Devil Rays Notes

Does anybody remember what Rocco Baldelli looks like? Baldelli, who was suposed to start a rehab assignment this week, is still not ready. His hamstring is still sore and now he and Joe Maddon are hoping he can make it back before the All-Star break. In other injury-related news, Julio Lugo and Aubrey Huff are both expected to rejoin the team during the next road trip which begins on Friday. [Bradenton Herald]

Jonny Gomes set the team record for most home runs in any month with his 11th home run. The previous record was held by Fred McGriff who hit 10 in April of 1999.

Ty Wiggington is the first D-Ray to lead the AL in RBI at any point in the season.

Tomas Perez is one strikeout short of tying the Major League record for consecutive plate appearances with a strikeout. He has struck out in his last 8 plate appearances.

Monday Morning Hangover, Take 2: A Look Back At The Future. The Weekend In The Minors In Review

We continue to take a look back at the happenings of the past weekend. This time we will take a look at the Rays’ farm system. Hopefully we will get through this post without a bat being thrown at us.

Durham Bulls. The D-Rays’ other top prospect, SS B. J. Upton had an up and down weekend. He went 2-13 in four games. He did pick up his 13th stolen base but did commit his 10th error, yet another throwing error. The good news is, he ONLY committed one error in 4 games, which is indeed a good stretch for Upton. There does not appear to be any truth to the rumor that the Bulls used a shift on ALL batters in which the 3B and 2B moved closer together and Upton sat in the bullpen…Elijah Dukes had a solid game on Thursday going 2-3 with 2 RBI to continue what has been a torrid pace he has been on the last week or so. Unfortunately, Dukes has not been seen in the lineup since then. He has left the team for what was termed “personal reasons”, and is expected to rejoin the Bulls later this week…Chris Seddon and Jamie Shields each had rough outings over the weekend. Edwin Jackson had his first start back at Durham since being send back to AAA. He worked into the 7th inning giving up only 3 hits and 2 runs, but he did surrender 5 walks. His control continues to plague him and as soon as he can find the strikezone on a more consistent basis, he will be in the Bigs to stay.

Montgomery Biscuits. OF Jason Pridie also had a rough 4-day stretch, going 1-14, to lower his batting average to .234. 1B Gabriel Martinez, who started the season on a tear has cooled off considerably, going 4-15 and his average now sits at .303. 3B Wes Bankston who is attempting to make the switch from 1B was placed on the DL with a strained oblique muscle. We assume that must be what happens when too many ground balls go through your legs. SP Tony Peguero had a strong outing going 6 innings giving up 3 hits, 1 walk and 1 unearned run, striking out 3. Chuck Tiffany, the other pitcher the D-Rays received along with Edwin Jackson, got knocked out in the 4th inning of his start after surrendering 8 hits, 6 walks and 8 runs.

Visalia Oaks. SS Reid Brignac, went 4-13 and is now hitting a robust .356. More importantly, he did not commit an error in 4 games. So to sum up the defensive question marks in the Rays’ system. Three of their top prospects all have struggled mightily in the field. Upton, Brignac and Bankston. In the past 4 days they committed a total of 1 error. May not seem that impressive, but for those three it is. Of course, Bankston was on the DL, but whatever it takes. The only notable performance by a starting pitcher came from Brandon Mann. On Sunday, he went 5 innings and gave up 7 hits, 2 walks, 2 runs and struck out 8.

Southwest Michigan Devil Rays. The Devil Rays got three outstanding pitching performances from the past weekend. On Thursday, Michael Wlodarczyk picked up his first win going 7 innings, giving up 3 hits, 1 walk, 2 unearned runs and struck out 4. He lowered his ERA to 1.65…On Friday Jacob McGee worked into the 9th giving up 2 hits, 3 walks and 1 run. He struck out 10 and his ERA is now 2.30…On Sunday, our personal favorite, Wade Davis, improved his record to 3-0. Davis worked 6 innings surrendering 4 hits and 1 run. He also struck out 11 while only walking 1. We just get downright giddy every time we read his boxscore.

