Baseball Toaster was unplugged on February 4, 2009.
For several seasons now, the buzz around the Tampa Bay Devil Rays has been their crop of young talent that has been bubbling just below the major league surface. One can trace it all the way back to 2002 when 20-year-old Carl Crawford made his major league debut and 25-year-old Aubrey Huff hit .313/.364/.520 with 23 homers. The next year, Huff hit 34 dingers and drove in 107 runs, Crawford played his first full season, stealing 55 bases, and 21-year-old Rocco Baldelli finished third in the Rookie of the Year voting. Meanwhile, the 2002 draft brought Jonny Gomes, who made his debut the next year, B.J. Upton, Elijah Dukes and Jason Hammel, and 2003 added Dmitri Young's little brother Delmon. Upton made his major league debut in 2004 and at that year's trading deadline the Devil Rays swiped 20-year-old lefty phenom Scott Kazmir from the Mets for Victor Zambrano and Bartolome Fortunato.
Still, the Devil Rays' bright future seemed perpetually over the horizon. That is until this year's trading deadline. On July 12 they traded the now 29-year-old Huff, whose production had been in steady decline since his break-out 2003 season, to the Astros, getting pitcher Mitch Talbot and 25-year-old shortstop Ben Zobrist in return, clearing room for the relocated shortstop Upton at third base in the process. At the deadline, just after their last series with the Yankees, they traded 30-year-old shortstop Julio Lugo to the Dodgers, clearing space for Zobrist. In late August, they sent three-true-outcomes hero Russell Branyan to the Padres, clearing room for Delmon Young in right field. They also recalled failed 25-year-old fireballing starter Seth McClung and made him the team's closer, while recalling starters Hammel and J.P Howell, acquired earlier in the year from the Royals for no-hit speedster Joey Gathright, and installed them in the rotation beside fellow rookie Jamie Shields.
At long last, the Tampa Bay youth movement has begun in earnest. Should Elijah Dukes win the first base job out of camp next year, something the Devil Rays cleared room for by releasing Travis Lee on Sunday, the D-Rays could have a 2007 opening day line-up whose oldest member is 26-year-old DH Jonny Gomes. Dig (with ages and 2006 stats):
1B - Elijah Dukes, 22, AAA: .293/.401/.488
2B - Jorge Cantu, 25, MLB: .247/.293/.408
SS - Ben Zobrist, 25, AAA: .323/.428/.456
3B - B.J. Upton, 22, AAA: .269/.374/.394
C - Dioner Navarro, 23, MLB: .257/.340/.367
RF - Delmon Young, 21, AAA: .316/.341/.474
CF - Rocco Baldelli, 25, MLB: .308/.344/.509
LF - Carl Crawford, 25, MLB: .305/.349/.479
DH - Jonny Gomes, 26, MLB: .216/.325/.431
SP - Scott Kazmir, 23, MLB: 3.24, 10-8, 144 2/3 IP, 132 H, 52 BB, 163 K
Gomes, who is on the DL due to season-ending shoulder surgery, is a good bet to revert back to his 2005 form (.282/.372/.534) in 2007, which leaves just Cantu, who slugged .497 in his first full season last year, and Upton, who hit .303/.392/.490 at triple-A Durham last year, who will need to shape up at the plate, assuming, of course, that Young, Dukes and Zobrist will continue to hit in the majors.
Indeed, the future looks bright in Tampa Bay, but unlike the Indians, who have undergone a post-contention surge due to their own infusion of youth--players such as Ryan Garko, Jeremy Sowers, and Tom Mastny--the Devil Rays have yet to enjoy the on-field results. The D-Rays have played .500 ball since the last day of August, but that was preceded by a six-game losing streak and the only series they've won since the trading deadline have come against the freefalling Red Sox, the Rangers and the Mariners, the last of whom also swept them in that span.
Part of the reason is that Gomes and Kazmir are on the DL and Upton and Zobrist have yet to start hitting. Meanwhile 25-or-younger hurlers Jason Hammel, Jamie Shields and lefty J.P. Howell have been something short of a revelation and, while Seth McClung is six-for-six in save opportunities and has 3.34 ERA since the beginning of August, he's also walked 15 men in his 16 2/3 innings over that span, one more than he's struck out.
