Tampa Bay Rays-John Jaso
The Tampa Bay Rays invited C John Jaso to spring training in March of this year, but he really wasn’t supposed to contend for the backup catching job, that was to be Kelly Shoppach’s job. However, in the early days of this season, Shppach went down with an injury requiring surgery and Jaso had his opportunity and Rays fans like what they see.
C Dioner “Navy” Navaro was nursing a leg injury and then was handed down a two game suspension by MLB for his interference with an umpire and Jaso’s string of starts was increased. Jaso has taken full advantage of his opportunity. In 10 games, Jaso has had 22 AB’s 10 hits, 10 RBI’s, a 9BB-1SO ratio and a cool .455 BA. Navarro was batting .136 prior to his suspension.
While Jaso’s defense in spring training was questioned, throughout his career, he’s always posted strong batting numbers. Jaso was selected by the Rays in the 12th round of the 2003 MLB draft. The Rays had the first overall selection that year and chose OF Delmon Young.
Jaso, 26, is a California native from Chula Vista. He started his minor league career with the Low-A Rays affiliate Hudson Valley Renegades where he managed a .304 BA. In 2005, he advanced to the Southwestern Michigan Rays where he was named an All-Star and batted .307 with 14 HR’s. In 2007, Jaso while playing for the AA Montgomery Biscuits managed a .316BA. Last year, in Durham, playing for the AAA Bulls, Jaso batted .266 in 331AB’s.
Last night was Jaso’s 5th consecutive start, and many if not all Rays fans would be very content to see Navy fully heal that leg injury before returning to the lineup, especially the way that Jaso is seeing the ball right now.
Rays overwhelm Royals
The Tampa Bay Rays cruised on Thursday night in the first of a 4 game series against the Kansas City Royals, defeating them 11-1. They Rays continued their torrid pace in MLB this year, increasing their record to 17-5, Not only is this the best start in Rays history, it is the best start in the majors since 2003. Tampa has outscored their opponents 72-20 in the last 8 games. The Rays continue to own the largest run differential in MLB at +69, the next closest team is the Cardinals at +33.Tampa leads the majors with a .338 team BA.
Matt Garza was the starter for the Rays and pitched 6 innings, surrendering a solo home run in the 4th to 2B Alberto Callaspo who went 378 feet to right field. Garza gave up 5 hits and struck out 9.
Every Rays starter had a hit tonight as they swatted 15 hits. Tampa scored 11 runs but did it all with the short ball, as no one hit a home run. OF Carl Crawford went 4 for 5 with 2 doubles and a triple, raising his average to .341 on the young season. Reid Brignac got the start at 2B and was 2 for 5 with 3RBI’s batting in the 39 spot. DH Pat Burrell collected 2 hits, continuing to fuel speculation that he must be juicing.
But the story which continues to persist, is the play of C John Jaso. Even with starting catcher Dioner Navaro cleared to play after his suspension, Jaso got his 5th consecutive start and responded with a 1 for 2 3BB 1RBI and 2 runs scored performance. This productivity cannot be ignored. Jaso is calling great games, playing tremendous defense and is a patient hitter at the plate. Let’s see how long manager Joe Maddon continues to use Jaso.
Friday night’s matchup is Jeff Niemann (1-0 3.27) for the good guys and Brian Bannister (1-1 4.13) for the Royals. Don’t forget that Saturday night is the first of the concert series at the Trop, ZZ Top will be performing after the game.
Tampa Bay Rays keep rolling 16-5
The Tampa Bay Rays finished a 2 game homestand with the Oakland Athletics tonight and took both games scoring 18 runs in 2 games. Tampa Bay will face Oakland again for 7 games but all 7 will be on the West Coast.
The Rays offense continues to just churn out the hits, 14 on Wednesday. 5 starters had multiple hits. Evan Longoria had a double and hit his 4th home run of the year raising his BA to .325. Carl Crawford went 2 for 4 raising his average to .313.
James Shields had a great game. He gave up a solo home run in the first inning and pitched 7 strong innings on 101 pitches. Shields tied his career strikeout total with 12K’s against the A’s.
And C John Jaso continued to make the case that he should be the starting catcher. He was 0-2 but had 2 RBI on a SF and drew a walk. In the top of the 5th inning, Jaso made a great play at the plate when the score was tied 2-2 to record the first out of the inning. In the bottom of the 5th, the Rays poured it on, scoring 6.
Next up, a 4 game series with the Kansas City Royals. The first game on Thursday night will feature Matt Garza (3-1 2.17) against Luke Hochevar (2-0 3.55) for the Royals.
And as always, All-Star ballots are up at MLB.com, vote for your Rays!
Tampa Bay Rays 10 games over .500
Tampa Bay squared off against the Oakland A’s in the first of a two game series with the Athletics. This will be the only appearance Oakland makes at the Trop this season.
Wade Davis improved his record to 2-1, getting the win after pitching 5 innings. Davis looked good except for the top of the third. After the Rays scored 4 in the bottom of the second, the A’s rallied for 4 of their own in the top of the third, based largely on the hitting strength of the bottom of their order last night. The A’s 9 hole batter, 2B Adam Rosales was 4 for 4 and raised his batting average to .313. Athletics’s leadoff man SS Cliff Pennington was a triple shy of hitting for the cycles last night after going 4 for 5 with 4 RBI’s.
Rays C John Jaso continues to impress. With Rays catch Dioner Navarro serving the first of a two game suspension, backup catch John Jaso continued his torrid hit streak, going 3 for 4 with a double.He is doing all he can to stay with this squad and he continues to play at this level, he might challenge Navy for the starting catchers position.
DH Pat Burrell entered Tuesday night’s game with a lifetime BA of .400 against A’s starting pitcher Ben Sheets (who, by the way could use some new pants that fit) and knocked a 3 run homerun continuing to raise his batting average. You know that Burrell has to feel the pressure this year with Hank Blalock in Durham currently hitting .396 after 53 AB’s.
The best start in Rays history continues to roll on. The Rays now have the best start in the AL East since the Yankees started the 2003 season 17-3. Tonight’s matchup will see Rays SP James Shields (2-0 3.96 ERA) square up against A’s P Dallas Braden (3-0 2.77 ERA)
Don’t forget to visit MLB.com and fill out your all-star ballot. We’ve got to load the AL roster with the Rays players.
Tampa Bay Ray Navarro suspended
Rays catcher Dioneer Navaro has been suspended for 2 games by MLB officials this afternoon.
On Friday, Navarro was ejected after reportedly making contact with plate umpire Dan Bellino. The suspension is set to begin with this evening game versus Oakland.
The Rays had to option RP Mike Eckstrom back to Durham and call up C Jose Lobaton to serve as John Jaso’s backup.