Monday Morning Hangover: Devil Rays Weekend In Review

After the Delmon Young incident and a mini-vacation, we will attempt to return to some sort of normalcy today…we will start with a quick review of this past weekend. Apparently there was other stuff going on in the world of sports besides the NFL draft. Personally we started getting nauseous about a week ago, every time somebody mentioned the NFL draft. We here at Rays Index, are Bucs season ticket holders and we love them dearly, but someone explain to me why everyone gets so worked up and suddenly have strong opinions on players they have NEVER seen play a single down. For the record, one quick review of all the “Mock Drafts” out there, showed that THEY AVERAGED 2.6 PICKS CORRECT OUT OF 32!!! We must have seen 30 mock drafts that had 28 different players going to the Bucs and NONE OF THEM picked the right player. I think only one had they correct position! Let’s hope others pick up on this and the NFL draft is reeled in a bit next year.

Friday
D-Rays 5, Boston 2. Tyler Walker arrived at the Trop just before game time and 3 hours later, Joe Maddon, handed him the ball to close out the 5-2 victory over the Boston Red Sox.
And just like that the Rays’ bullpen seemed to be taking shape. Bullpen-By-Committees rarely work in the major leagues (ie. 2003 Boston Red Sox). If Walker can show that he can be an effective closer, the rest of the bullpen will be slotted more appropriately and effectively, with Dan Micelli working the 8th inning and Chad Orvella and Shawn Camp bridging the gap between the starters and Micelli. Casey Fossum (1-1) pitched effectively, going 6 and giving up 3 hits and no runs, to earn his first win. However, he is still walking too many batter (5).

Saturday
Boston 9, D-Rays 6. And just like that the bullpen blows a lead and we all realize that there must have been a good reason that the first-place San Francisco Giants gave up on their set-up man. Walker came into the 9th with the Rays leading 6-5. He face 6 batters, retiring only one and giving up 2 hits and 3 walks, ultimately responsible walking in the tying run and surrendering the go-ahead run on a base hit. In all, 4 of the 6 batters he faced would score. Jonny Gomes continues to swing a hot bat with his 11th home run of the season. Toby Hall hit his second and looks like he may be finally maturing into a significant hitter as his batting average now sits at .364. Greg Norton, who was recently recalled from Durham and who has played parts of 10 different season in the major, hit his first home run for the Rays as he filled in at 1B. Norton is trying to show that his outstanding spring training, in which he led the team in hitting, was no fluke. Doug Waechter continues to struggle with his command. He did work into the 6th and gave up only 3 hits and 3 runs, but he walked 4 in 5.1 innings.

Sunday
D-rays 5, Boston 4. Watching this team’s bullpen is a testament in patience. They tried hard yesterday to blow it again. Scott Kazmir was outstanding once again, going 7 innings and giving up 5 hits and 2 runs (1 earned). His most impressive stat was 10:1. That was the ratio of strikeouts to walks. If a pitcher can do that consistently in the major leagues they will win a lot of ballgames. Then again, that assumes the bullpen doesn’t cough up a lung on the mound. Orvella, who looked solid in the 8th inning gave up back-to-back home runs to lead off the 9th to allow the Red Sox to pull within one run. Walker then relieved and walked the first and only batter he faced before giving way to Camp. Camp was able to stop the bleeding and retire the two batters he faced for his 3rd save. Hall and Carl Crawford each had two-run hoe runs for Tampa.

