HER RAYS!

A lot has happened in the Rays world since my last post.

Injuries – Two of my favorite outfielders had set backs.  Just when BJ was finally getting started on his comeback, he got hit by a pitch.  Infuriating.  He should have charged the mound, but he shouldn’t really be throwing punches in his current state.  Maybe he could have kicked him.
Then Perez got the news that his wrist is more damaged than they thought.  He’ll be out for while.  Yes, I’m making my pouty face.
At least Matt Joyce is on the comeback trail and Carl Crawford is looking good.

WBC – The game last night featured some Rays action.  Aki hit a big triple.  JP Howell pitched a scoreless inning, getting Aki to fly out.  Longo even got an at bat.  Plus watching the game made me really appreciate Joe Maddon.  I rarely yell at the TV when Maddon’s managing.  Last night my neighbors were probably wondering who pissed me off.

In person – Last Friday I caught up with the Rays live, when they played the BlueJays.  It was a beautiful day and the Rays brought a pretty good line-up.  The most exciting part by far was I got to see Mr. Garza pitch.  For some reason last season I was on the Edwin Jackson rotation, so I was very glad to see someone else.

Garza looked very relaxed as he got his work in.  He wasn’t stellar, but he never let anything get out of hand.

Jason Bartlett looked great.  He started the game 0-2, but battled back to draw the walk.  He also looks bigger up close.

Carl Crawford hit a homerun his first time up, and he looked downright speedy when he was in the game.  Navi also looked speedy, and Mr. Pena looked very handsome  solid.  A BlueJays fan in front of me was bummed when he got out, she was hoping he would make it to third so she could look at him for a while.  My kind of fan.

Gabe 2.0 (Kapler) made a great catch in center.  Morgan Ensberg hit better, but he’s no Longo, especially in the field.  Ray Sadler played right field and he was super nice.  He came over and signed a bunch of balls for a bunch of kids who had no idea who he was.  Elliot Johnson was super cute.  Can we keep him?

Everything was moving along just fine.  I’m not sure if Garza got to a certain pitch count or if Maddon just thought he was done, but they decided to bring in Niemann to get the final out of the inning.

That’s when the sucking started.  He sucked at pitching, and I sucked down the beers.  Ya gotta love spring training!  Go Rays!

As we get closer to the regular season there is something that concerns me about the Rays.  Who’s playing the outfield?  Carl Crawford is a given thank goodness.  However if BJ Upton can’t make it back in time, the plan is to platoon both center and right field.  Platooning is not my favorite, but I trust Mr. Maddon and if he says it will work…

Let’s look at the options.
BJ Upton – He’s basically the man.  The man we’re hoping makes a speedy recovery, because the other guys on this list don’t even compare.  Don’t be lazy on that rehab plan Bossman.  (before I get a bunch of scathing emails, that’s a joke people)

Fernando Perez – He’s broken, and that is a big fat bummer.  He’s part of the Rays dream outfield of the future.  In my head at least.  I think he’s fabulous.  He’s got a lot of personality and he’s a blast to watch.  He was having a great spring trying to show the Rays that they didn’t need no stinkin platoon.  Sigh…get well soon.

Matt Joyce – Who?  No really I have high hopes for him.  I think he fits the Rays mold.  I hope it’s not long before he joins the big league club this season. 

Gabe Gross – Who we know by now is not gross at all.  He has a cannon, and gave the Rays some timely hits last season.  He’ll do, but for some reason he doesn’t excite me.

Gabe Kapler – Is very muscly.  There are many images of him without his shirt on.  That’s not my thing, but many girls appreciate it.  I don’t really know much about him.  Wiki says he’s a superb defender, so it must be true.  That can’t hurt.  He’s had kind of a rough spring with the bat, but his career numbers aren’t bad.  I’m willing to give him the ole college try.

Ben Zobrist – Am I the only one that would rather see him play the outfield than the infield?  His bat really came around last season, so hopefully he can keep that up.  He’s a new father though, hope he can stay rested.

Justin Ruggiano – Not really sure about this guy.  I remember a couple misplays, but I also remember a great play at the wall.  I feel like he’s never really lived up to his potential.  I’d love for him to prove me wrong.

Pat Burrell and Willy Aybar are also options.  I guess it’s good to have so many options.  It will be fun to see how it all shakes out.  All I can say is “Hurry BJ!”

Nothing better than blowin off work and spending the day at the ballpark.  I’ll be seeing the Rays later this month, but today I got to check out Team USA as they took on the BlueJays.  I had a great time, since it was almost like going to an all-star game.  Plus as a bonus I got to see JP Howell pitch a scoreless inning, complete with pimp walk off the field.

He started out with two strikeouts.  Then he got bored and gave up a couple of hits, but he recovered and got a fly ball to end the inning.  JP representing.

I won’t bore you with my pictures since they all have that netting in them, and most of them are players from the back.  There is one that’s kind of odd though…

It was funny, these two and David Wright spent most of the game on the top step of the dugout, just shootin the breeze.  It was driving their fans crazy.  I think they really wanted them to hate each other.  I just wanted to know what they were talking about?  How Pedroia got time off from his reality show Jockies?

Some other HerRays observations from the day…
Ted Lilly is good at baseball.
Chipper Jones is a big dude.
Adam Dunn is ginormous, and a better first baseman than Kevin Millar.
Jimmy Rollins is little, but he has big range.
I didn’t see the Hawaiian fly?
Derek Jeter is captain America.  No really, he’s the Michael Jordon of baseball.
Mark DeRosa is kinda hot.  I like Aki and all, but maybe we could make a trade.
Curtis Granderson looks bigger in person, and man is he built for speed.
Barry Larkin looks like he could still play some good ball.

It’s quite a team.  Hopefully they can put it together and do well in the tournament.  In the meantime, now I’m really excited to see the Rays.  It’s baseball season people!