Ramirez Is Officially Broken
July 1st, 2016
From All-Star candidate to batting practice arm
If you watched the Rays’ bullpen meltdown yesterday, Joe wonders how you could have kept your dinner in your stomach.
Man, this 10-7 loss to the Tigers at the Trop was a dropkick between the eyes. Tampa Bay held a 7-2 lead going into the ninth inning. Three outs separated the Rays from enjoying a solid series-opening win.
Seems simple enough, right?
Wrong.
Ryan Garton and Erasmo Ramirez allowed four runs each in a surreal collapse. Joe has seen a whole lot of bad from the Rays this year, but this hurl job is among the worst. Pitiful.
This matches the largest lead the Rays/Devil Rays have ever blown. In June 2007, Tampa Bay turned an 11-6 lead into a 12-11 loss at Toronto. Yikes!
Joe is exasperated. Clearly, Ramirez is broken. And with Alex Colome on the disabled list, the Rays don’t have a trusted arm to insert into the ninth inning until he returns.
It’s that kind of year for your Rays. Sadly, there’s no an end to the madness in sight.
July 1st, 2016 at 2:11 pm
Joe, why did Cash take Andriese out of the game after only throwing 27 pitches? Then he leaves Garton in for 4 batters? The kid should have been yanked after 2, I don’t care if no one else was warmed up: Lou Pinella would have had the kid fake an injury to get him out of there quicker. cash has made so many inept, idiotic moves this season that have cost the Rays at least 10 games: pitching to on fire batters in texas, letting Steve Geltz lose 3 games in a week on the Left Coast and now this garbage! Its time to evaluate Cash Joe! Brian Anderson was right when he called out this team: it has no heart or leadership and that has to be hung on Cash! BTW: why wasn’t Cedano available last night? Cash does not want him to throw 2 nights in a row???? BTW: what does Jim Hickey think of this abomination of a bullpen???? And one more thing: I bet a guy like Charlie Montoyo could reach these kids a lot better than Kevin cash; hell he dealt with a lot of them while managing the Durham bulls….. I am one sickened fan because of what saw last night in the trop Joe! Thanks for allowing me to unload as i’d probably get run igf I tried to say this on local tampa radio!
July 1st, 2016 at 2:45 pm
BTW Joe: why is Garton still on the roster? I would think that most MLB franchises would have put him on a red eye from TIA to Durham after last night’s meltdown! Of course this is the Rays who gave Steve Geltz enough rope to blow three games in one week via the long ball and finally get him AAA’d only to recall him to add more to his home run allowed total… Is the pitching staff in Durham really this inept????? No one is available execpt for retreads like Geltz and Garton????
July 1st, 2016 at 7:59 pm
What a complete joke! What a complete lack of major league managing! Cash-less and this wonderful front office have officially crashed this team into the ground and their buried deep!
I had that lil bit of hope but after last nights sh*t show I’m just hoping Evan longoria stays on this team and doesn’t become trade bait.
July 2nd, 2016 at 1:33 am
Actually JaiRays3 – It would be better if we trade Longo. Better for him (Chance to play with a contender) and for us ( We’re selling high as Longo is having a very good year for our crappy team) This theory of selling when people are buying and buying when people are selling has worked to make Stu Sternberg a very rich man. Bob wouldn’t agree but it’s counter intuative thinking. When the crowd goes one way, you go the other.
July 2nd, 2016 at 1:44 am
Just turned off Friday night’s game with the Rays down 7 to 0. No hope, only pain. I feel bad for Kevin Cash-less. He’s a nice guy who wasn’t prepared for the bad luck with injuries and the implosion of the bullpen AND the starters. It’s like there is a disconnect between the players and management. AND what’s with all the injuries. Last year too. Is there a vaccine for hamstring injuries ? My god ! Get a trainer in there that can keep these players on the field. They’re paid a godzillion bucks but are out 1 to two months in the season !
July 2nd, 2016 at 5:24 am
Darth I too feel for Cash but I also felt the same for guys like Rah Morris and Greg Schiano with the Bucs who had to contend with the fallout of the Bucs being run by the Glazers who went on the cheap across the board much like the rays have been doing but the fact still remains that all 3 gentleman are/were in way over their heads and were simply hired as they were a cheap alternative to a seasoned veteran manager/head coach who would never allow inept, mistake filled losses game after game and have enough sense not to yank a pitcher like Matt A for a AAA pitcher who should not even be on the MLB roster; poor coaching. That 10-7 loss by the Rays was as much cash’s fault as Lovie Smith blowing a 27-3 lead over the Deadskins last fall to lose 30-27 because he does not try to win but he tries not to lose; I think Cash has the same problem and thus should be removed!
July 2nd, 2016 at 5:29 am
DarthRayder, could Astro-turf the Rays use at the Trop attribute to the multitude of injuries Rays players seem to get??? It has to be that or they are doing something very wrong with their warm-ups or training regiment which is another thing we can ask cash to account for…..
July 2nd, 2016 at 2:15 pm
Where’s the daily bullpen stats?
Hamstring injuries are caused by poor conditioning.
Schiano lost the locker room on Day 1 when he forced his team to sprint 110 yards 16 times in the August Florida heat.
His college assistants handed out adderoll to help key players. He didn’t know that the NFL randomly pee tested 10% of the players after the opening day of practice.
He lost 25% of his team that day to injuries. He lost a week of preseason training camp for the remaining walking wounded.
Schiano was a career loser at Rutgers and a dismal NFL failure.
He would have been a good special team’s coach.
I would never brand Cash as a loser but he should have had some seasoning in Durham before the jump to MLB.
