So I see the Marlins are who we thought they were!

[Bullpride08]

You know people are so quick to criticize those in power, but also not willing to compliment good decisions. We won the game today because of Maddon's moves. Starting Kapler and giving C.C. the day off turned out to be a brilliant move. Pinch hitting Kapler the other night turned out brilliantly. The bullpen went 21.1 innings this homestand without giving up a run, again, good moves by Maddon. at times I think he overthinks things and doesn't give his starting pitchers enough rope, but by and large he does an excellent job of managing this young team.

The ONLY difference between the team this year and last year is our performance in one-run games. If we were winning those games at the same clip as last year we would be in first place by 2 games over Boston. Yes, the defense is worse, but the offense is vastly improved. If we were winning the one-run games everyone would be calling Maddon as genius, and the air inside the Trop would be the freshest in America.

Things are coming together for this team. We are getting healthy, we have the most versatile player in the game (Zobrist), and we have 9 games coming up against the National league, who we have owned over the past few years in interleague play (5-1 this season). We are only 5 games off of last year's pace and I feel that once we get a consistent closer we will be in position to challenge for the AL East again this year. We have performed well against the teams we need to beat (6-4 v. Boston, 4-4 v. NY). I am shocked that we are well over 1/3 through the season and have yet to play Toronto, although they seem to be losing steam, so it may turn out to play in our favor.

Well put.  Maddon is the perfect manager for this program because the Rays have lots of youth and need a manager that coddles, and coaches.  Maddon does that and this is why we won last year case closed.  His moves last year were brilliant in spots, and he made things happen.  Maddon has quirks to his game that make people frustrated at times, but you've got to analyze the body of work and decisions in their totality.

So far our pains have been the bullpen has struggled early, and we've been battling major injury issues.  Not Maddon's problem, the pitchers in the pen did the deed last year but at times this year have hurt us like the 11-12 loss in Cleveland.  Maddon did what he could in that game, and made most of the right moves, but a pitcher still has to get the ball over the plate, and get a guy out.  We've lost Aki, Burnett, and Longo all for a long stretch collective, that's 3/4th of the best infield defensively last year.  What has happened is uncharacteristic errors because we're missing those guys...not Maddon's fault.  Longo is back and slowly getting back to normal (he rushed himself back to soon too), Burnett is back this week with his .373 batting average.  I think suddenly with injuries getting cleared up, and the starting pitchers are beginning to pitch stronger...we'll see people start to realize again Maddon's fine, and we'll be winning again.  The guy is never going to get the salary power of NY, or Boston so he's got to work with a few misfits, and retreds but he seems to get the most out of them as with Gabe Kapler winning two out of the last three games for us.

[flsportsfan83]

speaking of rings, will the Rays ever win one?

[BullyPulpit]

You know people are so quick to criticize those in power, but also not willing to compliment good decisions. We won the game today because of Maddon's moves. Starting Kapler and giving C.C. the day off turned out to be a brilliant move. Pinch hitting Kapler the other night turned out brilliantly. The bullpen went 21.1 innings this homestand without giving up a run, again, good moves by Maddon. at times I think he overthinks things and doesn't give his starting pitchers enough rope, but by and large he does an excellent job of managing this young team.

The ONLY difference between the team this year and last year is our performance in one-run games. If we were winning those games at the same clip as last year we would be in first place by 2 games over Boston. Yes, the defense is worse, but the offense is vastly improved. If we were winning the one-run games everyone would be calling Maddon as genius, and the air inside the Trop would be the freshest in America.

Things are coming together for this team. We are getting healthy, we have the most versatile player in the game (Zobrist), and we have 9 games coming up against the National league, who we have owned over the past few years in interleague play (5-1 this season). We are only 5 games off of last year's pace and I feel that once we get a consistent closer we will be in position to challenge for the AL East again this year. We have performed well against the teams we need to beat (6-4 v. Boston, 4-4 v. NY). I am shocked that we are well over 1/3 through the season and have yet to play Toronto, although they seem to be losing steam, so it may turn out to play in our favor.

