Well Ray fans my prediction of a turnaround could not have been any further from the result.  The Rays have been playing some bad baseball as of late but in game 3 against the Twins they were unrecognizable as the reigning American League Champions.  I sat and watched in disbelief as the Rays handed game 3 to the Twins by failing to execute in all facets of the game.  To add insult to injury our hot bat, Jason Bartlett, may be out of the lineup due to a hammy injury.  Although JB says the hammy is fine and coming out of the game was precautionary, doesn’t take much to end up on the DL with a hamstring.

So, where to begin?  Let’s start at the beginning, inning #1.  SP Scott Kazmir strode to the mound with the hope of stopping this series losing skid.  Well, that thought went out the door quickly when it became evident he had little to no control over any pitch he threw.  Kaz loaded the bases with 0 outs and it just went downhill from there.  A couple of wild pitches, a couple of bloop hits and the Twins were up 4-0 at the end of the first.  They never looked back.  Kaz’s line was 4 innings, 9 hits, 6 ER (8 total), 4 BB and 2 wild pitches.  The only saving grace in this pitching performance was from Lance Cormier who pitched the final 4 innings giving up only 3 hits and 0 runs.  

The defense was pathetic at best.  Dioner Navarro allowed a passed ball that scored a run due to his lack of hustle to get it. Akinori Iwamura was charged with 2 errors in the same play.  One of the bloop hits charged to Kazmir in the first inning was a ball that should have been caught by Ben Zobrist charging in from right field.  Due to his lack of experience he did not take charge of the situation and the ball fell between him, Aki and Pena for a run scoring single. 

The offense actually produced hits (10) and walks (3) while cutting down the strike out total (4).  BUT they managed to go 1 for 12 with RISP stranding 10 runners total. 

This effort from the Rays was amateur at best.  They looked sluggish and unfocused.  They lacked any resemblance to the team of 2008 – you know, they team that was supposed to be the worst team we’d see for the next 5 years.  Here’s the problem as I see it – there are no leaders in the clubhouse.  This is the time we are dearly missing guys like Hinske and Floyd.  They need someone to take charge of this turnaround and make it happen.  There is no BIG personality on the coaching staff or within the ranks to light this team up.  They have no fire and appear to have no desire to this point in the season.  Personally, as a fan, this is a HUGE disappointment to me.  To see them open the 2009 season taking the series from Boston in Fenway pumped me up for an exciting 2009.  Now, to see them drop 6 straight series since and in the fashion they have makes me wonder “what the HE!!”…….

It’s easy to be a fan, be a player, be a manager, be a coach when all is going well as it did in 2008.  Now is the time when we’ll get a true gauge of how committed any of us are to this team.  The tough times will bring out the true fans, team leaders and ask that laid back coaches step up and do what is necessary to win.  I for one will not give up on the talent that exists on this team.  It’s time now for the cream to rise.

I don’t know if you’ve noticed the trend the Rays have established so far — win the first game of the series in convincing fashion then put the bats away for games 2 & 3.  Although the Rays did manage to bang out 9 hits in Tuesday’s loss we went 2 for 11 with RISP.  So a bunch of singles scattered through out 9 innings really doesn’t mean all that much if you cannot get the hits when you have the opportunities to score the runs. 

James Shields pitched effectively for 6.2 innings giving up 3 ER, 7 hits, 4 BB and 4 K’s.  Shieldsy was not on top of his game by any means but he managed to wriggle out of a few tight spots.  To be honest I think that’s a true measure of a pitcher, the ability to work out of a tight spot.  JP Howell ended up getting tagged for the loss after pitching 2/3 of an inning and allowing the winning run to score. 

As stated earlier in this blog the Rays banged out 9 hits 4 of which were for extra bases.  The big fly came off the PH HR of Ben Zobrist’s bat in the top of the 9^th to tie the score.  Zobi has been showing a lot of the bench and making the most of his opportunities, like to see the guy get more reps as the RF.   

The Rays were aggressive on the base paths stealing 3 bags (Upton 2 & CC 1) but Carlos Pena was picked off first base for the 2^nd time this season.  What is going on with this getting picked off bags???  These little things will come back to haunt a team if we don’t clean this up. 

The Rays close the series with the Twinkies on Tuesday and head back to The Trop.  I’m sure we’ll see a much better offensive effort tonight and a series victory!

