Almost exactly one year after being traded together from the Twins to the Rays, and a couple of weeks after Joe Maddon did the same, Matt Garza and Jason Bartlett got married...Not to each other, that would be illegal in most states.

Bartlett married Kelly Chevez on November 15 (picture of the couple below). This came a little more than one year after Bartlett proposed to Kelly while missing a week of the Twins season with "an injury".

Garza married Serina Ortiz on November 29. Here is video of Garza talking about the wedding. When asked if he was as nervous during game 7 of the ALCS, Garza responded "hell nah!" Matt and Serina have dated since high school and have two children together.

In the same video we learn that Garza is conducting a baseball clinic later this month with some former Fresno State teammates. We hope this doesn't violate Jim Hickey's orders that the pitchers are not to touch a baseball until January.

On a side note, Garza's dad, Rudy Garza, is a member of the Army National Guard and will be deployed to Kuwait in January.

Cangratulations to Matt and Jason, and a heart-felt 'thank you' to Rudy.

KELLY CHEVEZ & JASON BARTLETT [TheKnot.com]
Being Prepared Is Jason Bartlett's Motto [Rays Index]
Up Close and Personal with Matt Garza [ABC30]
Rays pitchers told to take it easy this offseason [ESPN]
Success hasn't spoiled Garzas [Fresno Bee]

This morning we linked to a story in which we learned that Jim Hickey has ordered the pitching staff to not even touch a baseball until January. Buster Olney references a number of recent teams that made deep October playoff runs and then suffered from a breakdown of the pitching staff the following year. The main concern is a sudden and drastic increase in innings pitched from one season to the next, especially on the arms of young pitchers.

Hickey and Joe Maddon have always been cautious with their pitchers so we decided to take a closer look at how much stress was put on the Rays' arms this year due to the extra games in October...

A few notes on the above table...

• The above table only includes pitchers that were significant contributors to the 2008 Rays and figure to be a part of the 2009 roster. All totals include any innings thrown while in the minor leagues or college.
  
• The above group increased their total innings pitched by 2.6% from 2007. If JP Howell is removed from the table (used as starting pitcher in '07), the increase jumps to 8.2%
• "Stress" is a statistical look at how much stress is put on the arm of a pitcher. The stress is based on the number of pitches thrown during a season after a pitcher has reached 110 pitches in a start. For example, if James Shields throws 115 pitches in a start, 5 pitches are considered stressful. Here is a list of the pitchers with the highest Stress levels in 2008. Nine pitchers had a stress level above 20 during the regular season, and Tim Lincecum led baseball with a 49 Stress level (what the hell the Giants are thinking is beyond us).
  
• Only Matt Garza saw an increase in Stress as a result of the postseason. Garza's Stress increased from 7 to 15 after postseason starts with 116 and 118 pitches. Scott Kazmir was the only other pitcher with a start in the postseason with greater than 110 pitches (111).
  

As can be seen in the table, the pitcher that should cause the biggest concern for 2009 is Matt Garza with James Shields and Edwin Jackson to a lesser extent. We are not sure how to judge Grant Balfour's sharp increase as a relief pitcher, but it should not be ignored.

Garza's Stress level, especially in the postseason, is worrisome. However, he does have a history of high inning totals. In 2005 and 2006, Garza posted innings pitched of 184 and 185.2 respectively. His 213.1 innings this season marks only a 14.9% increase over his previous career high. Shields had the exact same number of innings pitched in the regular season as he did in 2007, so his increase is due completely to the postseason.

As can be seen in the table, a starting pitcher's Stress shows a strong correlation to the number of starts with at least 110 pitches. We looked back at each of the starting pitcher's Stress from 2007. As we can see, Garza's Stress jumped considerably in 2008, from 2 to 15. At the other end of the spectrum, Kazmir's stress was much higher in 2007. That could explain the struggles that Kazmir experienced most of the season and could lead to a rebound in 2009.

Shields and Andy Sonnanstine were able to post relatively low Stress totals despite an increase in innings pitched. This bodes well for both pitchers moving forward.

The final factor to consider, that is difficult to measure, is the stress of pitching in the postseason. Scott Kazmir (520), Shields (412) and Garza (431) each added at least 400 pitches to their arm in the postseason. Sonnanstine threw an additional 261 pitches. It could be argued that a pitch in the postseason is more taxing on the arm than a pitch during the regular season. In addition to the stress of the postseason, there is also the factor that arms are tired after pitching for 7 months (including spring training). But how much more stressful is an October pitch? Certainly this varies from pitcher to pitcher, but is something that cannot be ignored.

Ultimately, we have to trust that Hickey and Maddon will take all the extra cautions needed this offseason as the pitchers get ready for 2009. But in the end, there are some serious concerns about how effective Garza and Balfour, as well as some of the other pitchers, will be in the coming season.

Rays pitchers told to take it easy this offseason [ESPN]

Online Surveys & Market Research

DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA...

• The AL Rookie of the Year Award will be announced today.
  
• Rocco Baldelli spoke to the Providence Journal about this past season (probably the worst year of my entire life, and it ended up being one of the best years), and about his future. Rocco says he would be "just fine" playing in Boston but that he doesn't have feelings for or against the idea. He also mentions that he could probably play 100 games in 2009 if he were a DH. [Providence Journal]
  
• Contrary to one Rays website, Ken Rosenthal says the Mets are interested in Edwin Jackson and Andy Sonnanstine, but the Rays have yet to begin serious trade talks about either pitcher. Rosenthal also says that the Mets are just one of "many" clubs interested in obtaining one of the starting pitchers. [Fox Sports]
• Her Rays is not crazy about any of the trades that are being rumored to date, and compares Nick Swisher to a trifle mixed with Shepherd's Pie. [Her Rays]
  
• Mets Today speculates on what it could take to land Edwin Jackson or Andy Sonnanstine. [Mets Today]
• Buster Olney says that Jim Hickey wants the pitching staff to do nothing but rest for at least the next six weeks. Hickey does not want any of them to even touch a baseball until at least January. Olney provides several examples of pitching staffs that broke down the year after a postseason that went deep into October. Hickey is already planning on the pitchers making fewer appearances in spring training, which could lead to more pitchers in camp. [ESPN]
• Joe Maddon was the 5th worst manager in baseball when it came to utilizing the intentional walk. Out of the 29 free passes issued by Rays pitchers in 2008, 8 times the opposing team would go on to score at least 2 runs in that inning. [Joe Posnanski]
• Baseball Musings has their "Probabilistic Model of Range" for center fielders and BJ Upton comes in third in all baseball. [Baseball Musings]
• Rounding the Bases compares Edwin Jackson and Andy Sonnanstine to see which is the better pitcher for the Mets. [Rounding the Bases]
  
• The Whiz Kid's Baseball Wisdom speculates on whether the Rays will trade Edwin Jackson or Andy Sonnanstine. [The Whiz Kid's Baseball Wisdom]
• Due to some confusion, David Price did not get to perform the coin toss prior to the Florida-Vanderbilt game, which apparently was a good thing. Price said he was more nervous about the coin toss than pitching in the World Series. [St. Pete Times]
• Rays Prospects has the list of the top OPS performances from 2008 in the organization. [Rays Prospects]
  

Click on above images to be taken to full standings, box scores or schedule...

