Stress” level on the pitcher’s arm. The lack of starts with 120+ pitches thrown has actually helped keep Kazmir’s stress-level down. While he is 4th in pitches thrown and pitches per start, he is only tied for 18th in “Stress”. 20 different pitchers have starts this season with at least 122 pitches thrown. Five of those pitchers have done it more than once. Kazmir’s high pitches per start rate is due more to consistent pitch counts in the 100-110 range and not due to the occasional red-level pitch count. The occasional 125+ pitch game can be far more stressful on the arm than consistently throwing 100-110.

It appears as though Kazmir and Joe Maddon are not necessarily adding risk to the long-term health of Kid K’s left arm. However, if he is going to be successful he needs to be more judicial with his pitches and work later into games.

Scott Kazmir has an unusually high Opponents Batting Average on Balls put in play (BABIP), considering the rest of his numbers. Opponents are hitting .345 when they hit the ball which is the 6th highest in baseball (Edwin Jackson has the highest rate at .378). Such a high BABIP is generally considered bad luck with batted balls finding openings in the defense higher than would normally be expected. The high rate against a pitcher like with good stuff, could just be bad luck. If that is the case, and Kazmir experiences a reversal of fortune, he will see fewer base runners and fewer hitters which will lead to more 7 and 8 inning outings and we could see a stronger second half from Kid K.

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…

• And the first half ends. Worst. Record. In. Baseball.
• We can see how 2 days of all-star activities can be rough on a 25-year old. So it is a good thing that Joe Maddon gave Carl Crawford Sunday off (C.C. did pinch hit in the 8th inning).
• When the Rays ended their 11-game losing streak there was plenty of celebrating in the clubhouse after the game. Here is a suggestion: Why not act like you have won a few games before. Why not act like you just beat the friggin’ Kansas City Royals. Why not act like you just won a game you were supposed to win. Why not go out and see if you can win a series against Kansas City before popping the bubbly. Is that too much to ask for?
• Tom Gatto of The Sporting News analyzes a few of the recent quotes from Joe Maddon and Andrew Friedman, and comments on how all the spin-doctoring is not going to make the team any better.

you are what your record says it is. The Rays’ 34-51 record says, “Bad, and getting worse.”

• Dioner Navarro did not suffer a broken jaw as originally feared following his collision with Josh Beckett. He was out of the lineup on Friday, but returned on Saturday.
• Carter Gaddis released a major league baseball “Power Rankings” and he has the Devil Rays at #30. We are down on the Rays right now as much as anybody, but they are not the worst team in baseball…OK, maybe they are.
• Joe Maddon has set the Devil Rays’ rotation for after the All-Star break. James Shields, Scott Kazmir, Andy Sonnanstine and Edwin Jackson will pitch the opening series against the Yankees. JP Howell will be skipped the first time through the rotation as the Rays have an off day after the Yankees series. Howell will be used out of the bullpen. It now appears that
  Jackson has secured his spot in the rotation and Howell is the pitcher on the bubble. Now we wait and see if Howell can pitch better and if not, will it be Jason Hammel or Jeff Niemann that takes his spot. Two weeks ago we would have said Hammel, hands down. Now we have a feeling it will be Niemann with Hammel remaining in the bullpen for the remainder of the year.
• BJ Upton is still on schedule to rejoin the Rays on Thursday. Of course that is assuming that he does not get “fatigued” again between now and then, playing 5 innings in a minor league game.
• When BJ Upton returns, Jonny Gomes is likely to see far less playing time in the outfield and will most likely return to full-time DH duties.
• Marc Tompkin hands out his first-half MVP to Al Reyes. We prefer to call it the first-half LUP (Least Unvaluable Player).
• Marc Tompkin also sums up what went right and the many, many things that went wrong in the first half. A Crawford-Hamilton-Young outfield sure sounds nice these days.
• The second half will not be any better unless Andrew Friedman can find some help for the bullpen.
• The Tampa Tribune has introduced a concept stadium for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. The stadium is a a retractable roof field and they propose several locations. The entire concept is one dreamed up by the staff of the Tribune.
• Shawn Camp knows all about long losing streaks…what a coincidence.
• A judge refused to throw out a marijuana possession charge against Elijah Dukes. In other news concerning Elijah Dukes, it has been a long time since he made news for something he did on a baseball field.
• According to Baseball Prospectus (via MLB Trade Rumors), the Chicago White Sox may be interested in Elijah Dukes…The White Sox and 28 other teams are interested if they can get him for a no-name prospect and a box of balls. Until we start to hear actual names of players that other teams are willing to part with, we are not taking any Elijah Dukes rumors seriously.
• Carl Crawford still looks back at his football days and wonders what could have been if he had played at Nebraska.
• If James Shields was playing the AL West, would he be a Cy Young candidate?
• The guys at Sports Talk have their mid-season report card up for the Devil Rays. We wrote a mid-season summary for another website, which we will link to when it is up, and we included a report card. Our grades were nearly identical.