July 2nd, 2016 at 2:41 pm
Bob – Matt Moore is finally pitching good. Time to trade him too ? We’re not going to the playoffs this year.
July 2nd, 2016 at 2:59 pm
So by Miguel Grande’s expertise and such informative post we should think about looking at Charlie Montoyo as the head honcho of our Rays since Grande inferred some time managing at AAA Durham should be a prerequisite???? Yes I agree, he does have the seasoning of about a decade of managing Durham while Cash is wet behind the ears! BTW Miguel. right now Cash is a dismal failure to boot; what else can you call a guy who pulled Matt A for Garton, used Geltz about 5 times more than necessary BEFORE the injury bug really built and also made a couple of idiotic decisions concerning pitching to hot betters in Texas when a base was open…..
July 2nd, 2016 at 3:04 pm
Trade Moore right now? Look at his contract, his numbers…. Granted his numbers have been down but the last outing does raise his stock but can the Rays afford trading a #3/4 guy right now???? No, Dodgers were interested in Erasmo (at least until Thursday after Cash’s last idiotic brain fart)so anyone with half a brain would entertain their offer as they are desperate for a #5 guy after their injury bug. Take advantage of it ala the Kazmir for Zamprano trade…. The ex-Ray GM might have a woody for Erasmo, who knows??????
July 3rd, 2016 at 1:56 pm
Miguel does think that Montoyo would have been a good choice for the Ray’s head coaching job.
Not only does the Durham Bull’s coach have to deal with his team’s injuries but he has to cover for the Ray’s as well. Imagine what the Bull’s coach had to deal with this year? Half his squad is being loaned to the Rays.
I also believe that Montoyo had a perennial winner in the minors.
July 3rd, 2016 at 2:36 pm
I concur Miguel Grande. Charlie Montoyo would have this club several games closer to 0.500 than Mr Cash, probably where the Yankmes would be in the basement…. ! Mr Montoyo is a class act sir! BTW, your are right about what Jared Sandberg (how about that name as a blast from the D’Ray blast) has had to put up with in Durham thanks to the injuries and cash putting so many guys on the TIA/Durham red-eye! Always liked Sandberg, perhaps he is a name we could see involved at the MLB in the near future as well; perhas following Mr Montoyo in his footsteps…..
July 4th, 2016 at 12:37 am
Since I last posted, the Rays have lost 3 to 2 on Saturday. (Almost felt like a win; right ?) then today lost 5 to 1 to the lads from Detroit City. Lost 16 out of the last 18 ! Hard to wrap your brain around this. I’m a baby boomer growing up in Chicago rooting for the woeful Cubs (There’s a reason why they haven’t won a World Series since 1906) The reason: VERY poor ownership. Old man Wrigley purchased the Cubs and won a world championship. When he died, his son took over and for the next 40 years, he never stepped inside Wrigley Field. Imagine ! An owner that never saw a Cub game when he owned them. I know baseball misery and hopelessness when I see it. ..I see it now.
July 4th, 2016 at 1:43 am
Well from this Rays’ fan point of view I saw the manager Kevin Cash remove Matt Andriese yet again, this time 1 out two on in the 8th and holding a 1 run lead. Cedano comes in gets a ground but the rays do not turn 2 and the game is tied. Next we see a rbi double and that was all she wrote. Cash took the blame for today and yes perhaps a lot of this mess is due to the fact that the Rays are being run on a shoe string, the minors have produced one hitter (Longo) and the pitching has been a major disappointment with the starters unable to throw past the 5th or 6th inning on any given day and have the worst 1st inning ERA in MLB. despite all this the club should be very close to 0.500 if not for at least a dozen games where Cash made a boneheaded decision that cost the team the lead. Yeah they may not have won all 12 but if they won 8 of the 12 they’s be 41-40 instead of 33-48. Simply put Cash is a bad manager, I believe removing him could not hurt and probably would help especially if a guy like Charlie Montoyo brings in a tougher approach and puts a pulse into that tomb of a clubhouse! Bad manager = bad baseball!
July 4th, 2016 at 4:53 pm
Joe – Have you forsaken us ? Have you given up all hope ?
July 4th, 2016 at 5:02 pm
Couldn’t blame JOE if he has lost hope…. I was at the game yesterday and that was my first sports game of any type that I left before it was over. I didn’t even want my kids to watch the rest of that crap.
July 4th, 2016 at 8:32 pm
Rays Win ! – Rays Win ! – Rays Win ! Peace in our time ! Unicorns, lollipops and butterflies are dancing in our dreams !
July 4th, 2016 at 10:39 pm
I will be the first to say that when the Rays yanked Eveland and put Garton in for the last 2 outs I was really expecting the worst! The kid made us sweat it out ala Fernando Rodney back in 2010 or 2011 but I ‘ll give him credit for winning this one and partially redeeming himself for that master meltdown vs Detroit last week. A win, albeit over a bad Halo team that just finished 4 in Boston… Lets see if the Rays can make it 2 in a row tomorrow! BTW: good to see Souza back in the lineup. Now if the rays can get Colome back…… (Heck I am even rooting for Boxey’s return…)
July 4th, 2016 at 10:42 pm
I hear ya JailRays3. Everyone in the Trop knew the Rays were gonna lose that 1-0 lead when Cash pulled Andriesse yet again for a guy trying to get a spot serving up fat pitches for the Home Run Derby. At least they won today but performances like the first and last games vs the Tigers are inexcusable. Rays should have earned a split vs Detroit…
July 5th, 2016 at 2:18 am
Cash-less gets a win, barely but thank god the Rays won! Happy 4th everybody and yes Dave a split at least should have happened but again we saw the decision making