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#1
05-15-2010, 01:04 PM
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Rays dfa Burrell
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#3
05-15-2010, 04:42 PM
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Upton should be next out the door. Maybe back to AAA. He struke out 14 times in the last 6 games.
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#4
05-15-2010, 08:19 PM
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At least he is cheap
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#5
05-15-2010, 10:00 PM
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Looking at the numbers the Rays pitching staff has been dominant. But there is no way they can keep up the current pace and they are gonna need to add a bat if Upton, Pena, Blalock, etc dont start to hit. Thier team hitting stats are pretty much league avg across the board with the exception of runs and RBI's which indicates very timely (and in a lot of cases possibly lucky) hitting which is likely to trend the other way at some point. It is getting 7 hits in a game but 5 of them in one inning leading to more runs than a team typically would get with 7 hits over 9 innings. Their team ERA is 2.82, the league average is 4.15. Thier per 9 innings numbers in regards to hits, walks, HRs allowed, K's and thier k/BB ratio are all very good but probably unusually so. But longterm they dont have a starter over 28, 2 of them are 24 and hellickson may be the best yet and he is still in the minors. If the cheapskates who own the team add a bat and a left handed RP (especially if Howell is not effective after being injured) they will be a very tough team to deal with.
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#6
05-16-2010, 07:18 AM
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Through yesterday their leadoff guy, Bartlett, is batting .243, Pena .183, Upton .214, Navarro .182 and your most used bench guys, Rodriguez .222 and Kapler .224.... You can't win a Championship with that in your line-up no matter how good your pitching is. They addressed one of their many problems, Burrell, they need to address the above players. You can afford to keep Bartlett, Pena and Upton in the line-up because they provide gold glove type work in the field, but the rest need to not see the light of day. Jaso (.313) should catch every day unless he's hurt, when Soppach comes back from injury, Navarro should pack his bags. He does not provide any defense to supplement anemic bat. Rodriguez and Kapler should provide once a month fill ins for resting players, no more. Once Matt Joyce retruns from his injury (which should be soon), he should provide some offensive punch after the All Star break. Ruggiano is also batting over .300 at Durham and has big league experience. The bullpen has been average, then again, most bullpens are. If those guys were great pitchers, they'd be starters. Soriano is a minor upgrade, but every appearance is an adventure. He needs to get his **** together and be a closer. JP Howell is not the savior the local media thinks he is. Thankfully, their starting pitching is loaded and if one of them goes down, Hellickson is ready to roll.
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#7
05-16-2010, 01:27 PM
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#10
05-16-2010, 11:53 PM
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Who the fk is B.J. Upton?
Damn stick-figure shortened my life by a year already. Last edited by SCUDSBROTHER : 05-17-2010 at 12:17 AM.
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#11
05-17-2010, 01:43 AM
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Dodgers starting pitchers will start getting tight again. With them, it's all about whether they think the other team's offense will make plays. If they think the other team isn't making many clutch plays, then the Dodger starters can get pretty comfortable. The Phillies display a great deal of confidence, and the Dodger starters can't handle that well at all. They are much too concerned with the current state of mind of the other team's offense. So, the key to this team is to play teams with good pitching, and struggling offenses (Giants, Padres, and lately Arizona.) They love that lil situation. Look what happened when they had to face a team who's offense was warm at the time. I mean why do you think Kershaw just couldn't pitch well on May 4th? Short rest? Maybe, but Milwaukee's offense came in very hot, and it bothered him. Stats don't matter as much with this bunch. They don't want any part of facing a confident hitting team. The state of mind of the opposing team's hitters is the primary factor involved. They'd much rather face Dempster n' Zambrano (in their prime) than have to get out Rollins, Victorino, Utley, and Howard. That's why you saw them do well in the Divisional Series, and struggle in the LCS. They lay down against a top offense. Both Chicago n' St. Louis were struggling offensively. Dodger team loves that situation. Same reason they went 3 n' out in the Divisional Series in 2004, and 2006 (have no shot against those hi-octane offenses that come into the post with confidence.) Both those teams (Cards in 2004, and Mets in '06) got stopped by pitching staffs that were mentally tough. Same thing happened last year (the mentally tough Pettite set a stable tone, and wasn't bothered by the haughty Phils demeanor.)
Last edited by SCUDSBROTHER : 05-17-2010 at 02:15 AM.
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#12
05-17-2010, 02:16 PM
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Sorry to see that Pat was let go by the Rays. I liked him when he was with the Phils. A real hard worker and team guy. Plus he hit the heck out of Billy Wagner.
