Recap: Tampa Bay Rays vs. Florida Marlins

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Recap: Marlins Series

1) First, James Shield is quite possibly Superman himself. James continued his impressive 2011 season with his second consecutive complete game. Sunday, Shields dominated the Marlins by only allowing 1 run on 4 hits. Shields has rebounded quite well from a lackluster 2010 season. He is without a doubt the Rays ace this year.

2) Not to take away from Shield’s performance but the Marlins morale was most likely at an all time low on Sunday. Marlins Manager Edwin Rodriguez unexpectedly resigned prior to Sunday’s game. The Marlins currently have a record of 1-18 in the month of June.

3) Casey Kotchman has been on fire of late. Kotchman went 2-3 in Sunday’s game and could be a player of the month candidate. In June, Kotchman is hitting .309 and in the last seven days Kotchman has hit. 364. The St. Petersburg native seems to have found a groove. "When it rains, it pours," Choate said. "You can use every cliche in the book. I felt I had him beat. They get paid to hit, like I get paid to pitch. Somehow he kept it inside the line. I'm not even quite sure how, because if I put it any more inside, it would have hit him.

4) Alex Cobb impressed again with six innings work allowing only 1 run. Cobb now has a 2-0 record with a 2.55 ERA. Neimann is back on the 25 man roster but can he get it going? If not we know that Cobb is a more than capable replacement.

5) Tampa handled the Marlins with relative ease sweeping the “OTHER” Florida team. Tampa’s bats were sporadic throughout the series but the pitching was lights out as always.

The Current State of the Tampa Bay Rays

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We have great pitching and……well…. we have a great manager. The Tampa Bay Rays are competing in the toughest division in baseball with great pitching and a great manager and that’s it! How is Tampa hanging in there when compared to the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox’s?

Success has a formula and for the Rays it’s their minor league system. The Rays are consistently producing nice arms. Some of this has to do with the past decade of high draft picks but more recently Mark Friedman has been quite savvy in collecting picks via trades. The problem is that the majority of the Rays prospects are pitchers. Granted, you can’t ever enough quality arms but the lack of bats coming up is of some concern. Besides Desmond Jennings, the Rays have NO other viable internal options to help the anemic Rays offense.

So where are the Rays in 2011? They are currently the mirror image of their farm system. Great pitching all around sprinkled with decent hitters here and there.
The lack of offense was highlighted in the most recent series against the division leading Boston Red Sox. The Rays were only able to produce two runs on seven hits during the first two games of the series. The trademark “Rays Manufactured Run” isn’t as prevalent without Crawford tearing up the bases. This was painfully obvious in last nights loss to Boston. In the bottom of the ninth, Elliot failed in his attempt to lay down the sacrifice bunt and advance both Kotchman and Upton. Sean Rodriguez and Justin Ruggiano followed by striking out to end the game. The difference in 2011 and 2010, 2009, 2008 is that in previous years we would have gotten the runners over and scored at least one run via a sacrifice fly.

It’s not that Tampa doesn’t have the ability to hit but rather the consistency in doing so isn’t there. The fact of the matter is that Upton, Jaso, Fuld, Johnson, Shoppach, Brignac, and Rodriguez are all below league averages in offensive production. Upton started off the year on a tear only to sizzle to a .143 BA this month. Furthermore, Longoria is sporting a .244/.358/.430 stat line. If the season ended today this would be his worst season to date. Without the unexpected bat of Matt Joyce the Rays could theoretically be completely out of the AL East Pennant race by now.

So where do we go from here? I would hold tight and stay the course. The Rays currently have an unofficial musical chairs game in the outfield with Desmond Jennings joining soon. With the July 31st deadline approaching the Rays may look to deal one of those outfielders in order to sure up other deficiencies such as offense. The problem is which outfielder should go?

BJ Upton is the player with the most trade buzz. Despite his bad press he is a solid center fielder. With the exception of 2009, Upton has had a WAR of four or better. Add in his outstanding defensive skills and above average base stealing and he actually out performs a list of very notable center fielders.
Notable Center Fielders that B.J. Upton had a better WAR than last year:

Denard Span
Alex Rios
Andrew McCutchen
Matt Kemp
Adam Jones

As previously mentioned, BJ has cooled down significantly but historically he has an annual slump that lasts between 30-45 days. There’s no doubt, trading Upton would render a good return of prospects but would Tampa be a better off?

The reason for the musical chairs in the outfield is because of the lack production at the plate. In May, Sam Fuld came out of nowhere and became a fan favorite yet his June has been so horrific he’s lucky to still be on the 25 man roster. Justin Ruggiano was called up before Desmond Jennings and has caught fire this month. Yet many wonder if he’s this month’s version of Sam Fuld. If BJ Upton is traded then Tampa is left with one of the two as the everyday left fielder. I know, scary thought.

Desmond Jennings is expected to arrive within weeks and is branded as the next Carl Crawford of BJ Upton 3.0. It’s very possible that Jennings catches on quick and mimics Atlanta’s Jason Heywards entrance to the bigs but can the Rays count on that? My feeling is “no they cannot”. Not only is this a tremendous amount of pressure on a rookie but it’s unrealistic no matter how touted the prospect is.

My feeling is that the Rays should keep BJ Upton unless they fall really behind in the standings. This would give the Rays an outfield of Jennings, Upton, and Joyce with Ruggiano as the 4th option. There isn’t a ton of power there but that’s a great defense, speed, and athleticism that could help jolt the Rays in producing more of their trademarked “Manufactured Runs”. In addition, Longoria is starting too heat up after his stint on the DL. If Zobrist, Damon, and Kotchman continue their current hitting trends the Rays would then have above average offensive production from every position minus shortstop and catcher. Even if Jennings struggles its unlikely that the offense will drop off if any. On the contrary, if Upton was traded the likelihood of a drop off is much more likely. It follows, that the Rays should benefit by simply staying put and waiting it out.

