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Archive for the 'Rays' Category

Moore Shuts Down O’s to Remain Undefeated

Sunday, May 19th, 2013

Matt Moore improved his record to 8-0, working seven innings of five hit one run ball in the Rays 3-1 win over the Orioles. Moore only struck out three, but he improved his ERA to 2.29. The Rays completed their sweep of the O’s while the O’s extended their losing streak to five games with the Yankees coming to Camden for their next series.

Both Moore and Chris Tillman were sharp to begin the game. The first hit off the two pitchers didn’t occur until the top of the third. Yunel Escobar drew a two out walk to become the first base runner of the game. Desmond Jennings followed stroking a double down the left field line to score Escobar and give the Rays a 1-0 lead.

The Orioles had an opportunity to score in the third when Danny Valencia got his first major league at bat of the 2013 season, driving a double into the right centerfield gap to give himself a 1.000 batting average. Yamiaco Navarro advanced him to third with a bunt. Chris Snyder could not bring him home, grounding a ball to short. Nick Markakis ended the inning with a ground out to second.

The Orioles did take advantage of an outfield miscue in the fourth to score their only run. Manny Machado led the inning off with a drive to the gap in right center. Both Matt Joyce and Desmond Jennings converged on the ball. They both stopped to avoid a collision and the ball split between them, Machado advancing to third with a triple. Adam Jones drove him in with a single over the glove of the shortstop to tie the game.

After Chris Davis struck out, Adam Jones stole back to back bases to find himself standing on third with one out. Steve Pearce hit a fly ball to shallow left field, not deep enough to score Jones. J.J. Hardy flew out to center to leave Jones stranded at third, the second runner in two innings stranded on third with less than two out.

The Rays came right back when ex-O Luke Scott drove a 1-1 pitch to lead off the fifth into the right centerfield bleachers to give the Rays a 2-1 lead. Matt Joyce blasted a pitch down the right field line that was originally ruled fair with Joyce legging it out for a double. Buck Showalter came out to argue that the ball was foul. Joe Madden came out to argue the hit was not only fair, but it should have been ruled a homerun.

The umpires conferred for five minutes. Then the umpires broke out in groups of two, the first group talking to Buck and the second group talking to Joe. After a lengthy consultation with the two the crowd began booing. The umpires broke apart again and agreed to go into the booth to look at the hit, something they should have done originally. When they came out the hit was ruled a homerun, something Buck wasn’t even thinking about when he first came out to argue it was foul.

Tillman was through after six and T.J. McFarland came out and gave the Orioles two innings plus one out of relief to save their bullpen. He was relieved by Pedro Strop in the ninth after putting two runners on with one out. Strop walked a batter with two outs to load the bases but got Desmond Jennings to ground to short to end the threat.

Joel Peralta and Fernando Rodney kept the Oriole bats quiet for the last two innings, each pitcher retiring the O’s in order. Chris Davis did lead off the ninth with a deep drive to center where Desmond Jennings caught the ball with his glove above the wall.

Game Notes: Matt Moore made a nice athletic leap in the first inning to snag a ground ball from Nick Markakis to lead off the first inning. He also allowed a pop up bunt from Manny Machado to hit the ground when he saw Manny was not running. He threw to second to get the lead runner, but the relay to first was just shy of beating Manny to the bag…James Loney entered the game hitting .359. He is usually hitting below .250. It is still early in the season, but myworld wonders what he is eating breakfast to hit the way he has…The Orioles scored a run without benefit of a homerun. It is only the second time this season this has happened in Moore’s nine starts. All the other runs Moore has given up has been the result of seven homeruns.

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Brown Leads Phillies in Slaughter of Rays

Tuesday, March 26th, 2013

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The Rays did not have much of a team show up at Clearwater today and it showed in their 10-1 loss. Dominic Brown had two doubles and a single and Kevin Fransden and Freddy Galvis each drove in three runs to lead the offense. The Phillies started Raul Valdes to start the first three innings and then used six different relievers to tame an anorexic Ray offense. The only starter who showed up for the game for the Rays was Sean Rodriguez and he was playing out of position in centerfield.

Roberto Hernandez, ex- Fausto Carmona got the start for the Rays. He looked good for the first four innings facing the minimum 12 hitters. In the fifth and sixth the Phillies figured him out assaulting him for nine runs on nine hits. The Rays did a horrible job with the cutoff throw on back to back singles into center with Sean Rodriguez making the throws home from center and Shelly Duncan not cutting the ball off allowing both runners to advance to second. Dominic Brown got two doubles in the two innings, Ryan Howard got two opposite field singles and Freddy Galvis bashed a 2-run homer and RBI single.

Tampa Bay scored their only run in the second on a Sean Rodriguez double that scored Jason Bourgeois from first. It did appear the throw beat the runner home and the tag made on top of the head was made before the runner reached home. The run gave the Rays a brief 1-0 lead, but that didn’t last.