How good was The Mad Australian this season? Grant Balfour put up some sick numbers this season. In 58.1 innings, Balfour allowed only 28 hits and 24 walks while striking out 82. He pitched to a 1.54 ERA. Certainly the best season by a relief pitcher in the short history of the Rays. But we wonder if there was a bigger context we could look at to see exactly how dominating he was this season.

We went to the "Play Index" at Baseball-Reference.com.

We did a search for every pitcher that has ever posted a season with at least 11 strike outs per 9 innings, while giving up less than 9 hits and walks combined per 9 innings with an ERA less than 1.70 (minimum 40 innings pitched). Three criteria for a dominating relief pitcher.

The results? The Mad Australian is just the 4th pitcher in the history of baseball to post such a dominating season out of the bullpen. The other three is a who's who of dominating closer performances, including Eric Gagne (2003), Billy Wagner (1999) and Joe Nathan (2006). Gagne won the Cy Young Award in '03, while Wagner finished 4th and Nathan finished 5th. The only difference between their seasons and Balfour's was the number of saves. They each recorded at least 36 saves, while Balfour only had 4.

We knew Balfour had a strong season, but we had no idea that it was one of the best in the history of baseball.

DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA...

• In case you missed it yesterday afternoon, we ran a bunch of "Webtopia" links in the evening "Happy Hour" feature. [Rays Index]
• Remember the Rays fan that ended up with the Evan Longoria home run ball above the Monster at Fenway in game 3? He was kind enough to answer a few questions about the incident. [Rays Index]
• Congratulations go out to Gabe Gross and his wife Kelly, who are expecting their first child in May. [Celebrity Baby Blog]
• Rocco Baldelli could get the start in right field tonight with Gabe Gross struggling...Also, Joe Maddon is not worried about the Red Sox history of comebacks noting that he would rather concentrate on executing their own gameplan. [St. Pete Times]
  
• Joe Smith says the key to Scott Kazmir is surviving the first inning. Smith points out that Kid K tends to settle down after long first innings and gains confidence as the game moves along. [St. Pete Times]
  
• The Phillies won the NLCS 3 games to 1...The Rays aren't there yet, but it is worth noting that every time a Tampa Bay franchise wins a championship they beat a Philadelphia team on the way. [The Fightins]
  
• This is worth pointing out again. 18 "experts" at ESPN.com predicted the World Series matchup prior to the playoffs. 2 picked the Rays to win the ALCS. None picked the Phillies. If the Rays win the ALCS, that will be 2 correct picks out of 36. Wow. [ESPN]
  
• Bugs and Cranks found a picture of the reverse mohawks from Fenway. [Bugs and Cranks]
  
• John Romano says Jim Hickey deserves much of the credit for the Rays success and points out that he came very close to losing his job last winter. [St. Pete Times]
• More evidence that the Red Sox Nation isn't as devoted as they would like you to believe. Tickets can be had for ALCS games in Fenway for below face value. [Boston Globe]
  
• Dave Sheinin of the Washington Post says the Red Sox are being betrayed by their age and are suddenly old news. The perfect metaphor for this series is the young, speedy Carl Crawford beating out an infield single with the old Tim Wakefield scrambling on the ground trying to throw out Crawford. [Washington Post]
• Wallace Matthews seems to think the Yankees paid for the Rays success...Bitter much? [Newsday]
  
• John Tomase of the Boston Herald points out that this incarnation of the Red Sox is much different than the teams that made postseason comebacks. [Boston Herald]
• Tonight could be the last game for Jason Varitek in a Red Sox uniform. [Boston Globe]
• Fire Brand of the American League points out 5 keys to the Red Sox winning game 5. [Fire Brand of the American League]
  
• Awful Announcing gets it. We will fully admit that a Rays-Phillies World Series would not be FOX TV's first choice. Thankfully, there is not a single mention of how Bud Selig is rooting for the Red Sox and the Dodgers. We have already pointed out how ridiculous that sentiment is. [Awful Announcing]
  
• The Rays signed four 16-year old players during the international free agent signing period. Among the players signed is a switch-hitting catcher from Venezuela named "Narvaez". Coincidence? [Tampa Bay Rays Prospects]
• Stay classy Pink Hat Nation...How Youz Doin Baseball? Did this blog get their name from a line in "Friends"? That's hot. Oh, and the only other Colby Alum we know is the guy in the bottom of THIS picture. We don't think we have ever seen somebody more afraid of a baseball that was no where near them. [How Youz Doin Baseball]
• We are not sure where this person did their research. It is yet another attempt at showing how the Rays roster was put together. Two problems. The list of players traded by the Rays is short about 6 names. And nobody in baseball is acquired for "FREE". What does that even mean? The Rays traded Josh Butler, a former 2nd round pick, for Gabe Gross. And Chad Bradford was acquired for a player to be named later. The Rays will likely send a player to Baltimore once the season ends. Cheap? Yes. But not "FREE". For the complete list, check here. [Beyond the Boxscore]
• Kevin Gengler stops by The Hardball Times and gives an in depth review of the Rays farm system. [The Hardball Times]
  

We may have figured out why Matt Garza and Dioner Navarro are communicating better these days...Is that a Babel Fish in Garza's ear? How else would Navi's logical orations be understood by Garza. Jim Hickey is a pitching genius.

THE GOOD: Matt Garza. Nothing we can write will give justice to just how dominating Garza was yesterday. 108 pitches, 76 for strikes. 1 hit, 1 walk. Faced only 1 over the minimum. 7 1-2-3 innings. Garza was strike-one to 19 of 28 batters (68%). On his bad days, that number is around 40% or worse...Also, we don't won't to overlook Evan Longoria who homered and doubled twice in his first 3 at bats.

THE BAD: Marc Lancaster deciding to blog about Matt Garza's attempt at a no-hitter and then having Matt give up the no-hitter and the shutout, on the very next pitch. C'mon Marc. Let's save the Live-Blogging to the professionals...

THE TELLING: This was the Rays' 6th sweep of the season and 1st on the road...The Rays still have a 4-game lead over Oakland in the wild card. They are 4.5 up on the Twins and 5 games ahead of the Yankees. It is nice to see a 2-team bumper between the Rays and the Yankees.

