Are The Tires Inflating?
May 5th, 2016
Brandon Guyer belted one of four solo shots Wednesday
Hallelujah! The offensive light switch was switched “ON.”
And guess what? Rays’ pitching benefited from the power display.
For the first time in too long, Tampa Bay’s bats were alive and well Wednesday at the Trop. Rays hitters knocked four home runs in an 8-5 win over the Dodgers, a needed result before gassing up Air Raymond for a six-game West Coast swing that begins Friday against the Angels.
Erasmo Ramirez went two full innings and earned his fifth victory (fifth!) as part of a bullpen contingent that fared well after Drew Smyly produced a solid two-run, five-hit outing. Alex Colome was there in the ninth inning to snatch his sixth save.
Can we string a few of these together?
Joe has come to realize this Rays team is like a sleek Maserati with a crappy engine. From afar, everything looks like it should hum. After all, some offseason additions seemed primed to put Tampa Bay over the top in the batter’s box.
Of course, we’ve learned the Rays’ offense has sputtered too often this season. Only the Yankees (89) and Braves (83) have scored fewer than the Rays’ 90 runs. Talk about a flat tire.
Wednesday’s hit show was another tease. If only it could become habit.
Your bullpen stats:
| Player | W | L | ERA▲ | G | GS | SV | SVO | IP | H | R | ER | HR | BB | SO | AVG | WHIP |
| Ramirez | 5 | 1 | 1.13 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 24.0 | 15 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 18 | .183 | 0.71 |
| Marinez | 0 | 0 | 2.45 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | .154 | 0.55 |
| Colome | 1 | 1 | 2.70 | 10 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 10.0 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 12 | .216 | 1.10 |
| Farquhar | 0 | 0 | 3.38 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5.1 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 5 | .304 | 1.69 |
| Geltz | 0 | 0 | 3.38 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8.0 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 4 | .148 | 0.88 |
| Cedeno | 2 | 1 | 3.52 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 7.2 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 8 | .214 | 1.30 |
| Romero | 1 | 0 | 4.82 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9.1 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 7 | 8 | .125 | 1.18 |
| Webb | 0 | 0 | 5.63 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8.0 | 11 | 6 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 5 | .355 | 1.63 |
| Eveland | 0 | 0 | 8.10 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.2 | 9 | 6 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 6 | .310 | 1.95 |
May 5th, 2016 at 1:27 pm
This is a different team with Brandon Guyer in the line up. Whether he’s hitting or getting hit, he sets a stellar example for the rest of the team.
Cash must have flunked Chemistry at Florida State!
I still like Kiermier in CF though.
Hey Joes, you talk about the “Hit Show” and then show us meaningless bullpen stats. What’s up with that.
You know what would be great, regular box scores and batting averages.
I saw James Loney drinking a Mai Tai at the Toasted Monkey and his hair was perfect.
May 5th, 2016 at 2:36 pm
Joe – My sources tell me that both Logan Morrision and Desmond Jennings will be released by memorial day. Logan Morrison is probably a nice guy who drinks beer, but had but one good year before we picked him. He’ll end up in somebodies AAA club to work his way back up. Desmon Jennings. This is a case where the coaches fell in love with “potential”. A 6′ 3″ football player with big speed and tantalizing power. Cash said recently that when he steps onto the field, he has the potential to be the best player out there. Ah yes, funny how that potential plays out. He was a fast guy who couldn’t steal a base. He could cover center field but couldn’t throw anybody out because of his weak arm. Once his knee problems surfaced due to playing on turf, his potential ran into reality. Been a big disappointment!
Anyway, the reason management is waiting until memorial day is that Mikie Matook who is hitting .315 at AAA, is on the disabled list and won’t be ready to come up until then, when he and Schaeffer will be called. This is exactly what we need, young talent (although Matook is 26). Yes, he’s been in the minors since we drafted him out of the championship team of LSU.
May 5th, 2016 at 2:41 pm
One more note on Mikie Matook. Great fielding outfielder with a very good arm. Last year when he was up with the Rays, he hit 9 home runs in 106 ABs. That’s 1 homer for every 12 ABs which is the rarified air usually associated with Henry Aaron, Bonds, Mantle, & Ruth. No, he isn’t that good, but wasn’t that good enough to make the club out of spring training ? Looks like Desmond’s “potential” got in the way. UNLEASH the BEAST !
May 5th, 2016 at 5:16 pm
Happy Cinco de Mayo Big Miguel !