Game Notes: Interesting to see guys with signs proclaiming ”I need tickets” with a bunch of tickets spread out like a 12 card poker hand in their free hand. These are not the guys I want to sell my extra tickets to. I’ll eat my tickets before selling to them…A Philly fan was wearing a jersey with the name “Yankees Suck” and a uniform number of “24/7″. Myworld has to give him points for creativity…Myworld was called a Romeo today. It was later clarified to mean “Retired old man eating oatmeal.”…The Rays seem to draw well in exhibition games. The attendance was over 10,000. Every game myworld has been to in which the Rays was a visiting team was virtually a sellout with lots of Rays fans…Dominic Brown may not drive in a lot of runs with Ryan Howard hitting ahead of him in the lineup. Howard at this point in his career is a station to station runner. He was only able to get a single on a ball he bounced along the left field line and couldn’t score on two Brown doubles into the gap. Most normal players would have scored on those two hits…Shelly Duncan played a poor defense at first base. He should have attempted to throw Howard out at home on a ground ball. Instead he went to tag the runner sliding into first and barely tagged him, when stepping on the bag would have been the safer out. He also messed up a 3-1 play, rushing his throw and tossing it in the dugout. His cutoff work was a bit shaky, but that could have been the fault of catcher Jose Lobaton for not yelling at him to cut it.

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Scott Slam Leads Rays Over Tigers

Tuesday, March 19th, 2013

Luke Scott blasted a grand slam homerun over the Tigers right field scoreboard to lead the Rays to an 11-5 exhibition victory over the Tigers. The grand slam broke a 3-3 tie and allowed the Rays to run away with the game. Tigers pitcher Doug Fister gave up the slam and lasted less than four innings, giving up seven runs. He retired the side in order in the first inning but gave up seven hits and three walks in less than three innings.

The Tigers had what appeared to be their 2013 starting lineup on the field. Torii Hunter legged out a triple in the first inning and scored after a Miguel Cabrera single. Cabrera made a heads up play when Prince grounded to short and Ben Zobrist chose to get the out at first. The Rays were playing the shift and Cabrera hustled to third when he saw no one covering the base. Jeremy Hellickson tried to hustle to the bag ahead of Cabrera but lost the race. Miguel scored on a single by Victor Martinez giving the Tigers a quick 2-0 lead at the end of one.

Jeremy Hellickson settled down after the first inning, but still gave up one run in the second. Johnny Peralta was credited with a hit after Ryan Roberts played the ball poorly. Austin Jackson blasted one over Desmond Jennings head for a triple to score Peralta to give the Tigers a 3-1 lead. Hellickson shut the offense down the next four innings to allow the Rays offense to explode.

The Rays separated themselves from the Tigers in the sixth, bouncing a couple balls past Prince Fielder for singles, the second hit by Leslie Anderson scoring one. A safety squeeze by Sean Rodriguez scored another and a 2-run bomb by Shelly Duncan increased the Rays lead to 11-3.

The Tigers got a 2-run homerun from Devon Travis in the eighth to make it 11-5, but that was the extent of their offense in the last seven innings.

Game Notes: Prince Fielder had a poor defensive showing, making an error to allow a number of unearned runs to score in the fourth, and playing one ball poorly that was ruled a hit…The game did not get off to a good start when the young girl they asked to shout “Play Ball” to start the game, refused to cooperate. Her mother had to pick her up and hold her to keep her near the microphone. When she was asked to speak into the microphone she only hit it to bat it away…The Lakeland Tigers are the defending Florida State League champions and no team comes close to the Tigers seventy seven years with Lakeland, the longest affiliation by a team for a spring training site…Jack Cust was at DH and Luke Scott in right field. Myworld does not see that happening when the season starts…Leslie Anderson is having a nice spring. He singled and got on base via an error in two late game at bats. The problem for Anderson is he has the same skills as Scott but with less power. He is a better defensive outfielder, but not good enough that Maddon wants to put him out there on a regular basis. He could win the starting first base job, with a better offensive game than James Loney…Chris Gimenez strayed too far off first base on a single. When the ball was cutoff he was dead meat at first base. Instead of a first and third with one out situation where a fly ball would score a run the Rays had a man on third with two out…Myworld has noticed a number of balk calls this spring…Myworld has also attended a number of games in which the winning team scores in double figures. The last three games we have watched the winning team score in double figures for seven of the last 11 games. One of those four games in which double figures was not reached the winning team scored nine runs…The Tigers have a 50/50 lottery ticket drawing. This year’s winner took home over $3,000. They do not read the winning numbers until the top of the ninth inning. That will keep people in the ball park to watch an 11-5 game…Andy Dirks injured his leg crashing into the wall. He is day to day…Mike Fontenot showed no arm to really play shortstop, or at least make a throw from the hole…At 6′7″ Steven Moya is one big dude. He hit the first pitch, a hard bouncer to first base so myworld didn’t see much of him. A man that big has a large strike zone…Devon Travis showed one of the fastest homerun trots of the spring. He had three homeruns in 2012 and was a 13th round pick in the 2012 draft.

