Before that, let me quickly thank Schmitty, who (generally thanklessly), keeps the dream alive whilst I occupy myself with gradually increasing the proof of my bloodstream and shirking my self-created responsibilities to you fair readers who have come to expect both excellence and irreverence from our wonderful site.

And now….Back, due to to popular demand (and circumstance)…We are more than happy to reintroduce the one and only feature which immediately catapulted us to the the very top of the heap of Rays, nay ALL MLB fan sites…  The TWO MINUTE HATE!!!!

Here’s to YOU, Bobby V., for getting me off my ass to help all good people of the world HATE you!!

*Disclaimer time…when I first started this bloggy experiment I felt that we collectively should avoid especially foul language for the benefit of the families and kiddos out there…then I changed my mind.  So if you are offended by “fuck”s and “shit”s, please turn back now since you’ve already been faced with one of each and this is not likely to get any better…

I struggled and struggled to decide just which Masshole or Massholes to ordain with our first-in-a-long-time ire, and settled on Bobby V. over Morales as the mastermind behind the cowardly plot.  Mad props to Joe Maddon, by the way, for calling a spade a spade in the interview!

Fuck Bobby V and his jackhole minions for their cowardly bullshit last night.  A very wise man recently said to me “I wish we could rent Johnny Gomes back for a couple days” in order to stuff these assholes in their faces.  I only wish that we still had a firey fighter in the mix that would have blasted Bobby in his ugly shit-face.  Anyhow, here’s hoping that more shit will stir up tonight.  I’m all for “sportsmanlike conduct” most of the time…but honestly I think the fight is good for the Rays.  Thinking back to 2008, it was an unnecessarily rough Yankme slide during spring training which led to a Johnny Gomes(!) fight which set the tone for a never-back-down season.

So thanks Bobby V, for returning this site to what made it great, and (hopefully) setting in motion a shitstorm the AL East is unprepared for.  Also…Fuck You, Asshole.  Sit on that goddam thumb.

With a .268 BA/.332 OBP/.408 SLG/.740 OPS line, including 23 RBI and three home runs, Valentine might be wise to include Adrian Gonzalez doppelgänger, Dante Hicks, in tonight’s lineup.

Starting Lineup 5/26/12:

Pena 1B
Upton CF
Joyce LF
Zobrist RF
Scott DH
Sutton 3B
Rodriguez 2B
Molina C
Johnson SS
Price LHP

Allow me to take you back to May 16th when Tampa Bay took on Boston under the big top. Will Rhymes came up to bat in the Rays half of the eighth with one out, and a man at third. Franklin Morales was on the mound. With a 2-2 count, Morales came way inside with a 95 MPH fastball, plunking Rhymes on the forearm. Will’s arm instantly swelled up, but thankfully (read: surprisingly) there wasn’t a fracture. Following a fainting spell, Rhymes had to be carried off of the field. Tampa Bay inevitably won that game by a score of 2-1.

Following a Babe Ruth like promise to hit a home run at some point on the 17th, Matt Moore hit Dante Hicks, urm…Adrian Gonzalez with a pitch to load the bases the following night. In kind, Félix Doubront plunked Luke Scott with a pitch. Yet beyond the two “unintentional” hit batters on the 17th, any extra curricular fireworks were held to a minimum.

Fast forward to last night with Luke Scott at the plate in the Rays half of the ninth. Franklin Morales’ on the mound (I know, the scenario sounds redundant) with a 3-0 count, following three very inside pitches. On the very next pitch, Morales let go of a 97 MPH fastball into the back of Luke Scott’s right knee. And with that, we were instantly transported back to the 2008 season; A season where the bad blood between the Rays and the Sox could not be contained. Flashbacks of Coco Crisp charging the mound flashed through the minds of Rays fans everywhere.