Tonight the Rays send 28-year-old Tim Corcoran to the hill in the Bronx. Corcoran last started against the Yankees in New York and was lit up for five runs (three earned) on seven hits and a staggering six walks in just 3 1/3 innings. While his starts since then have been something of a mixed bag, he hasn't won since doing so in relief against the Yankees back on July 9.
The Yankees are countering with Mike Mussina, who will be pitching on six days rest after complaining of shoulder soreness after his first post-DL start in Kansas City a week ago. Moose pitched five tentative innings in that start, allowing four runs on eight hits and a walk. Mussina leads a brigade of returning Yankees, the most notable of whom is Hideki Matsui, who will be activated for tonight's game and is expected to start at DH. Jason Giambi, who received another cortisone shot in his left wrist in Baltimore, is expected to start at first base. Meanwhile, Gary Sheffield has been cleared to take live batting practice and, for those who missed it, Miguel Cairo was activated before last night's game, which also saw Alex Rodriguez make a triumphant return to the line-up. Completing the injury report, Mariano Rivera will again throw off flat ground tomorrow in the hope of working off a mound over the weekend and returning to action next week.
Of course, tonight it will be all-eyes on Matsui, who Will Carroll reports showed "some lingering effects of the wrist fracture, such as a noticeable loss of bat control and power" while rehabbing in Trenton, but adds that the Yankees are unconcerned and hope to allow Matsui to get his swing back by starting 4 or 5 games a week at DH over the remainder of the season. As we saw earlier this season when Derrek Lee came back early from a similar injury and hit .227/.326/.320 over 20 games, wrist injuries are hell on hitters, resulting in exactly the short of loss of power and control that Carroll reports. That said, Matsui's dedication to staying in shape while on the DL has been tremendous. If he is unable to recover his full abilities before the end of the season, it is through no fault of his own. Meanwhile Lee's second come back (.370/.388/.652 over 13 games thus far) bodes well for a complete return to form for Hideki in 2007.
Tampa Bay Devil Rays
2006 Record: 57-86 (.398)
2006 Pythagorean Record: 57-86 (.402)
Manager: Joe Maddon
General Manager: Andrew Friedman
Home Ballpark (2005 Park Factors): Tropicana Field (99/99)
Who's Replaced Whom?
Current Roster
1B – Ty Wigginton (R)
2B – Jorge Cantu (R)
SS – Ben Zobrist (S)
3B – B.J. Upton (R)
C – Dioner Navarro (S)
RF – Delmon Young (R)
CF – Rocco Baldelli (L)
LF – Carl Crawford (L)
DH – Greg Norton (S)
Bench:
R – Damon Hollins (OF)
S – Tomas Perez (IF)
L - Kevin Witt (1B)
R – Josh Paul (C)
R - Shawn Riggans (C)*
Rotation:
R – Jae Weong Seo
L – Casey Fossum
R – Tim Corcoran
R - Jason Hammel
R – Jamie Shields
L - J.P. Howell
Bullpen:
R - Seth McClung
R – Brian Meadows
R – Shawn Camp
L – Ruddy Lugo
L – Jon Switzer
R – Dan Miceli
R - Chad Orvella
R – Edwin Jackson*
R - Brian Stokes*
R - Juan Salas*
15-day DL: L – Scott Kazmir, R - Jonny Gomes (OF), R – Travis Harper
60-day DL: R – Shinji Mori, R – Tyler Walker
*September call-ups
Typical Lineup
R - Rocco Baldelli (CF)
R - Delmon Young (RF)
L - Carl Crawford (LF)
S - Greg Norton (DH)
R - Ty Wigginton (1B)
S - Dioner Navarro (C)
R - Jorge Cantu (2B)
R - B.J. Upton (3B)
S - Ben Zobrist (SS)
...and to see our man godzilla back in action.
In other news, my company has decided to (like, during this work day) block anything related to tinyurl.com... I am pissed.
"He picks up a bus and he throws it back down
Wades through the buildings to the center of town
Ohhhh no, they say he's got to go
Oh no Godzilla!
Ohhhh no.... There goes Tokyo....
Oh no Godzilla!"
And Mike Celizic says Big Papi's got a case of sour grapes:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14791298/
Damn, if that doesn't say it all about this team's amazing season. Hope they finish in style starting tonight.