So what’s the current state of the Rays? Same old same old. There right in the thick of the AL East division despite a shoe string budget. The pitching is talented and deep with internal options waiting in the farm leagues. The hitting is inconsistent and options are limited with little spending money. Calling upon Jennings and waiting on Longoria and Upton to heat up could be enough fire power to compete during the pennant race in September. Especially with Joe Maddon at the helm.

Tampa Bay Rays vs. Boston Red Sox GAME 3 Recap

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WP- C. Buchholz (6-3)
LP- D. Price (7-6)
S- J. Papelbon (13)

The Tampa Bay Rays and Boston Red Sox have a history of playing hard against one another. Call it animosity. Call it little brother syndrome. Call it what you will. Every game between the two organizations is interesting and Thursday didn’t disappoint.

During the first inning, both benches were warned after David Price beamed Kevin Youkilis to load the bases. Price didn’t comment on the issue but speculation is that Price was returning the favor based on Tuesday night when Youkilis kicked the Rays Casey Kotchman in the left ankle, leaving a bruise. Though Price may have earned style points with his teammates he ultimately put himself and his team behind the eight ball for the remainder of the night.

By hitting Youkilis, Price loaded the bases, and eventually walked in the go ahead run. Also, the warning seemed to have affectively taken away Price’s ability and confidence to attack the inside of the plate. Even accidentally hitting a batter would result in a rejection and possible suspension and fines. The result was a rattled Price that never really settled down. He gave up a couple of runs in the second inning and was gone by the fifth.

Despite shaky pitching, the Rays fought back with Sam Fuld’s second inning double that scored Upton making the score 3-1. Buchholz wasn’t stellar but was affective in handling the Rays lineup through five innings. In the fifth Buchholz left the game with back soreness and Alfredo Aceves entered the game for the Red Sox’s. Tampa responded with a Casey Kotchman solo homerun that brought the Rays within one run.

The Rays kept the game close until the ninth when Adrian Gonzalez jacked a solo homerun of Kyle Farnsworth restoring Boston’s two-run lead. Despite giving up the additional run the Rays made it interesting in the bottom half of the inning. Kotchman led off with a double and BJ Upton reached base on an infield single. Unfortunately, Elliot Johnson responded with committing the ultimate sin. While attempting the sacrifice bunt he popped the ball up to record the first out without advancing any of the runners. Jonathan Papelbon followed by striking out Justin Ruggiano and Sean Rodriguez to end the game. Papelbon recorded his 13th save of the season. Boston took the series 2-1

Tampa Bay Rays Recap 6/11/2011

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W: J. Cruz (4-0)
L: J. Accardo (3-2)
S: K. Farnsworth (14)

Friday was not a good night. The Baltimore Orioles dominated the Rays in every aspect resulting in an embarrassing 7-0 shutout. The Rays were so atrocious I neglected the game recap as I felt it best to forget the night altogether. Thus, for purposes of Consider This! Consider That!; the Rays didn’t play on June 11, 2011. It was simply that bad.

Fortunately, Saturday was a different story. The night started off with Longoria driving in Johnny Damon after doubling to deep right. The run production continued in the 5th with Zobrist’s RBI double scoring Mr. Damon and Longoria promptly driving in Zobrist to give the Rays a 3-0 lead. With David Price pitching the game was Tampa’s to lose.

Entering Saturday, David Price had only allowed one career home run in 39 1/3 innings to the Orioles. Mark Reynolds promptly ended that streak with a 400 foot bomb in the 5th. After Reynolds four bagger Price became shaky and never settled down. He allowed another run in the fifth via an Adam Jones ground rule double scoring Snyder and in the 6th, Mark Reynolds returned to the plate where he took Price deep for the second time in the game. Baltimore took the lead 4-3 and Price was taken out of the game.

The Rays tied the game when Ben Zobrist scored on a Casey Kotchman double in the 7th. With David Price out of the game Maddon brought in Peralto to record the HOLD. However, Paeralto quickly loaded the bases and eventually WALKED in the go ahead run. Baltimore, AGAIN, took the lead 5-4.

Thank goodness for Ben Zobrist as he led of the 9th with a lead off triple eventually getting knocked in by another Casey Kotchman single. So for the next second time in three games the Rays were heading into extra innings.

In the 11th Zobrist recorded his fourth extra base hit of the night setting a franchise record for the Rays. Longoria followed by knocking in Zobrist for the go ahead run and THIS TIME the Rays wouldn’t relinquish it. Longoria scored off a Kotchman double adding another insurance run for Farnsworth to handle in the bottom half of the inning. Farnsworth recorded his 14th save of the year and the Rays pulled off another extra innings (W).

After the game, Joe Maddon almost ran out of breath trying to pass around the credit for the victory. "Just go around the field," Maddon said. "Whether it was Ruggiano going over the wall, B.J. doing the Willie Mays thing, Matt moving runners, Jaso really good game behind the plate ... every player contributed tonight to that win." In addition to Zobrist’s three doubles, triple, and 4 runs, Kotchman went 4-6 with two RBI’s; and Longoria went 3-5 with three RBI’s.

With tonight’s victory the Tampa Bay Rays ended the Orioles four-game winning streak. The series finale is tomorrow at Camden Yards 1: 35 EST.