Carlos Pena and Ben Zobrist of the Rays have words with Red Sox pitching coach Bob McClure after teammate Luke Scott was hit by a pitch in the ninth inning. (Jim Rogash/Getty Photo / May 25, 2012)

With the frustration of one team that’s trying to play the game cleanly, and the frustration of the other team who’s under .500 to start the season for the second year in a row (among other things) being palpable, both benches cleared. Some fairly inappropriate grabbing of Rays players by members of the Sox coaching staff and team, and some pretty vehement jaw jacking from both sides followed.

The massholes in the stands also took it upon themselves to let their Cro-magnon like voices be heard following the melee on the field. Red Sox fans, reportedly, shouted racial slurs at BJ Upton while also throwing things at the Rays center fielder. This guy here seems to trying rise above all of last nights events, yet he can’t quite break the grip of gravity. I digress…

One thing is certain: there is no love lost between these two AL East rivals. Buckle up ladies and gents, we’re in for a drama filled season.

In the end, we can’t definitively say whether Morales took it upon himself to pay retribution for anything…for Scott’s comments about Fenway Park, for the May 17th game, or for the unintentional plunking of Dustin Pedroia earlier in the game. However, Maddon and Co. felt as though the dirty play came from somewhere, going as far as to implicate Bobby Valentine and the Red Sox coaching staff. “I’m kind of curious regarding who put out the hit, because I know it wasn’t one of their players,” said Rays skipper, Joe Maddon. “Truly, watch the video. The people that were incensed, obviously they’re the ones that were probably behind the effort, the really weak, cowardly effort on their part. Did I say that strongly enough? Did I make my point?” Maddon went on to say, “It reeks of intent.”

Bobby Valentine did nothing to quell any questions of culpability. Rather, Valentine went on to stoke the flames by saying, “Emotions boiling over at that point? Frustration mounting? I don’t know,” Valentine said. “It seemed like it was with both teams on the field. But with the guy getting hit? Maybe it was the Ghost of Fenway Past remembering that he bad-mouthed all our fans and stadium, or something, just directing the ball at his leg.”

Today is another day, and there is more baseball to be played. With last night’s events fresh in the minds of the Rays players, David Price (6-3, 2.88 ERA) takes the mound against RHP Josh Beckett (4-4, 4.38 ERA). Price pitched a gem of a game in his last start, posting a 7 IP/6 H/1 ER/3 BB/7 K line. Yet he took the 2-0 loss to the Braves. Chalk it to a lack of run support. Price is 6-4 with a 3.02 ERA in his career against the Red Sox, however he hasn’t been great in his last two starts against the Sox. Going a combined seven innings, Price has given up five earned runs on seven hits, while earning a 5.72 FIP.

On the flip side of things, Josh Beckett really hasn’t had a stellar 2012, which can be attributed to two things: the velocity on all of his pitches has dropped, and his pitches are flat. Beckett’s once over powering 95 MPH fastball with a lot of movement has become a 91 MPH meatball out over the plate. Beckett tends to lean on those three pitches a lot. Below are a couple of graphs: A pitch usage graph from his May 10th start against the Indians, and a spin direction/angle graph from the same game. Incidentally, Beckett posted a 2.1 IP/7 H/7 ER/2 BB/2 K/1 HR line in that game. Both graphs give you a good idea that he leans primarily on his flat cutter, fastball, and changeup. To his credit, Beckett has a 10-4 record with a 2.94 and a 1.005 WHIP in his 20 starts against the Rays, including his last start against Tampa Bay where he posted a 8 IP/1 H/1 ER/1 BB/1 K/0 HR line. Who knows which Beckett will show up today? Here’s to hope it’s the Josh Beckett of May 10th.

Pitch usage by type and pitch count

Spin direction, angle, and velocity

We’ll post tonight’s starting lineup when it becomes available.

“Maddon used strong words in condemning the Red Sox calling it a “weak cowardly effort on their part.”

“Maddon, with more on Sox throwing at Scott: “it’s ridiculous, it”s absurd, it’s idiotic. I’ll use all those choice words.”

