Rays of Light

RAYS 6, Orioles 2: Rays in first place, on pace for 162-0 season

Box Score

Now this is what an Opening Day is supposed to be like. There was an electric buzz in the Rays of Light chat room today as the Boys of Summer picked up their weapons and began the long battle towards October. Though few actually expect the Rays to reach the post-season in 2008, the young, idealistic dreamer in all of us believes that this could be the year that the Rays go from laughing-stock to playoff-bound.

Whether you’ve been with the team since that first pitch in 1998 or are a new convert, you can feel the buzz. It’s the sound of a winning attitude, and that winning attitude took its first baby-step forward today as the Rays put out a very professional, very matter-of-fact Game 1 win over the Orioles.

Am I being a little poetic about just one win against the team that many assume will be the laughing stock of the American League? Absolutely. Am I going overboard about a win in which James Shields was going up against a clearly inferior pitcher? You bet. Is this how most of the Raysheads (don’t worry Cork, the royalty check is in the mail) are feeling right now? It sure is.

Today was all about what could be. Today was all about what’s coming up down the pipe. Most importantly, today was about putting an all import W into the record books. 1-0 is 1-0. And 1-0 means first place in the AL East, even if just for one day.

James the Great: It wasn’t vintage Shields by any means today. He struggled a bit with his command - particularly with the changeup - but he made big pitches when he needed to. The Orioles helped him out a bit by swinging early and often in the count, often hitting into easy pop-ups and ground balls. At the end of the day, he gave the Rays 7 innings of 2-run ball; I like my chances to win that game every single time out.

I think most telling was that he didn’t implode after a couple of mistakes behind him in the first inning. He kept his California cool and pitched the Rays to what turned out to be a relatively easy win.

Pen Pals: I kept waiting for the ghosts of Shawn Camp and Brian Stokes to trot out of the bullpen, but it didn’t happen. Thank God. Instead, we got a nice healthy dose of Trever Miller, Al Reyes, and Dan Wheeler who took care of the Orioles in the 8th and the 9th innings. Though I’m not quite as optimistic as the one chatter who told me that he feels like the Rays have gone from the worst bullpen to the best in a matter of a few months, the Rays have clearly built a relief corps that - if healthy - can rank among the best in the league. I certainly like what we have - top to bottom - better than most of the other teams.

Feeling Situational: Last year, the biggest problem the Rays had was their inability to put bat to ball and move runners around the basepaths. Way too many strikeouts with runners on base. Not so tonight. Especially in the 3-run 3rd inning, the Rays did a great job of putting bat to ball and just moving the train along.

Prediction: Dioner Navarro is going to hit over .300 this season. He picked up right where he left off, tallying 3 hits in 4 at bats today. More importantly, he was taking some great hacks up there, lining the ball sharply to all fields. Even his out was hit pretty well. This could be a breakout year for the short, pudgy one. Just watch.

Did You See That? I love rare plays. Today, we got one when the Rays turned a type of strike-em-out-throw-em-out double play without Dioner Navarro having to make a throw. After Al Reyes buckled Melvin Mora with a changeup, Mora crossed in front of Navarro, causing him to be unable to try and throw out Brian Roberts. Roberts was ruled out, and the Rays got out of the 8th inning without allowing a run.

Did You See That? Volume 2: Dioner Navarro was thrown out trying to steal home. It wasn’t a straight steal of home, mind you, but the back end of a double-steal. The Orioles played it well, but Navi nearly snuck in there ahead of the tag. At first glance, I almost thought he was safe. Interesting play by the Rays, probably just trying to catch the O’s off-guard. I definitely wasn’t against the move at all.

First Pena, now Hinske? Okay, so it was just one game, but Eric Hinske DID hit the first home run of the season for the Rays. (By the way, it was a SHOT.) I’m not saying he will be as good as Carlos Pena was last year, but he could be quite the pickup for this team. Rumors abound that other teams are interested in him as well.

New Guys: Cliff Floyd doubled and scored a run, Willy Aybar got his first hit as a Ray, Hinske drew a walk to go along with the aforementioned home run, and Jason Bartlett was on base twice and knocked in a run.