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA...

• Don't forget to VOTE for Carl Crawford to start the all-star game. If you haven't voted yet today, go NOW! [MLB All-Star Voting]
• Jim Hickey says that Matt Garza is capable of pitching as he did yesterday, every time he goes to the mound. [The Heater]

"The scary thing is this guy's capable of doing that time and time again," Rays pitching coach Jim Hickey said. "This isn't like some game he pitched way above and beyond what he's capable of doing. This is something, you hear people throw out (Braves great) John Smoltz and compare him to that, and you watch him do something like that, and it's not all that farfetched."

• Both Carlos Pena and Jason Bartlett are expected to be in the lineup tonight. It is expected that Ben Zobrist will be sent back to Durham. [Rays Report]
• Tribe Report believes that the Brewers and the Rays are the front-runners for CC Sabathia and they give the Rays a 40% chance of landing the lefty...Of course, losing Jake McGee to Tommy John surgery is only going to make it that much harder for the Rays to trade one of their pitching prospects. [Tribe Report]
  
• Bugs and Cranks' latest power rankings are up and the Rays remain at #2. [Bugs and Cranks]
• Fielder's Choice Baseball Card Blog has a good write-up about Josh Hamilton that sums up how we have felt about the Rays former prospect...While we root for Hamilton and he is a good story on many levels. There is most certainly a part of us that is still very angry with Hamilton for letting the organization, his potential teammates and the fans down. Say what you will about the Rays not protecting Hamilton (at the time we didn't think it was necessary), but if you are going to assign blame in this situation, Hamilton deserves far more than the Rays front office. [Fielder's Choice Baseball Blog]
  

Ever since Andy Sonnanstine was in the minor leagues posting astronomical strikeout-to-walk ratios, there were always certain tenets that we have held to be true about the right hander that could dominate without a dominating fastball.

1. He throws about 46 different pitches
2. He has impeccable control
3. He can keep batters off-balance by changing speeds
4. He throws pitches from a number of different arm angles

These beliefs are so ingrained in what we know of Sonnanstine that it spawned the nickname "The Duke" because he seemed to be Orlando 'El Duque' Hernandez' caucasion brother from another mother.

Unfortunately, the minor league numbers and pinpoint control did not translate to the major leagues last year, leaving many to wonder if Sonny was just a place-holder until until something better came along.

But after a shaky start to 2008, Sonnanstine has been solid in his last three outings including a 3-hit shutout of the White Sox and an 8 inning, 1 run performance against the O's.

We were curious as to what Sonnanstine was doing differently in 2008.

Imagine our surprise when we realized that The Duke was no longer throwing pitches from different arm angles.

Josh Kalk of The Hardball Times, uses the Pitchf/x system to track pitches from individual pitchers based on a number of factors including speed, location and pitch type among others.

Another factor that is recorded is release point. Here is the release point data from Sonnanstine's 2007 player card in which 885 pitches were tracked.


Notice that there is a quite a range of release points used by Sonnanstine. This is consistent with what we know of Sonny.

Now, here is the release point data from Sonnanstine's 2008 player card in which 334 pitches have been tracked to date.

Now let's look both side-by-side...


A couple of points stand out...

1. All of the release points this season are much more clustered. Outside of a single fastball, he is not changing his arm angle in 2008. One of the first things a pitching coach will try to teach a pitcher is "repeatability", the ability to repeat his delivery exactly the same on every single pitch. This helps a pitcher stay consistent and if anything starts to go awry it is easier to pinpoint and fix the problem. Sonnanstine appears to be using this approach in 2008.
   
2. His "standard" release point is much more over the top in 2008. Notice that the cluster on the right is higher than the main cluster on the left. Among other things, this makes Sonny's curve ball a little closer to the standard 12-6 break. That is the curveball will not sweep across the strikezone as much as in years past. We see that when we look at the vertical and horizontal break charts on his 2007 and 2008 Pitchf/x cards (scroll down to the first chart on each page). In 2007, Sonny's curve ball had little vertical break, but moved 10-15 inches horizontally. In 2008 the vertical break is now as much as 10 inches and the horizontal movement is only 5-10 inches.
   
3. His different pitches are now being released from the same point. In 2007 we can see certain pitches clustering in different areas. This could very well have been a mechanism for batters to more quickly determine what pitch was being thrown. Many batters train themselves to focus on the release point of a pitcher to more quickly focus on the ball. In 2007 almost every time Sonnanstine changed his arm angle, he threw a fastball. A good hitter might be able to use a deviation from the norm to predict a pitch more quickly.
   

But the lack of different arm angles is not the only thing Sonnanstine has changed this season. If we look at The Duke's pitch-selection from 2007 versus 2008 we can see that he is no longer relying on the accuracy of his fastball...

As we can see here, in 2007, nearly half of his pitches were fastballs. That number is down to about 1/3 in 2008. It is more difficult to gain a grasp of the use of other pitches. The system used to identify pitches is not always very accurate and we assume it would be less so for a pitcher such as Sonnanstine. With the more sweeping nature of Sonny's curveball, it is quite possible some curves are being mistaken as sliders. Also, the sinker and splitter may be the same pitch. We knew Sonnanstine was playing with a sinker last year, but are not familiar with him throwing a splitter. Even if the two pitches are actually one, we see that they are being used much less in 2008.

There was some idle chatter at the end of the 2007 among some Rays' fans, calling for the Rays to remove Jim Hickey and install Xavier Hernandez as the Rays' pitching coach. But given a full season, and a few more major league arms, Hickey has transformed the bullpen from the worst in the last 50 years, to one of the best in 2008. And Hickey also deserves considerable credit for the transformation of Sonnanstine as the 2008 numbers are more than just a new-found confidence or ability to hit the strike zone.

Tampa Bay Rays (28 days until Opening Day)

Yesterday: Tampa Bay Rays 9, Indians 7.

The Good: Scott Dohmann retired all 4 batters he faced, including the final out of the 6th inning with the bases loaded...Another errorless game for the Rays who have 21 in the spring. Only 6 teams have committed fewer...

The Bad: Rays pitchers had their streak of 21 innings without a walk end in the 3rd and then proceeded to walk 7 on the day including one with the bases loaded by Grant Balfour and hit a batter by Andy Sonnanstine....

The Telling: Elliot Johnson got the start at third base over Joel Guzman as Willy Aybar continues to nurse a sore hamstring. Either Johnson or Guzman will get the opening day assignment if Aybar is not ready to go.

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA...

