Rays of Light

Game 162 - It’s Over

I’m not going to use this as a forum to talk about the highlights from today’s game - of which there were a few: Carlos Pena hitting yet another home run, Akinori Iwamura transitioning to second base - but rather I’d like to take this opportunity to thank you. Across Major League Baseball today, we had “Fan Appreciation Day.” Well, consider this “Fan Appreciation Day” at Rays of Light.

First and foremost, thank you so much for sticking with us throughout this entire season. It’s been a hard one, but even when there were double-digit losing streaks, blown bullpen leads, and anemic offensive performances you kept coming back for more and kept throwing in your two cents. Whether you agreed or disagreed with my viewpoints on certain things, you kept on coming back, and for that I thank you.

The most important thing I am going to take from this season isn’t anything that has to do with the on-field product, but instead has to do with the real-life community of fans that we’ve connected as this season has gone on. When it began, I was just a guy writing a blog on MLBlogs.com about the Devil Rays, hoping that someone would come around and care about what I had to say enough to leave me some kind of comment. Then Joe gave me this opportunity to write on his site - an opporunity, incidentally, that I initially turned down - and now I reach thousands of unique users per week. I feel like I’ve gotten to know many of you through this entire process, and that wouldn’t have happened had Joe not extended the offer to me back in March.

Now we’ve got a fast-growing community of fans who like to read analysis of their favorite team - and give it, too - without getting bogged down with too many numbers or “inmates running the asylum.” I could sit here and go through an upper-level statistical analysis of why Player A from Montgomery is better than Player B from from Durham, but I like to think that’s not why you guys come here. You can already get that other places. Instead, we offer a different voice and a different group of people that make a 96-loss season bearable. Yeah, I’ll use statistics to make my point, but I always try to use them in the frame of arguments that make sense. Again, thank you for helping to make that possible.

As we head into this off-season, there’s going to be a lot of rumors and a lot of news about what the Tampa Bay Rays (get used to it, it’s here to stay) are and aren’t doing, and we’re going to continue to be here to give you the same kind of analysis that you’ve come to be used to. Every weekday you’ll still have a coffee-thread waiting for you when you get to work and every day you can bet that we’ll have info on the latest-breaking news for you. I sincerely hope that you keep coming back even though you’ll be deeply entrenched in USF’s bid for the national title and the Magic’s attempt to tame the much-stronger Eastern Conference.

It’s been a long, hard season - at one point filled with so much promise - and the ebbs and flows have not been easy for a hardcore fan to deal with. Take solace, though, that once the final out of the World Series is registered about a month from now, everyone is 0-0 again and everyone is in first place. That includes our Tampa Bay Rays. We’ll still be here keeping up the fight, and I hope that you decide to continue to stand by us in that fight.

Again, thank you so much for sticking with us throughout this entire season. You’re the reason that I - and, I suspect, all of us - keep doing this, and as long as you keep reading, I’ll keep writing. If there’s anything you think we can do better, don’t hesitate to drop me a line at scottcaruso@gmail.com or on AOL Instant Messanger at Clumsy Satellite. I look forward to doing everything I can to make this the single best portal for Tampa Bay Rays fans all over.

Thanks and sincerely yours,
Scott Caruso, Editor-in-Chief

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Game 162 - Open Thread - This is the End (For You My Friend)

We will not witness this anymore
This is the end, for you my friend
I can’t forgive, I wont forget
On and on we sing our songs
On and on, the wars wage on and
On and on we sing our songs for more, for more
-Anti-Flag, This is the End (For You My Friend)

It seems like only yesterday that April 2 was here and we posted the first of these things. The good ol’ days, they were - when we got a chance to take hacks against Carl Pavano and we honestly believed we had a chance to contend.

That brings us to today. The last day of the regular season, as we go through the motions one last time as 4 other American League teams prepare to continue playing baseball into October. There were some strides made, for sure - Scott Kazmir and James Shields are amazing, and B.J. Upton is a future MVP candidate - but the same storylines that permeated from day 1 - poor bullpen work, shoddy defense, and mediocre third of the lineup - lasted the entire season, bringing us to this point.

In the grand scheme of things, a win or a loss doesn’t matter that much, but damn would I like to end the year with a W.