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Pirates Boot Their Way to Spring Loss

Thursday, February 28th, 2013

The Pittsburgh Pirates have had a losing record for 20 straight seasons. After watching the second inning myworld could understand why. Brad Hawpe made an error in right field, allowing runners to advance an extra base on him when he allowed a single to skip past him ten yards. Pedro Alvarez couldn’t handle a pop up, having the ball clank off his glove and roll towards the first base dugout. Instead of chasing it Pedro sulked and Sean Rodriguez raced all the way to third on an infield pop up three base error. A wild pitch by A.J. Burnett allowed the fourth run of the inning to score, allowing Tampa to take a commanding 8-2 win over the Pirates.

Pittsburg never got close, with Luke Scott rammed a double over the head of centerfielder Andrew McCutcheon as the ball one hopped the wall, allowing Matt Joyce to score from first. In the fifth Desmond Jennings was able to draw a walk off Pirate super prospect Gerritt Cole. He stole second and third and scored on a fly out by Yunel Escobar.

In the seventh Tim Beckham crushed one that one hopped the wall, scoring on a ground out. An errant pick off throw by Jason Grilli allowed Rich Thomson to advance to third where he scored on a Hak-ju Lee bloop single.

Pittsburg had two hitters, Brad Hawpe and Alex Presley strike out with a runner on third and less than two out. In the seventh Matt Hague ripped a clutch single to score their first run. In the eighth Jose Tabata hit a checked swing double down the right field line and scored on a Alex Presley single.

Game Notes: Quite a few changes to Bradenton park. They have added a left field bleacher area and a ramp that travels from the left field foul line to the right field foul line. There is a picnic patio area along right field…Lots of sea gulls flying about after the sixth inning, lounging around the grass waiting for the game to end so they can go into the seating area and eat all the left over food…Lots of Baseball America’s were being handed out at the game. When the announcer was reading the pages from the scorecard that had the winning stamp on them to win prizes a woman in front of me was flipping through the page numbers trying to find the stamp to win the prizes. I had to inform her this was a magazine and not a scorecard with the prize stamp…The stadium gets a little chilly in the upper sections with the wind. Myworld would recommend wearing something warm just in case….Jose Tabata had a good game with two doubles in two at bats, though one of the doubles was the result of a check swing…Gerritt Cole pitched two innings and allowed one run on one hit. Myworld did not see much of a curveball from him today…Tim Beckham went 2 for 2 hitting a double and triple. The only downside for him is he fell down rounding third and could not score on a Rich Thomson single. He did score on a ground out to second…Brad Hawpe struck out twice, showed a poor arm from right field and made an error. Not the best of days for him but it is still early in spring.

Posted in Rays, Pirates | No Comments »

2013 Hot Stove - Rays

Saturday, January 19th, 2013

Overall Assessment: The Rays are always considered the underdog. They have a barebones salary structure because every year they are last in attendance despite competing for the playoffs every year the last few years. It is difficult to blame the fans for not coming out since the stadium is located in St. Petersburg and not Tampa and it is not one of the more convenient places to reach. Unfortunately, the Rays have a pretty long lease with the stadium so they will have suck it up. Their biggest resource the last couple years have been marketable pitchers, which they have been able to trade for offense. Matt Garza went to the Cubs in 2011 to get the Rays Brandon Guyer, Chris Archer, Robinson Chirinos, Hak-Ju Lee and Sam Fuld. Two of those players are fourth outfielder types for the Rays currently, but they hope the big payoff is when Archer and Lee are ready in 2014. This year the Rays traded James Shields and Wade Davis to the Royals for superprospect Wil Myers, pitchers Jake Odorizzi and Mike Montgomery and promising thirdbaseman Patrick Leonard. Despite what people think, quality pitching is not a never ending resource.

Hot Stove Season: We’ve already detailed the trade of Shields and Davis for Myers, Odorizzi, Montgomery and Leonard above. Myers should be starting in right field as early as May. Odorizzi and Montgomery are seedlings who the Rays hope will be ready when they are prepared to jettison another veteran pitcher for offensive help. Montgomery used to be the top pitching prospect for the Royals the last couple years but he tanked last year. It will be interesting to see if the Rays can turn him around. They resigned Joel Peralta as a free agent. They don’t play the Nationals this year so Joel’s innings should not be impacted because of pine tar abuse. The concern is his ERA creeped up by almost one run from the previous year. Offensively they made some questionable moves, signing the quiet bat but good glove of James Loney. He is Carlos Pena but without the power. They also traded for Yunel Escobar, who most teams seem to be anxious to trade, but they only gave up Derek Dietrich for his services. Roberto Hernandez should be an interesting signing if he has anything left. For those not familiar with the name, he used to be named Fausto Carmona, but that was an identity he paid a family in the Dominican Republic to use so he could make millions playing major league baseball, his listed age a few years younger than his actual age. If he has anything left he would be depth for the starting rotation.

Strength: Starting pitching is always their strength. Despite the trade of James Shields they have 2012 Cy Young winner David Price as the ace. Jeremy Hellickson and Matt Moore will be one year older and one year better and also one year closer to free agency. Jeff Nieman needs to show he is healthy and Alex Cobb is unproven. It is not as solid as previous years but it has a lot of depth if any of those pitchers fall short with Chris Archer, Jake Odorizzi and Roberto Hernandez. Third base is covered by Evan Longoria. He needs to stay healthy for the entire year for the Rays to have a chance. By midyear the Rays should have Wil Myers to add to the power, giving them a respectable 3-4 in the batting order. They may even go against the grain and put Myers on the 25-man roster when they see he is better than what they have. The AL East is up for grabs and a team can’t afford to be without one of their best players for a month to keep his clock from ticking.