Johnny Damon CF
Derek Jeter SS
Bobby Abreu RF
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Jason Giambi 1B
Jorge Posada C
Miguel Cairo 2B
Hideki Matsui DH
Melky Cabrera LF
Really?
Okay.
Not sure which is correct...
/sarcasm
Gameday is showing Cano
But Cairo's got a belly full of guts.
G'bombee and Godziller back on the same night? Go Yanks!
Jeter
Abreu
A-Rod
Giambi
Sheffield
Matsui
Posada
Cano
Melky is ass out. Sheff has to play the outfield if Matsui is the DH, and Giambi plays 1B. Joe has already pledged that Matsui is only the DH. What happens?
A man can dream, can't he?
He's had one at Chicago and one at Seattle since becoming a Yankee.
The crowd is LOUD.
Bullpen warming.
Welcome back, Godzilla.
Apparently I didn't miss much.
You'd have to consider this a good line-up. I mean, even if they don't get on base for the rest of the game.
95 That's right, technically!
But let's face it, what we're interested in is the batting average. And it's a shame to have Jeter miss the chance to fatten up the avg on these pitchers.
110 Too early to say, ask it again in three innings.
Did I mention how safe I feel?
"In the fourth, after Babich threw three wide fastballs, DiMaggio glanced at Third Base Coach Art Fletcher. 'McCarthy had given him the hit sign, ' Joe recalls. 'The next pitch was outside, but I caught it good and lined it between Babich's legs into center field. After I made my turn at first, I looked over at him. His face was white as a sheet.' "
http://tinyurl.com/jdmwh
Moose will have other chances. Maybe against the Red Sox this coming weekend?
Ortiz batting, no score, two on and two out in the fifth...
And you are right, Sheff is yet to be activated. I just forgot about it since he's all dressed in uniform and hanging on the fence looking ready to come it any time.
DiMaggio's streak is by far my favorite record in sports (other than 26, of course), I've read a ton about it, and would be really disappointed if someone broke it. With Jeter, however...I might make an exception.
153 I think that was the plan.
Although, if what we know about Jeter is true, I doubt he'd let Torre take him out of a game just to protect the streak.
Tigers lost to Twins again.
I seriously don't think Jeter cares about the streak.
Mauer 0-1
"As long as Osama is still around, A-Rod should not have won MVP"
I think Matsui is okay. He's fine.
Loved the shot of Jeter "man, they're not giving me anything to hit"
Damon, Robbie, Melky the only starters w/out an RBI.
ESPN lead on Yanks highlights: Matsui just selfishly padding his stats, should be traded for prospects because Melky plays better defense.
TJ's job here is to prevent the run from getting tacked on to the Moose's ERA.
209 Jeter didn't even get AB chances...
Jetes all done. Good, I really like that.
Why isn't Posada out, though?
Protecting his boys!
who makes the post-season roster and who does not ?
But now it is ok to remove Jeter early to protect his hitting streak.
I agree that hte Yankees should remove Jeter, but the hypocricy needs to be pointed out.
that would be insane...nice pinch hitter for October with he and Matsui taking turns DHing
If you haven't heard Bernie's music yet,
CHECK IT OUT!
http://tinyurl.com/jb4bq
I was very surprised.
It's outstanding.
Clean chops, very well composed, excellent backup musicians.
In baseball, a hitting streak refers to the consecutive number of official games in which a player gets at least one base hit. Games in which a player does not have any official at bats due to walks, or sacrifice bunts, or being hit by a pitch, are ignored (neither break the streak nor add to the streak). However, if a player has a sacrifice fly, then the game is not ignored, and he must get a hit or his streak is over.
This is taken directly from MLB's scoring rules. . .so Jeter is good to go. Torre did his research, apparently. Or reads Wikipedia. Something like that.
"Determining player performance streaks:
Consecutive Hitting Streaks: A consecutive hitting streak shall not be terminated if the plate appearance results in a base on balls, hit batsman, defensive interference or a sacrifice bunt. A sacrifice fly shall terminate the streak.
Consecutive-Game Hitting Streaks: A consecutive-game hitting streak shall not be terminated if all the player's plate appearances (one or more) results in a base on balls, hit batsman, defensive interference or a sacrifice bunt. The streak shall terminate if the player has a sacrifice fly and no hit. The player's individual consecutive-game hitting streak shall be determined by the consecutive games in which the player appears and is not determined by his club's games."