What to watch for: Whichever team can resist the urge to sprint to the airport first will have the best chance of winning this one. With Burnett on the hill for the Blue Jays, I wouldn’t be surprised if we got no-hit. Akinori Iwamura will make his debut at second base. I would also expect that Maddon would like to get both Gary Glover and Al Reyes into the game tonight to give them each a chance to work one last time.

Scouting Report on todays starters from MLB.com
Jason Hammel - Hammel’s outing was definitely not his best, still it was one hit that doomed him in the end. The right-hander threw 101 pitches over just five innings and scattered seven Yankees hits, but was tagged with five earned runs, most of which came when he served up a ball Alex Rodriguez quickly turned into his third grand slam of the season. He didn’t figure in the decision after the Rays scored six in the sixth inning. Hammel walked three and fanned four in the game, and will have one last chance to make a good impression on the Rays before the end of the year.

A.J. Burnett - Since returning from the disabled list on Aug. 12, Burnett has gone 5-1 with a 2.32 ERA, 64 strikeouts and 44 hits allowed over 66 innings across nine starts. On Tuesday, the right-hander was inconsistent, but effective in a win over the Orioles. Over 6 2/3 innings, Burnett allowed 10 hits and struck out seven, yielding four runs for the first time since giving up five in an injury-shortened outing on June 28. The win also gave Burnett 10 wins for the second straight season for the Jays. In his career against the Rays, Burnett is 6-1 with a 2.45 ERA in 12 starts.

Check out the Rays’ career numbers against A.J. Burnett.

View the game preview from Baseball Reference

Be sure to join us in the chat room for some good Rays talk during the game!!!

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No hustle, no game

Delmon Young was yanked from today’s game against Toronto for failing to hustle on a ground ball to third. (Marc Lancaster)

Rays manager Joe Maddon pulled Delmon Young from the game after the top of the sixth inning today not because he wanted to give the player a few extra innings of rest, but because he wanted to send a message. Young didn’t run out a grounder to third base leading off the inning, and Maddon termed that “unacceptable”—particularly coming just a couple of hours after Maddon’s year-end talk with the team touched on issues just like that.

“I did not like the way he ran to first base,” said Maddon. “I have one simple rule and that’s to run hard to first base. I’ve had different conversations with him regarding this during the season. We just had a meeting with the players before the game and all I want our players to do is respect – respect the game, respect their uniform, do things right. I thought it was a blatant disrespect for the game and I couldn’t tolerate that, based on everything I’ve talked about all year and where I want us to go. It’s unacceptable. It also speaks to our minor-league people and the people that want to be fans of the Rays. I want them to expect a certain level of effort, and that’s not acceptable.”

Asked what Young’s reaction to the move was, Maddon said he didn’t know because he hadn’t had a chance to speak with Young. At that point, Young walked by outside the manager’s office, paused by the door and said, “I’m no-go tomorrow.”

Good for Maddon for standing up to the principles and not allowing Young to just “go through the motions” as the season winds down. Young’s claim that “I’m not the only one doing it” doesn’t fly either. This isn’t 3rd grade, Delmon. Just because Jimmy picks his nose and wipes it on Sally doesn’t mean that you should do it, too.

Delmon had a chance to play in 162 games this year - a truly rare feat - and blew it.

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Game 161 - Open Thread - Two Left

The season wraps up with the final two games of the season at Toronto. Edwin Jackson gets his last chance of the year to do something positive.

What to watch for: Jackson’s ERA is teetering dangerously close to 6.00, but a good outing can ensure that it doesn’t move much futher ahead of that. Sure, Edwin made some strides during the month of August, but you need to take his season as a whole, and it was pretty bad. His is a rotation spot that should certainly be up for grabs in the off-season.

Scouting Report on todays starters from MLB.com
Edwin Jackson - Jackson cruised along until the sixth inning during his last start and had a 4-0 lead, but things unraveled quickly. Two no-out singles and a walk loaded the bases for Boston’s David Ortiz, who drove a hard grounder at Jackson that hit his leg and caromed away, allowing both a run to score and Ortiz to reach safely. Jackson responded with a bases-loaded walk and then gave up a single to Coco Crisp that brought Boston to within one, 4-3, and ended Jackson’s night. He’s still missing the confidence and composure necessary to avoid big innings such as this, but has one more try this season to iron things out.