Weakness: Offense stinks. The acquisition of Loney at first and Escobar at short will not help. Desmond Jennings is penned for centerfield, but his arm is best suited for left. Normally fourth outfielder types Sam Fuld and Brandon Guyer will get a lot of playing time until Myers is ready. Tim Beckham or Mike Fontenot could create a shift for Ben Zobrist to move to right field and Matt Joyce to slide to left, or to DH if Myers is up. DH is a big hole and their starting catcher Jose Molina would be a backup on most teams. This offense will not score a lot of runs until Myers is brought up and then it will be adequate. Myworld also does not see Fernando Rodney spinning his magic again, so expect some scrambling in the bullpen.

Top Position Prospect: Wil Myers is one of the top prospects in baseball. The only concern with him is his ability to make contact. He should hit for power and play a decent right field. Do not expect a lot of speed from the ex-catcher. If he doesn’t improve his contact rate he could hit between .250 to .270.

Top Pitching Prospect: Both Jake Odorizzi and Chris Archer have mid-90s fastballs and nasty sliders. Archer seems to generate greater strikeout numbers so we will go with him. Both pitchers need to improve on their command before they can achieve success in the major leagues.

Watch out for: Mike Fontenot is a spring training invitee. They don’t really have anyone for second base other than Ben Zobrist, but he can play anywhere. Fontenot is a line drive midget who is a lefthanded bat. His main drawback is he is limited to second base as a position so making it as a utility player may be a stretch.

Rookie of the Year Prospect: If Wil Myers is called up by May he would be one of the favorites to win the Rookie of the year award.

Projected on Paper Finish: They will battle the Yankees for second place. If they had the Yankees offense the Rays would run away with this division. Myworld still thinks they are good enough for second place, but this will fall short of the wild card again, especially if they waste a month without Myers improving this offense.

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Triple Doubles

Monday, October 15th, 2012

Myworld admires those players who hit double figures in doubles, triples and homeruns. It shows a player has the speed to leg out a triple and the power to send one over the wall. Most players have either one but not the other. If they have both they are usually classified as five tool players. Below are the players who hit double digits in doubles, triples and homeruns.

Chicago Cubs

Starlin Castro (majors) - 29/12/14

Brett Jackson (AAA/majors) - 28/13/19

Chicago White Sox

Jared Mitchell (AA) - 13/12/10

Colorado Rockies

Dexter Fowler (majors) - 18/11/13

Tyler Colvin (majors) - 27-10-18

Detroit Tigers

Austin Jackson (majors) - 29/10/16

Houston Astros

George Springer (Hi A/AA) - 21/10/24

Kansas City Royals

David Lough (AAA) - 19/11/10

Miami Marlins

Jose Reyes (Majors) - 37/12/11

Milwaukee Brewers

Logan Schafer (AAA/majors) - 24/11/11

Ben McMahon (Low A) - 21/11/15

Minnesota Twins

Aaron Hicks (AA) - 21/11/13

Pittsburgh Pirates

Starling Marte (AAA/majors) - 24/19/17

Allen Hanson (Low A) - 33/13/16

Seattle Mariners

Leon Landry (AA/Dodgers and Mariners) - 34/18/13

James Jones (Hi A) - 28/12/14

Tampa Bay Rays

Derek Dietrich (Hi A/AA) - 28/10/14

Texas Rangers

Engel Beltre (AA) - 17/17/13

Posted in Rays, Royals, White Sox, Tigers, Twins, Mariners, Rangers, Rockies, Astros, Brewers, Cubs, Pirates, Marlins | No Comments »

AL East Minor League All Stars

Wednesday, September 5th, 2012

Except for the New York Penn League, each of the minor league organizaitons name a post season All Star team. These may not necessarily be the best prospects in each league, but they are the players who performed the best. Also, players who are promoted mid-season usually do not make post season All Star rosters even though the combination of their numbers may be impressive. Myworld will start with the AL East.

Baltimore Orioles

This one is easy. They are the only team of the 30 without a player named to a post season all star roster. They are not complaining with the year they are having, now tied for the New York Yankees for first place in the A.L. East. Who needs All Stars. Just win baby.

Boston Red Sox

They need some good news after the year they are having. The good news is they have a healthy collection of players named to the All Star team.

Ryan Lavarnway C - AAA (.295, 8, 43) - The backup catching job could be his next year. With the year Jarrod Saltalmacchia is having it is hard to see Ryan taking over as the starter. He is noted more for his offense than his defense.

Jose Iglesias SS - AAA (.266, 1, 23) - Another player noted more for his glove and not his bat, his 2012 major league callup shows an 0 for 16 start.

