Rays of Light

[Grapefruit League] Twins 4, RAYS 3

The Headline: Jeff Niemann shines again

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Minnesota	0	1	1	0	2	0	0	0	0		4	11	0
Tampa Bay	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	1		3	7	0

Scott Kazmir made his spring training debut (as did Joe Nelson and Dan Wheeler) and Jeff Niemann was great yet again. With each outing he comes closer and closer to locking up a 25-man roster spot coming out of the spring.

Four Strong: As mentioned, Niemann went 4 strong innings, allowing just 2 hits and 1 walk without plating anyone. That brings him up to 9 innings of work this spring with just 1 earned run. He only struck out one of the Twins he faced, but considering as a team the Rays only fanned 3, you don’t want to look into that too much.

Between this outing, and the recent comments that Joe Maddon made about David Price, it’s becoming increasingly clear that Niemann and Jason Hammel are clearly the front-runners for two spots on the active roster. It all comes down to where the front office (and Maddon) sees Niemann slotting in the future. If they think he’s likely a late-inning shut-down kind of reliever, chances are they’ll stick him in the pen and give him a chance to latch on for the long haul. With the plethora of starting arms available to the club (see: Bulls, Durham and Biscuits, Montgomery), it may very well bne that Niemann’s best spot is in the bullpen. I actually thought they’d go with him as a starter first, but I’m starting to warm up to the idea of him in the bullpen.

Back on the Hill: Kazmir’s spring debut was highly uneventful, tossing a little over 30 pitches in 2 innings of work, allowing a run. I don’t think anyone on the club is looking at the results so much as they are looking at how he feels, and no one has said thing one about any problems, so I’m just going to assume that Kaz is fine. At his current pace, Kaz should make at least 4 or 5 more starts before the training season is over, which gives him plenty of time to build up his arm strength for the first series against the Red Sox.

Ugly stat line of the day: Reid Brignac is now hitting .053 on the spring. Whatever happened to this guy?

Ugly stat line of the day, part 2: Gabe Kapler is only at .056 right now. Has this opened up at least a small door for Justin Ruggiano to make the big club? I doubt it.

Elliot Johnson loves Spring Training: Remember how E.J. had a big-time spring last year? Well, he hit home run number 3 today, trying to prove that he’s still got some value left to the Rays. You could argue that he’s a better insurance policy in the even that Ben Zobrist gets hurt than Adam Kennedy is. I’m not saying that I would argue that… just saying that you could.

Next up: The Rays host the Blue Jays in Port Charlotte on Tuesday. Some guy named Matt Garza takes the mound for the defending American League Champions.

Tags: Twins
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Game #15: Looking for a Twin killing

Al Reyes is on the way to the disabled list, and Kirt Birkins is on his way up. (Source)

“Al Reyes has been placed on the 15-day DL with a shoulder impingement (basically an inflammation around the rotator cuff that causes pain when you lift your arm) and Kurt Birkins has been activated from the DL to take his roster spot.”

Also, if Mark Lancaster’s lineup is correct, B.J. Upton has been moved into the number 3 spot ahead of Carlos Pena.

Thanks to the infinite wisdom of the MLB schedule-makers, the Rays head to Minnesota for a two-game set before returning home to take on the Chicago White Sox. That’s right, the Rays are going to head to the midwest for 2 games, then return home to play games against another midwest team. Makes perfect sense, doesn’t it?

The Rays need to try to bounce back from back-to-back disappointing losses to the Yankees. The Rays have their best pitcher on the hill trying to do that, as James Shields takes on Livan Hernandez. Hernandez is pitching way over his head right now – and getting a little lucky – and is due to come back down to earth. How about we make that happen tonight?

What to watch for: The Twins’ offense – though it has two All-Stars in the middle – is pretty weak. James Shields should be able to carve it apart.

Jonny Gomes was 2-for-3 with a home run in his only game against Livan Hernandez. If he’s not in the lineup, Joe Maddon should be drug-tested.

Scouting Report on today’s starters from MLB.com:
James Shields - Currently the Rays’ top pitcher, Shields is coming off a solid performance in his ’08 Tropicana Field debut, allowing two earned runs over six innings vs. Baltimore. The right-hander will take the mound next vs. Minnesota, a team he has traditionally struggled against. Shields is 1-1 in two games against the Twins, posting a 6.71 ERA.

Livan Hernandez- In his first road start for the Twins, Hernandez looked like his transition to the American League has been no sweat. Facing the Royals for the second straight time, Hernandez pitched seven scoreless innings while allowing seven hits and walking just one. The Cuban right-hander continues to shut down opponents with his slow-moving curveball and ability to mix in all of his pitches. Next up will be a start at the Metrodome, where he faces the Rays. He’s 2-2 with a 5.77 ERA in six career starts against Tampa Bay.

Check out the Rays’ career numbers against Livan Hernandez.

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: Twins
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