The Tampa Bay Rays opened the first of a 3 game set with the Minnesota Twins with a 7-1 victory.  SP Jeff Niemann went 5.2 innings scattering 3 hits, 1 ER, 4 BB and 4 K’s.  Jeff looked good at times and struggled at times (hence the 4 free passes).  He worked himself into a few dangerous situations but he maintained his composure and made the pitches when he needed them.  Another solid performance from a cast of many in the BP for 3.1 innings gives hope that maybe they’ve worked out some of their early season issues.  Joe Nelson has been a workhorse out of the pen putting up solid numbers (current ERA 3.00) and looking better each performance. 

The offense had a few stars that carried this team on its’ shoulders.  Carlos Pena belted his 8^th HR while Jason Bartlett tripled his HR production of a year ago by knocking out HR #3.  Pena was the offensive star collecting 3 RBI’s, scoring twice and lofting a 3B to add to his HR.

As I said the offense had a few stars but there are also a few that are still a concern.  Pat Burrell, BJ Upton, and Dioner Navarro have not played even close to expectations.  Yes, I know it’s early yet but with each unproductive out passes a missed opportunity we cannot get back.  BJ was moved to #1 because he gets on base a lot – his current OBP is only .288.  Pat was brought on board to knock some guys in – he currently has only 8 RBIs.  Navi – well, Navi looks like the Navi of 2007 not 2008.  His catching has been suspect – a lot of PB and he’s looking lazy behind the plate. 

I hope as much as the next Ray fan that this victory is the one that starts the proverbial turn around.  Being that we are exactly where we were at the same point last year that is a strong possibility.  But as a realist I know that we cannot rely on 1 or 2 guys to carry this team into the post season.  The rest of these guys need to get it together and start contributing. 

Here’s to a winning streak of our own – Go Rays!  

The Rays essentially replayed yesterday’s defeat at the hands of the Oakland A’s by losing with both bad pitching and poor offense today 7-1.  SP Andy Sonnanstine struggled through 4 innings allowing 10 hits and 7 ER to skyrocket his ERA to 7.78.  Lance Cormier came in to mop up the long relief and did a nice job for 3 solid innings giving up 0 hits and 0 runs.  Dan Wheeler echoed Cormier’s effort in the 8^th by allowing 0 hits and 0 runs.    

The offense was pitiful, hate to say that but you saw the same thing I did.  The Rays manufactured 1 run early and that was all the noise they made.  Any hint of a rally was quickly put to rest by a double play or some sort of easy out.  Carl Crawford was the only Ray to manage any sort of offense going 2 for 4.  CC accounted for half of the offensive effort in this game as the Rays managed only 4 total hits.  BJ Upton, Evan Longoria and Pat Burrell were all ‘0’fer at the plate with Longo and Burrell eeking out a free pass a piece.  

After watching today’s game I am a bit concerned.  We have won only 1 series to this point and are falling far behind the AL East leaders.  Granted yes, it’s early BUT to this point I have not seen anything to indicate the Rays are improving.  Shortly the first month of the season will be behind us and by all indicators we will be sitting in the cellar.  The way the Rays are playing right now realistically they don’t stand a chance once Boston rides into The Trop for next weekend’s match up. 

The Rays will head to Minnesota for their last regular season series in the dome.  I will be looking for changes in the way the offense is working the count and their situational hitting.  

Come on Rays …let’s right this sinking ship!

The Rays were outmatched on all sides of the ball Saturday afternoon in Oakland.  They were out pitched and out hit.  The only thing that remains consistent in the Rays game to game approach is inconsistency. 

Matt Garza struggled through 5.2 innings giving up 4 hits and 4 BB which led to 4 ER.  Matt struck out 6 but showed little consistency with his pitches through out this losing effort.  The bullpen did well with 3 pitchers combining for 2.1 innings 2 hits and 1 ER. 

The offense, oh the offense…..  This was a bit painful to watch as the Rays had bases loaded several times during this game and were unable to score.  The Rays stranded 8 on base while giving away 6 K’s to A’s pitching.   

This is a very short blog for me BUT just review what’s been written to this point in the young season.  The Rays have shown that they are going to play really well and crush a team or really bad and lose.  There doesn’t seem to be any midpoint.  This is what we’ve been missing to this point, that midpoint where the game could swing either and the burning desire to win those games.  There doesn’t seem to be any fire in this team….maybe they are satisfied for having gone to the World Series last year, breaking the Ray version of their own “curse”.   

