Tampa Bay Rays future looks bright
Tampa Bay Rays fans realize that several key pieces of their team will be absent when the Tampa Bay Rays season starts in 2011, Carl Crawford being front and center but the core of the pitching staff is looking good for the future. Already locked in is David Price, Matt Garza, Wade Davis, and Rays fans got to see a taste of the future in the last month when Jeremy Hellickson was recalled twice from AAA Durham.
Jeremy Hellickson lived up to all of his billing. He started 4 games, he went 3-0 in his starts. Pitched 26.1 innings while logging 25 strikeouts and only allowing 4 walks. He finished his stint with the Rays this season with a 2.05 ERA in four starts. That’s a very solid start to what should be a very successful career in the majors.
But the Rays have another pitcher who is knocking on the door and who might make an appearance or two with the major league club next season. Matt Moore. Moore accomplished something which hasn’t been achieved in 5 years, he recorded 208 strikeouts in his minor league season. The last time such a milestone was reached was by Francisco Liriano in 2005.
Moore has played his season with the single -A Rays affiliate in Port Charlotte Florida, the Stone Crabs. Matt Moore has registered double digit strikeouts in 10 of his 26 starts this season in the minors. In his final regular season game for the Stone Crabs, he struck out 11, recorded 6 ground ball outs, and had one flyout in 6 innings of play.
Carl Crawford will be missed by the Rays after this season, even Carlos Pena could be gone, but with the likes of Jeremy Hellickson and Matt Moore due to join the rotation soon, I don’t expect the Rays to drift back into the dark ages anytime soon.
Rays bats on fire, 10-1 over Rangers
In case you missed the memo, the Tampa Bay Rays bats are on fire right now with a 10-1 rout over the Texas Rangers. Rays fans have got to love seeing this, if this is a possible preview of a playoff match-up. The Rays chased Rangers pitcher, Tommy Hunter after facing 1 batter in the forth. Hunter had been pitching well, winning 4 of his last 6 starts, but yielded 6 hits and 4 earned runs in his brief appearance Tuesday night.
Rays pitcher Matt Garza had a fantastic outing. Garza had been pitching well in his last few starts but couldn’t seem to record a win. Tuesday night though, Garza was on fire, logging 7 innings, 5 hits and 10 K’s on 102 pitches. Garza struck out 5 of the first 8 batters.
The Rays at the plate were electric, collecting 15 hits and drawing 7 walks. Tampa had 4 batters with multi hit games and LF Carl Crawford and 3B Evan Longoria each driving in three runs. Crawford was simply a double away from hitting for the cycle. And B.J. Upton, who is quietly raising his batting average, had a pair of doubles as well.
James Shields will be on the mound tonight as the Rays look for a series sweep. To say that Shields (10-11 4.98) has been inconsistent, would be an understatement. On August 1st, Shields pitched the best game I’ve ever seen him pitch against the New York Yankees. Shields pitched into the 8th inning, 4 hits and 11 strikeouts. He has followed up that brilliant performance with a pair of really terrible outings. Rocked for 8 earned runs in just 4 innings against Toronto, then surrendering 4 runs against Baltimore last week. A start by Shields is a roll of the dice as of late.
The Rangers will be starting Derek Holland (2-1 4.19) The 23 year old left hander is being recalled from the Rangers AAA affiliate in Oklahoma City where he has been rehabbing a shoulder injury. Holland is 2-0 against the Rays lifetime, but has a 5.73 ERA versus Tampa.
After tonight’s game, Tampa will travel to the West coast for a 6 game trip taking on the Oakland A’s and Los Angeles Angels.
Tampa Bay Rays LF Carl Crawford gives a shout out to RaysCentral.com
Tampa Bay Rays fans, did you know that one of your favorite players, LF Carl Crawford is embarking on a campaign to get to 7500 Twitter followers by the end of the month. Carl has done so much for this franchise, it’s time we give back to him. You need to hit him up on Twitter @CarlCrawford_
Carl has done so much for the Rays franchise and it’s time we give back to the All-Star left fielder. Hit him up on Twitter, it is the least we as Rays fans can do in order to help him out. Along the way towards 7500 followers, Crawford did give a shout out to RaysCentral.com. So come on Rays Nation, start following him on Twitter and lets let the Rays Nation represent!
Rays Hellickson dominant over Tigers
Could Tampa Bay Rays P Jeremy Hellickson have been any more dominant last night over the Detroit Tigers? He was the absolute model of efficiency allowing only 3 hits, striking out 7 and using only 86 pitches to log 7 innings and the win. He had the Tigers batters just baffled all night long. Tigers pitcher Max Scherzer did receive the loss but he did pitch very well, he is someone to keep a eye on in the future, Scherzer has some nice stuff.
The Rays bats were active with the Rays collecting 4 doubles and while the Rays did score 8 runs, the run production could have been much higher as Tampa was once again just 1-12 with RISP.
In a moment of hilarity, when are the outfielders going to start wearing cups? In the top of the third, B.J. Upton had a Carl Crawford moment at the plate. Upton fouled off a ball which immediately bounced right back at Upton, taking out Big Jim and the Twins. Upton managed to return to the batters box.
The Rays have a rare afternoon game today to finish up their series with the Detroit Tigers. The Rays have Matt Garza (11-6 3.88) squaring off against Justin Verlander (12-7 3.81) for the Tigers. This is Garza’s first appearance against the Tigers since no hitting them 3 weeks ago and is coming off a no decision last Friday against the Blue Jays despite a strong 8 inning no earned run start. Verlander is coming off a loss in his last start and has a 4-1 3.52 ERA record lifetime against the Rays.
Rays rebound over Tigers, Price sets record
The Tampa Bay Rays finally got one in the win column after beating the Detroit Tigers Monday night 6-3. The Rays must have gotten their bats returned to them by the Canadian customs authorities, because they managed 11 hits. Despite struggling and lasting only 5 complete innings, David Price collected his 15th win of the season, setting a single season win record for the Rays.Soriano closed it out in the 9th on 12 pitches, 10 for strikes to record his 32nd save of the year.
Tampa did collect 11 hits in 33 at bats but in what has really become the theme for the Rays in the last several weeks, those hits did not come at the most opportune times. Tampa was 2-10 with RISP. In order to jump start an anemic offense, manager Joe Maddon tweaked the top end of the line up by inserting C John Jaso in the leadoff position, Zobrist hit second and Crawford and Longoria both moved down a noth to hit third and fourth respectively. The results? the top four spots were a combined 7-18 4RBI’s and 3 runs scored.
In a move which was not unexpected, the Rays have placed pitchers Wade Davis and Jeff Niemann on the 15 day disabled list with their shoulder ailments. The Rays recalled Jeremy Hellickson for tonight’s start. Saturday’s scheduled start for Jeff Niemann will most likely be filled by Andy Sonnanstine. Detroit is starting pitcher Max Scherzer (7-8 4.19) His record might be hovering around the .500 level, but Scherzer is 5-2 2.23ERA in his last 10 starts.
