Results tagged ‘ Rocco Baldelli ’
Rays Up Two Games to One
“Boston Red Sox Pitchers” for $200: The guy considered by teammates to be the American League’s best pitcher. Answer: Who is Jon Lester?
“Boston Red Sox Pitchers” for $400: This left hander went 16–6 with a 3.21 ERA in 2008. Answer: Who is Jon Lester?
“Boston Red Sox Pitchers” for $600: This man no–hit the Kansas City Royals at Fenway Park. Answer: Who is Jon Lester?
“Boston Red Sox Pitchers” for $800: Closed out the 2007 World Series with a dominating performance in hitting–happy Coors Field. Answer: Who is Jon Lester?
“Boston Red Sox Pitchers” for $1,000: The man who got lit up like a bonfire by the Rays in game three of the 2008 ALCS. Answer: Who is Jon Lester?
I’ve swept the board. For that matter, so have the Rays, at least for one glorious evening. They destroyed the Red Sox 9–1 in enemy territory to take a critical two games to one series lead. Matt Garza came back from his Division Series implosion to pitch incredibly well in the biggest game of his life to this point. He went 6+ innings and allowed one run on six hits and three walks with five strikeouts. The Red Sox starter looked more like Jon Arbuckle than Jon Lester as he allowed five runs, four earned, in less than six innings. This included home runs from B.J. Upton and Evan Longoria that both cleared the Green Monster. Upton’s actually went beyond the wall, beyond the seats, and almost beyond the street. Did his labrum magically heal itself last week? He’s suddenly banging out Dave Kingman home runs at a rapid rate. He has yet to fail any drug tests. Rocco Baldelli and Carlos Pena topped off a game in which every starter had a hit with their own late home runs off Paul Byrd. For Rocco, it’s yet another confidence builder in his long road to recovery. Six months ago his career as a whole was in jeopardy, and look at him now. He’ll have what B.J.’s having.
Edwin Jackson pitched well in relief, lighting up the radar gun as high as 99 MPH. How did the Dodgers fail to make him a good late inning stopper? He looked like he had unlimited potential in that role. With David Price likely to join the starting rotation next year and maybe a spot (Troy Percival’s?) opening up in the bullpen, it’s likely Jackson may attempt this transition for the second time in his career. And hopefully the last.
I’ve also heard a growing vocal minority clamoring for a move to the bullpen by, of all people, Scott Kazmir. The chief complaint is that he doesn’t go deep enough into games, which is a very valid point. Leading the league in pitches per inning this year at over 18, Kazmir rarely sees the seventh and eighth innings. A host on The Killer B’s on ESPN 1470/1040 compared him to Dwight Gooden: unbelievable talent, overworked, psychologically burned out, talent gone. A lot of fans would like to see him as a closer. But with the stats Kazmir puts up as a starter — remember, he’s a two-time All Star — who could replace him? Jeff Niemann? Wade Davis? I don’t know about this issue and what direction it should go in. I’ll be thinking about it and researching it further. If we had another Price, the decision would likely be obvious. But there can be only one, so it’s much more difficult. I’ll render my verdict sometime before next season.
But pertaining to more immediate matters, the Rays have the momentum and the lead they needed to carry on to game four, where Andy Sonnanstine goes up against one–time Tampa Bay stopper Tim Wakefield. I think with his working pace and the way he throws strikes, Sonnanstine matches up well with the Boston lineup. We’ll see if I’m right and he can bring the lead to 3–1 and set up Shields to bring home the pennant. Until next time, go Rays.
Rays Up 2-0, Headed Off to Chicago
Our Tampa Bay Rays, America’s new team, have taken a 2–0 lead in the Division Series, knocking off the White Sox in a 6–2 classic. Rays starter Scott Kazmir was starting to have a “here it goes again” night by promptly loading the bases (hitting Orlando Cabrera was unintentional, Harold Reynolds) and allowing two runs before his team even hit. The Rays got one back with a Dioner Navarro single while narrowly avoiding more Chicago damage. Kazmir pitched very effectively after the early runs scored, but was down until the bottom of the fifth inning.
After a Jason Bartlett single, Akinori Iwamura brought out a slice of his Japanese years. He took a 1–1 fastball out and over the plate from Mark Buehrle and drove it deep to left center field… carrying… carrying deep… and gone for a lead–changing home run. That’s classic Iwamura power out into the opposite power alley, where he hit at least half of his regular season home runs. He took a well–deserved curtain call afterwards. Kazmir left after 5.1 innings pitched with two earned runs surrendered, pitching well for a guy who threw 37 pitches in the first inning. Grant Balfour came in for an epic rematch with Orlando Cabrera, whom Balfour quickly silenced with a groundout, going on to get out of the inning with the lead.
It remained 3–2 Rays until the eighth inning, when Buehrle allowed a leadoff triple to B.J. Upton, who ran full speed the whole way as he always should. The White Sox starter would be chased out by Carl Crawford, who dinged a little opposite field single to score Upton. He then stole second base without a throw off Octavio Dotel, proving once and for all that good old Carl is back in full swing. Rocco Baldelli lined his first playoff hit into center field to score Crawford. With two out, Dioner Navarro came to the plate to set up another great 2008 Rays highlight. With the count at 1–1 against Matt Thornton, Navarro lifted a popup to shallow center field. Alexei Ramirez lost sight of the ball and the outfielders didn’t get there in time. The ball dropped in the triangle as Rocco ran like a cheetah after its dinner. Not quite as great as he once was, but as good once as he ever was, he flew around third base and surprisingly scored without much of a play to make it 6–2. Vintage Baldelli running all the way home was just another embodiment of this Rays team, not to mention another dagger to the White Sox. It was as if he was 22 years old again. Chicago did get another runner on base after a hideously atrocious call at first base on a tag by Willy Aybar, but Chad Bradford spared the umpire and his team with a 5–4–3 double play. He followed that brilliantly with a three pitch looking strikeout of Jim Thome to make it 2–0 Rays and send Chicago back home against the wall.