Jesse Litsch - Litsch was dominant in his last outing, scattering five hits and limiting the Yankees to just one run over 7 2/3 innings. It marked only the second time this season that the rookie worked into the eighth inning. Through the first five innings, Litsch induced 12 outs via ground balls and he finished with 17 ground-ball outs, compared to just one strikeout. Over his past two starts, Litsch has picked up wins over the Red Sox and Yankees, allowing just two runs on seven hits over 14 1/3 innings. He is 1-1 with a 2.31 ERA in two starts against the Rays this season.

Check out the Rays’ career numbers against Jesse Litsch.

View the game preview from Baseball Reference

Be sure to join us in the chat room for some good Rays talk during the game!!!

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Game 160 - Open Thread - Last stop: Toronto

The Rays head to Toronto to play three meaningless games against the Blue Jays to wrap up the season.

What to watch for: Andy Sonnanstine would love to close the season on a high-note; even if he throws a no-hitter tonight, his final numbers won’t look great, but he has had a number of quality outings that he can look back on. It would be great if he could close with a good one.

Scouting Report on todays starters from MLB.com
Andy Sonnanstine - Sonnanstine faltered a bit during his most recent outing and the Red Sox attacked the weakness, scoring five times on the rookie during his 5 1/3 innings of work. Sonnanstine lacked his usual control on the mound but managed to escape a loss thanks to a three-run homer in the seventh that put the Rays ahead for the first time.

Dustin McGowan - McGowan struggled mightily with his command on Sunday, when he issued a career-high six walks in a loss to the Yankees. The right-hander allowed six runs on six hits with five strikeouts over 4 1/3 innings -ñhis shortest outing since June 19. The six runs McGowan surrendered were the most heí yielded since spotting six to the Red Sox on July 14. McGowaní fastball was inconsistent and he wasní able to rely on either his curveball or slider. In his career against the Rays, the right-hander is 1-0 with a 3.32 ERA in four appearances.

Check out the Rays’ career numbers against Dustin McGowan.

View the game preview from Baseball Reference

Be sure to join us in the chat room for some good Rays talk during the game!!!

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The Coffee - Microcosm for the season

It’s fitting that the home schedule ended the way it did last night; it was like the Rays put the entire season into a jar and let it spill out last night. Everything that has defined this Rays team during the season came out last night.

It started with an awesome performance by Scott Kazmir, who left it all on the table during 6 short innings of work. He gave up only 3 hits, didn’t walk a batter, and struck out 10 Yankees to take the league-lead in the category. It’s unlikely that he will lose that distinction, by the way. Then, like the script from the season has been written, Kazmir left the game tied and wouldn’t get a chance to win the brilliant outing. The bullpen was unable to hold onto the tie and the offense was unable to make up the gap. And that, my friends, has been the story of the Rays’ season in a nut-shell. A great starting pitching effort was supported by a little offense from Carlos Pena and some weak bullpen work and just like that you’ve got another loss.

As the season winds down, I need more time to reflect before I write an official “this is how I feel about the season” article, but on the surface, it’s hard not to feel a little disappointed in how things turned out. The team was WORSE at home this year than it was last year and the bullpen - though improved from earlier in the season - still didn’t end up very good. I’m almost leaning towards saying that we’re at a “push” compared to last year; neither better nor worse.

Game 159 - Open Thread - The home finale

Can you believe it? The home schedule wraps up tonight in the finale of this 3-game set with the Yankees. After tonight, there will be no baseball at The Trop until April. It’s crazy that we’ve already reached this point. Even with a win tonight, the team will finish with a worse home record than it had last year.

What to watch for: It’s a match-up of young guns when Scott Kazmir and Phil Hughes go at it. Get used to this - we could be seeing these two opposite each other for a long, long time.

Scouting Report on todays starters from MLB.com
Scott Kazmir - Kazmir faltered in just one inning of the five he lasted against the Red Sox on Friday night and even then yielded just two earned runs, but it was enough for the loss as his teammates rallied for just one run in his support. The southpaw fanned nine in the contest to temporarily take over the Majors strikeout lead with 229, a number that was surpassed later in the evening by the Twins’ Johan Santana (231). He did, however, hit the 200-innings mark this season and will have one final start for the year to try to regain the strikeouts title.

Phil Hughes - Hughes labored through five innings last Saturday against the Blue Jays, and needed 99 pitches to do it. The three runs he allowed weren’t bad considering the context — a 12-11 Yankees win — but the team could use a little more efficiency. Still, Hughes holds a 3.18 ERA in September, and has yet to lose a game this month. The Yankees are 4-0 over the last four games he’s started.