Devil Rays Trade For Tyler Walker

Today the Devil Rays showed that this is a new era. Tampa sent minor leaguer Carlos Hines to San Francisco for relief pitcher Tyler Walker. Last year, Walker saved 23 games for the Giants after Armando Benitez went down with an injury. Walker is a 29 year old right hander that was originally drafted by the New York Mets in the 2nd round of the 1997 draft. He was used as a starting pitcher in the minor leagues but has been used strictly out of the bullpen since he has been in the majors. He could very well assume closer duties for this D-Ray team, which would push Dan Miceli down to the 8th inning as the set-up man, which he is better suited for. Carlos Hines had made 8 relief appearances for the AAA Durham Bulls. The trade is a good one for the team. In essence management is saying they want to win games now, and realized the bullpen needed help in order for that to happen.

Giants deal reliever Walker to Tampa Bay [Yahoo! sports]

Tell Us Something We Didn’t Know

Who are we to knock somebody while they’re down? Well…when it comes to Julian “I Am Cray-Z” Tavarez, we can’t help ourselves. We are still giggling every time we see the highlight of Jonny Gomes hitting a Tavarez pitch into the stratosphere. We only wish there was a camera on Joey Gathright in the dugout, so that we could see the smile on his face. Well, now comes word that…surprise, surprise…Tavarez was named one of the Top 100 Unsexiest Men in the World. In fact, Tavarez comes in as the 33rd unsexiest man in the WHOLE WORLD. Take a bow Julian, you earned it! “I would like to thank my parents, for being so ugly, so that I would never have to struggle to be unsexy.” Tavarez is actually considered unsexier than the likes of Willie McGee (35), Rush Limbaugh (42), Lyle Lovett (49), Drew Carey (54), and Newt Gingrich (55). Of course, not to be outdone, D-Rays ‘advisor’ Don Zimmer makes the list at #29. Of course, that doesn’t seem fair. We all hope we look that sexy when we are 627 years old. Then again, Zim hasn’t changed much in the last 30 years.

The 100 Unsexiest Men In The World [The Phoenix]

Last Night In The AL East

D-Rays 4, New York 2, 10 innings. Carl Crawford returned to the team in a big way last night. Crawford drove in the go-ahead run off of Mariano Rivera with a double in the tenth inning. The win ended the Rays 4 game winning streak. Tampa did everything they could to give the game away as Devil Rays pitchers walked 14. The Yankees weren’t very appreciative as they mangaed to strand 16 baserunners. In fact New York had the leadoff batter reach base each of the first five innings, but only managed to bring one of those home off of Gary Sheffield’s two-run home run in the 5th. The two teams will battle in the rubber match as Mark Hendrickson returns to the rotation for the first time since his 3-hit shutout the first week of the season.

Cleveland 7, Boston 1. Tim Wakefield got shelled as he gave up 5 runs in 5.2 innings dropping his record to 1-4. Boston’s only offense came from Willy Mo Pena’s solo home run.

Toronto 8, Baltimore 2. Toronto continues to hit the bejeezus out of the ball as they pull within one game of division-leading Boston. The Jays got 3 hits from 3 different players, including Vernon Wells who hit 2 home runs and drove in 3. The Orioles have lost 4 straight.

A Look At The Future…Yesterday On The Farm

Durham 6, Pawtucket 2. Hidden by the comotion surrounding the Delmon Young “incident“, was a strong performance by Elijah Dukes. Dukes was 2-3 and hit 2 home runs, his 3rd and 4th of the season. He now has 5 hits in his last two games and appears to have emerged from his early season slump. B. J. Upton was also 2-3 with a run scored and an RBI.

Montgomery 8, Birmingham 3. A big game from 2B Elliot Johnson. He was 3-5 with 2 doubles, his 4th home run of the season and 6 RBI. CF Jason Pridie was 1-3 and is hitting .262.

Lancaster 10, Visalia 6. SS Reid Brignac was 0-4 with a walk and run scored. More importantly, he did not commit an error. He is now hitting .368.

Burlington 8, SW Michigan 1. Nothing good to report here. We just can;t get into this today. Can’t get over the Galactically Stupid Delmon Young.

