Rays Index

Wil Myers First Major League Hit

Cork Gaines — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 00:30:37 +0000

Wil Myers picked up his first major league base hit with a single to left in his first at bat of the second game of today’s double-header. Here is the hit as called by Andy Freed and Dave Wills (you can see the full video below)….

And here is the full video…

Postgame Shot Of Joe: No Miracle From Myers

Joe Rays Fan — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 23:15:46 +0000

Joe is back with his postgame thoughts….

A way-too-soft throw to a cutoff man and looking like a minor leaguer at the plate highlighted savior right fielder Will Myers’ heralded debut this afternoon/evening in Boston.

Joe is so tempted to blast the kid for swinging at the first pitch after Sox starter Alfredo Aceves walked Evan Longoria and James Loney to lead off the second inning. But since Joe Maddon doesn’t believe in old school baseball, you can’t blame bundle-of-nerves Myers for coming out swinging — and popping out.

Sadly, Myers fit in beautifully with the rest of his comrades in the 5-1 loss — lifeless. The Rays’ bats were largely dead, and Chris Archer’s five-hit, five-walk performance through 4 2/3 was dreadful.

If there’s such a thing as desperate for a win on June 18, tonight’s second half of the doubleheader fells like it falls in that category.

Wil Myers Popped-Up In His First Big League At Bat

Cork Gaines — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 17:51:29 +0000

Wil Myers is now officially a big leaguer and had his first Major League at bat, popping up on the first pitch. But maybe the most telling part of the at bat happened as Myers walked up to the plate.

He yawned. Twice. Here’s his first at bat as called by Dave Wills and Andy Freed…

Tailgating With The Rays: Discussing Wil Myers Debut Before Games 70 And 71

Cork Gaines — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 15:34:34 +0000

Playing A Little Pepper…

Jerry Remy will once again not be in the NESN booth for this series. What is scary is that there hasn’t been much explanation for his absence and Remy has suffered from cancer in the past… Today’s double-header is the 21st in Rays’ history. Alfredo Aceves will start the first game for the Red Sox and Felix Doubront will start the second…If you missed it last week, below you can see a GIF of Andrew Bailey mocking Fernando Rodney’s shoot-the-moon celebration and then “breaking” the bow…Rays starting pitchers have allowed 38 earned runs in the last 8 games, the most for an 8-game stretch since 2005. The Rays are 2-6 in that stretch…Wil Myers will make his debut today and is 2 days older than Evan Longoria was on the date of his big league debut…Evan Longoria will play third base in the first game of the double-header, but is expected to DH in the second.

Game Graph…

[Will be up at game time]

Source: FanGraphs

Lineup…

Matt Joyce, LF
Flash Jennings, CF
Ben Zobrist, 2B
Evan Longoria, 3B
James Loney, 1B
Wil Myers, RF
Luke Scott, DH
Jose Molina, C
Yunel Escobar, SS
Chis Archer, SP

Of Course Wil Myers’ Last Minor League At Bat Came While Wearing A 1988 ‘Bull Durham’ Throwback Uniform [VIDEO]

Cork Gaines — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 14:00:44 +0000

Wil Myers had one at bat before being pulled on Sunday and learning of his promotion to the Rays. During that at bat he doubled down the left field line.

Myers was also wearing a 1988 throwback uniform as the Durham Bulls were honoring the 25th anniversary of the movie “Bull Durham” a story about an aging veteran and a minor league hot shot being groomed for the big leagues.

Here’s the video…

And here is his final minor league home run, hit the night before…

[THE HANGOVER] The One Where We Discuss Wil Myers Promotion, And More On Wil Myers

Cork Gaines — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 13:30:49 +0000

The GBT – The Good, The Bad and The Telling sandwich, where The Bad is nice and lean and the The Telling is ripe.

Royals 5, RAYS 3 (boxscore)

THE GOOD: Willlllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll Myers. Remember when some kept saying “the Rays won’t call Myers up because there is nowhere for him to play?” And we were all “dudes, if Myers is ready, you find a place for him to play!” Well, the Rays will find a place for him to play and worry about what to do with everybody else later….Alex Torres. Another 1.2 innings of great pitching from Torres who struck out 4 of the 5 batters he faced on Saturday. In 16 innings this season, he has yet to allow a run and has struck out 23 of the 54 batters he has faced with just 3 walks…Luke Scott. Wolverine is in the midst of one of his brief hot streaks with 6 hits in his last 4 games. We better enjoy it while it last.

THE BAD: DH Evan Longoria. Evan Longoria spent the weekend as the Rays’ DH as he is battling plantar fasciitis in his foot. The Rays think he will be well enough to play in the field tomorrow. But let’s just say we are not getting our hopes up.

THE TELLING: Jake Odorizzi has been added as the 26th player for the Tuesday double-header. He will start one game with Chris Archer starting the other…Alex Cobb has been released from the hospital. He was placed on the 7-day concussion DL. Josh Lueke was called up to replace him on the roster…Wil Myers is expected to be in the lineup most days, but look for him to bat 6th or 7th initially until he gets his feet wet…Wil Myers is the first Rays player to wear no. 9 since way back in 2012 (Elliot Johnson)…Chris Giminez returned from the DL for the triple-A Durham Bulls. This is important because is basically the Rays’ third-string catcher…The Rays are now 36-33, 5 games behind the Red Sox and still in 4th place.