Mauro Gomez DH - AAA (.310, 24, 75) - With Adrian Gonzalez traded and David Ortiz likely gone next year he could find himself at DH or 1B. At 27 he is a bit old to be considered a prospect, but he has a big bat.

Jerry Sands OF - AAA (.296, 26, 107) - He made the list as a Dodger. The offensive numbers are a bit inflated in the desert air of Albuquerque. Has had two opportunities with the Dodgers and failed to impress. The Green Wall of Boston may be more to his liking.

Christian Vazquez C - Hi A (.269, 7, 41) - Eventually he may become the better defensive option without any sacrifice in power.

Michael Almanzar 3B - Hi A (.301, 12, 54) - The Red Sox have been waiting a long time for him. This could be a breakout year for him and still only 21.

Xander Bogaerts SS - Hi A (.301, 15, 64) - Considered one of the best prospects in baseball, but most feel he may move to right field. He has only gotten better with a promotion to AA (.326, 5, 17).

Jackie Bradley OF - Hi A (.355, 3, 33) - A 52/40 walk to whiff ratio gives him a .478 OBA. The number one supplemental pick in 2011 should be a gold glover in center field. Power should also come.

Travis Shaw DH - Hi A (.307, 16, 73) - In addition to a potent bat he was voted the best defensive firstbaseman in the Carolina League.

Keury de la Cruz OF - Low A (.308, 19, 81) - Still needs to work on his patience at the plate as his 26/101 walk to whiff ratio will attest.

Sergio Gomez RHP - Rookie (5-4, 2.83) - A teenage pitcher out of Colombia shows good control with less than two walks per nine innings.

New York Yankees

Older players tend to be plauged by injuries towards the end of the year. The Yankees are finding that out as they stumble through the 2012 season.

Kyle Roller DH - Hi A (.266, 18, 85) - At 24 years old he needs to arrive quickly to have much of an impact with the Yankees.

Nik Turley LHP - Hi A (9-5, 2.89) - A tall pitcher (6′6″) he relies more on control than velocity. The curveball is his best pitch.

Yeicok Calderon DH - Rookie (.270, 8, 22) - A Dominican signing for $650,000 in 2008 still needs some work defensively in the outfield.

Tampa Bay Rays

They keep showing the Yankees how to make the playoffs with half of their salary. They also thank the Yankees every year for their luxury tax payments which provides them resources to continue to retool their minor leagues.

Leslie Anderson OF - AAA (.309, 14, 56) - A Cuban signing he is short on power for his best defensive positions at first base or left field. At 30 he should have made the team this year.

Hak-Ju Lee SS - AA (.261, 4, 37) - Considered one of the better defensive shortstops with excellent speed. His bat is still a question and his speed doesn’t rack up huge stolen base totals (37 for 46). Not a lot of power.

Omar Luna UTL - AA (.315, 3, 57) - Lee’s double play partner will probably be a six year minor league free agent next year.

Cameron Seitzer 1B - Low A (.307, 4, 54) - A power drop off from last year but at 6′5″ that should not be a problem.

Ryan Brett 2B - Low A (.285, 6, 35) - A 50 game suspension puts a damper on a good season for the 2010 third round pick. A gap hitter who will make contact his 48 stolen bases was a career high. At 5′9″ he is more a grinder who will play beyond his tools.

Drew Vettleson OF - Low A (.275, 16, 59) - A 2010 supplemental first round pick should have the power and arm to settle in right field.

Blake Snell LHP - Rookie (5-1, 2.09) - A 2011 supplemental first round pick won pitcher of the year in Appalachian League. Relies on a sinker to get ground outs.

Ben Kline 1B - Rookie (.347, 1, 16) - At 23 a little too old for rooke league.

Toronto Blue Jays

Injuries have decimated their 2012 season. They continue to stock their farm system to address those injuries with depth in the future. Most of the talent this year was at the lower levels.

Adeiny Hechavarria SS - AAA (.312, 6, 63) - The Cuban impressed with his bat and glove during spring. He won’t hit for power but he should be a steady hitter in the .300 neighborhood. He should be ready to fight for the position next year.

Kevin Nolan SS- Hi A (.316, 5, 40) - Tools may have to settle for a utility role but did reach base in 34 straight games. It was his second year in the Florida State League and at 24 needs to make his mark now.

Dan Barnes RHP - Hi A (1-2, 1.50) - One of those 35th round draft picks used as a closer. He picked up 34 saves.

Kevin Pillar OF - Low A (.322, 5, 57) - His performance won him the MVP of the league. He was also voted the leagues best hitting prospect. His promotion to Hi A has not slowed down his bat (.323). He has stolen 51 bases at the two levels in 60 attemtps.

Justin Nicolino LHP - Low A (10-4, 2.46) - Good velocity for a lefthander, hitting low 90s but as he matures could get up to 94. The change is considered his best pitch which puts a little more zip on that fastball.

Ajay Meyer RHP - Low A (3-3, 3.67) - His 33 saves got him voted best reliever in the Midwest League, but promising pitchers at the lower levels are never the closers.

Jorge Flores SS - short season (.264, 3, 19) - Listed at 5′5″ he gets the most out of his height.