• Obligatory Public Service Announcement: We will be hosting the 2nd Annual Opening Day Tampa Bay Rays Live Blog here at RI. So feel free to stop by and join in on the shenanigans as participation is certainly welcome.
• Want a good indication that Scott Dohmann will be named to the roster over Grant Balfour? Try this quote from Balfour: "It's tough to go out there and pitch every time knowing that you're either on the team or off the team...It's tough, having that pressure on you, I must admit." Excuse me? You know what else is pressure? Coming in to the game with a 1-run lead and runners on 2nd and 3rd. Funny...We thought pressure was something a relief pitcher needs to be able to handle. The whole point of this battle for the final spot in the bullpen is to send you guys out there every time knowing a job is on the line and seeing how you handle it. [St. Pete Times]
• The Rays are tied with the Cubs and White Sox for most hit batters in spring training with 17. James Shields has 4 all by himself, which is the second most in the spring. As per a discussion in the comments section a few days ago, on the surface it appears like Joe Maddon and Jim Hickey are emphasizing the importance of pitching inside with the benefit outweighing the occasional hit batter. Now we see that this is also being implemented at the minor league level as Durham pitching coach Xavier Hernandez is preaching the same method to the minor leaguers, in particular Chris Mason who was the AA pitcher of the year last year. Mason has hit 5 batters in camp this spring. [Montgomery Advertiser]

"I've always emphasized it," Hernandez said. "Being at the Triple-A level and going to the major leagues at the end of last year, I realized that it's not only important, it's imperative."

• Acording to Outs Per Swing Evan Longoria already has more AAA experience than all of the following third basemen combined: Albert Pujols, Alex Gordon, Ryan Zimmerman, Miguel Cabrera and Kevin Kouzmanoff. He also has the same experience as David Wright and is only 3 games short of Ryan Braun. [Outs Per Swing]
  
• Rays of Light picked up a nice not-very-surprising tidbit about Elijah Dukes. Apparently he went MIA from the Nats for "non-baseball matters"...We've said it before, we will say it again. We don't care if Glenn Gibson never throws another pitch, the Rays made a great trade to get rid of that ticking time bomb. [Rays of Light]
  
• The Sports Illustrated Baseball Preview issue is out and here is a link to the Rays preview. [ESPN]
• David Pinto goes to PECOTA to show that the Rays have the best rotation in the AL East, and that takes into consideration that starting pitchers will miss time and uses Jason Hammel in place of Edwin Jackson. [Yahoo! Sports]
• Here is another projection for the Rays pitching staff. [Baseball Musings]
  
• RJ Anderson answers 5 questions about the Tampa Bay Rays at The Hardball Times. [The Hardball Times]

Tampa Bay Rays (32 days until Opening Day)

While Scott Kazmir is still aiming to be ready to take the mound on Opening Day in Baltimore on March 31st, Joe Maddon and Andrew Friedman are taking a much more cautious approach.

"I know, with pitchers, there's a certain prestige that goes with something like starting Opening Day and everybody wants to be able to do that if they're capable," Rays manager Joe Maddon said. "I get all that, but the bigger picture is much more important right now, so we're not going to be influenced in that regard."

While Kazmir says he understands the importance of taking it slow, he has no concerns that he will be able to get back on the mound quickly.

"Definitely," Kazmir said. "I'm going to take it slow, but I think this is something that is going to heal pretty quick and the inflammation is going to go down pretty quick. I'm confident I'm going to be out there pretty soon."

But pitching coach Jim Hickey wants to make sure there are no further setbacks.

"Our goal is that once he retakes the mound that he never comes back off of it," Hickey said. "I would rather him begin late and finish with all consecutive starts vs. maybe getting back a little bit early and have a two-week setback."

Maddon in fact may already be resigned to skipping Kazmir on opening day by giving Kid K the fifth spot in the rotation. Maddon stated that the five pitchers fighting for the final two spots in the rotation will get more innings in the Spring with Kazmir out.

"Somebody's going to benefit from this - in the short term, anyhow," Maddon said.

With Kazmir and the Rays having clashed late in 2007 over his pitch counts, it will be interesting to see if the team will be able to reign in their young ace while they are erring on the side of caution.

Kazmir, Rays see different plans [Tampa Tribune]
Rays planning to hold a tight rein on Kazmir [St. Pete Times]

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA...

• James Shields and Matt Garza each worked one inning in yesterday's intrasquad contest. Both pitchers allowed one hit. [Herald-Tribune]
  
• Rocco Baldelli was originally scheduled to play the outfield in yesterday's intrasquad game, but was moved to DH due to inclement weather. Now Joe Maddon says that Baldelli will not see action in the field until next week. [Tampa Tribune]
• David Price felt fine yesterday after missing a pitching session on Tuesday with shoulder tightness. Price says he is day-to-day and pitching coach Jim Hickey said the move was purely "precautionary". [Tampa Bay Rays]
• The Giants suddenly find themselves devoid of any major league shortstops. McCovey Chronicles thinks Ben Zobrist could be the answer. We glanced over their system and we are wondering if Pat Misch would get the deal done. Misch is a lefty that like Zobrist, posted outstanding minor league numbers that have yet to translate in the major leagues. [McCovey Chronicles]
  
• Willy Aybar finally arrived in camp and thanked the team for their support and apologized to his teammates for the distraction. [Bradenton Herald]
• Rays of Light takes a closer look at Al Reyes in their ongoing "Player Spotlight" series. [Rays of Light]
• DRays Bay has put together a "DRB Season Preview Guide" that is free to download. We have not yet had a chance to look through it. [DRays Bay]
  

Tampa Bay Rays (42 days until Opening Day)

Joe Maddon stated that Shawn Riggans is the favorite to be the backup catcher on opening day. Papa Joe then commented on what his criteria is for a backup catcher.

"The backup guy should be pretty effective defensively," Maddon said. "It's not an easy position. The guys that do it well make it look easy, but it's not easy. Part of their job really is to help the starting catcher. ... It's like a good backup quarterback in football."

This only surprises us because Maddon actually commented on the situation, but it does not surprise us that he named Riggans even though we project Josh Paul to win the job. Keep in mind that Riggans is the only candidate that is actually on the 40-man roster at this point. Paul and Mike DiFelice are in essence getting "tryouts". They are on minor league deals and have done nothing yet to earn a major league contract. If the team had absolute confidence in one or the other, they would not be on minor league deals.

The team has made it clear that they prefer a veteran backup catcher to help further the development of starter Dioner Navarro. Just don't expect Papa Joe to admit that publicly because he would have to say that he prefers a player that is not on the team over a player that is on the team.

At the end of the day, we still feel Josh Paul will be the Rays backup catcher and it is Riggans that needs to "win" the job. Paul has the edge in experience, better defensive abilities and a strong familiarity with the pitching staff and Navarro. Riggans would have to outperform Paul defensively in Spring Training to make the roster and we are not convinced he can.

