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 versus Red Sox series starts tonight
The Tampa Bay Rays are starting a home 6 game series and face none other than the Boston Red Sox tonight. The Rays really do have an opportunity to remove the Red Sox from the wildcard race with a three game sweep of the Red Sox, but this series is starting on a Friday, and we all know Tampa’s success on Friday nights, they have won once in the past 8 Fridays. Tonight though, we will see Tampa’s best pitcher David Price going up against the Red Sox’s best pitcher, Jon Lester.
Price, (15-5 2.97) will be looking for his elusive 16th win of the season after receiving 2 no decisions in his last two outings. Lester (13-8 3.26) is coming off a 2 inning 9 earned runs loss after getting shelled by the Toronto Blue Jays.
Tampa is going to need the pitching to be strong throughout the series, this is not the usual running team from Boston that Rays fans have been accustomed to seeing in the past. Injuries have really taken a toll on Boston this season, and they rely more on their bats than ever. That won’t be an easy chore though. Boston is second in MLB with 169 home runs, 2nd overall in RBI’s with 625 and 4th overall in hits with 1197. They also enter the Trop with a team .269 BA.
Boston really has overcome adversity this season, as much as I hate to admit. They looked like they were down for the count early on in the season, and yet despite all the injuries they have endured, they are only 5.5 games back in the wildcard race. Tampa will face the Sox 6 times in the next 12 games and really does control it’s own destiny. Tampa holds an 8-4 advantage over the Red Sox so far this season, however Boston is 3-3 at the Trop.
It’s time to put the shelling the Rays received on Wednesday behind them, we have a real chance here to put some serious distance between Boston and Tampa with the start of this series. We really don’t want these guys hanging around much longer. We can’t allow these guys to pick up any sort of momentum. Let’s watch Terry Francona speed eating his bubble gum tonight in a defeat for the Red Sox.
Rays-Rangers series opens with marquee pitchers duel
Tropicana Field will be buzzing tonight with the Tampa Bay Rays squaring off with the Texas Rangers and a marquee pitching matchup. David Price versus Cliff Lee, all the feeling of a playoff game. Texas enters the game with a comfortable 8.5 game lead in the AL West and appear to be cruising to a playoff berth. Tampa comes in to tonight’s game with the second best record in baseball at 71-46 and despite a rocky start in the month of August, have climbed back to only 1 game behind the New York Yankees.
The good guys will be wanting to see David Price (15-5 2.84) become the American League’s first pitcher to win 16 games this season. Tampa has been plagued with inconsistent offense in the past few weeks and facing the Rangers Cliff Lee (10-5 2.57) will be no easy task. While the Rays have already beaten Lee twice this year, he holds a 6-4 2.51 ERA lifetime against the Rays. Rays SP Price has never beaten the Rangers and holds a 0-2 9.45 ERA against Texas.
Price will need a better performance than his last outing against the Detroit Tigers. Price did record the win, but only managed to last 5 innings and was erratic at times. Texas starts out the three game series tonight, second in the majors with a team batting average of .276. Tampa will get to see former Rays prospect LF Josh Hamilton tonight. Hamilton has become the superstar that the Rays envisioned when they drafted him in the first round of 1999′s draft. Hamilton is batting .362 with 26 home runs and 80 runs driven in, that offensive production sure would look great in the Rays offense right now.
This will be the final series between the two clubs for the regular season, but there is a very good chance they could see one another in the post season. So, get you’re popcorn ready, this is going to be a great one tonight.
The anatomy of a Tampa Bay Rays inning
Tampa Bay Rays pitcher David Price recorded his 15th win last night, a team record. However it was a struggle for Price. He was often ahead in the count but was unable to finish off batters. Price did have 9 strikeouts, 5 after the first two innings, but he also had 4 walks and made 115 pitches in five complete innings.
To see what was happening to Price last night, you only need to look as far as the bottom of the second inning. The Tigers first batter was 2B, Carlos Guillen. Price jumped out to a quick 0-2 count, but was unable to find the corner of the plate and wound up walking Guillen. The second batter was newly acquired SS Jhonny Peralta, who lives off Rays pitching. Peralta hits a little pop up behind first base in foul territory. It should have been an easy out, but as both Matt Joyce and Ben Zobrist tried to make a play on the ball, neither player called the ball and it dropped harmlessly to the ground. Peraltra eventually walks.
Now the Tigers have runners on first and second no outs. In reality, neither runner should be on base. The Tigers next batter, Brandon Inge is Price’s first strikeout. Then Jeff Frazier strikes out and it appears Price will get out of the inning with no damage. Next up, C Gerald Laird who entered the game batting .185. Price hangs a pitch and Laird rips a double to left center field and just like that, it’s 1-0 Tigers. Price then manages to strike out leadoff man, Austin Jackson.
Price manages to strike out the side but it takes him nearly 30 pitches to do so. The first two batters of the inning should never have reached base. Price looks brilliant at times, but appears to lose his focus at other times. He needs to be pitching smarter, not harder. He needs to manage those 115 pitches and get into the 7th inning not just through the 5th.
David Price, Rays try to end skid against Detroit Tigers
The Tampa Bay Rays will try to stop a 5 game losing streak tonight against the Detroit Tigers in their first of a three game series. This will be the last time the Rays will see the Tigers this season. Tampa posted a 19-7 record in July which got them right back into the race for the AL East title.
David Price (14-5 2.82) takes the mound tonight for the Rays as Tampa tries to get back on track. In Prices’ last outing, he had a quality start, going 7 innings, striking out 7 and only allowing one run. Price got a no decision as the Rays went into extra innings and eventually lost the game 2-1. Hitting for the Rays has been abyssal for the Rays of late. In the last five games, Tampa is batting a team .149. Yesterday, the Rays barely managed to avoid getting no hit for the third time this season, managing a single with two outs in the ninth inning off Blue Jays P Brandon Morrow who threw 136 pitches.
The Sporting News Stan McNeal penned a column about three things David Price needs to do in order to take his game to the next level. McNeal says he needs more strikes, has to expand his arsenal and spend more time trying to learn hitters tendencies.
The Tigers will have Armando Galarraga (3-4 4.32) on the mound tonight. As if yesterday’s debacle in Toronto wasn’t enough here comes Galarraga. Though he has been struggling of late, Galarraga will forever be remembered for the “Non-Perfect” game he threw against the Cleveland Indians on June 2nd of this year. Galarraga is 1-0, 6.35ERA lifetime against the Rays. Price is 2-0 1.65 lifetime against Detroit.
Something has to give to the Rays right now and we have to hope that during their flight from Toronto to Detroit yesterday, the Rays found their bats, maybe they were lost in customs.