__________________
The man who complains about the way the ball bounces is likely the one who dropped it - Lou Holtz
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#13
05-17-2010, 02:40 PM
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They Mayor of Midnight in Philly. Love Pat the Bat.. not for his "skills", but for his personality. the definition of a pro underachiever. I guess its hard to play well when you are drinking til 5 am all the time.. but thats why he fit in in Philly. Will always Cherish him for bring a Championship to Philly, even if he had very little to do with it.
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#14
05-19-2010, 06:17 PM
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James Shields pondered the questions for a moment, then boomeranged it right back at the person making the query.
"How good do you think our starting rotation is?" said the man who has been the starting pitcher in each of the Rays' last three openers. It was a fair enough request, considering I had asked "Big Game James" for some of his time to answer questions, and he has always been unfailing cooperative over the years. Plus, it was an easy enough question to answer: of course I like the Rays' rotation. In fact, the only people who probably don't like the Rays' starting pitchers are the opposing hitters who must face Shields, Matt Garza, Jeff Niemann, Wade Davis, and left-hander David Price. The Rays lead the American League in starters' ERA (2.58), overall ERA, and quality start percentage (.744, 29-of-39). Garza has been the staff leader with 1.9 SNLVAR, while Niemann (1.8), Price (1.7), Shields (1.2) and Davis (1.0) have also made major contributions. All are either just entering or haven't yet reached the primes of their career as Shields is the elder statesman at 28, Niemann is 27, Garza is 26 and Price and Davis are both 24. Because of their relative youth, the five starters have become a close-knit group, and Rays manager Joe Maddon believes that has helped spark their success. "You have five guys who are continually rooting for each other, continually supporting each other," Maddon said. "That's important, especially with a young group. They are always encouraging each other and on the day each individual is pitching, he doesn't have four bigger supporters than the other guys in the rotation and on the days when James Shields and David Price aren't pitching, the starting pitcher doesn't have a more vocal supporter in the ballpark." The old baseball adage says that hitting is contagious. However, not hitting seems to be contagious when teams face the Rays and Shields says it is because the rotation has put a new spin on an old saw. "This is a situation where good pitching is contagious," Shields said. "Everyone is trying to one-up the next guy. Someone will go out and throw a good game one night and the next guy in the rotation will want to prove he is even better the next night. It's a competition among the five of us and it's been a very healthy competition. We're all pushing each other to be the best pitcher possible and it's been a fun thing to watch and be a part of this season." The Rays have parlayed the good starting pitching into the best record in the major leagues at 28-11, which also represents the best start in franchise history. Furthermore, the starters have helped reduce the use of the bullpen, which is seen by many analysts to be the Rays' potential fatal flaw, by averaging 6.6 innings an outing. The underexposed relievers have also been very good to this point as the Rays' 2.98 bullpen ERA is second in the AL to only the Tigers, who have a 2.49 mark. And the Rays have put up those kinds of numbers despite having left-hander J.P. Howell, their saves leader last year, out all season with a shoulder injury that will likely require surgery. Maddon is fundamentally a believer in the Bill James' theory that a manager should deploy his best relievers in the most high-leverage late-inning situations rather than having specific roles. However, he also realizes that pitchers want to have a specific idea of when they are going to pitch, which is why the Rays traded with the Braves for closer Rafael Soriano in the offseason and have a more traditional bullpen setup this season. Soriano has contributed 1.7 WXRL and Dan Wheeler has added 0.7 in a set-up role. The Rays have needed the strong pitching as their offense has cooled after a strong start. The Rays are second in the league in scoring with an average of 5.31 runs a game but have been held to four runs or less in 11 of their last 17 games. Center fielder B.J. Upton (.255 TAv), first baseman Carlos Pena (.239), and shortstop Jason Bartlett (.235) are all off to slow starts. "We're going to start hitting again, I have no doubt about that because we have some of the best players in the league in our lineup," Shields said. "It's our job as a pitching staff to pick up the slack until the offense comes back around. It's no problem. We're all in this together and the only thing we're worried about is winning ballgames." http://www.baseballprospectus.com/ar...rticleid=10912
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#15
05-20-2010, 02:33 PM
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Burrell got a lot big hits for the Phils in 08 and 09. He's got 267 homers in his career. Maybe not as many as some people thought he should have had but still that's not bad.
__________________
The man who complains about the way the ball bounces is likely the one who dropped it - Lou Holtz
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#16
05-20-2010, 02:59 PM
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But he was useful, and had a nice hit in the WS to help us win (even if he didnt do anything the other WS games). And he was a great Philly personality. He is Loved. 
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