Notes: Iwamura ready for second base [Tampa Bay Rays]

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA...

• Marc Topkin takes a look at the Rays trio of young talented starting pitchers. Jim Hickey feels that 26 teams in the league would prefer to have Scott Kazmir, James Shields and Matt Garza as their top 3 pitchers. [St. Pete Times]

As Rays officials went back over the last several decades, they came up with only a few teams that had three starters who were so young with the chance to be so good. There were the A's of the early 2000s with Tim Hudson, Mark Mulder and Barry Zito. The Marlins of the same era with Josh Beckett, Brad Penny and Dontrelle Willis. The Braves of the early 1990s with Steve Avery, Tom Glavine and John Smoltz. And not too many others..."It's certainly a rare commodity," senior vice president Gerry Hunsicker said, "to have three young pitchers with the talent level that we're going to run out there."

• A quick video interview with David Price as well as a look at him throwing off a mound. (Link will open a video player) [Tampa Bays 10]
• Rays of Light begins a series in which they will spotlight certain Rays. First up is Akinori Iwamura. [Rays of Light]
  
• Beyond the Boxscore makes an argument for Fred McGriff to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. We think the Crime dog was a very good and very consistent player, but he was what Mike Francessa would call a "compiler". His numbers look good because he played for a long time, not because he was a great player. We witnessed most of McGriff's career and never once did we watch McGriff and think "There goes one of the greatest baseball player's ever". Sorry. Great guy, very good player, but when the voting comes, we would be surprised if he cracks 25%. [Beyond the Boxscore]
• We were in Austin this weekend. Apparently so was Matt Silverman. He was running in the Austin half-marathon. We were sitting in the front yard drinking Mimosas watching the half-marathoners and marathoners run by. [Rays Report]
• Baseball Prospectus projects the Rays to finish 82-80. The biggest change will be in the pitching. They project that the Rays will increase their scoring from 782 to 788 runs in 2008 and will decrease their runs allowed from 944 to 776. [Baseball Prospectus]
• Sean Deveney of The Sporting News feels the Rays and the Nationals have a special kinship because they have both sucked recently. The similarities are a stretch and include small fanbase (usually goes hand-in-hand with sucking), long odds to win the 2008 World Series (again, sucking), good young third basemen (1 spot out of 25 is similar), and both teams want to improve their image (as do most sucky teams). [The Sporting News]
  

Tampa Bay Rays (18 days until pitchers and catchers report)
Just the links today as we mourn the 15th anniversary of the passing of one of our childhood faves, Andre the Giant, and wish a happy birthday to another one of our childhood faves, Keith Olbermann. What better way to celebrate then to bake a chocolate cake on National Chocolate Cake Day!

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA...

• In Marc Topkin's latest piece, he speculates on what James Shields' deal means for Scott Kazmir. Kazmir says that the deal has little bearing on his contract status as they are in difference situations (Kazmir is in his arbitration years). Later on in the piece Topkin raises a good point we had not considered before in regards to the recent deals for Shields and Carlos Pena. He states that even though the deals only take away a minimal number of free agent years, the contracts will also keep the Rays from being forced to trade one or the other at any time during their arbitration years. So while the players were locked up for X number of years prior to the deals (five years in Shields case) the deals do make it easier for the team to keep the players during those locked-up years. [St. Pete Times]

Shields' deal technically would only keep him around for two extra free-agent seasons, but another benefit of these type of deals is cost certainly during arbitration years, which could prevent the Rays from having to trade him, as the Marlins did when arbitration-eligible Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis became too expensive.

• The Bradenton Herald says that the moves made this off-season are not a ploy by the team to earn support for a new stadium, and the timing is just a coincidence. [Bradenton Herald]
  
• Jim Hickey expects the bullpen to be much better in 2008 (Couldn't be any worse). But what is interesting in the piece, when Hickey speaks of Troy Percival, Al Reyes, Dan Wheeler and Gary Glover. "When I end up talking about bullpen guys, you always talk about if you're comfortable sending a guy out there, and right there are four guys I'm comfortable sending out there in pretty much any situation at all." It is pretty clear from that quote, that Glover will be on the opening day roster. In our most recent 25-man roster projection (in the sidebar), we did not have Glover's position listed as "secure". We will have to change that in our next evaluation. That leaves three spots in the 'pen. Long Reliever is likely to be one of the starting pitchers that does not win a spot in the rotation. Lefty-Specialist is a player-to-be-signed later. The final spot is up for grabs with Juan Salas and Scott Dohmann being the leading candidates (Salas has a minor league option remaining). [TBO]
• DRays Bay takes a look at every player invited to Spring Training and what each player's chances are of making the team. [DRays Bay]
• Fox Sports lists Andy Sonnanstine as one of ten players that could break out in 2008. [Fox Sports]

With guys like Scott Kazmir, James Shields and Matt Garza in the Tampa Bay rotation, it's easy to forget about Sonnanstine. However, he's impressive in his own right. Sonnanstine boasts a low arm angle, an array of pitches, and an ability to change speeds. None of his offerings wow scouts, but in four minor-league seasons he logged a 2.56 ERA and a stellar strikeout-to-walk ratio of 6.2 to 1. Last season in Tampa, Sonnanstine struggled in terms of keeping runs off the board, but he did strike out more than three times as many batters as he walked. Given his command skills, Sonnanstine is one to watch in 2008.

• Evan Longoria will wear #3 in Spring Training. He wears #6 in the minors.
  
• The Rays have signed relief pitcher Scott Munter to a minor league contract. Munter was a 47th round selection of the Giants in 2000 and somehow has managed to earn three different stints with the Giants despite a career minor league record that includes almost as many walks (134) as strikeouts (175 in 334.1 innings). [Baseball America]
• RotoAuthority has their projection for James Shields numbers in 2008. Interestingly, the projection calls for a year not quite as a good as last year, with 13 wins and a 4.06 ERA. [RotoAuthority]
  

Team USA 3, Peo Saguaros 0.
Evan Longoria was 0-3 and is now hitting .308 in the Arizona Fall League. Justin Ruggiano did not play. On Wednesday, Longoria went 2-4 with 2 doubles and 2 runs scored in Team USA's 5-3 win over Surprise. Ruggiano went 1-4 with a triple and an RBI.

Scottsdale 6, Surprise 0.
Mike Prochaska started and pitched 5 shutout innings, allowing only 2 hits and 1 walk with 3 strikeouts. Evan Meek and Calvin Medlock each pitched an inning of relief striking out a combined 3 batters and allowing 2 hits. Each pitcher threw a wild pitch.

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA...