Javier Avendano RHP - short season (8-1, 1.27) - Signed as a free agent in 2012 after being signed by the Cardinals.

Jeremy Gabryszwski RHP - rookie (3-0, 2.35) - A 2011 second round pick has excellent control, walking less than a batter per nine innings. Because he was around the plate so often he gave up five jacks in just 46 innings of work.

Chuck Ghysels RHP - rookie (0-3, 3.86) - He struck out over 14 per nine innings and also picked up seven saves. Blue Jays seemed to thrive on closers drafted in the 30th round.

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Posted in Red Sox, Rays, Yankees, Blue Jays, Orioles | No Comments »

At the Break - AL East

Sunday, July 8th, 2012

The East is a battle of five teams, all playing over .500. The biggest surprise has been the Baltimore Orioles, who find themselves in second place in this beast of a division. The biggest disappointment has been the Boston Red Sox, who struggle to find consistency. Watch for the Rays. They are the only team that seems to not be in a desparate search for pitching.

We show our original prediction in parenthesis. Based on trades and injuries these predictions will have changed.

New York Yankees (2) 51-33

Heros - With the injury to Mariano Rivera they needed someone to step up in the closer role. They signed Rafael Soriano with that thought in mind a couple years ago. He has come through with 20 saves and a 1.65 ERA. Derek Jeter never seems to age. At 37 he is hitting over .300. Will he continue to keep that pace in the second half.

Busts - Russell Martin had a decent year last year and the Yankees felt comfortable at the catching position with a number of young prospects coming up. This year Russell finishes the first half hitting only .179. Chris Stewart has been getting more playing time as a result. Freddy Garcia has not been able to address the holes with his starting rotation with a 5.23 ERA.

Top Rookies - Cody Eppley (2.74) has been solid in the pen, filling his role for early bullpen duties. David Phelps (3.05) has started three times but seen most of his time out of the bullpen. This is a veteran team with no rookies impacting the roster.

Hot on the Farm - The Yankees have had some disappointing seasons from their prospects. A couple veterans are looking good in AAA with Jack Cust and his 19 homeruns and Ramon Ortiz with a 2.85 ERA in 15 starts. For the Yankees it is win now baby, so they may need to make room for these players contributions on the 40 man roster. At one point Melky Mesa was considered a top prospects. At 25 that has changed, but in AA he is hitting .271 with 11 homeruns. Cody Johnson strikes out a lot (90) but he also hits his share of homeruns (16) for Trenton. Vidal Nuno was pitching in relief in Tampa. Promoted to Trenton they moved him into the starting rotation. He has a 1.22 ERA in nine starts.

Season Expectations - They are an older team so the summer months must be watched. They are surviving the loss of C.C. Sabathia, Andy Pettitte and Michael Pineda pretty well. They hope to get Sabathia back but they need Hiroki Kuroda, Ivan Nova and Phil Hughes to show consistency in the starting rotation. They already have seven players in double figures in homeruns so power is their game.

Baltimore Orioles (5) 45-40

Heroes - For the first time in ages they have three players that were named All Stars. In years past it was always difficult finding All Stars on the roster. Adam Jones (.289, 20), Matt Wieters (.247, 12) and Jim Johnson (1.21, 27 saves) are big reasons for the Orioles successful first half.

Busts - They continue to find inconsistency from a young pitching staff that a couple years ago many teams were envios of. Brian Matusz (5-10, 5.42) and Jake Arrieta (3-9, 6.13) have earned demotions to the minor leagues. Mark Reynolds (.207) plays poor defense and no longer hits for hits for power to justify his swings and misses.

Top Rookies - Wei-Yin Chen (3.93) has given the Orioles some good starts. He is a Taiwan pitcher who is a veteran from the NPB. The second half will be key to see if he fatigues under the five man rotation. In the NPB they are used to 6 man rotations and 144 game seasons.

Hot on the Farm - They have already called up Chris Tillman (3.63) but Jason Berken (3.23) is also having a good year. Both have had opportunities before and failed. Steve Johnson (2.73) also got a brief callup but never appeared in a game. The Orioles are looking to acquire a veteran starting pitcher. They would like to think these players are attractive enough to acquire a veteran pitcher.

Season Expectations - The Orioles have played well early before and folded. Dan Duquette acquired Jim Thome to give them a big bat. He would also like to get a veteran pitcher to bolster the starting rotation. When you look at the roster you don’t see playoff team. Nick Markakis is ready to return, but they might want to hug Brian Roberts goodbye.

Tampa Bay Rays (3) 45-41

Heroes - Fernando Rodney (0.93, 25 saves) has been unbelievable as the closer. The Rays hope they can still count on him in the second half. David Price (11-4, 2.82) has become the ace of the staff as many had expected he would become one day.

Busts - They need Carlos Pena (.201) and Luke Scott (.205) to move away from the Mendoza line. They provide the occasional pop but their offense has been disappointing. James Shields (4.17) was the ace last year, but has struggled this year and Matt Moore (4.42) was the favorite for rookie of the year but may have to be demoted to get his stuff back.