The Rays will now take a nearly insurmountable advantage into enemy territory, where Matt Garza will get the ball on Sunday at 4:07 P.M. This is the same time as kickoff for a big Buccaneers football game in Denver, but I think my priorities will lie with the baseball team this week. Many others’ should too. Why not? We had great crowds at those home playoff games and continued showing doubters up. Let’s keep riding this tidal wave of success, and until next time, go Rays.
Trade Deadline: Rays Don’t Move
I have now seen every major deal that went down at this year’s trade deadline, as well as the ones that didn’t happen. Caught up in those trades that were not made were the Rays, who now have a three game division lead going into August. There were talks about Xavier Nady, Jason Bay and even Adam Dunn being sent to Tampa Bay to give the lineup a much–needed power surge. However, with asking prices too high (Jeff Niemann and Wade Davis for Bay quickly fell flat), the Rays decided that their best moves would be internal. With Rocco Baldelli playing well at AA Montgomery as he returns from mitochondrial disorder and David Price remaining undefeated (9–0, 12 starts) in the minor leagues, they will probably end up using those guys as their right handed hitter and left handed pitcher, respectively.
I think that, with the way this team has been built towards years of success, trading multiple prospects for anyone who would have only been here for two months trying to impress the big markets would have probably been a front office failure. Boston’s acquisition of Bay while casting off Manny Ramirez (finally) along with Brandon Moss and Craig Hansen, while ridding the locker room of Reggie Jackson, Jr., won’t make them worlds better as a team. The Yankees’ steal of Nady and Damaso Marte, combined with the trade of Kyle Farnsworth for a past–his–prime Ivan Rodriguez, most likely didn’t set the Bronx on fire either. Maybe they got better, but it may not be a hole that they can escape from. The Rays staying with what got them here to begin with looks like a smart move. Carlos Pena has hit three home runs this past week, all on the road, increasing his home run productivity by 20% for the entire season. Carl Crawford is finally starting to get some big hits, Longoria is still doing very well, and Navarro is still hitting over .310. The pitchers are as good as they have been all season. It’s looking like our time is now as all the pieces are merging into the winning puzzle. Where the trade market didn’t fit, people are starting to fill in. Coming back home tonight from a winning roadtrip gives even more immediate hope to extending this division lead.
I’ll keep close tabs on the Rays throughout the weekend as they face the Detroit Tigers, who are also pushing for a playoff spot. Great news, Rays fans: Saturday night’s game featuring LL Cool J has sold out in advance to the point where the tarped off seats will be opened for the first time in years. This is something that will get the critics backtracking. Rays fans are finally showing up to games. Speaking of which, I need to get back to Tropicana Field sometime soon. Until the capacity crowd drowns the Tigers in a deep blue sea, go Rays.
Quick Tuesday Thoughts
I am leaving Tampa for a vacation this morning, and will be gone for about two weeks. I’ll only be without Internet access until Thursday night, which means I’ll be missing the big Cubs series. I’ll get to New Smyrna Beach on Thursday, but until then I’ll have to get my updates over the phone from others with access to information. I’ll have no Internet or cable TV until then.
In other news that more people should be reporting, Rocco Baldelli played designated hitter in a minor league game last night, going 1–3 with 2 RBI as he works back up towards the Major Leagues. He has been recovering from a rare mitochondrial condition that has probably been a source of his recurring injuries in recent years. He’s still only 26 years old, which gives him a little time to become productive. Just ask Rick Ankiel and Josh Hamilton.
I’ll be out soon, so until I get back to the blog, go Rays.
You Say Yes, I Say No
Now that the Rays have the day off, it’s time to scrounge for news to report. Updates will probably become less frequent once the season is past its opening period, but today I didn’t have to go too far to make one. It has been reported on MLB.com that Carl Crawford’s 2009 option has been picked up, and Rocco Baldelli’s was not. Crawford’s salary next year will be $8.25 million, which is far more worth the money than the $2.5 million buyout that they didn’t take. He is, of course, celebrating the news.
“I’m very happy. I
would like to thank the Rays’ organization and [principal owner] Stu
Sternberg for believing in me. I’m grateful for the opportunity for
this day. I’m looking forward to being here for a long time, because I
think we’re at the start of something great going on here. I want to do
well for them and represent the team in a classy manner.”
That would be Crawford’s statement on the 2009 option pickup. There is still one for 2010, worth $10 million, that they can use as well. Meanwhile, the Baldelli news was expected for the last few weeks as he is on the disabled list with a career-threatening, at worst, chronic fatigue disorder. They could still negotiate a new deal if and when he does return, so it may not be quite over yet. The main factor, of course, is how Baldelli recovers. Nobody knows how it will end up. The same can be said for this season, for which Cowbell Kid predicted 89 victories, while an elderly fan at FanFest thought it could be 93. We can start at two when the Rays face the Orioles tomorrow. Until then, go Rays.
mlblogsbraverays
Recent Comments