• The Devil Rays are currently in negotiations with Disney to play a a series at Disney's Wild World of Sports for the second consecutive season. If a deal can be reached, the games will be played in the newly named Champion Stadium after a deal was reached with Hanes clothing. The Devil Rays playing home games in "Champion" Stadium? There is no way this ends well in the Blogosphere. [Orlando Sentinel]
• Jim Hickeywill be back in 2008 as the Rays pitching coach. [TBO]
  
• MLB4U has a list of all the free agents that the Devil Rays will not be pursuing this off-season. [MLB4U]
• Does Matt Silverman have a new girlfriend? Nadya seems to think so. No details though. Damn it. [AOL Journals]
  
• ArmchairGM takes a look at Evan Longoria. [ArmchairGM]
  
• When we first read that Rays announcers Dewayne Staats, Joe Magrane and Todd Kalas were all up for the Frick Award we were taken back a bit. The award is presented annually during the Hall of Fame induction ceremonies and is given to a broadcaster that makes major contributions to baseball. We were a bit surprised. They are decent, but never have we thought that they added very much to a game. Not bad. Not great...Then we read the fine print and realized that the only reason they are "up for the award" is because every announce with 10 years experience is up for the award. A final list of 10 candidates will be announced in December. We are still wondering why Bill Chastain decided that this deserved its own piece on DevilRays.com. [DevilRays.com]
• Wanna meet Kevin Costner? Here is your chance. If we win, we are showing up dressed like his character from "The Postman". [DevilRays.com]
• Tampa Bay Sports Fanatic takes a look at how all the Rays farmhands are performing in the Arizona Fall League. [Tampa Bay Sports Fanatic]
  

Scottsdale 8, Team USA 6.
Reid Brignac continues to struggle in the AFL. Against Team USA, Brignac went 1-5 with a strikeout and is now hitting .193. Evan Longoria played third and hit clean-up for Team USA, going 1-5 with a run scored. He is now 3-12 with 3 singles in 3 games with Team USA. Justin Ruggiano went 0-2 for Team USA playing left field and batting sixth.

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA...

• The Rays claimed another player off waivers. This time it was pitcher Kurt Birkins from the Orioles. To make room on the roster, they DFA'd Raul Cassanova. There is a good chance that Cassanova will be retained by the club once he clears waivers. [tampabay.com]
  
• Everybody wants Carl Crawford on their team...until they realize what it will cost to get him there. This time it is the Cubs. Listen Cubs fans...it will take 1) Pitching; 2) Major League Pitching; 3) A young stud Major League Starter; 4) And then throw in a prospect or two. And honestly, we do not see any players on the Cubs roster that fits the criteria. Good luck with the Torii Hunter negotiations. [Yahoo! Sports]
• Bugs & Cranks has more YouTube footage of Elijah Dukes in the Dominican Winter League in their latest installment of "The Redemption of Elijah Dukes". [Bugs & Cranks]
  
• Martin Fennelly compares the Rays to the Ugly Duckling now that they are the only franchise that has never made a postseason appearance and they are the only one of the last four expansion teams to not make it to the World Series. [TBO]
• The Austin American-Statesman takes a look at the only four teams never to reach the world series and wonders which one of "The Final Four of Bad Baseball Teams" will be the first to break the drought. They compare the Devil Rays to the Mets of the late 60's. [Austin American-Statesman]
• The Rays front office released a statement indicating that Jim Hickey will remain with the club as the team's pitching coach. [TBO]
• Rotoworld ranks the Devil Rays as the 21st most likely destination for Alex Rodriguez. [Rotoworld]

It’d be something if the Rays could upstage Tampa’s other team by bringing in Rodriguez, but there’s been nothing to suggest they’d be willing to double their payroll.

Scottsdale Scorpions (5-0)
Up and down weekend for Evan Longoria in the Arizona Fall League. The Dirtbag homered on Thursday and Friday to bring his streak to 3 straight games with a home run. He is tied for the league lead with 3 home runs and 5 RBI, but only has 1 other hit and is 4-18 (.222). Even more surprising is that Longoria has 8 strikeouts in 5 games with only 1 walk. While Longoria has not been immune to the strikeout, his strikeout to walk ratio has been the most telling stat of his young professional career. In 136 games between Montgomery and Durham, The Dirtbag struck out 110 times compared to 73 walks. A ratio close to 1:1 is usually a strong indicator of future success at higher levels.

Reid Briganc went 2-9 in 2 games over the weekend. Mike Prochaska started on Saturday and was knocked out after giving up 6 runs in 1 inning.

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA...

• We have heard and read the calls for the Rays to hire Leo Mazzone as pitching coach after he was let go by the Baltimore Orioles. We have no doubt that Mazzone would be a good pitching coach with the Rays but we have to agree with Rays of Light that he would not be a good fit. If the Rays decide to part ways with Jim Hickey after his recent DUI arrest and after the Rays finished with the worst ERA in baseball, his replacement is most likely already on the payroll. We don't see any reason to go out and hire Mazzone for something between $500,000 and $1 million when the team's top coaching prospect is a pitching coach at AAA Durham. Xavier Hernandez has a great track record and already has an existing relationship with many of the Rays young pitchers as well as many of the prospects that will be wearing Rays uniforms in the near future. We would not want the Rays to sign a free agent third baseman with Evan Longoria so close to the majors, so why should the Rays do the same with Hernandez? [Rays of Light]
  
• Ryan Royster was named the Minor League Baseball's Single-A offensive player of the year. [MiLB]
• U.S.S. Mariner handed out their organizational grades and the Rays were one of only three teams to receive an A. [U.S.S. Mariner]
• The Rays have finished 5th in 9 of the team's 10 seasons. This promotion only seems logical. Gives new meaning to "One for the thumb" [The Harrumph Herald]
  

Devil Rays (66-96)
Our questions have been answered!

DRaysBay will be changing their colors to match those of the new Tampa Bay Rays uniforms and logos that will debut next season. They will also be changing their logo (Please make it a sunburst!). Patrick Kennedy sounds like a kid losing his woobie when he talks of trying to refer to the team by their new moniker.

I will try and respect the team's decision and refer to the team as the 'Rays' as much as I possibly can, although having grown up a fan of the Devil Rays and having written about the team online for 33 months, that will be admittedly difficult.

But one thing will not change at DRaysBay...

we are all committed to wanting the Devil Rays to become a championship organization as soon as possible.

Thats right folks. DRaysBay writers are "committed to wanting" the Rays to be good. We are not sure what "committed to wanting" means, but we envision all the writers at DraysBay already have "Tampa Bay Devil Rays: World Champions" tattooed on their asses. Now that is "commitment to wanting".

DRaysBay to Change as the Team Does [DRaysBay]

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA...