Clearly Jeter's streak continues. This rule doesn't doesn't quite say that tonight's game doesn't add one to Jeter's 21 game hitting streak, but I presume that's the case.
A consecutive hitting streak shall not be terminated if the plate appearance results in a base on ball, hit batsman, defensive interference or a sacrifice bunt.
(b) A consecutive game hitting strak shall not be terminated if all the player's plate appearances (one or more) result in a base on balls, hit batsman, defensive interference or a sacrifice bunt.
244 Thanks, will definitely go check it out.
/sarcasm
That is, until he gets pinch-hit for by Bernie Williams, who will be pinch-run and replaced defensively by Craig Wilson.
Now, all we need is a way to get Wil Nieves into the game, and we'll have an empty bench. Hell yeah.
On a completely unrelated note, anyone see Trent Green get. . .umm. . .hurt. . .on Sunday? Yikes.
I fully agree with whomever said that was their favorite Torre-ism. Of course the runner-up is when a guy goes 4 for 4 with 3 homers and an RBI single: "I was most impressed with the single, because that's what we teach, hit it up the middle."
http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/mlb/official_info/about_mlb/rules_regulations.jsp
"Determining player performance streaks:
Consecutive Hitting Streaks: A consecutive hitting streak shall not be terminated if the plate appearance results in a base on balls, hit batsman, defensive interference or a sacrifice bunt. A sacrifice fly shall terminate the streak.
Consecutive-Game Hitting Streaks: A consecutive-game hitting streak shall not be terminated if all the player's plate appearances (one or more) results in a base on balls, hit batsman, defensive interference or a sacrifice bunt. The streak shall terminate if the player has a sacrifice fly and no hit. The player's individual consecutive-game hitting streak shall be determined by the consecutive games in which the player appears and is not determined by his club's games."
They just showed a shot of Protor. That's one relaxed EDSP for a change.
I'm rooting for the (underpaid) Florida Marlins.
Villone?? Villone?? There's still 10 run lead.
I can't help but laugh.
And no, he can't be on the PS roster. Still isn't recovered fully.
don't ask, Dotel.
Welcome back, Matsui.
Jeter doesn't look that happy.
309 I'm pretty sure that Dotel is on a 2 year contract. This year is to recover from Tommy John and next year is the actual pitching year.
I can't wait to see highlights from this game.
Jeter has 30-plus games to go so it's too far away to even worry about, in my opinion.
314 Doesn't matter. Still has the home runs, still has the rbi. Jeter's times on base today have no value.
http://tinyurl.com/k4yzs
Top of eight in Minnie; Mauer should get his last plate appearance in the bottom of the frame. Then I'm shutting down for the night.
And the Twins score on a strike out wild pitch with two out!
Strange evening for baseball.
God, Millar gets a base hit. Tying run comes to the plate in Camden Yards. Timlin is worse than Dotel tonight.
Timlin is just woeful.
Fiorentino bats with the game on the line...
I guess it's just you and me here wsporter. Buenos noches.
Just read through the game thread. Sounds like you all had fun. I've been sitting here at work, and bouncing back and forth between my desk and the classroom. I managed to Gameday it, and occasionally check in on the progress. I was very aware of every Matsui at bat, but I doubt anyone else was around here.
Japan will be very happy tonight when everyone parades home from work at 8 or 9pm. 4 for 4 was unexpected and brilliant. The Yankees are very popular over here, but they will become topic A#1 for the rest of the season with Godzilla back and firing on all cylindars. If nothing else, the amount of Yankees coverage I can get has just leaped exponentially. Thanks Hideki.
By the way, Matsuzaka pitches tonight on his 26th birthday. Make sure to drop by Matsuzaka Watch in the morning for your update.
I have:
C: Posada
Fasano
1B: Giambi
Wilson
2B: Cano
Cairo
SS: Jeter
3B: A-Rod
LF: Matsui
Cabrera
CF: Damon
RF: Abreu
DH: Sheff
Bernie
PR/UT: Guiel or Phillips
P: Unit
Wang
Moose
Wright or Lidle or (ha) Pavano
Mo
Proctor
Farns
Myers
Villone
Bruney
25 men. Pretty intimidating.
No Dotel, no 5th starter/mop-up long man, but overall a pretty flexible and powerful line-up.
I feel a ring coming...
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