-Marc Topkin, Times Rays beat writer

“Joe Maddon says “we will respond, I can promise you that”

-WDAE 620

“It’s pretty obvious” where it came from and you reap what you sow”

-Luke Scott

Pena 1B
Upton CF
Scott DH
Zobrist RF
Joyce LF
Rodriguez 2B
Sutton 3B
Gimenez C
Johnson SS
Cobb RHP

According to the poll, 46 percent of Florida adults are “very interested” or “somewhat interested” in Major League Baseball. That number includes 56 percent of men and 38 percent of women. Quinnipiac compared those numbers to the results of, presumably, a similar poll given to New Jersey and Connecticut residents. They found that 54 percent of New Jersey adults and 53 percent of Connecticut adults are interested in baseball. More so, they found that the Yankees are the favorite team for 29 percent of fans aged 18-34 years old. The Rays rule with 54 percent of fans in the Tampa Bay area

Of the poll, Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute said,

Florida has only a 19-year tradition with Major League Baseball, so there is less fan interest, with the possible exception of those transplanted New Yorkers and their offspring.”

That the Yankees are the overall fan favorite (but not by much, mind you) isn’t too surprising. After all, the Yankees have called Florida their spring training home since 1919. Many former New York residents have flocked to Florida over the years, ultimately making it their home. With the transplants came an unbridled love for the Yankees. Over the years, many grew up watching as everyone from the Babe to Reggie Jackson called a variety of cities in Florida their home for three months out of the year. Kids, and adults alike, sweat and got bit by mosquitos along with the Yankees. And for a very long time, spring training presented the only opportunity for those of us, in Florida, to see some of our favorite players. It wasn’t until 1993 that Florida would finally get it’s first MLB expansion team. The city of Miami was first awarded the, then, Florida Marlins. Five years later, the (Devil) Rays would finally step on to the field, under the Teflon roof. That said, it makes sense that the Yankees would garner so much affection.

What makes this poll so interesting are the regional numbers. The Rays, by in large, are the fan favorites of the two Florida teams in all of the regions surveyed. What’s more, less than half of the residents surveyed, in the region that would typically be considered Marlins territory, consider themselves fans of the Marlins.

It’s also interesting that only a small segment of central Florida residents surveyed considered the Rays as their favorite team. Without getting into the nuts and bolts of the stadium issue, it does seem odd that one of the more prominent arguments for possible sites in either downtown Tampa or the Florida State Fairgrounds, is to accommodate a large chunk of the central Florida population, that were initially presumed to be Rays fans.

Q: (All adults) How interested are you in following major league baseball; very interested, somewhat interested or not interested at all?

Q: (If interested in baseball q39) What is your favorite major league baseball team?

Q: (If interested in baseball q39, continued) What is your favorite major league baseball team?

Tampa Bay Rays’ B.J. Upton, center, is mobbed by teammates, from left, Elliot Johnson, Chris Gimenez, Stephen Vogt, and Will Rhymes, after his game-winning RBI double off Toronto Blue Jays relief pitcher Darren Oliver in the 11th inning of a baseball game Wednesday, May 23, 2012.(AP Photo/Chris O’Meara)

Tampa Bay took another win, and inevitably another series, from the Blue Jays today in extra innings by a score of 5-4. There were lots of highlights to speak of…and unfortunately a few lowlights as well. Here’s a smattering of them. I’m sure I’m leaving something out. However, what do you want for nothing? Don’t complain, you jack-wagons!

Highlights

-James Shields reclaims the big game moniker, posting a 7.1 IP/7 H/3 R/2 ER/1 BB/10 K line. Of the 110 pitches he threw on the day, 81 were for strikes; a 74% to 26% strike to ball ratio.

-The pen performed well, giving up three hits and one earned run, while striking out four in 3-2/3 innings of work.

-Carlos Pena continued to show that the he might be a good fit in the lead off spot, reaching base four times on a hit and two walks. He was also hit by a pitch. ‘Los crossed the plate twice on the day.

-Andrew Sutton…yeah, he’s fitting in well in the lineup, going two-for-four with a walk, while driving in two RBI on a double.

-BJ Upton continues his hot hitting, going three-for-six with a run and the game winning walk off RBI double in the 11th. Upton improved his hitting streak to eight games in a row.

