Tampa Bay Rays Thread

[Bullpride08]

I think the Rays are still only middle of the pack for BA with RISP. 

What gets lost on those who get hung up on the Rays BA as a team, are how the Rays excel in basically all other aspects on the offense.  The Rays lead the majors in walks, lead the majors in SB (by a wide margin - and have stolen more bases than the Red Sox and Yankees combined), and rarely ground into double plays (second least in the majors next to NYY).  These are all the little things that can mean a lot in getting runs in that get largely ignored.

Well put, to much is laid down on averages with this team.  Rays are a very good run manufacturing team they're like the fifth best doubles hitting team in the AL, second with triples, and first in stolen bases.  A lot of that has to do with aggressive baserunning.    Back in the old school days of baseball most good teams routinely only had 1-2 players capable of hitting for average over .300, and the rest were all situational guys, or deep threats.

Everyone wants to keep mentioning the Rays for all these guys but they have to be careful picking up someone for fear of damaging chemistry at this point.  Adding a Manny Ramirez is stupid, as would be Johnny Damon...JD is hitting .260 with 7 homers, and like 14 stolen bases and he plays the same position as CC and is inferior in every way out there...what would Damon do for this line-up?  Jason Werth on the other hand could play RF, has hit 18 homers, batting .298, and is a versatile hitter and great outfielder...good!  Adam Dunn...awful outfielder, awful first baseman, maybe a DH if we can get him.

The Rays have to be careful at this point they don't bite off more than they can chew with adding a bat.  As we speak Bartlett, Upton, Rodriguez, and Longo have all been red-hot since August 1.  If they can keep that up and we can get Pena hitting homers again then I say you only go after a quality DH or Werth. 

[Guest Scherdin]

So they are doing a lot of things right...walks, some hits, SB's  and such.  And they score a bunch a runs...the big problem is consistency.  Some of the those runs have been in games that have been already decided.  They strike out way too often...leaving our pitchers to really have to be on their game.  One mistake can often put us behind, and when you can't put the bat on the ball it leads to pressing too much and loses.  And why we have been no-hit twice and have had 10 games with 3 or less hits.  If it wasn't for the starters and bullpen we would be in 3rd place.  With 3 guys that have already struck out more then a 100 times and potentially 3 more joining them that can lead to a lot of men left on base.  And the other bad part is only Chuck has more then 20 HR's...so these guys are going for that all or nothing, when really base hits and gappers do just as good.

I'm a big fan and this isn't some new revelation...it seems like a lot of these guys are starting to heat up at the perfect time.  It's like '08 when they all started putting it together at the right time to head in to the play offs.  I just hope they can ride this momentum for another month to jump the Yanks and hold off Boston.

[Bullpride08]

So they are doing a lot of things right...walks, some hits, SB's  and such.  And they score a bunch a runs...the big problem is consistency.  Some of the those runs have been in games that have been already decided.  They strike out way too often...leaving our pitchers to really have to be on their game.  One mistake can often put us behind, and when you can't put the bat on the ball it leads to pressing too much and loses.  And why we have been no-hit twice and have had 10 games with 3 or less hits.  If it wasn't for the starters and bullpen we would be in 3rd place.  With 3 guys that have already struck out more then a 100 times and potentially 3 more joining them that can lead to a lot of men left on base.  And the other bad part is only Chuck has more then 20 HR's...so these guys are going for that all or nothing, when really base hits and gappers do just as good.

I'm a big fan and this isn't some new revelation...it seems like a lot of these guys are starting to heat up at the perfect time.  It's like '08 when they all started putting it together at the right time to head in to the play offs.  I just hope they can ride this momentum for another month to jump the Yanks and hold off Boston.

All that is true to an extent...but baseballis a grind.  No team is going to be everything for everyone.  Yankees are not a great stolen base team because they don't need to , when you spend $200mm on a roster everyone is suppose to be able to hit.  A rays team like we have has to be smart with how they play.  The ownership never had the money to buy 4-5 .300 hitters, and most honest Rays fans had to know Zobie's 2009 output was an anomoly, and recognize that for the most part Aybar is a journeyman...and Bartlett, outside of one year, has been about a .280 career hitter with great defense and capable of stealing bases. 

We've got two great hitters in CC, and Longo, and a bunch of super utility situational hitters.  That is the Rays.  The biggest hole in our line-up has been DH...the combo of Burrell/Blaylock/Aybar has been beyond pathetic this year.  The DH spot has effectively managed to hit around .230 with like 8 HRs from the trifecta.  That's beyond bad, you expect those type of numbers from an middle infielder defensive specialist.  If they could have gotten just BJ type of production from that group this team would have been even more productive.

Baseball is a grind, and we've all seen teams with 10 game playoff leads entering September and some players heat up and the team loses tha lead.  They grade you at the end not for a month or two.  With that being said Longo, BJ, Bartlett, and Rodriguez, are all heating up and if all can have a great final month and get closer to their career averages...providing pitching holds up that should be enough to get us across the finish line.

[Triple B]

Why do they not belong? Because I stated FACTS instead of trash talk?

Uh, exactly .... If you'd like your facts filled posts over in a thread with "Irrational" in the title, I'd be happy to oblige.