THE JUNKYARD DOGS WEBTOPIA…

Here’s a link where you can listen to andrew Friedman and Joe Maddon discuss the promotion of Wil Myers. [RaysRadio]
Just as were starting to get excited about an accelerated return for David Price, now it has been slowed down again because of soreness in his arm. We should know better than to get our hopes up. This link also has updates on Brandon Gomes and Juan Carlos Oviedo who are both progressing in their rehabs. [TampaBay.com]
Luke Scott credits Derek Shelton for his recent hot streak. [TBO.com]
Here is a sad story about Shelley Duncan. His mom passed away after a long struggle with cancer, however Duncan’s dad would not let him come home until the funeral. [HeraldSun.com]
On Flag Day (Friday; also the birthday of the Army), Army Rangers rappelled from the top of The Trop. [Big League Stew]
It’s a good thing Fernando Rodney doesn’t shoot his arrow in Oklahoma (thanks, T.J.). [Indian Country Today]
Josh Freeman is not playing with enough urgency? [JoeBucsFan]

DOWN ON THE FARM…

DURHAM 5, Indy 2. JD Martin struck out 6 and walked 1 in 7 innings. He allowed 2 runs on 4 hits…Brandon Guyer was 1-3 with his 6th home run and a walk…Leslie Anderson went 1-3 with a walk and is hitting .312.

MONTGOMERY 5, Jacksonville 2. Enny Romero tossed 5 shutout innings with 5 strikeouts…Mikie Mahtook went 1-5 with his 15th stolen base.

CHARLOTTE. no game scheduled

BOWLING GREEN 8, Lansing 0. Taylor Guerrieri struck out 7 and walked just 1 in 5 shutout innings…Tyler Goeddel hit his 4th home run and Andrew Toles stole his 41st base. He has been caught just 5 times and leads the ML in stolen bases.

A Crazy Dog, A Brian Anderson Jersey, And Other Images From This Weekend’s Games

Cork Gaines — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 12:30:37 +0000

We’ve got the highlights you won’t see on SportsCenter…

This poor fan tried to catch a foul ball with his face.

Ervin Santana is afraid of a slow, bouncing ball.

Wil Myers Promoted By Tampa Bay Rays

Cork Gaines — Sun, 16 Jun 2013 21:57:34 +0000

Well, it’s official, Rays’ top prospect Wil Myers has been promoted and will join the Rays when they travel to Boston. To make room on the roster, Ryan Roberts has been optioned to triple-A.

Myers will wear no. 9.

The Rays have an open spot on the 40-man roster, so nobody needed to be designated for assignment.

Myers will almost certainly play everyday or at least most days. So expect Myers to be in the starting lineup on Tuesday.

Myers was hitting .283 with 14 home runs in triple-A. He does have 71 strikeouts in 63 games. However, he was hitting much better recently, batting .354 with 10 HR in his last 23 games.

Postgame Shot Of Joe: Former Rays Pitcher Hurts Rays

Joe Rays Fan — Sun, 16 Jun 2013 21:09:18 +0000

Joe is back with his postgame thoughts…

Wow. Wade Davis. It just figures a bottom of the rotation guy/long relief hurler formerly with the Rays would shut down his old teammates to give the Royals a series win over the reeling Rays. At one point, Davis had retired 13 of 14 Rays.

The Rays also had a bit of bad luck too, involving another former Rays player.

Eliot Johnson lifted a fly ball deep to right in the sixth that Matt Joyce came “this close” to grabbing as Johnson’s fly ball hit the top of the wall for a double. What could (should?) have been the third out opened the door for two runs and that was pretty much all she wrote.

Should Joe look too much into Jose Molina getting pulled after letting a wild pitch get past him? Maybe, maybe not. But the move by Merlot Joe was sure interesting.

Playoff teams don’t normally have a losing homestand. Bad enough to lose a series to the BlowSux. Losing a series to the Royals at the hands of two of your former players sure leaves a bad taste in Joe’s mouth.

Postgame Shot Of Joe: Win Takes Back Seat

Joe Rays Fan — Sat, 15 Jun 2013 23:24:41 +0000

Joe is back with his postgame thoughts…

Vince Lombardi once famously spoke of how winning isn’t everything; it’s the only thing.”

Joe agrees. It is why games are played. Even so, with a 5-3 win over the Royals, it’s hard to get giddy over a win when it may be so costly.

In the top of the fifth with one out, Eric Hosmer drilled Rays pitcher Alex Cobb in the head with a line drive and the righty had to be hauled off on a stretcher to Bayfront Medical Center.

Per Twitters from others, including teammate David Price, Cobb was conscious the entire time and was joking with Price and others. There was also this spooky account of the immediate moments after Cobb was hit.

Time will only tell how badly Cobb is hurt or what the aftereffects may be due to swelling.

Yes, the Rays rallied from a 2-0 deficit for the win. But right now, it seems so hollow.