Lowlights

This is the personification of the Rays batting .235 with runners in scoring position, and 41 errors in 45 games. Rather unsavory, I know.

Oy vey, there were some, urm…rather unsavory moments. Imagine, if you will, that those unsavory moments could be personified by an analyst from everyone’s favorite network, ESPN. What analyst would be the human representation of unsavory? Rick Sutcliffe? Orel Hershiser? Terry Francona? I contend, the personification of unsavory would be the man-in-blood-sausage-form himself, Mr. John Kruk. Yes, those moments would look like John Kruk.

-The Rays only scored five runs while stranding 11 on the bags. This includes a bases loaded seventh that ended with an Andrew Sutton, swinging, strikeout and culminating in a wasted opportunity to score runs. All in all, Tampa Bay went 2-11 with runners in scoring position. Eek.

-The rays are now hitting .235 with RISP. The rest of MLB is on a downward trend for runs scored in general. Overall, the league average for hitting with RISP is some 15 points higher than Tampa Bay, at least at the moment. The Rays average will go up when Longoria and Desmond Jennings return to the roster. Yet, one could assume that the league average will increase over time as well.

-Elliot Johnson committed the 41st error of the year on a botched play in the fifth. That error inevitably resulted in a run.

-The Rays are now third, in all of baseball, for errors committed. The Giants lead all of baseball with 46 errors. That’s, uh…not so good, considering that the Rays pride themselves on being a pitching and fielding team.

There is a school of thought that a team’s batting average with runners in scoring position, ultimately, is irrelevant. To an extent, I agree. However, I also contend, that in order for that statistic to be irrelevant, a team cannot afford to give up an inordinate amount of runs, especially those that are directly attributed to an error or errors. Over the course of the last three games, Tampa Bay has given up at least five runs that can be directly attributed to the six errors that Tampa Bay committed in this series alone.

In the end, the Rays were able to improve their record to 27-18, pulling within one game of the Baltimore Orioles. I should also mention that Tampa Bay is sitting nine games over .500 while 10 men are on the DL. These are highlights in and of themselves. The errors and the lack of run support will eventually come to pass. I can say, if Tampa Bay is in this position with all of their warts and all, think how they’ll brutalize the AL when everyone is healthy, and the Rays aren’t playing with, for all intents and purposes, a 4-A team.

What’s not to love about Pena and Scott being interviewed in MF Doom masks, following the game?! (Courtesy of the Tampa Bay Rays)

Tampa Bay Rays starting lineup:

Pena 1B

Upton CF

Joyce RF

Sutton 3B

Scott DH

Johnson SS

Rhymes 2B

Gimenez C

Thompson LF

Shields RHP

Notes: ‘Los is leading off again, Sutton is hitting clean-up, Joyce is getting the start in RF instead of Zobrist, finding Thompson in RF. Is it me, of does this feel like a Spring Training lineup?!

Coming off a big (and sloppily fielded) 8-5 victory over the Jays, Tampa Bay looks to take the rubber game of this three game set,  ending their current home stand 4-4. Coming off of a four run seven hit start against the Braves, James Shields (6-2, 3.77 ERA) will take the mound, opposite of Ricky Romero (5-1, 3.64 ERA), as he attempts to regain his big game moniker, following two lackluster starts. Ricky Romero is 6-4 against the Rays in his last 11 starts, and hasn’t always been…urm, that kind to Tampa Bay. Batters are hitting a measly .216 against Romero in 2012, and with a very good 1.28 WHIP, the Rays are going to have to muster as much offense as they can against the tough left-handed pitcher. One thing is certain: if Shields and Romero are on point today, the 1:10 game promises to be a low scoring pitchers duel.

The Rays have an opportunity to take down the Jays today. Following their big victory last night, the Rays certainly have the momentum on their side. They’ll need to muster all of that momentum, utilizing all of the positives from last night to drive them today. And there were a good number of positives. Yet, there were also a few lingering concerns that made the outcome closer than it should have been. They will need to, ahem, accentuate the positives, and eliminate the negatives.