Be nice to see the Rays look like they have a purpose on the field today and take this series from Oakland.  It would be only the second series victory this season and far overdue.  Here’s my shout out to the Rays and today’s SP Andy Sonnanstine!

The Tampa Bay Rays pulled into Oakland and broke out the big bats.  Behind a nice starting job by Scott Kazmir the Rays mashed on the Oakland starter. 

Kaz pitched a very nice 6 innings scattering only 2 hits and 3 BB while striking out 2.  Kaz had a few rough spots allowing the 3 BB but seemed to gather his composure and push through it to earn his 3^rd victory of this season.  Kaz looks much better this young season than he did at any point last season.  When Kaz does struggle with his release point he seems to now have the ability to step out of the moment and review the fix in his head then apply it. Nice job Kaz 

The offense led by Carlos Pena opened up early and often.  Pena belted 2 HR and knocked in 4 RBIs and scored 2 runs.  Gabe Gross added a HR and a 2B of his own.  Gabe also showed a nice arm throwing out Sweeney trying to score from 3^rd on a pop fly to RF.  The Rays belted out 13 total hits, 7 of which were for extra bases.  Jason Bartlett continues his hot hitting by going 4 for 5.  

I still think the lineup should be reconsidered, at least until BJ Upton gets into a groove.  Right now BJ is hitting only .189 with and went 0 for 4 in the game although he did walk twice.  JB is hitting a solid .390 and all pertinent offensive numbers are significantly higher than BJ’s.

Nice rebound game but I’ll be looking at Saturday’s game.  Here’s the issue I have…the Rays have shown they can have a great game like this from time to time but have not shown any consistency to this point in the young season.  So, we’ll watch with anticipation as the Rays try to go on a winning streak of their own starting with securing the series in Oakland early.    

James Shields pitched a brilliant game only to have it wasted by a lack of offensive production.  The only mark against Shields happened on his second pitch of the game.  He hung it in the zone to Ichiro and he deposited it into the RF seats to account for the only scoring of the game.  Shieldsy looked awesome for 7.1 innings scattering only 4 hits and allowing 1 ER, 1 BB while netting 4 K’s. 

The shame is the offense for the Rays did not show up.  The Rays had people on base through with a combination of 4 hits and 4 BB.  They stranded 7 and were 0 for 7 with runners in scoring position. 

The Rays big offensive problem to this point in the season appears to be pitch selection and a lack of patience at the dish.  A lot of these guys are hacking away at the first pitch they see putting themselves down in the count.  I think this is evidenced by the K/BB comparison that, in last night’s game, was 10 K to 4 BB.

I am a bit perplexed why Joe Maddon did not pinch hit for Dioner Navarro in the 9^th inning with the tying run on 2^nd base.  Look, Navi has been struggling mightily at the plate.  I would have liked to see Willy Aybar grab some lumber at that point.  Willy is a switch hitter and sees a lot of pitches at the dish.  Just a thought…..

Look I know “King Felix” is a pretty good pitcher and I also am aware of the sun/shadow issue BUT this is not the first game the offense has performed this poorly.  These guys need to start showing some consistency in their performance soon as we cannot afford to get too far behind in the very tough AL East.  Currently we have lost 4 out of 5 series played! We already have a tough mountain to climb just being in this division.  Sitting in the cellar for a month or 2 will make it virtually impossible to find a spot in October.

Now that’s more like it!  The Rays offense exploded behind an outstanding SP performance from Jeff Niemann and an equally impressive showing from the BP!

Jeff Niemann earned his first ‘W’ of the young season with an outstanding performance.  Niemann went 5.1 innings allowing 3 hits 2 ER, 2 BB and 3 K’s.  Jeff had a no-no through 4 innings.  I think Jeff really showed his promise today on that mound.  The bullpen followed with 3.2 innings of scoreless baseball allowing only 1 hit, 1 BB and 4 K’s.  JP Howell, Dan Wheeler and Lance Cormier capped an outstanding overall showing on the bump! 

The offense busted out of its’ 3 game slump by knocking out 15 hits, 4 for extra bases.  Pena, Longoria, Upton and Iwamura all banged out doubles.  The big bat of the day came from Carl Crawford who went 4-5 scoring 3 runs and knocking in 1.  Evan Longoria continued to knock in the runs accumulating 3 RBIs and scoring once.  When the Rays were on they applied the pressure of the running game by swiping 3 free bags and only being caught once!  The Rays also showed their improved decision making at the dish by graciously accepting 8 free passes and only giving away 5 outs via the K. 

