RAYS 5, Jays 4: It wasn’t pretty, but I’ll take it
By Scott Caruso | May 7th, 2008 | Posted in Game Recap
If we win one today, that’s two in a row. If we win one tomorrow, that’s called a winning streak. It has happened before.
Between Sonny’s almost-inability to hold a lead and Carlos Pena’s inability to make any kind of contact, this wasn’t the prettiest win I’ve ever seen, but I’ll definitely take it. It’s just nice to get off of the snide.
Andy Sonnanstine… wasn’t spectacular by any metric, but he did just enough to win, which is what you have to do in this league. His fastball was a little straighter tonight. His curveball was a little less curvy. But, his control was there and he gutted his way through 6 innings. He’s in many ways the anti-Edwin Jackson (and I’m not just talking about pure stuff). When he doesn’t have his best movement, he can still find a way to win games. When Edwin doesn’t have it, he gives up 7 runs in 3 innings. That’s why I always feel a little bit more comfortable with Sonny on the mound, even though I know Edwin has the potential to throw a 3-hitter on any night. Sonny’s almost always going to battle, and you need to have one or two starters like that.
*Guitar-riff* – I love Eric Hinske. A double and a homer (7 of each now) bring his slugging percentage up to .622. And, he stole third base! Where would this team be without him? Probably not 17-15, I’d bet.
El Whiff-o – Okay, this Carlos Pena nonsense is going too far. A Golden Sombrero? Again? He pretty much just undid all of the progress he had begun to make during the Boston series. He’s now struck out the Gomes-esque 39 times in 111 at bats, which simply is not going to fly. He needs to find himself, and find himself fast because the Rays really need his bat to comealive.
Of course, Pena wasn’t the only guy with “K” on his mind… All told, the Rays struck out 14 times (including an absolutely atrocious one by Evan Longoria in the second). I know Burnett’s good and all, but this team has been very strikeout-happy lately, to the point where their at-bats are becoming increasingly less productive. Contact boys, contact.
He had a good night, but why is he batting leadoff again? Look, I’ll give Aki credit – he had a very good night and was probably the MVP of this game. But, his strikeout in the first inning got me thinking that he’s been absolutely abysmal in the first inning this year, so I went and I checked out the stats. Sure enough, he’s been downright HORRENDOUS leading off the game:
This year: 3-for-28, 1 R, 3 BB, 5 K… .107/.194/.107
Last year: 24-for-93, 14 R, 7 BB, 31 K… .258/.317/.398
Obviously he didn’t knock the doors off of the place last year, but at least he was servicable in that spot. Right now, he’s just plain terrible. Time to think about making some kind of change, I think. (Hinske to leadoff? Are you pondering what I’m pondering?)
Pen Pals: Dan Wheeler and Troy Percival continue to amaze. If you would’ve told me that Perci would be scoreless through 11 innings, I would’ve told you that you’re insane. I worry a bit about Wheeler having to throw 2 innings in every outing, but it doesn’t seem to be affecting him yet. Plus, that’ll change when Al Reyes comes back, like it or not.
Has anyone else noticed… that even though he’s not swinging the bat all that well, Gabe Gross is actually walking quite a bit? In 26 plate appearances, he’s walked 5 times. If he were hitting even a little bit right, his OBP would be approaching or even in the .400s.
May 7th, 2008 at 7:36 am
I notice that Papa Joe continues to let Gross hit (whiff?) LHP. Even tho the splits say that you or me have as good a shot at getting a base hit as him… I am starting to come around to the idea as “Ruggiano the prospect” as apposed to Ruggiano the every 5th day RF for Tampa Bay” meaning this… If they are going to treat him like any other super prospect (hasn’t he earned that at least?)then he needs to play every day at Durham so that he can be given a TRUE shot at RF when the front office deems ready. For right now giving Hinske the semi-full time gig is the best option for when Floyd comes back. I am guessing Haynes will be given his walking papers then, and we have Gomes and Gross as 4th OF.
About Pena… It looks like he is swinging at an asprin Tablet right now… He is not seeing the ball at all, but you hate to give him too many days off because he is awesome defensively. Maybe a drop in the order a few slots to calm him down some? He just looks lost right now… Was it too early to sign him to all that jack after one solid season??? Is he a one hit wonder? I sure hope not…
Also believe that Barty and Iwa should flip flop in the order… let Hinske clean up while he is hot and move ‘los to 5 or 6 (Longoria might need a drop too)
thats all I got this morning… =)
May 7th, 2008 at 8:10 am
I don’t see Pena as a one-hit wonder, but I do think last year was the best we’ll ever see from him. Seeing him struggle right now makes me think he’ll probably be in the .240-.250 range at the seasons end, but he will probably end up with 30+ HR and 100+ RBI. With his defense, he still earns the money that was given to him. As the season goes, I think you will see him get hot and he’ll escalate that average some. But I do think he needs to drop in the order some, maybe to 7th would be fine.
