DRaysBay (Free subscription) | 12/04/2009
A majority of focus from the Aubrey Huff trade has been centered on Ben Zobrist for the past year and a half, and rightfully so. His hard swinging, OBP machine, super-utility man routine took baseball by storm in 2009; even going as far as getting him more than the token MVP vote (8th place!). If Zobrist comes anywhere close to duplicating his 2009 numbers in the team-controlled seasons left on his...
DRaysBay (Free subscription) | 11/10/2009
More photos » by J Pat Carter - AP Browse more photos » Slowinski asked what the Rays should do with Andy Sonnanstine last week. It's pretty obvious. The team needs a new catcher. I don't have to put two and two together for you. Now the concerns are pretty obvious. Can Sonnanstine catch? Of course he can. Look at how many times he's caught a throw from the catcher back to the mound. Can...
DRaysBay (Free subscription) | 11/08/2009
by Mark Duncan - AP (AP Photo/Mark Duncan) View full size photo » Nothing seems to come easily for Andy Sonnanstine . His fastball barely tops 87 and he's forced to get by on mixing pitches and superb control, which is not a way to earn the benefit of the doubt from fans or scouts. The fastball-throwing, strikeout machines are by far sexier and catch your eye easily, which is why players like...
DRaysBay (Free subscription) | 11/06/2009
This is part 5 of the 6 part series on the best 30 starts for the Rays in our most recent season. So far we have seen 11 - 30 and there have been some real humdingers in there. As a review, here are positions for each starter: James Shields - 24, 23, 20, 19, 12 Matt Garza - 29, 28 Jeff Neimann - 25, 22, 21,16 Scott Kazmir - 14 David Price - 30, 26, 15, 13, 11 Wade Davis - 27, 18 Andy Sonnanstine -...
DRaysBay (Free subscription) | 10/30/2009
Alright gentlemen and lady (?), I wanted to continue the look at some of the best starts the Rays had this year. If you don't remember, here's the tally for each pitcher: - James Shields (19, 20, 23, & 24) - Matt Garza (28 & 29) - David Price (26 & 30) - Jeff Niemann (16, 21, 22, & 25) - Andy Sonnanstine (17) - Wade Davis (18 & 27) - Scott Kazmir (0) So if you're good at math you've...
DRaysBay (Free subscription) | 10/23/2009
More photos » by Rob Carr - AP Big Daddy D says, "Get under my wing and I'll learn you a thing or two, son." (AP Photo/Rob Carr) Browse more photos » With this installment we now reach the half-way point in this countdown. As a recap, here are Parts 1 & 2 . Here is a brief rundown of who has done what so far: Shields: 23, 24 Garza: 28, 29 Price: 26, 30 Nieman: 21, 22, 25 Davis:...
Amazin' Avenue (Free subscription) | 10/15/2009
(note: bumped from FanPosts) In the same vein as yesterday's Minor League free agents, these are the John Maine -esque, under the radar steals of typically cheap, young pitchers that for whatever reason become available. Whether it's a post-hype prospect (like Maine), a 4-5 starter that's out of options but won't make the 40-man or just a player that's being overlooked, usually this is someone who...
The Rays Party (Free subscription) | 10/15/2009
After being demoted in late June, Andy Sonnanstine was called up to the club in a mop-up/spot starter role for September. Although not an ideal sample size to take, here are the splits for Sonnanstine when facing right-handed hitters before and after his demotion. PA K/BB OPS Before 150 2 1.108 After 33 1.25 1.103 It amazingly stayed the same. And by amazingly, I mean amazingly terrible. Small sample...
The Crawfish Boxes (Free subscription) | 10/12/2009
More photos » by Jeff Roberson - AP 29 days ago: Home plate umpire Greg Gibson, left, points during an argument with St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa after throwing La Russa out of a baseball game against the Atlanta Braves during the seventh inning Saturday, Sept. 12, 2009, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson) Browse more photos » Not much going on besides the managerial search,...
Fox News (Free subscription) | 10/05/2009
Alex Rodriguez homered twice and drove in an AL-record seven runs in a 10-run sixth to help the playoff-bound New York Yankees finish the regular season with a 10-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on Sunday. Rodriguez hit a three-run homer off Wade Davis, giving the AL East champions a 3-2 lead. He added his 18th career grand slam later in the inning after Andy Sonnanstine issued an intentional walk...
DRaysBay (Free subscription) | 10/02/2009
More photos » by J Pat Carter - AP Browse more photos » In 2008, Andy Sonnanstine had the best season according WAR for any Rays pitcher ever not named Scott Kazmir or James Shields . In 2009, it seemed nothing went his way. RJ has looked at overall pitch location and whiff rates by pitch type with nothing concrete emerging. It's time for a new theory for the Pitch F(x) team to attempt...
The Rays Party (Free subscription) | 10/02/2009
Skip the writing if just want the visuals. I don't like Sonnanstine's cutters. Wait, rewrite that: I don't like how many cutters Andy Sonnanstine throws. Out of all his pitches tracked in pitch f/x this season, about 54.6% are cutters. Fifty-four point six percent. I know cutters could be worth a lot to a pitcher as proven through the early pitch f/x data, but you can only believe that if that pitcher...
Purple Row (Free subscription) | 10/01/2009
More photos » by Darren Calabrese - AP We very nearly could have had this guy instead of Jason Hammel. Should we be happy with the guy we got? Browse more photos » It's not always the blockbuster deals that build winners. In fact, it often is not. With the Rockies on the verge of the playoffs, it's a good time to reflect on one of those seemingly innocent little trades that has paid big...
The Rays Party (Free subscription) | 09/30/2009
Two quick things to point out that were sparked up from two different articles I saw on the web. The first one was written by the clever Carson Cistulli over at The Hardball Times (THT). In a glorified game recap, he uses a stat (sabermetric again) that I never heard of before. PrOPS . I have gotten some of those but basically it is predicted OPS using a formula. Another stat he mentions is GPA (mine...
The Rays Party (Free subscription) | 09/29/2009
Not exactly the "fire" I wanted for Dale Thayer but it is a start. A pLI of 0.60 , his highest this season, getting Lou Montanez to fly out in the seventh inning with two outs after allowing the inherited runner to move up to third base after a wild pitch. That out became be huge as Willy Aybar hit a game tying 3-run home run in the bottom half of the seventh. This gave Thayer a generous...
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