• On the last day of the season, Jim Hickey, passed Randy Johnson, and took home the "Most White Trash Story of the Year" Award. [Drunk Jays Fans]
• The Hardball Times takes a close look at Scott Kazmir and try to answer questions concerning where his career is headed. One has to wonder if Derek Carty was the right choice to write this piece. Can a Mets fan truly analyze Kid K from an unbiased viewpoint? [The Hardball Times]
• When Jake McGee and Wade Davis go out to dinner, do they go to the bathroom together? Once again the two pitching prospects are found attached at the hip. This time it is on Baseball America's list of the top 20 prospects in the Florida State League. McGee and Davis are #3 and #4 respectively. [Baseball America]
• Joe Henderson believes that the Rays may regret the decision to not extend the contract of Bill Evers. We don't like the idea of losing a guy like Evers will all his experience and old-school style, but a bench coach needs to be a consigliere...His confidant. Apparently Joe Maddon and Bill Evers did not have this type of relationship and bench coach is the one assistant that the manager needs to be completely comfortable with. [TBO]
  

Devil Rays

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA...

• The Ledger takes a look at the upcoming arbitration cases of Scott Kazmir and Carlos Pena. Another thing to always consider when teams deal with arbitration and their top players. A big incentive to avoid arbitration is that teams do not like having to go into an arbitration hearing and trash their top players in an effort to show why the player does not deserve more than they are offering. It can lead to hurt feelings and increase the chances of the player leaving the team once they hit their free agency years. While the Rays will try to work out long-term deals with both, if that does not happen, it does not necessarily mean they will automatically go to arbitration. Once each side submits a salary to the arbitrator, they will often find a middle number and agree on a one-year contract avoiding the arbitration hearing. This was the route taken by the Marlins and Dontrelle Willis last season when they agreed on a 1-year deal for $6.5 million. Look for Kid K's number to come in just south of that one. Let's say $5-5.5 million. [The Ledger]
  
• Evan Longoria was named to the USA National Baseball Team that will compete in IBF World Cup in November. [tampabay.com]
• Andy Sonnanstine. Yuo have never looked so good. Not sure. We think the first attempt is a more accurate mugshot. Either way, willing to bet Jim Hickey's mugshot looked half as good as either of these. [Baseball Mugshots]
• A look at David Price's already impressive career. [Prospect Spotlight]
• Tampa Bay Sports Fanatic believes the Rays should pursue Pudge Rodriguez if the Tigers decide not to exercise his option. First of all, his salary demands would not fit into the Rays projected payroll for 2008. Second of all, Dioner Navarro firmly established himself as a major league catcher in the second half of this season. His defense is already strong and getting better, and he already knows the young pitching staff very well. And finally, we are talking about Pudge Rodriguez. Hall-of-Famer? Sure. Over-the-hill? Probably. Not to mention his defense has always been slightly over-rated, and has a long reputation of not being much of a team player. This is a guy that would call fastballs when the situation demanded something different, just so he would have a better chance of throwing out a base stealer. [Tampa Bay Sports Fanatic]

Devil Rays (66-96)

DEVIL RAYS WEBTOPIA...

• The Rays 68-94 record was only 2 wins less than their expected final record. [Baseball Musings]
• Jim Hickey. We guess being the coach of one of the worst pitching staffs ever would be reason to drink, but it is not reason to drive and it is not reason to take your frustration out on the batboy. By the looks of the mugshot, Hickey lost the argument. [Lion in Oil]
• Jim Hickey's arrest comes only days before the team is to decide whether he and the rest of the coaching staff will be retained in 2008. Hitting coach Steve Henderson is the most likely coach to come back. Before Sunday, we would have assumed that Hickey was a lock to be given at least one more season to work with the staff. However, after his DUI, the Rays may turn to their pitching coach-in-waiting, Xavier Hernandez, who is highly regarded for the work he has done the last two seasons at Montgomery and Durham and with whom many of the Rays younger pitchers are already familiar and comfortable with. [tampabay.com]
  
• Its difficult to make an assessment of Akinori Iwamura's ability to play second base, based on one game and especially one play, but when the opportunity arrived to turn his first double play from the middle infield, Mu-Rah was flawless. [TBO]
• Scott Kazmir finished as the Major League leader in strikeouts. Of course that goes a long ways to explaining whe he led the majors with 6,432,867 pitches thrown. [Bradenton Herald]
  
• Carlos Pena was named the AL Player of the Week for the final week. [tampabay.com]
  
• Carlos Pena finished with 46 home runs in less than 500 at bats, which makes him the most underrated first baseman in baseball. "If Pena was a Red Sox or Yankee's player he would finish second in MVP voting. Instead he was underrated." Actually, if Pena was playing for almost any other team, he probably finishes second in the MVP voting. That is the mark of being underrated. [I'm smarter than you]
• ArmchairGM makes a case for considering Carlos Pena for MVP. [ArmchairGM]
  
• Carlos Pena is a finalist for the "Pepsi Clutch" award that goes to the clutchiest player. We agree that he is a worthy nominee, but we disagree with the notion that "few people knew of Pena before the year". Anybody that follows baseball even remotely, knew of Pena as one of the top prospects in baseball a few years ago. [MLB]
• We have a feeling that Delmon Young will finish second in the Rookie of the Year balloting, but it will not be because of his outburst following Saturday's game in which Joe Maddon pulled Young from the game for not running out a ground ball. Ballots for the award were due on either Sunday or Monday, which means most writers are likely to have already made their selections prior to Saturday. [Yahoo! Sports]
  
• It was a disastrous season for Korean baseball players. Of course, Jae Seo, Jae Kuk Ryu and Hee Seop Choi were all member of the Devil Rays at one point, so it is kind of like the Chicken and the Egg argument. [Korean Times]
• Greg Norton will have surgery on his elbow. A case can be made that Norton should share team MVP honors with Carlos Pena. If Norton had not gotten hurt the final week of Spring Training and was hitting well to start the season, it might have taken the team a while to call up Pena. [Devil Rays]
• Some of the players believe that the team is very close to competing. [tampabay.com]

"We don't need much," All-Star Carl Crawford said. "Maybe another starter and probably a little more bullpen help. Just three players and we're right there. We're right at the tip."