The Good

-’Los: 2-5 with three RBI and one run in the lead off spot. Maddon haters: maybe the man knows what he’s doing?! Did I mention that three run, 542 ft. blast to dead center? Yeah, there was that with only 12,000 (or so) fans in the stands no less. Guess Pena didn’t get the memo that a lack of paid attendees = no homers to center.

-A five run fourth thanks to a Luke Scott homer to left, an Andrew Sutton RBI double, and the Pena blast. Incidentally, Luke Scott’s homer was his first to left field since April 2008.

-BJ Upton going 2-5 with a run and an RBI blast to left in the sixth, giving the Rays a much-needed insurance run following a disastrous four run fifth and one run sixth.

-Andrew Sutton going 2-4 with a run and an RBI double in his first game with the Rays. The kid’s got some wheels on him too.

-The ‘pen cleaning up the mess that Matt Moore left behind, going a combined 4-1/3 innings, giving up one run on four hits, while striking out four. The run and majority of hits are charged to Wade Davis.

-Another bad-ass save by Fernando Rodney. Rodney is now 14-for-14 in the save department.

-A seldom seen call, where Lawrie did not re-touch second base on his way back to first on a fly out. This was included because Lawrie is a constant LOL giver nowadays.

The Ugly

Last night’s game was not without its scary or ugly moments. Matt Moore looked really good through the first four innings, striking out six, inducing pop-outs and ground-outs, and giving up two hits and a walk.

…Then the bottom fell out in the fifth. The play by play (below) gives you, in graphic detail, what could have found the Rays in much worse shape, going in to the sixth.

Poor pitching in the fifth, plus two errors…on the same play no less, isn’t good. The Rays miraculously got out of the inning by giving up only four runs. I say only because the inning ended with Encarnacion on second. Also  the gold glove caliber Ben Zobrist committed an error, the first of his career in the outfield. That ended a streak of 270 games, in 479 chances, without an error.

Today’s starting lineup still to come.

Pena 1B
Upton CF
Joyce LF
Zobrist RF
Scott DH
Rodriguez 3B
Sutton 2B
Gimenez C
Johnson SS
Moore LHP

Tampa Bay (25-18) enters tonight’s game against the Blue Jays two full games behind the first place Orioles. Matt Moore (1-4, 5.20 ERA) will take the mound against sinker-baller Andrew Hutchinson (3-1, 4.81 ERA) as he attempts to carry the success of the final four innings of his last start, into tonight. The Rays are depending on a big start from Moore, if their anemic offense has any hope of faring well against the Jays

At the moment, Tampa Bay has committed 38 errors through 43 games. That’s the most since the ’07 season. The Rays are on a current pace for team record 143 errors. All this from a pitching/fielding team. Yikes. Blame the errors on what you will. But the fact of the matter stands, with the exception of the three games that Thompson and Allen have started, as well as the games that Rhymes has played, the Rays defense is fairly adept in the positions they’re covering, be them their normal positions or otherwise. They’re really shouldn’t be any reasons that the Rays are performing at this low level.

To be fair, the pitching has been there, but the fielding and offense have not. Compound that with the fact that Rays have scored, on average, 2.71 runs per game in the last seven games. They’ve now faced at least three teams that are scoring 4.5 plus runs per game, over the course of this home stand, and going back into the road trip prior. Too many errors and not enough runs will sink a team, and the proof is in the pudding; the Rays are now 4-6 in their last 10 games.

Upton, Joyce, Rodriguez, and Rhymes have really carried this team in the last seven games, scoring a combined 14 runs. Yet, the players that need to be driving in those runs have not done so at an efficient clip. That is in the last seven games at least. To their credit, Zobrist and Pena have gotten on base and worked good counts. However, they’ve only driven in RBI between the two of them.

