Stephen Strasburg who? People need to start talking about Jeremy Hellickson and the stuff this kid has. In the place of  Wade David being put on the DL with a shoulder strain, Hellickson was able to prove again he deserves to be at the major league level.
Hellickson is the top pitching prosepect in the organization and in his second start of the season against the Tigers he gained his second win. He went seven scoreless innings while striking out seven, no walks and 3 hits. After giving up a leadoff hit in the first inning, the next 18 were retired. [...]

For the first time in history the Rays seen the other side of a no-hitter. Matt Garza was only one walk away from a perfect game but did only face the minimum 27 batters in his no-hitter against the Tigers last night. The Rays also made history by being involved in three official no-hitters in one season since 1917.
“It’s the first no-hitter I’ve ever had,” Garza said. “It’s great I was the first one to do it [in Rays history]. It’s a young franchise and I have a feeling they’re going to have many more to come. But I can’t put enough emphasis [...]

Rocco Baldelli is back and ready to regain his major league form. Baldelli initially rejoined the Rays at the beginning of the season as an instructor to help out the youngins but is now on the Single A team for the Rays, signing a minor league contract earlier in the day.
Baldelli has suffered from numerous injuries and fatigue since joining the bigs in 200o, where he was picked 6th overall by the Rays. He finished 3rd that year in Rookie of the Year votes.
I personally dont get the signing, but Baldelli was a fan favorite in Tampa and if he [...]

Rafael Soriano was added to the 2010 American League All-Star team due to a left oblique injury and right knee inflammation  to Mariano Rivera.
Soriano was the next player on the list by player voting behind Rivera. Soriano has 23 saves in 24 opportunities and has the best save percentage in the majors at 95.8. Soriano is 2-0 with a 1.65 ERA and has 29 strikeouts  and just seven walks in 32 2/3 innings.
He is tied for 2nd in the majors for saves behind Joakim Soria and for him not to be voted on the team first ballot, was astonishing to me. Soriano has been the most [...]

Hank Blalock was the player who was supposed to take the slack when Pat Burrell was designated for assignment, but with a very poor performance since being brought up from Durham, Blalock has also been designated for assignment. Blalock did not see the field much, hitting .254 with a home run and seven RBIs in 63 at-bats for the Rays.” Hopefully there will be a team that wants me to play for them. … I’m not sure how the designated for assignment or released thing works out, or whatever. I’ll fly back to Tampa and pack my stuff up and [...]

This was during today’s game vs the Dbacks. Evan Longoria was clearly not pleased with the way BJ Upton seemed to jog towards the ball.
Best part of the video is our young MVP Candidate being a leader and calling a player out who he felt was not doing all he could do to make a play. Longo was clearly not worried about any retaliation from BJ because when BJ started yelling back at him, Longo whipped back around and got up in his face.
Worst part of this video is the fact that there is [...]

Carl Crawford has been suffering from left shoulder sorness since throwing the ball home in Wednesday’s game against the Padres and had to leave early in yesterday’s game. Crawford is now listed as day-to-day. But should be back sometime this weekend.
 With Gabe Kapler being on the DL and the Rays currently holding 3 catchers, adding outfield depth is a must. This lead to Doineer Navarro being sent to Durham. I stated a couple weeks ago Navarro would be the catcher outside looking in for playing time and I was right. With Shoppach back on the team and Jaso being consistent on [...]

Carl Crawford earned his third career player of the week  award and is  batting .307 on the season, with 16 doubles, seven home runs, 56 runs scored, 38 runs batted in and 24 stolen bases. He ranks 3rd is stolen bases behind Juan Pierre (27) and Rajai Davis (26). But was caught stealing 3 times out of 4 games this week and only seven times all year.
During the week Crawford  had an .81o slugging percentage, .571 OBP and hit one homerun. He also hit his league leading 6th triple in a 9-8 win against the Marlins.
Crawford has maintained his status as an elite outfielder [...]

This morning St. Petersburg mayor Bill Foster and Rays principal owner Stuart Sternberg sat down with each other to determine  the Rays future plans, as for whether or not the Rays will continue play in St. Petersburg.
Following the meeting Sternberg scheduled a press conference and stated he wants to explore all potential options for a new ballpark within the Tampa Bay region.”When I assumed control of the Rays almost five years ago, it was commonly assumed that winning would change everything at Tropicana Field,” Sternberg said. “Everyone believed that with a winning team on the field, fans would fill the stands. [...]

Jason Bartlett returned to the starting line up today, which means Justin Ruggiano was sent right back down. Bartlett was supposed to have a two day stint at Durham, but was brought up early due to the weather.
I really wasn’t rushing for Bartlett to return to the line up personally; He was only hitting .231, with 1 hr and 22 RBI’s. Not really good numbers for a lead off man, especially with only 3 stolen bases to add to that.
I just hope Sean Rod’s hitting streak doesn’t come to an end with the return of Bartlett. He has been pure hotness [...]