• Marc Lancaster takes a look back at the 2007 season and hands out a bunch of awards, we like to call the Marckie Marcs. Our favorite category is "Veteran of the Year" for a team that has exactly 3 players over the age of 12. And then there is the "Most Frustrating Season". He should just rename that one the "The Rocco". He also looks ahead to what we can expect for 2008. [TBO]
• Marc Lancaster can't wait for next year. We would take it a step further. We would like to replay this season with the group the Rays ended with. Playoff contender? probably not, but definitely not the worst team in the league and maybe a run at .500 would be in order. [TBO]
  
• Bill Chastain takes a look back at the 2007 season and calls the second half lineup "one of the best lineups in team history". He also takes a look forward to 2008. [Devil Rays]
• Hey! It's the off-season. It is time to start reading a million and one articles about how [Insert Team Name] should acquire Carl Crawford and that the Rays would probably give him up for 20 rusty nickels. The Akron Beacon Journal wasted no time. [Ohio.com]
  

Chad Orvella was recently sent to AAA Durham after 10 appearances with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. In only his 4th full season as a pro, Orvella has spent parts of each of the last three seasons with the Devil Rays, but has yet to achieve the same level of success he has experienced at the minor league level. In 169 innings as a minor leaguer, Orvella has a 1.49 ERA and has recorded 241 strikeouts and only 33 walks which equate to 12.8 K/9 and 7.3 K:BB. Those numbers are incredible at any level. Still, Orvella has struggled at the major league level. In 82.1 innings he has an ERA of 5.79 and has only recorded 66 strikeouts with 53 walks. His rates at the major league level have dropped to 7.2 K/9 and 1.2 K:BB. Since being back in Durham, he is back to his dominating ways, with 5 strikeouts and no walks in 3 appearances (3 ip). He has allowed only 1 hit.

In order to better understand the struggles of the young relief pitcher, we emailed him some questions. He emailed us some answers...

[our thoughts on Chad's comments follow the Q&A]

1. You were used sparingly as a pitcher at NC State. When did you first realize that your best chance of making it to the majors was as a pitcher and were you surprised that the Devil Rays drafted you with the intent of making you a full-time pitcher?

CO: When I went to the cape cod league I hit about .180 and realized I should probably get on the hill and scouts saw that I had a good arm and asked me to throw at a practice at NC State.

2. In only your fourth season as a full-time pitcher, you are still very early in your development. Explain how you work on your mechanics. Do you watch video of yourself or do you rely exclusively on the advice of the coaching staff?

CO: I’ve just started to watch video. It’s tough to work with a coaching staff because I’ve had so many different pitching coaches over the past four seasons. The one that’s seen me the most is Xavier Hernandez (Bulls current pitching coach) so if he has any advice I’ll listen to him.

3. This season you have worked with both Jim Hickey and Xavier Hernandez. How do their coaching styles differ? How are they similar?

CO: I think both of their styles are to be aggressive and be the aggressor as the pitcher. I haven’t really been able to work with Hickey too much but he seems like a good buy.

4. For a young pitcher that has bounced back and forth between the minors and the majors and from pitching coach to pitching coach, how do you adjust to the different environments and the many voices offering advice? How much do you lean on others besides your current pitching coach (other pitchers, catchers, former coaches, etc.)?

CO: You try to take a little advice from everybody and make it your own. Use what you can. Everybody has an opinion.

5. Dioner Navarro and Shawn Riggans are both talented catchers, but both are young. How important is it to a young pitcher and a young pitching staff to have a veteran like Josh Paul, in Tampa, or Raul Casanova earlier this season and Michel Hernandez now in Durham?

CO: I think it’s important because they may know some of the big league hitters, but having a catcher like Shawn Riggans, where he’s seen me throw for four years, I think is more important than having a veteran catcher that doesn’t know you at all.

6. After your most recent demotion, you once again were back to dominating hitters. It was reported that you discovered a flaw in the mechanics. If that was the case, what was the flaw and how was it discovered?

CO: Jamie Shields brought up an idea that my delivery has changed in the past couple years. A few years ago I used to squat down really low, in fact, the guys used to make fun of me because it looked like I was sitting in a chair. But I’ve gotten away from that and now my command has gotten worse. I’ve gone back to looking like I was crouching in a chair and it seems to be working.

7. When you do tweak your mechanics, how is the adjustment? Is it something that you are comfortable with and notice the improvement immediately or does it take getting used to?

CO: When I made this adjustment it was pretty quick. It’s just getting comfortable with it again. The biggest difference I see is in my off-speed stuff and how the hitters are reacting to that.

8. Have the Devil Rays indicated to you what you need to improve in order to be more consistent at the Major League level?

CO: They’ve just said that I need to be more consistent. I’ve always had a lot of success at Triple-A and throughout the minor leagues. They know I’ll do well here, but they’re sending me here to get more confidence.

9. In the minor leagues you have posted some prodigious strikeout totals and incredible strikeout to walk ratios. While it is not surprising that your strikeout totals have fallen at the major league level, it is surprising that you have struggled with your control. How would you explain the stark difference in your numbers from one level to the next?

CO: The strike zone is a little different. Calls that I might get in the minor leagues I don’t get up there. I think it just goes back to maintaining my aggressive style while in the big leagues and I’ve gotten away from that.

10. How would you describe pitching at the Trop? As a pitcher do you like pitching indoors? Does pitching so many games indoors make it difficult to adjust to games on the road? Would you consider it a hitters’ park or does it play fair?

CO: Pitching at the Trop is a little different. I don’t think anyone loves playing inside, but it’s something you get used to. It plays fair.

11. Who is one player on the Durham Bulls roster (pitcher or fielder) that may fly a bit under the prospect radar, but whom you think is on the verge of breaking out and will be a successful big leaguer?

CO: Jeff Ridgway. I think he’s got the stuff to be a very good big league pitcher. It’s just being consistent like everybody else. He’s on the verge of breaking out.

[Rays Index] We have been following Orvella's progress for several years now and it is easy to forget that he has only been a pitcher for about five years. Also, looking back, Chad's dominance at the minor league level may not have been the best scenario for his development. While it gave him confidence to succeed, it may have also provided a false sense of security. It is telling that a young pitcher still learning the craft is just now beginning to use video. That indicates, that up to this most recent struggle, he has relied completely on natural ability, and never learned how to work through adversity.

It is also worth noting that Orvella was on the major league roster for over a month and yet he says that he really hasn't yet had a chance to work with Jim Hickey. We are no experts, but if a guy goes from 12 Ks per 9 innings to 7 and all of the sudden can't find the strike zone after having impeccable control in the minors, the first thing we would do is dust off some videotape of Orvella from 2005 or 2006 and see if anything had changed. It is amazing that James Shields was the only person that noticed a change in Orvella's mechanics.

Many, us included, have wondered aloud if Chad Orvella is a classic AAAA pitcher, with the ability to dominate the minor leagues, but without the stuff to succeed in the majors. Still, his minor league numbers are too impressive to write off and we need to remember that he is still learning how to pitch, how to succeed and how to handle adversity. If Al Reyes is traded before July 31 as we believe he will be, look for Orvella to emerge as either the Rays' closer or 8th inning set-up guy in 2008.