There had to be SOMETHING bad, right? Akinori Iwamura took a bunch of AWFUL swings at the plate. A lot of really weak contact off of his bat. I know that he steps way in the bucket even when he’s going well, but when he looks bad he REALLY looks bad. He needs to put bat to ball.

Up Next: An off-day Tuesday followed by Game 2 against Baltimore on Wednesday night at 7:05 PM. Matt Garza makes his Rays debut. Let’s make it 2-0.

Tags: Rays win
Posted in Game Recap | 6 Comments »

Game #1: The Impossible Dream Begins

Without a doubt, this is the most exciting day of the year to be a Rays fan. We’ll be here with the GameDay chat like last year for most every game. Feel free to click the link at the bottom of the post to join the thread! I’ll probably be in there starting at 2:30!

No offense to the Orioles, but the Rays couldn’t ask for a better way to start the season. The Orioles frankly aren’t very good, and this is a great chance for the Rays to take 2-out-of-3 to start the season.

What to watch for: Can the Rays keep up the Spring Training momentum? They had a fantastic spring, with virtually everyone on the roster performing at a high level. Will they hit a wall, or will that carry over to the regular season?

The Rays need Carl Crawford to get off to a fast start. The entire offense runs through his bat, and it usually seems like as he goes, so goes the offense. If he is going well, chances are so is the offense.

Scouting Report on todays starters from MLB.com:
James Shields - Shields will be making his first Opening Day start and it will happen in Camden Yards, where he made his Major League debut in 2006. He’s is 1-1 with a 3.67 ERA in seven career starts against the O’s.

Jeremy Guthrie - Guthrie outlasted all the competition to line up for Baltimore’s Opening Day start, an assignment granted to him as a reward for a fine rookie season, during which he ranked second among AL rookies in ERA, strikeouts and innings.

Check out the Rays’ career numbers against Guthrie.

View the game preview from Baseball Reference.

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

Tags: Game Thread, James Shields
Posted in Game Thread | 6 Comments »

Hinske to get plenty of at-bats early on

Good for the Rays. They’ve said all along that performance will outweigh most other things from now on, and there’s no doubt that Eric Hinske outplayed Jonny Gomes during Spring Training. Couple that with the fact that Hinske has been a bit more distinguished over the course of his brief big league career, and Joe Maddon has made the right choice in allowing Eric Hinske to both start on Opening Day and get a slew of at-bats against right-handed pitchers.

I know there’s lots of you out there that wanted to see what Jonny could do with 500 at-bats during the season, but I kind of suspect we already know what he would’ve done: .250, 25 home runs, and 170 strikeouts. His Spring Training was pretty bad. He went up there doing what Jonny Gomes does - flailed at pitches and walked slowly back to the dugout. I honestly believe that letting Hinske get the bulk of at-bats against right-handed pitchers early on is the best move for the club if it hopes to win ballgames.

I think this also might lend some truth to the rumors that the Rays are interested in Matt Murton. Murton is essentially Jonny Gomes with fewer strikeouts and slightly better defense (OPS+ is basically the same); it doesn’t make sense for the Rays to carry both of them. It does, however, make sense if the Rays plan on acquiring Murton IN LIEU of Gomes. Just something to keep in mind.

T-minus 18 hours fellas…

Tags: Eric Hinske, Jonny Gomes
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Shoutbox or Comments for Game Threads?

UPDATE: How many of you guys use AOL Instant Messenger? I’m toying with the idea of doing it in an AIM Chat Room, but I need to know that people will use it. I’m thinking we’re going to try to make the chat program from last year work again, but I wanted to get some more feedback.

How do you all want to handle comments/in-game discussion on the Game Threads this year?

We can use the nifty little Shoutbox to the right if you’d like. We can also use the thread itself and “chat” through the comments for any given game. I can also try and find a better chat program than the one we used last year, although I can’t guarantee that will be successful.

Do you all have a preference? Leave a comment and let me know.

Posted in Discussion | 3 Comments »

I had a really catchy title for this, but I lost it

About 7 weeks ago, I made the original roster projection for the Rays. I thought it would be fun to go back and see how close (or far) I really was. Most people don’t like to call themselves out on how wrong they are. Me? I’m not afraid.