Check out the Rays’ career numbers against Phil Hughes.

View the game preview from Baseball Reference

Be sure to join us in the chat room for some good Rays talk during the game!!!

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The Coffee - Brendan Harris next year

Do we really expect Harris to be the everyday anything next year? I love the way he plays, but he is rangeless, and a era liability… I still think he should be the super utility guy. I tihnk we should give Guzman and heck maybe even Velandia a shot a the job at ss.

That comes courtesy of Rays of Light reader Jason Lyman yesterday. (Jason Lyman)

What an excellent question. No one can deny that Brendan Harris has done more this year than anyone could’ve possibly expected at the plate. He cracked 35 doubles knocked in 59 RBI. All of this out of a player who was just supposed to be a utility infielder.

That said, he is still just a utility infielder and the flaws in his game were exposed by playing every day this season. He’s got all of the range of a signpost and has grounded into 19 double plays. Despite his offensive success, his OPS is only .777 and he has struck out nearly 100 times.

Though I think its premature to assume that Evan Longoria will be the third baseman on opening day next year (thus relegating Akinori Iwamura to second base), let’s do that anyways. That would leave shortstop as the only open position next season. Harris, of course, comes in as one of the possibilities to play that position. Josh Wilson isn’t very good, despite what Joe Maddon says, and shouldn’t be here. We’ll see if the team makes the right choice and agrees. Jorge Velandia has been good, and has probably played his way into Spring Training, but he’s not an everyday shortstop. He might not even be a viable back-up option. There’s Joel Guzman, who is a favorite of the Internet crowd. I really like The Guz, and I would LOVE to see him get a chance to win that job out of Spring Training.

Finally, there’s anyone not currently on the roster that we think the Rays could get. I’ve seen Khalil Greene mentioned in comments here before, but I think that’s just been thrown out as an idea that someone would LIKE to see. I don’t see any situation in which the Padres would part with Greene based on what we have to offer. They don’t need what we’ve got, so it just doesn’t seem like a good fit to me.

What do you think? Where does Brendan Harris fit next year?

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Game 158 - Howelling mad

I’m going to keep this one brief tonight, because I’m not feeling well and this game was horrendous.

J.P. Howell is not good. At least not yet. He teased us all with that last outing, but this very-hittable version is the one we’ve become accustomed to. The Yankees made him pay for his location mistakes, and he wasn’t long for this one.

Jeff Ridgway, by the way, has to be at about a negative 7 on the 1-10 confidence scale right now. He’s been ASSAILED so far, but did manage to record the first out of his Major League career, so good for him on that one.

Carlos Pena became the single-season RBI leader in Rays history tonight, adding to the list of incredible milestones that he has reached this season. If only he could’ve hit an 8-run home run at some point during this game, we would’ve been in business.

Congratulations to the Yankees, who got to clinch yet another playoff berth with the win tonight. It’ll be us someday.

That’s all I’ve got for tonight. Like I said, I’m tired and this game was lame. Sorry guys.

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Game 158 - Open Thread - The Sinker versus The Changeup

After stunning the Yankees in the 10th inning after once trailing 5-0, the Rays turn to J.P. Howell to try and take this series from the Bombers. Howell might very well be pitching for a closer look come next Spring, while Chien-Ming Wang opposes and tries to tune-up for the playoffs.

What to watch for: No let-down after last night’s thrilling win.

Scouting Report on todays starters from MLB.com
J.P. Howell - Howell, who was recalled from Triple-A Durham on Sept. 17 to begin his third stint for the Rays this season, found out he would be last Wednesday’s starter only the day before, after the Rays told James Shields they were shutting him down for the season. Howell responded by holding the Angels to two runs over six innings while walking one and striking out eight. Unfortunately for the left-hander, he took his fifth loss of the season. Howell is 1-1 with a 5.00 ERA in three starts against the Yankees.

Chien-Ming Wang - Wang earned a tough no-decision after allowing two runs (one earned) to the Blue Jays in seven innings last Friday. That outing marked his sixth quality start in his last seven tries, and lowered his September ERA back down to 3.33. This will likely be Wang’s last start of the regular season, and will give him a chance to win 19 games and eclipse 200 innings for the second straight season.

Check out the Rays’ career numbers against Chien-Ming Wang.

View the game preview from Baseball Reference

Be sure to join us in the chat room for some good Rays talk during the game!!!

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