The Curse of LaMar-Naimoli, cont’d…Again

The D-Rays placed 2B Jorge Cantu on the 15-day DL today. For those of you that have been following Jorge’s blog on mlb.com this is not a surprise as Cantu mentioned in his most recent post that the foot was not getting any better. Now comes news that he has a broken bone on the top of his foot. Once again, we must state very emphatically to the Devil Rays front office…DO NOT, under any circumstances call up Delmon Young or B. J. Upton until this curse is lifted. In the meantime maybe the team should try cutting off the head of a live chicken or even an injured chicken to remove the curse. Quite frankly we are getting tired of reporting all the bad news and injuries. One way or another, we promise to have so good news tomorrow, even if it means we have to sucker punch Julian Tavarez.

Cantu placed on disabled list with broken bone in foot [Yahoo! Sports]
An injury update [Jorge Cantu’s World]

A Look At The Future…Yesterday On The Farm

Durham 4, Pawtucket 0. Another strong start for Chris Seddon. Seddon went 6 giving up 4 hits, 1 walk and allowing no runs and striking out 3. He improves to 3-0 on the season and lowered his ERA to 1.17. Elijah Dukes had his best day of the young season going 3-4 with 2 runs scored and an RBI. He is now batting .288. Delmon Young had a double and went 1-5. B. J. Upton was 0-3 with 2 walks and had his 9th error of the season. The throwing error, ended his streak of 4 straight errorless games. Upton’s streak was just 106 games short of the Major League record of 110 consecutive errorless games by a shortstop, set by Mike Bordick in 2002.

Mississippi 9, Montgomery 6. C Ryan Christianson hit a pair of home runs and drove in 4 for the Biscuits who dropped the final game of this 5-game series. Marcos Carvajal, who came over in a trade earlier this season from Seattle pitched a scoreless 9th. Carvajal, a former rule-5 pick of the Rockies is a typical strong -armed minor league pitcher. In 9.2 innings this season he has surrendered only 1 earned run, but has control problems. Despite being able to hit the upper 90s with his fastball, he has surrendered 8 hits and 8 walks to go along with his 8 strikeouts.

Visalia 12, Lancaster 11. SS Reid Brignac, The Cajun God of Baseball (we aren’t making this up), picked up the winning RBI single in the 9th. Brignac went 3-6 with 3 RBI to raise his average to .389. He was one of 6 players with at least 2 hits, including LF Patrick Breen who picked up his 5th home run. Brignac did commit his 8th error of the season. The error ended his 4-day errorless streak. Of course, one of those days Brignac only pinch-hit and the other was an off-day for the team. Our research staff is still trying to confirm reports that Brignac let a quarter pounder go through his legs at McDonalds on their off-day.

Burlington 2, SW Michigan 0, 10 innings. Fitting in with the rest of the shortstops in the organization, Neil Walton committed 2 errors including one that led to two unearned runs in the top of the 10th. The loss wasted a strong outing by Gregory Reinhard, who went 5 and gave up no runs on 2 hits and 1 walk.

Hendrickson And Baldelli Sightings

Mark Hendrickson, may finally be ready to return. Hendrickson pitched a bullpen session on Monday in Tampa and did not feel and lingering soreness. He is scheduled to pitch Thursday in the series finale in New York. To make room, Edwin Jackson was sent back to Durham. This a bit disappointing as Seth McClung and Doug Waechter remain in the D-Rays rotation…or as we like to call it, “Kazmir, Hendrickson and pray for a power outage at the Trop.” Hopefully Jackson will use this as a bit of fuel to his fire and be back in the rotation sooner, rather than later.

In other injury-related news, Rocco Baldelli played in his first extended spring training game. He is scheduled to begin a rehab assignment with AA Montgomery next week and could return May 5 when the Rays begin a road trip in Oakland.

Also, Lugo?…Lugo?…..Lugo?…..Julio Lugo is not even on the radar as far as returning from his injury.

Jackson sent back to Durham [Tampa Tribune]