Top Rookies - This is a veteran team with the only rookie Matt Moore. Chris Archer has had two starts, but he needs injuries to the starting staff to fill into the rotation.

Hot on the Farm - Henry Wrigley (.333, can turn on a pitch, but he won’t be usurping Carlos Pena for the first base job. His defense is not as strong.

Season Expectations - They need to get Evan Longoria back to put a spark into their offense. James Shields and Matt Moore need to pitch to potential. They are the only team in the AL East that seem to have a surplus of pitching they can throw out there when inuries hit their rotation.

Boston Red Sox (1) 43-42

Heroes - David Ortiz (.313, 22) has had a good year but some question whether his outspokeness has poisoned the bullpen. Will Middlebrooks (.298, 10) did so well that it forced the trade of Red Sox hero Kevin Youkillus, who was having his second straight disappointing season. Jarrod Saltalmacchia has found the power stroke with 17 homeruns.

Busts - Daniel Bard (5.25) was moved into the starting rotation and found his wildness returned. They hope he can find his command so they can move him back in the bullpen. Clay Bucchholtz (8-2, 5.53) is winning games but giving runs up in bunches. Injuries have forced Alfredo Aceves (0-6, 4.43) to take over the closer role with little success.

Top Rookies - Will Middlebrooks was called up to replace and injured Kevin Youkilus and played so will that the walk king lost his job.

Hot on the Farm - Mauro Gomez (.311, 19) normally plays first, but the Red Sox need his bat in the lineup. He is playing third base while Middlebrooks recovers from hamstring issues. Mark Melancon (0.83, 11 saves) had a rough go of it at the beginning of the year, but he hopes this return will provide better results. Bryce Brentz (.294, 10) can hit for power but the outfield has a surplus now. His strikeouts (93) would be a big concern.

Season Expectation - Pitching may prevent them from making the playoffs, though they hope to get Andrew Bailey back from injury before the season ends. They paid a lot to acquire him. Carl Crawford and Jacoby Ellsbury is almost back, but shortstop is still a hole.

Toronto Blue Jays (4) 43-43

Heros - Edwin Encarnacion used to be called E-5. He seems to enjoy playing at the DH spot, hitting .295 with 23 homeruns. He and Jose Bautista could finish 1-2 in homeruns.

Busts - Ricky Romero was supposed to be their ace, but pitchers with a 5.22 ERA don’t survive as aces. Adam Lind (.206) was playing so poorly they demoted him to the minors.

Top Rookies - None

Hot on the farm - They will have to wait until next year to debut Travis d’Arnaud (.333, 16). An injury may have ended his season early. Moises Sierra (.303, 14) could fill an outfield spot. Over they years he has been one of their top prospects. Mike McDade (.294, 13) is a power hitting firstbaseman that should get an opportunity before the season is over.

Season Expectations - Injuries to sixty percent of their starting rotation puts them into a wait until next year mode. Brandon Morrow should be back after the All Star break. Closer Sergio Santos has been out for almost the whole year. He may be back soon. Drew Hutchingson and Kyle Drabek have probably seen the end of the season.

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Posted in Red Sox, Rays, Yankees, Blue Jays, Orioles | No Comments »

Chiefs Batter Bulls in Durham

Thursday, June 28th, 2012

Mtworld is in Durham, North Carolina where we witnessed a one way slugfest, the Chiefs burying the Bulls 14-3. For those who have seen the movie Bull Durham it is a nice replica of that ballpark. After the movie the team moved away from original park into this new location, which tries to mimic the old stadium. They brought the bull with them, but it stands next to the left field foul line, instead of right field like the original. They have what they call the Blue Monster, similar to the Fenway Park Green Monster. A manual scoreboard is placed within the blue monster as well as a video screen to show stats, crowd shots and advertisement .

Some of the other interestiung facts about the park. The infamous Crash Davis, the Kevin Costner character who played catcher actually played for the Durham Bulls and led the leage in doubles in 1948. He never had the most homeruns by a minor leaguer as portrayed in the movie. Roger Craig, pitcher, manager and pitching coach got his start with the Durham Bulls as a batboy. Finally, Durham was home for one of the minor league teams of the Negro League for a number of years. I didn’t think the Negro Leagues had a minor league system.

Jim Paduch got the start for the Bulls. He might as well have been pitching batting practice. Corey Brown led off the inning with a triple. Two doubles and two singles later the score was 4-0. There were a lot of balls hit to the right field area where Jesus Feliciano does his best to lumber after them.

Yunesky Maya got the start for the Chiefs. In the bottom frame Henry Wrigley got the Bull fans excited by turning on a pitch and sending it into the patio above the blue monster in left field. The two run homer would be the only runs that Maya would give up in his six innings of work. He struck out five, but three were called strikes that each of the hitters had brief words with the umpire on the call.

The Bulls fielding broke down in the third. The inning started with a double by Xavier Paul and a walk to Brett Carroll. Back to back errors by Tim Beckham and Henry Wrigley allowed one run to score. Seth Bynum drove in two with a double and the fourth scored on an Erik Komatsu sacrifice fly.

