It’s hard to get overly excited about spring stats, I have said that on this site at least 20 times, but the pitching numbers from our probably starting pitching staff is something that is hard to not get excited about.
Let’s discount the numbers of future rotation members Jake McGee and Jeremy Hellickson, because its not quite there time, just yet, but look at the 5 guys who will comprise the starting staff when the season opens next Tuesday.
James Shields – 21.1 IP, 2.11 ERA, 5 BB, 10 K, 5 ER, 3 HR
Shields will be our opening day starter and has [...]

The Rays have a conundrum on their hands.  The main piece that was acquired from the Angels in the Scott Kazmir trade last season, Sean Rodriguez, has had a ridiculous spring.
AVG .420;  HR 6;  RBI 15;  OBP .463;  SLG .900
He leads the Rays in jacks, SLG and OBP.  I don’t think the plan when spring started was for Rodriguez to be starting on opening day.  I think in the minds of the management and of Maddon, Rodriguez would play a super UTIL role, playing 1b and 2b and occasionally OF and DH, with Ried Brignac handling 3b and SS and [...]

It was announced today that Wade Davis will fill the 5th spot in the rotation. With this decision, Andy Sonnanstine will fill in for JP Howell as a reliever. Maddon said,” the fifth-starter competition effectively ended last week, when lefty reliever JP Howell was shut down with weakness in his throwing shoulder.”
Although, I was pushing for Jeremy Hellickson to fill the reliever role, Sonnanstine is a proven pitcher who knows how to throw strikes and has been in this position before. He is also someone who can fill in as a starter in the case of a poor outing or [...]

Today, the Rays beat the Red Sox 11-9 in a home run fest. There were a total of seven home runs hit today, with Evan Longoria(2) and Kelly Shoppach(4) hitting two each. The young stud Sean Rodriquez, who leads the Rays this spring in dingers(6), also added to the long ball numbers, along with Ben Zobrist(2) and Hank Blalock(1).
I must say this spring has really opened eyes to watch the play of Sean Rodriguez and Kelly Shoppach. I really feel these two guys are going contribute a great deal for the Rays this season. Both are hitting  very well, with [...]

Yesterday it was announced that relief pitcher JP Howell will not participate for the remaining 10 games of Spring Training and will more than likely start the season on the disabled list with a tired shoulder. Last year, Howell was a significant part of the Rays bullpen recording 17 saves and 7 wins.
With Howell starting the season on the disabled list, I would think the Rays would have to bring back up Jeremy Hellickson, who was sent down to Minor League Camp on Tuesday. Hellickson has shown tremendous stuff during this Spring and bringing him up as a reliever will [...]

There was one  good sign I guess we could say about the 4-6 loss last night against the Yanks. Our hit or miss first baseman Carlos Pena ended his 0-21 slump this Spring and belted a dinger. This really isn’t that big of a surprise for Pena,  as most of us know the guy either strikes out or hits a HR. But starting out the spring 0-21 is just not acceptable.
The Hank Blalock signing may turn out to be a good one if Pena keeps this act up during the regular season. Although Blalock is not much different of an [...]

Was forwarded this video from 12 Angry Mascots, a sports comedy production team.  Classic stuff.

With the velocity that BJ Upton swings the bat, and the line drive power that he has shown previously, albeit during healthy seasons, I have always thought that BJ Upton was a lock for 20/20 years every single season.  We know he has the stolen base part down, but over the past two seasons combined has has only 20 HR.  He did hit 24 HR during the 2007 season, a season that a lot of people think was the last time that BJ was truly healthy and not bothered by wrist or shoulder issues.
Yesterday BJ hit 2 HR vs the [...]

31 runs.   A 16 to 15 score seems more like a field goal festival in a football game, then a score of a baseball game, but that is what the Rays and Pirates put up yesterday.  30 hits, and 31 runs.
The Rays scored 5 runs in the 2nd, 3 in the 5th, 7 in the 7th and one in the 9th.  The Bucs scored 5 in the first, 1 in the third, 1 in the 5th, 1 in the 6th, two in the 7th, one in the 8th, and 4 in the ninth.   That is a wild ass [...]

There is always a rule of thumb for Spring Training, don’t read too much into it.  I generally abide by that rule, especially when assessing players that are going to have a hard time making the roster.
SORRY! Jeremy Hellickson was nasty yesterday in his 2nd outing for the Rays.  He faced 4 batters, 4 batters walked back to the dugout after being struck out.  He’s faced 8 batters in 2 games, and struck out 6 of them, giving up only one hit, and allowing 0 ER and walking a grand total of zero batters.
We hypothesized a bit on this [...]