The Hangover: Carlos Pena Is A Stabilizing Force

Devil Rays 7, Rockies 4.
Remember back in the off-season when the only position we were worried about was who would fill the enormous shoes of Travis Lee? Elijah Dukes took his first base mitt to the Arizona Fall League. Jonny Gomes borrowed a glove for about 3 hours early in Spring Training. Hee Seop Choi and Carlos Pena were signed as non-roster invitees, and given little chance of even making the ball club. And of course Ty Wigginton and Greg Norton were expected to receive the majority of the playing time. Now? First base may be one of only two positions on the field for which we know who will be playing there for the next 2 seasons.

In 2006, 29 first basemen recorded at least 300 plate appearances. Travis Lee ranked last with a .676 OPS. By comparison, Pena has the highest OPS among all major league first basemen (1.012) and is 3rd among all AL hitters. With his 16th home run on Sunday, Pena is now 4th in the AL. He also 42 RBI (15th in AL) despite only starting 46 of the Rays 67 games. He is also showing no sign of slowing down as none of his numbers have been the result of “hot streaks” within the season. In fact, Pena has been amazingly consistent. In May he hit .356 with 6 home runs. So far in June he is hitting .362 with 6 home runs.

We can be fairly certain that Carl Crawford will still be manning left field in 2008 and 2009, and with 2 more seasons of arbitration eligibility, Pena will be the Rays first baseman. What other position can you say that about? Right field is close with Delmon Young, but every other position is filled with question marks for 2008 and beyond. We know some of the names (Akinori Iwamura, BJ Upton), but we have no idea where these players will call home in the everyday lineup. Pena, on the other hand, has emerged as a stabilizing force in the most unlikely of positions…first base.

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…

• Elijah Dukes’ days in a Rays uniform may be numbered. So we ask…If Elijah Dukes’ career fell in a forest would anybody notice? Or care?
• Joe Maddon was ejected for arguing a check-swing non-call yesterday. It was Papa Joe’s first ejection of the season. We are a little fuzzy on this one, but we are fairly certain that this was Joe Maddon’s second ejection as manager of the Devil Rays. At this pace, Maddon would break John McGraw’s all-time ejection record (131) in the year 2137.
• BJ Upton may be closer to returning than originally thought.
• Jim Bowden of the Nationals said that character would be considered before acquiring any players in a trade. There were reports that the Nats were interested in Dukes. This latest quote would indicate that the Nats were not interested. However, Bowden did sign Dmitri Young, who is not exactly Mother Theresa.
• With Jonny Gomes swinging a hot bat, Elijah Dukes is likely to be the odd-man out on Friday when Rocco Baldelli returns from the DL.
• During Saturday’s 5th inning, the Rays were retired on 3 pitches. It was the second time in franchise history that this has occurred.

[THE HANGOVER] Edwin Jackson Quits When It Matters Most

Padres 9, Devil Rays 0.
That should about do it for Edwin Jackson. We have tried to defend Jackson, even though he has been as bad as Jae Seo and Casey Fossum. We wanted the other two members of The Axis of Evil out of the rotation, but not Jackson. The reason was that Jackson has talent and he is young. There was room for improvement in Jackson that was not present in the other two. But after giving up 5 hits and 2 walks to the only 8 batters he faced last night, we now know that Jackson needs to be out of the rotation with no desire to ever see him there again.

Our change of heart is not based on how bad he looked as much as it was the timing of the performance. This was the single most important start in Jackson’s young career. The Rays had just sent Jackson a very clear message by recalling Jason Hammel from Durham. Andrew Friedman and Joe Maddon had given Jackson an ultimatum. Either show some improvement or your spot will go to Hammel. So instead of accepting the challenge, Jackson mailed it in. The biggest start of his career. His job as a major league starting pitcher on the line and he gave up. Didn’t even compete. He doesn’t even get two outs, before Maddon made a very symbolic move by yanking Jackson and replacing him with Hammel.

Pitchers have bad starts. They even have awful starts. We would be willing to bet that a lot of hall of fame pitchers had at least one start where they did not survive the first inning. It happens. But it should never happen in a big game. And this was a big game for Jackson. He quit on himself and he quit on his team. That is not the type of the pitcher you want on a team that is trying to build a winning mentality. When the pressure was greatest, Jackson wilted like Elijah Dukes’ bank account after another one-night stand.