Some notes:

• I’m going to give myself a pass on Scott Kazmir. How would I have ever known that he wasn’t going to appear in a single Spring Training game? If you take that into consideration, the starting rotation is EXACTLY what we would’ve expected. If one of the 5 starters had gone down (like Kaz), most everyone probably would’ve assumed that Jason Hammel would get the nod.
• Who knew that Juan Salas would do a disappearing act? It’s too bad, too. I kind of like him.
• I’m happy that I was wrong about not including J.P. Howell; I’ve always been a fan.
• I really hope that we can pencil Rocco’s name onto the lineup card again one day. Obviously, his getting healthy is the most important thing, but you know he wants to get onto the field again someday even worse than we want to see him there.
• I really had no idea that Eric Hinske would make this roster. After watching him these past few weeks, I’m glad that he did.
• Nathan Haynes? Man, I dropped the ball on that one. I’m sorry I didn’t forsee the Rays picking up a virtually anonymous journeyman outfielder in the waning days of camp. Don’t get me wrong; I think he’s FINE for what the team needs. I just would’ve never been able to pick him out of a lineup or tell you anything about him before that.

Posted in General | 1 Comment »

And it goes to Hinske

The Rays announced that Joel Guzman will be optioned to Durham, giving the final roster spot to Eric Hinske. (The Heater)

Great news, since he’s a better option than Joel Guzman at this point. Not saying that Guzman CAN’T develop into a good big league player, but he doesn’t have the track record that Hinske does AND he outplayed him this spring. His at bats were better, his defense was better, and he’s more experienced in the outfield. The Rays didn’t have much of a choice to make, but I was till worried that they’d go with Guzman anyways.

Posted in Transactions | 3 Comments »

Trimming the fat

Marc Lancaster got his hands on a number of the cuts the Rays will make official tomorrow. (TBO.com)

John Rodriguez
Jon Weber
Chris Richard
Andy Cannizaro
Josh Paul
Mike DiFelice
Scott Munter

Which leaves us with Shawn Riggans as the back-up catcher and Eric Hinske, Joel Guzman, and Elliot Johnson for 2 spots. You figure that Johnson is completely safe because he can play middle-infield. Though Hinske is probably a better player than Joel Guzman, I wouldn’t be shocked if the Rays kept Guz instead of Hinske because of the right-handed bat. We’ll see for sure, and keep our fingers crossed that it’s Hinske - and not Guzman - who gets the call.

It also sounds like most of these players will report to Durham. DiFelice is probably the most important Durham report of all of those guys, as he would immediately get a call if something happens to Riggans or Navarro, you’d think.

UPDATE — I just now noticed the note from Marc Topkin that there are injury concerns with not just Willy Aybar but also Cliff Floyd. If one or both of those guys is unable to go - or even has to make a DL trip - then all three of the aforementioned players are safe.

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Rays add fourth outfielder

Outfielder Nathan Haynes has been acquired by the Rays off of waivers from the Angels today.

He’s a speedy little outfielder who can play all three positions. We’ll see if we can dig up a little more information about him, but right now it looks like he will definitely be on the Rays’ Opening Day roster.

Tags: Nathan Haynes
Posted in General | 14 Comments »

Memories of Al Lang Field

Not having grown up in the Tampa area, and having lived in Orlando for the 5+ years I’ve been in Florida, I don’t have the same kind of fond memories of Al Lang Field that I’m sure many of you have. Still, I can appreciate the rich history and tradition that surrounds the place and can ultimately understand how this must be a bittersweet day for lots of people.

Certainly we all want to see the Rays progress, and one way to do that is through new facilities and tapping into different markets. It’s just a shame that it has to come at the expense of what has become a landmark of Bay-area baseball.

Please share with me - and with all of us, really - your fondest memories of Al Lang Field. Do you plan on heading out to the game today? Feel free to take pictures; I can post them on the site over the weekend for everyone to see.