Seth Bynum continued his RBI barrage in the fourth with a 3-run homer. His double in the ninth preceded a 2-run homer from Corey Brown. Brown finished a double short of the cycle while Bynum had two doubles and a homerun to drive in five.

Poor Jim Paduch was left in to give up 12 runs over five innings. In 2003 he was the Cincinnati Reds minor league pitcher of the year. The last four years he has been toiling in the independent leagues. With too many similar performances he will be back in the Independent League.

Game Notes: Yunesky Maya at one point was the ace of the Cuba National pitching staff. While his stuff is decent he doesn’t throw hard and at 5′11″ the hitters get a good look at him. At 31 he may end up with a career like Leslie Anderson of the Rays, who did not play in the Bulls game today…Chris Marrero just does not hit for enough power for a first baseman. He hits some nice line drives, but they don’t have enough carry…Corey Brown has been juicing the ball. He hit a 2-run homer to the opposite field over the blue monster onto the roof of the restaurant. The wind was blowing out into left field, but it was tagged..Josh Lueke was hitting only 92-93 with his fastball. He seemed to be relying more on his curveball to strike hitters out. He retired all six hitters he faced, three of them on strikeouts…Near the stadium is a restaurant called Dames Chicken and Waffles. If you want to try something unique check hit out. I had four chicken drumsticks on top of four waffles with a side of macaroni and cheese. I don’t have to eat for days…Mark Teahen made two errors on throws at second base for the Chiefs…The Chiefs only out hit the Bulls by one, but they bunched all their hits together…In the eighth inning, for his second inning of work, Jeff Mandel threw three pitches and got three base hits up the middle. At least with a 12-2 lead he was throwing strikes.

Posted in Rays, Nationals | No Comments »

Espinosa Leads Nationals Over Rays

Friday, June 22nd, 2012

Joe Maddon decided to walk the slumping Adam LaRoche to face Danny Espinosa. Joel Peralta, who had just learned he was suspended for eight days for his pine tar on the glove incident, was on the mound for the second straight day. Espinosa rifled a 1-1 pitch that skipped down the right field line to score Jesus Flores and LaRoche to give the Nationals a 4-2 lead. It was the second double for Espinosa in the game. He also walked in the third, was the lead man on a double steal and scored the first run on a shallow fly to centerfield by Michael Morse. Centerfielder B.J. Upton just could not get enough zip on the ball.

The Nationals had been no hit for nine innings before a bloop single by Xavier Nady in the second inning broke the no hitter. Even though the Nationals won last night’s game they were left without a hit for the final eight innings of that game. They were also retired 1-2-3 in the first inning of tonight’s game.

It was not a well pitched ball game, or a tightly wound strike zone. Matt Moore could only survive the first five innings, giving up two runs. He threw over 90 pitches, running three ball counts to six hitters before walking four of them.

It was back to back walks in the third, a double steal and a sacrifice fly to shallow center and a clutch 2-out single by Ian Desmond that put the Nationals in front 2-1. Desmond also caught Matt Moore daydreaming after his single, breaking for second to take the base without a throw.

Gio Gonzalez was just as bad with his command. He allowed the first run to score in the second when he issued a leadoff walk on four pitches to Hideki Matsui, who is only hitting .158. The Rays went station to station with Matsui after two singles moved him to third. Desmond Jennings roped a 2-out single up the middle to make it 1-0. Gonzalez was able to strike out Carlos Pena for the third out with the bases loaded and two outs and a 3-2 count on Pena. It would be the first of five innings where the Rays last hitter struck out, stranding eight runners. It was the first of two strikeouts where the Rays had the bases loaded with two outs and a 3-2 count on the hitter. Gio finished the second inning with 50 pitches. Despite the work load he was still able to go six innings to get the victory.

Game Notes: Despite all the pitches thrown by the Nationals, B.J. Upton needed only four pitches to go 0 for 3 in his first three at bats of the game…Gio Gonzales ran the count to three balls to five of the first six Ray hitters he faced. B.J. Upton was the only hitter among the first six in the Ray lineup not to run the count to three balls, swinging at the first pitch and popping it up to short…Ryan Mattheus came into the game with the bases loaded and two out, worked the count to 3-2 before striking out pinch hitter Will Rhymes. Mattheus came into that at bat with a 2-1 record, 21 games, 21.1 innings pitched and a 2.11 ERA. I thought sure he was going to get Will Rhymes out on a 2-1 count…Tyler Moore had a nice 11 pitch at bat to lead off the sixth for the Nationals off Joel Peralta. It may have been an out but he made Peralta work on a night where the temperature hovered above 90. With two out Jesus Flores doubled and Adam LaRoche was intentionally walkd before an Espinosa double scored the first two National runs…Ryan Zimmerman struck out his first three times at the plate before ripping a single in his fourth at bat. He was able to steal second and score on Roger Bernadina’s double. Rick Ankiel was thrown out at the plate for the final out of the seventh inning. Zimmerman is killing the Nationals in the three spot with his .225 average. Unfortunately, there are no other players who are viable alternatives for that number three spot. Davey Johnson could move him from the spot to take the pressure off of him.

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