I do agree that Bartlett and Aki should be flip-flopped in the order because Aki is horrible to start off a game. It’s funny you brought up those numbers because I was just thinking about that yesterday and was going to comment on it. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Bartlett’s best year of offense was when he was in the leadoff spot. He at least deserves a shot to see if he can be the spark-plug for the offense. Aki’s best numbers last year were at the bottom of the order, so maybe that will get him going again. I also think Navarro deserves to a move up in the order to 6th. Maybe he can be the one to protect Longoria. Anyways, here is another projected lineup change for Joe “I will never get too upset with a call when I should” Maddon:
1. Bartlett SS
2. Crawford LF
3. Upton CF
4. Hinske DH
5. Longoria 3B
6. Navarro C
7. Pena 1B
8. Gross RF
9. Aki 2B
Did anybody else see how bad of a call that was last night? How bad of a call does it have to be for Maddon to show any type of emotion? The was possibly the worst call I’ve seen, on a great play, in a long time. I thought that Maddon would finally show a little bit of life, but boy, was I wrong. I’m not saying he needed to get tossed, but I mean, come on!!! Don’t just come out of the dugout just to whisper in the umpire’s ear for 5 seconds and then go back. Let your team know that you give a crap that there are constantly bad calls against them. That was blatantly bad!!!
May 7th, 2008 at 11:12 am
Look I know he has some drawbacks, but I’ll again point out that CC likes batting leadoff, he is an intimidating first batter (a poor man’s Ricky Henderson), and is way better in starting off a game than Aki. I actually like Aki (who can handle the bat) in the 2 hole. Just try it out and see if it works. Starting the game off 0-for the season isn’t working.
Is it too early to ask for the wild card standings in the left-hand column?
May 7th, 2008 at 12:09 pm
Carl likes batting leadoff?? About as much as he likes playing CF. He hates batting leadoff and if he had his way he would be the #3 hitter. I agree with you that he should bat leadoff, but he changes his approach and it is bad for the team. I honestly like the idea of batting Upton leadoff. He would kinda be like Soriano with the speed and power but I think BJ is much more selective in what he hits. There are times when you see him battling at the plate and you just know he is going to drive one out or for extra bases.
May 7th, 2008 at 2:42 pm
Since there was no Lunch Break Topic today, I think I’ll throw a topic out that should probably be discussed. If the Rays are within 5 games of the AL East title when the All Star Break arrives, who is the one position player and/or pitcher that we should go after via the trade market? And what would you be willing to give up to acquire them?
I, personally, have a list of names, but will keep it to one position player and one pitcher.
Position player- Raul Ibanez from SEA for Justin Ruggiano and a low-level prospect
Pitcher- Randy Wolf from SD for Fernando Perez and Mitch Talbot
I think Ibanez would give us a veteran bat with plenty of pop, that is very reliable. He’s about as consistent as they come, and tears the cover off the ball when he’s at the Trop. The Mariners don’t appear that they are going to live up to their offseason hype, and could be out of the race rather quickly. I figure this is a place where Ruggiano can go and be a left-fielder for a while, and it really helps out both clubs. The M’s have pitching, but they really don’t have the bats to take them anywhere yet. Ruggiano could develop into one for them as they will probably look to dump guys like Ibanez and Sexson pretty soon. If Floyd gets healthy and proves to be the reliable left-handed bat the lineup is looking for, this could very easily be Xavier Nady from PIT, or Juan Rivera from LAA.
The Randy Wolf acquisition will depend on if he’s healthy at the All Star Break. I know we have plenty of arms in the system, but you only get a chance to make a run at a division title every so often, especially in the AL East. While I think the Rays could obviously just hold pat and see where this team takes us, I do think they will make the move if they think we have a real shot at a title. I chose Wolf because he’d give us another lefty in the rotation, and he’s a veteran who has been around the block a time or two. And with the Padres playing so terrible thus far, and not looking like they will be able to hit their way out of a wet paper bag, I think Wolf will be the pitcher of choice to get a chance to go into a playoff race. We have the ammunition to make a deal like this work. The Padres need a CF, and we just happen to have one who is close to major league-ready.
The funny thing about both these proposed deals is that we would still have all of our top prospects, with plenty to spare.
May 7th, 2008 at 3:16 pm
Good topic AJ…
I am not willing to part with young Outfielders anymore, especially after the nightmare we have had in RF this year (which hopefully will be resolved soon) I like Ruggiano too much to trade him, Perez I’d consider dealing, I think that the Rays Brass would only take on good pitching, and would not touch the position players we have. Maybe a Talbot or Niemann would be dangled to get a Randy Wolf (who I like) or similar… But I wouldn’t mess with position players, its rare they give you that extra uumph to get you in anyway, then you are just missing prospects…
May 7th, 2008 at 6:14 pm
Sean — CC has expressed a desire to bat higher rather than lower in the order throughout his career. I think your post is pretty much directly contradicted by his comments in the SP Times on 3/7/07 SPT:
“I think the ideal situation is they want me to hit second and Delmon third so we might as well start that process,” Crawford said. “They were a little worried about that because of the way Delmon free swings a lot, but I guess it’s worth a try. … He really wants to hit third; you don’t want them to switch you back, so you’re going to have to change something. … There definitely has to be a happy balance. If not, I’m going to be asking to get back in that leadoff spot. I have to be able to play my game.”