Tags: Al Lang Field
Posted in Discussion | 6 Comments »

Cup of Joe: Still trying to sort out the ‘pen

“We have not really given them any kind of update in regard to who is still in this competition. I think they know that. It’s kind of come down to those two guys (Dohmann and Balfour). The kind of pitcher they are is very similar. Though you would kind of make the case that Balfour might be able to be stretched out to more of a multiple-inning guy, I’ve seen Dohmann do that last year, also. Stuff-wise, velocity is about the same. Dohmann has a slider; Balfour’s breaking ball is more of a slurve. Both have really good arms, very good arms. Both are great guys and they fit.” - Joe Maddon (MLB.com)

Well THAT doesn’t put us any closer to narrowing down the final bullpen spot. And just when you think Maddon is tipping his hand and leaning towards Balfour (…might  be able to be stretched out…), he then says, “I’ve seen Dohmann do that, also.” You could probably say this is still anyone’s game. Maybe a good old-fashioned coin flip can settle this. Or a game of rock-paper-scissors.

RAYS 9 - Indians 7 (10 Innings)

Grant Ball-Four: Not the kind of performance Grant needed to win himself a bullpen spot. In 1 2/3 innings, he walked 4 batters - and from what I was watching, lots of those pitches weren’t even that close. The worst was a bases loaded walk to Jason Tyner that forced in a run. At the time, it gave the Indians the lead. You cannot under any circumstances walk home a run with a guy like Jason Tyner at the plate. Dude couldn’t hit his way out of a paper bag. Look, I know that Balfour wasn’t TRYING to walk him, but it’s still distressing that his control was that far out of what yesterday. If you want to take ANYTHING away from it, he did strike out 3 batters of the 5 outs that he recorded

Meanwhile. Dohmann shines: What made the performance all that much worse for Balfour was that Scott Dohmann came in and pitched 1 1/3 perfect innings after him. At the very least, Dohmann moved himself back up to 50-50 odds against Balfour to make the roster. If we believe that Maddon slightly favored Dohmann from the beginning, though, this performance could help him secure that final bullpen spot.

Not so d-Andy: Andy Sonnanstine was really good for the first 3 innings, but then hit a wall in the fourth. He loaded up the bases and then put one on a tee for Andy Gonzalez to hit out for a grand slam. I’m sure we all remember last season; the long-ball was Sonny’s buggaboo. It’s just the second one that he’s allowed this spring in 18 innings, but it will always remain a concern that when he puts runners on base. On the bright side, if he can pitch like he did for the first 3 innings, the number of runners on base will probably go down. He also walked 2 batters in 4 innings, which is half of his entire spring total. Looks like it might’ve just been a bad day for him. No worries; I still feel like he’ll be ready to go when he gets the call against Baltimore.

Table-setter: Akinori Iwamura led off the game with a solo home run; I couldn’t tell for sure, but it looked like it might’ve been a little bit wind-aided. Probably not a homer at The Trop. He did go 2-for-3 on the day, though, which bumps his spring OBP to .431. If he can get on base anything like that during the regular season, the Rays are going to score plenty of runs because you know that Carl, Carlos, and B.J. behind him will do some hitting.

Of Middle Infielders: Neither Elliot Johnson nor Andy Cannizaro did anything to distinguish themselves for the utility infielder spot. Johnson had an uneventful day at third - the only play that sticks out in my mind is letting a chopper bounce foul rather than picking it up for what would have assuredly been an infield hit. Neither of them did anything at the plate, with both putting up 0-fers. When Johnson left the game, Eric Hinske came in to play third base. I still contend that HE - not Johnson, Cannizaro, or Joel Guzman - is the best choice to start at third base on Opening Day if Willy Aybar is not ready.

Aybar: Willie Aybar played in a minor league game on Thursday instead of with the big league squad. (MLB.com)

Manager Joe Maddon said that Aybar was sent to a Minor League game on Thursday to get at-bats, and was evaluated by head athletic trainer Ron Porterfield.

“It’s more of a situational thing,” said Maddon. “We want him to hit the ball and run, not run hard, but just see how it feels.”

Aybar was 1-for-2 with two walks, and reported no setbacks following the game.

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