The defensive alignment was, in my humble opinion, the best we can put out there.  Ben Zobrist is our best RF option, especially on the offensive side of the ball.  He needs to stay there and as a switch hitter there is no reason he cannot.  With the recent offensive burst shown by Kapler I think Gross is the odd man out in this scenario.  Leave Ben out there, bring up a AAA utility player to backup Bartlett and release Gross to make the room. 

Nice recovery Rays!  James Shields returns to the mound to attempt to improve on his first 3 performances…..Here’s a shout out to Shieldsy!

Ok gang…here’s the skinny on this game.  If you cannot hit you cannot win — period.  Andy Sonnanstine pitched his best game of this young season and still had to suffer the loss on his record.  He went 6 strong scattering 6 hits, 3 ER, 7 K’s and only allowing 1 free pass.  Sonny had trouble in his first 2 starts hitting his location and walking far too many batters.  He cleaned this up in this game and looked like the Sonny of last year.

The offense started out with a bang by scoring 2 runs in the first inning.  It was downhill from there as they were then silenced.  Check out the offensive numbers 

1 for 9 RISP

10 K’s

Only 4 BB

6 Hits

8 LOB

There aren’t too many teams in MLB that will win with numbers that look like that! I cannot say this enough – the Rays MUST improve their decision making at the plate and stop expanding the zone!  Carl Crawford has looked sick hitting (or trying to hit) in the #2 hole.  He has displayed absolutely zero plate discipline to this point in the season.  I’m thinking maybe time to look at placing JB in the #1 hole and moving BJ to #2 while sliding CC to #5.  Here are the numbers to back this up 

Jason Bartlett -   OBP – .451; BB – 4; K – 6

BJ Upton – OBP – .379; BB – 6; K – 9

Carl Crawford – OBP – .246; BB -1; K – 15

Seems like a fairly easy decision to me… 

Look I’m not here to slam our skipper Joe Maddon either.  However I will state my opinion in that this spray chart shift thingy does not seem to be working.  The outfield is playing far too shallow!  I’m fairly certain that at least one of those triples would have been outs had Kapler been playing his normal position thus saving a run.  I understand the theory Joe and his coaching staff have been working with but this experiment needs some rethinking ASAP!

Wednesday evening the Rays Send Jeff Niemann to the mound to start a Rays winning streak!  

Look, I could write out what happened versus the White Sox in black and white for you but I know you’re not stupid.  You saw the games and the results.  So, I’d rather discuss the problems and the fact that we should not push the panic button so soon.

 The results of this past weekend are indicative of the Rays early season struggles. These were not games that consisted of the opposing pitcher being on top of their game. This was the Rays offense expanding the zone, swinging at first pitches rather than working the count, not being able to move runners when the opportunity presented itself and just plain old bad decision making. Here are the stats to prove my point: 

In the White Sox series alone the Rays were ONLY 6 for 38 with RISP and stranded 30 on base!  The Rays accumulated 30 hits in the 4 games and only managed to score 13 total runs.  To this point in the season the Rays are almost doubling their strike to walks ratio at 109 K’s to 61 BB.  We currently have 7 major players batting less than .250 in a line up that was supposed to be improved.

This only illustrates the offensive issues so let’s look at the pitching.  Our “big 5” are not producing in the way they did last year.  The starting rotation is now sporting an average ERA of 5.49.  The bullpen has an averaged ERA of 6.23.  The entire pitching staff has allowed 45 ER in 13 games to this point. 

So gang to this point in the young 2009 season – we stink!  But, here’s the rub — we were in the same position at this time last year!   

Look this team has far too much talent to continue to perform in the manner they have.  I really believe getting away from The Trop and “championship week” couldn’t come at a better time.  Let’s face it weeks like that are more for the fans that the players.  It takes a lot of emotion to get through that.  

I do however have a few suggestions I’d like to throw out there:

1.  Zobrist needs to be the regular RF period.  I said this on the Rays message board last week.  He has a ton more talent than the “Gabes”.  Given the opportunities he has proven himself.

2.  Find out what is going on with Longo – he has not been the same since his return to the team.  Everyone knows how difficult it can be to have a family member pass and if he’s not ready send him home for a bit and insert Aybar.  Longo looks distracted and unfocused.

3.  GET A CLOSER!   

The Rays will rebound so don’t push the panic button yet Rays Republic!  See you in Seattle!