We would be shocked if Jackson makes his next start. Good riddance.

This afternoon it is JP Howell’s turn. Pressure is not as great on Howell. His job is secure for the time being. But being a winning baseball team is about winning series and the Rays have a chance to win their third straight. The Padres are not a good offensive team (only Jackson can make them look like the Yankees). After such a strong first start, Howell was disappointing in his second outing. There is a bit of pressure on Howell this afternoon to go out and show he belongs by shutting down the Padres and winning the rubber match.

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…

• Elijah Dukes was given the night off yesterday. It was a move that was clearly related to his latest non-baseball headlines as the Rays were without another center fielder on the active roster.
• BJ Upton was placed on the DL and Jonny Gomes was recalled from Durham.
• The pitching staff recently has been like musical chairs. The opening paragraph of this article will make your head spin.
• Ever the team player, Delmon Young made it clear that he was not happy about having to play center field in the absence of Elijah Dukes.

I’ll do it because I have to, but I prefer to be in right

Mr. Young. We would like to introduce you to Mr. Wigginton. He is the dumpy looking white guy that often plays second base, even though he probably prefers not to. He may not like it, but we wouldn’t know because he never complains and he knows that his job is to do what is best for the team. Mr. Young, you are basically the 5th string center fielder, behind Upton, Dukes, Baldelli and the batboy. Two are hurt, one is an idiot and the 4th had a bar mitzvah last night. The team doesn’t want you playing center field any more than they want Danny DeVito being the closer. But sometimes these things happen. We love Mr. Wigginton because he is a gamer. Don’t get us wrong. We love you too, but only because you can hit the ball real hard and throw the ball real far. But we would like you to do us a favor. JUST SHUT THE HELL UP AND PLAY. Thanks. Have a good day.

The Hangover: Edwin Jackson Reminded Why He Wears A Glove. We Are Reminded Why He Is In The Majors

Devil Rays 6, Tigers 5.
If someone would have approached us and said “would you sign for being tied with the Yankees after 49 games?” We would have been idiots to say ‘no’, yet somehow being tied with the Yankees and 13.5 games behind the Pink Hats is not so fulfilling right now. Still, considering the Rays only have 2 starting pitchers. Not at all terrible.

Last night Edwin Jackson once again teased us into thinking that the Rays may already have a 3rd pitcher at the major league level. There is no doubt that Jackson has an incredible arm and we have to keep reminding ourselves that he is still only 23. But we can’t ignore a 7.12 ERA and only 43 innings in 9 starts (4.2 innings per start). So he remains a bit of an enigma. A project that could be great once molded or he may never “get it”.

One only need to look at last night’s second inning to summarize Jackson’s entire career. The inning started with 3 straight singles to load the bases. Jackson then gave up a fourth straight hit, that drives in 2. On the play, an errant throw from Carl Crawford to home, somehow missed Jackson’s glove as he backed up the play, and struck him in the face. After that play, Jackson settled down and struck out the next three hitters, the last two on 6 pitches. So, in the span of one inning, Jackson struck out 3 batters, failed to catch a throw from Crawford and got struck in the cheek, allowed 4 hits and 2 runs. He looked great. He looked awful. He looked stupid. All in the span of one half inning. Folks…We introduce you to, Edwin Jackson.

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…

• Finally, the Rays may be ready to shake up the rotation, although nothing is official yet. Jae Seo was moved to the bullpen so that Edwin Jackson could pitch for the first time in 10 days last night. The Rays will not need a 5th starter until next Tuesday and the Joe Maddon made it clear that Seo is not guaranteed to make that start. Andy Sonnanstine will be on regular rest for that Tuesday game, although with a weeks notice, it shouldn’t be too difficult to shuffle the Durham rotation for Jeff Niemann to make the start.
• Well, we thought that Jorge Cantu would be the first player sent down when Akinori Iwamura was activated and that Jonny Gomes would be demoted upon Rocco Baldelli’s return. Looks like we got the order wrong as Gomes was sent down yesterday. Both players have struggled offensively, so Cantu’s defensive flexibility (and we use that term very loosely) gave him the edge over Gomes.
• Jorge Cantu made it clear that another demotion would lead to another trade demand.
• How does Jorge Cantu not make the list of least attractive baseball players?
• Stuart Sternberg made indicated that Elijah Dukes could still be released. That is about as likely to happen as the Rays winning the division this season. Read: Not very likely.
• Gary Sheffield has a close connection to Elijah Dukes that extends beyond Hillsborough High. Sheff believes he can help Dukes, but he is not reaching out to him at this time.
  