Well put.  Maddon is the perfect manager for this program because the Rays have lots of youth and need a manager that coddles, and coaches.  Maddon does that and this is why we won last year case closed.  His moves last year were brilliant in spots, and he made things happen.  Maddon has quirks to his game that make people frustrated at times, but you've got to analyze the body of work and decisions in their totality.

So far our pains have been the bullpen has struggled early, and we've been battling major injury issues.  Not Maddon's problem, the pitchers in the pen did the deed last year but at times this year have hurt us like the 11-12 loss in Cleveland.  Maddon did what he could in that game, and made most of the right moves, but a pitcher still has to get the ball over the plate, and get a guy out.  We've lost Aki, Burnett, and Longo all for a long stretch collective, that's 3/4th of the best infield defensively last year.  What has happened is uncharacteristic errors because we're missing those guys...not Maddon's fault.  Longo is back and slowly getting back to normal (he rushed himself back to soon too), Burnett is back this week with his .373 batting average.  I think suddenly with injuries getting cleared up, and the starting pitchers are beginning to pitch stronger...we'll see people start to realize again Maddon's fine, and we'll be winning again.  The guy is never going to get the salary power of NY, or Boston so he's got to work with a few misfits, and retreds but he seems to get the most out of them as with Gabe Kapler winning two out of the last three games for us.

Of course you mean Bartlett returning. The same Bartlett who will be leading the majors in BA by this weekend once he gets enough official plate appearences. The Rays have the third best record in baseball over the past 45 days. I have not and refuse to hit the panic button. The next two weeks will be a great barometer of where this team is. Playing the scorching hot Rockies (winners of 11 in a row) the Mets in NY, the Phils at home, and the Marlins will show us just how far this team has come. We certainly play a style of NL ball better than the NL teams themselves, so I think by the time we finish our series with the Marlins in two weeks this team will be tied for the AL wildcard. 

[flsportsfan83]

the rays will not even be 2nd in the divison in 2 weeks. keep dreaming

[BullyPulpit]

the rays will not even be 2nd in the divison in 2 weeks. keep dreaming

Well, that remains to be seen. But, since we play in the best division in baseball tied for second place will likely equate to tied for the lead in the wildcard race. I know a certain team that won't be sniffing the wildcard in two weeks. They play to the south of us and have one of the worst management groups in baseball. I have a cookie for you if you can guess who it is.

[Bullpride08]

the rays will not even be 2nd in the divison in 2 weeks. keep dreaming

Well, that remains to be seen. But, since we play in the best division in baseball tied for second place will likely equate to tied for the lead in the wildcard race. I know a certain team that won't be sniffing the wildcard in two weeks. They play to the south of us and have one of the worst management groups in baseball. I have a cookie for you if you can guess who it is.

I agree, right now we'd be no less than 2nd place in four other divisions, and probably higher since we would have already played more inferior opponents instead of a stack of Yankee, and Bosox games.

With Bartlett returning, sorry about the burnett reference, our defense will improve as will our bats since we'll be closer to our original batting line-up just replacing Aki with Zobrist- we lose defense there but make up much more in offense.  With a stingy defense, good starting pitching, and bats that seems to stay solid we're going to give all our opponents fits from here on out providing our bullpen can hold up and give us more scoreless innings.  We lost so many close games early on as the bullpen would drop a run or two in the 7-9 innings but they seem to all be falling into their roles again.  I think Winston Abreu will help, he's been tearing up the minors at Durham coming out of the bullpen.  If he can add some help then the next two weeks could be big.

[flsportsfan83]

that horrible management group has won a world series and secured a new stadium. 2 things the rays will never have.

[Big_Hairy_Bull]

that horrible management group has won a world series and secured a new stadium. 2 things the rays will never have.

Dude get over it. Stop living in the past. Its been over 5 yrs now. We are talking about the present.

[flsportsfan83]

success is measured in championships. and the stafium was just approved. and the present shows us the rays are tied with the jays for the 3rd best team in their divison

[Big_Hairy_Bull]

Tied for 3rd in the best division in baseball. Starting to play much better. Managing to stay on pace with the leaders of the division despite injuries and a poor start in pitching.