That’s now 9 straight home games - 3 sweeps -that the Rays have won. I could really get used to all of this winning.
Table-Setters: Akinori Iwamura, Carl Crawford, and B.J. Upton each went 3-for-5 (combining for 9 of the Rays’ 15 hits). They also combined for 7 of the Rays’ 8 runs and all 3 of the Rays’ stolen bases. When the top of your lineup is doing that, you’re going to win ballgames. There’s no way around it.
The biggest blow, of course, came off of the bat of Carl Crawford, as he took a 5-4 deficiit and turned it into a 7-5 lead with one swing of the bat. Can you say locked-in? Cuz that’s where Crawford is right now - totally locked in. I know I’ve said this before, but with the way he seems to be hitting, it’s amazing that he’s not at .300 right now.
J.P. is O.K.: Another great relief appearance by J.P. Howell. as he came in a shut down the Angels for 3 innings, allowing just 1 measly hit. The win he earned for this game (his second) was well-deserved. The sheer consistency that he’s displayed (I think he’s really only had one really bad outing) leads me to believe that this isn’t just a flulky early-season start for Howell, but rather a sustainable level of success that gives the Rays a very key component to the bullpen. If you’ve got a pitcher who can come in and toss 3 innings of shutout ball on any night, that’s a weapon that provides you with a huge advantage.
Gabe Gross… has a great arm. And though his 1-for-4 line doesn’t really show it, he had some really nice at-bats up there today. I’m very interested to see how the playing time breaks down now that Cliff Floyd is back.
Speaking of Cornelius Clifford: It’s like he was never gone. Floyd hit two absolute ropes his first two times up, including a line drive that nearly removed Santana’s head. This is, of course, what he brings to the table: a professional hitter who is a true threat in the middle of the order. Let’s just hope he stays healthy.
Still slumpin’: Another 0-fer for Evan Longoria, which drops his batting average to .211. I know his OBP and SLG are still pretty good, but a few hits would be nice right about now. On the plus side, he didn’t strike out at all despite falling into a few 2-strike counts. He showed good plate discipline and put bat to ball when he had to.
Do the Rays even consider sending him back to Durham for a little bit when Willy Aybar returns? Despite the contract, he’s affordable this year and can still be optioned out. I’m not saying they will (or should) do it, but I also don’t think it’s totally out of the realm of possibility.
Tough Luck: Back comes G-Love, out goes Birkins. It was simply a numbers game, and the numbers didn’t add up for Kirt Birkins, though the argument could be made that the team is better right now with Birkins in the bullpen and Jason Hammel on waivers. The team wasn’t about to do that, though. Ben Zobrist could be in uniform by Monday night, also.
May 12th, 2008 at 7:00 am
Great game to watch. A true see-saw battle. I like the lineup presence with Floyd in there. He brings another element to the lineup that nobody else has this year. While Longoria has been struggling, he did exactly what he was supposed to do his first AB by driving in the run with a deep flyball. I think he’ll see some pretty good pitches if Cliff can keep on swinging the way he is, as well. But I doubt very seriously that they will send Longoria down when Aybar gets back. He is doing a great job defensively, and has been getting pretty timely hits, though not many, for the team when they are in need. The sacrifice fly yesterday doesn’t go down as a hit, but it was a great job with 2 strikes of just great situational hitting. He also had the walk-off bomb the other night, so he’s doing fine in my book.
And Scott, I am ready to say it now. I may have been wrong about J.P. Howell, and he is doing a magnificent job. I was one of the many people who thought he would be terrible, but I am wrong. However, I did say he would be better if his fastball got back into the upper 80’s, which he did the other night by hitting 88 on the gun a couple of times. But, I didn’t think he’d be this god, and I am able to say that I was wrong about him.
While I am happy to see Glover back, I think another person who is happy to see him is Dan Wheeler. He might actually get a night off tonight. I know he didn’t get into the game yesterday, but he did warm up for about 10 minutes in the bullpen. Wheeler and Percival have been very busy in the last week, and deserve a night off. I look for Glover to be the setup man tonight and Wheeler the closer, and tomorrow night Glover will setup for Percival. But what the heck, let’s just beat the Yankees by 4 or more runs tonight. Then we don’t have to worry about a closer.
May 12th, 2008 at 8:03 am
I think it useful to remember that the Rays have 5 pitchers (Balfour, Birkins, Munter, Ryu, Salas) at Durham with more than a “cup of coffee” experience in the majors which provides excellent depth in the event of injury or ineffectiveness. Balfour is currently doing very well, and Birkins showed promise in his brief outings in TB this year.
We also have 4 other players (DeFelice, Dan Johnson, John Rodriguez, Chris Richard) with more than a bit of major league time. Johnson is doing very nicely in Durham and Rodriguez was a valuable reserve in St. Louis for a couple of years. In addition, Ruggiano has been excellent since his demotion, hitting for average, getting on base, showing power and stealing bases.
I do not think any of these players rank as prospects (maybe Ruggiano) or project as regulars, but as backups readily available to the team they could become very valuable. And there are still Aybar and Reyes on the way, and maybe even Haynes stays in the organization. We saw Floyd’s impact yesterday, and that should be a big plus as well.
May 12th, 2008 at 9:10 am
Wow a Deadspin link, moving on up Scott
May 12th, 2008 at 9:56 am
Not bad for someone who’s been half-assing it for 2 weeks. :)
May 12th, 2008 at 10:58 am
Joe Maddon has been criticized plenty during his tenure as manager.
The time has come to give him alot of the credit for what this team
is accomplishing.