The Rays have signed a bunch of their later round draft picks one week after the 2009 amateur draft. So far they have locked down 14 draft picks from rounds 12 or later. All of their signees have been collegiate players, which shows a commitment to players that have developed experience against top-quality young players. I’ve always been of the mindset that the difference between the high school competition vs. collegiate competition is far greater than the difference between collegiate and professional.
The Rays looked like they were going to pull off another victory over the division rival New York Yankees, but the bullpen imploded in the 8th inning and blew a 2 run lead as the Yankees came away with the 4-3 win. Grant Balfour recorded just 1 out while surrendering 3 earned runs to the Yankees. His ERA is now at 6.31. Ben Zobrist was 0 for 4 with 3 strikeouts, while Carl Crawford was 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts. I think it’s usually a bad sign when Carl Crawford starts to hit a few home runs, because he tends to spend the next month trying to be Babe Ruth. I want to give him the “Willie Mays Hayes Talk” from Major League. “You should be hitting the ball on the ground and running them out. Every time you pop one up you owe me 20 pushups”. Crawford means a lot more to this team as a contact hitter with lots of speed than a slugger who strikes out a lot.
The amateur draft is just 8 days away, and the Rays have the 30th, 78th, and 108th picks, along with the 28th pick in each round after that. They are looking for a catcher, and Tony Sanchez from Boston College might be the right fit. He’s solid defensively, but there are some questions about his hitting. He’s got quick hands but is somewhat lacking in the power department. I’m not a hitting guru, but I can see some problems in his swing from the clip below. I’d like to see his back elbow stay a little bit more “tucked” into his side. Extending it gives him a very “armsy” swing, which is probably why he struggles to drive the ball far. He’ll also want to work on not dropping the barrel down and dragging it through the zone, as the smaller sweetspot on a wood bat will punish him for that if he doesn’t make perfect contact.
Rays second baseman Akinori Iwamura was injured while attempting to turn a double play on Sunday and will miss the entire rest of the season with a torn ligament in his knee. More to follow…
Carl Crawford’s stolen base streak came to an end last night, but he more than made up for it by hitting a go-ahead home run against Yankee reliever Mariano Rivera in the 9th inning. Evan Longoria followed up Crawford’s first home run since last June with one of his own as the Rays held on for a 6-4 victory. The win gave the Rays a sweep of their division rivals and put them right back into the heat of things in the AL East. The Yankees are now reeling after their 5th straight loss, although they will have Alex Rodriguez back in the lineup tonight in Baltimore.
Rays stolen base specialist Carl Crawford has 20 stolen bases on the season and is on pace to steal about 100 bases this year, which would be the first time that has been accomplished in 22 years. Still, in an interview he gave recently to MLB.com, he says he doesn’t expect to reach that mark. I’m inclined not to believe him, because he doesn’t seem to be showing any signs of slowing down. If anything, I think he’s caught the stolen base bug. It seems that every time he gets on first base now, he’s immediately looking to steal. That might mean waiting a few pitches (he knows that pitchout is probably coming on a 0-1 count), but chances are at some point he’s going. What’s weird is that everybody in the stadium knows this, yet he’s still 20 for 20 on the season.
Crawford will have a challenge tonight: a lefty on lefty matchup against Yankees hurler Andy Pettitte. Even if he gets on base, he’s going to have some trouble stealing on Pettitte, who picks off the most baserunners every season because umpires won’t call his obvious balk pickoff move. Whatever happened to “don’t break the plane” and “don’t step towards home”? I’m convinced Pettitte could take a full lunge towards home, rotate his shoulders and fling the ball to first and the umpire would let it slide because Andy Pettitte is Andy Pettitte. Jose Molina is also a great catcher for nabbing runners, except he’s been really dinged up in the past few days and hasn’t looked good throwing the ball down to second base. I think his shoulder and/or collarbone is still bruised from a brutal foul tip he took in the game against the Red Sox on Tuesday.
Alright, so here’s what happened: the Rays Carl Crawford had one of the greatest individual moments in team history, tying the major league record for stolen bases in a single game with 6 on Sunday against the Red Sox. Where was I with commentary on this event? Well, I was in bed with some sort of flu-like illness. I don’t know where I got it from, but I have been sleeping with a lot of pigs lately. Anyway, I’m back.
The Rays beat the Orioles today by a score of 6-3 with the help of starter Matt Garza, who pitched 8 innings of 4-hit ball and absolutely carried the fantasy league team of the guy I’m playing this week. This is the same guy who grabbed Garza one pick before I was about to draft him. Super.
Carl Crawford had another stolen base in this game, his 19th of the season. He’s on pace to steal 100 bases this season, and if he stays healthy there’s a chance he might do it. He seems to have caught the stealing “bug”, something I’ve only noticed in a few other players in the past 25 years. They include names like Kenny Lofton and Otis Nixon (who also had a 6 sb game). Once these guys get into a rhythm stealing bases, they seem to go every chance they get. Crawford isn’t reckless with his steal attempts either; his 19 stolen bases have come on exactly 19 attempts this year. That’s a sign that this guy is not only really fast (which we all knew), but is also reading pitchers really well when he’s on first base.
The Rays lost today, but even worse B.J. Upton left the game in the 2nd inning with tightness in his quadriceps. He’s already missed 6 games this season while recovering from offseason surgery on his left shoulder.
A death in Evan Longoria’s family will cause him to miss games on Wednesday and Thursday. He is expected to be back with the Rays on Friday.
Matt Garza pitched well but couldn’t match the Yankees A.J. Burnett, who had a no hitter going into the 7th inning, as the Yankees beat the Rays by a score of 7 to 2. The Rays are now 4-4 on the season and tied with the Yankees for 3rd place in the ultra-competitive AL East. Burnett ended up striking out 9 Rays in 8 innings of work on his way to the victory. Nick Swisher had a double and a homer and might just be the hottest player in baseball right now. He also had a homer the night before against the Rays and also pitched a scoreless inning of relief.
The Rays bats were absolutely anemic last night. Even after breaking up the no hit bid, the Rays only managed 3 hits, all of them singles. They’ll need to do better today as they face aging lefty Andy Pettitte.
- June 2009 (3)
- May 2009 (4)
- April 2009 (6)