They’re facing (sigh…) yet, another, sinker baller tonight. Don’t let Hutchinson’s relatively high ERA deceive you, he has gotten better as the season’s progressed. In fact, he’s 2-0 in his last two start, having given up only two runs in his last 12 innings of work. Drabek gave up six walks last night. Yet of the eight Rays baserunners, only three had hits. The Rays were able to force him into at least six three ball counts which is a good thing. Stranding eight base runners, and going 1-6 with runners in scoring position, is not.

They’ll need to attack Hutchinson in the same manner tonight. As a sinker-baller that likes to paint the corners (see the graphs below), it will be incumbant on the Rays to work the count; force him to pitch in their zone. Look at the bright side, at least Joe West won’t be calling the balls and strikes! I’ll tack the starting lineup on to this when it’s released.

Against left handed hitters (Courtesy of Brooksbaseball.net)

Location of pitch by type against left handed hitters (Courtesy of Brooksbaseball.net)

Against right handed hitters (Courtesy of Brooksbaseball.net)

Location of pitch by type against right handed hitters (Courtesy of Brooksbaseball.net)

Jeremy Hellickson (4-0, 2.77 ERA) will take the mound for the Rays as they attempt to put an end to both their sloppy fieldwork, and their seeming inability to drive in runners in scoring position. Helly had a quality outing his last time on the mound, giving up only one run on five hits, while walking two, and striking out six, in six innings of work. He’s still cracked the 7-IP mark only twice this season, and we’re all well aware of his battles with efficiency and the inning to inning pitch count. Pitching coach, Jim Hickey, has mentioned on a few different occasions that Hellickson is at his best when he’s throwing 15-20 pitches per inning. One has to wonder if he’s trying to compensate for what has been some fairly sloppy play (by Rays standards) behind him. That’s a reasonable question to ask when you consider that Helly has a FIP of 4.78, 34 points higher than his 2011 season average. Then again, he’s one or two runs off of the mark where he was at this point last season with concerns to earned runs. Or maybe his early season fidgeting with a newly found cutter had more of an effect on his inning to inning efficiency.

Kyle Drabek (3-4, 3.30 ERA) takes the mound for the Blue Jays. Only six Rays have official at-bats against Drabek: Chris Gimenez (1-2, BB), Matt Joyce (0-2), Sean Rodriguez (1-3), Luke Scott (1-3), BJ Upton (0-3), and Ben Zobrist (1-2). They’re hitting a combined .200 BA against Drabek. I’m not certain if that’s a large enough sample size to say whether the Rays will be able to knock him all over the place or not.

Against righties, Drabek tends to pound the inside corner with an 88-95 MPH fastball. He also tends to pound the middle to the inside of the plate with his curveball. Conversely, he tends to pound the inside corner with his change-up and slider against lefties (see the pitch f/x below). From a purely numbers-only (runs, hits, homers, etc) perspective, Drabek is similar to Hellickson. Do what you will with that information.

Drabek by pitch type against righties (courtesy of Brooksbaseball.net)

Drabek by pitch type against lefties (courtesy of Brooksbaseball.net)

Rays Starting Lineup (5/21/12):

Zobrist RF

Upton CF

Joyce LF

Pena 1B

Scott DH

Rodriguez 3B

Rhymes 2B

Johnson SS

Molina C

Hellickson RHP

Of note: see the “Of Injuries and Acquisitions” thread for updated information on Keppinger as well as the latest Rays acquisition.

Though Price had a solid start posting a 7 IP/6 H/2 R (1 ER)/3 BB/7 K line, he still got the loss. Price is now 6-2 with a 3.10 ERA on the season. Blame the loss on lack of offense, exacerbated by a gem of a start by Tim Hudson. Price threw a career high 123 pitches on the day.

Tampa Bay ended the day stranding eight men on the bags, while going 1-4 with runners in scoring position. “1-4 and a shut out, you may ask?!” Chalk it up to bad luck. Luke Scott hit a bases loaded ground ball destined for right field which happened to hit Carlos Pena while he made his way to second. The Rays also had men on the bags in the sixth with two outs, however Pena’s blast to center couldn’t quite make it over the wall, presumably because the game wasn’t sold out.

More on this in a little.