• Scott Kazmir moved from one side of the rubber to the other and results on Sunday were impressive. After throwing 15 of his first 30 pitches out of the strike zone, he settled down and 52 of the next 77 were strikes.
• The Devil Rays slip a spot in SI.com’s latest power rankings. They are now #25.
• Awww, how cute. A list of the “cutest” first names in baseball. Which one would make the best baby name? Here is your chance to vote for Ty Wigginton.
• Carl Crawford is 4 hits shy of tying Aubrey Huff for the most hits in team history (870).

The Hangover: Hey Rays. You Just Won One in A Row. Where Are You Going?

Yesterday our performance was about as effective as Seth McClung in pretty much any role above AAA. We speculated that the Rays would have to soon decide between keeping Carlos Pena or Greg Norton on the major league roster. We did not consider that Greg Norton cannot be sent down to Durham without clearing waivers. We also completely forgot about Jonny Gomes (considering the amount of playing time he receives, can you blame us?). Now it seems fairly obvious that when Iwamura returns, Gomes will be the one headed to Durham. We don’t call this “The Hangover” for no reason.

This does not mean that Norton is completely off the hook in this situation. So far during Norton’s rehab assignment at AA Montgomery, the Biscuits have played 10 games. During that period Norton has missed 3 games and was the DH in 5 others. He has only been able to play first base 2 times as he is still experiencing soreness in his knee. Despite being eligible to come off the DL, it will be at least a few more days until he rejoins the team. Of course, with the emergence of Pena, there is no need to rush Norton and if his knee is not 100%, it would not surprise us if Norton is placed back remains on the DL for two more weeks, and has his rehab assignment cut short.

Tonight the Devil Rays open a series against the Rangers in Orlando at the Disney World complex. We are not really sure what to think about it. We understand the reasoning behind it, as the organization hopes to expose the Rays to new fans in central Florida. A Rays home game outside will be a nice change but we are sorry if the idea does not excite us. We have been to a few spring training games in Orlando and it is a nice park, but we have a feeling that tonight’s game is going to look and feel like a spring training game.

Now there is talk about making this an annual event. However, the players and coaches would prefer that it not happen at all.

It’s a couple more nights in a hotel for most of the team, with the exception of area residents like first baseman Carlos Pena and pitching coach Jim Hickey; and getting used to a new infield, outfield and pitcher’s mound. It’s a remarkable amount of work for the support staff, from Chris Westmoreland and his clubhouse crew attempting to create a major-league environment in a spring training stadium to head trainer Ron Porterfield arranging for all the various medical services to be in place, including having ambulances on hand and a hospital designated just in case anyone needs to be rushed to emergency surgery.

Given a choice, just about everyone involved on the logistical side probably would rather play at Tropicana Field…

But hey…Goofy couldn’t be any worse than half of the team’s bullpen.

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA…

• Despite his recent struggles, Rocco Baldelli will continue to lead off for the Rays.
• The use of Disney’s Wide World of Sports baseball field (capacity 9,500) will be the smallest ballpark to host a regular season game since the A’s were forced to start the 1996 season with six games in Las Vegas (capacity 9,000) due to renovations at their home park.

The Hangover: Edwin Jackson Not Strong In Loss

Indians 4, Devil Rays 3.
The headline reads “Jackson strong in loss”. What? When a starting pitcher walks 5 batters, that is not a strong performance. Yes, we know that 2 of those walks were intentional, but 3 walks in 6 innings is still not “strong”. When a pitcher has to be removed after the 6th inning with 108 pitches, that is not “strong”. When a pitcher leaves the game with his team losing 3-2, that is not “strong”. 6 innings, 5 hits, 5 walks, 3 runs and a home run is not the definition of a quality start. We hope Mr. Jackson would agree with us.

• Despite giving up a double and a walk to start the 9th, Juan Salas appears to have done enough recently to become the second set-up man in the bullpen.
• The Rays are still atrocious on the base paths, as they were caught stealing twice.
• Nothing like the facing the Devil Rays pitching staff to cure your hitting woes. The latest to get healthy against the Rays, appears to be Travis Hafner. Hafner’s home run in the third was the first given up by Edwin Jackson in 36.1 innings, dating back to last season.
• BJ Upton’s solo home run broke an 0-7 skid.
• Joe Maddon promises to find more ways to get Jonny Gomes into the lineup. In the first 16 games, Gomes has only started three games.
• Brendan Harris has now started five straight games.
• Manny Stiles gets the skinny on Joe Maddon during Stiles first trip to the Trop. What exactly does Maddon do on his days off?
• The Rays are proving that winning is about pitching. They can score all the runs in the world, and it won’t mean diddly if they don’t pitch better. As a team they have scored the second most runs in baseball, yet they are in last place.

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: 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.