A Quick Glance at the Rays

by Jesse on Jul 4, 2011 11:21 AM EDT in Series Previews

It's hard to talk about the Rays without gushing all over the place. They scout well, they draft well, they do well with their free agent signings, and they are very good at surrounding their core talent with solid veterans and talented young players. This season Casey Kotchman, Kyle Farnsworth, Johnny Damon and Juan Cruz are those veterans. Justin Ruggiano and Sam Fuld have been two of the youngesters making big impacts.

The Twins have been a successful organization over the last decade plus because of how they've chosen to brand their business. But whatever the Twins do, over the last ten seasons the Rays have done it better. Starting today, let's see how a rebounding Minnesota squad deals with one of the most talented rosters from one of the smartest front offices in baseball.

A quick refresher course on the Rays and their stats after the jump.

Batting

	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	K	SB	CS	AVG	OBP	SLG
Wade Davis	17	2	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	.500	.500	.500
Casey Kotchman	69	221	18	74	16	1	3	25	20	24	1	2	.335	.393	.457
Jeff Niemann	9	3	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	.333	.333	.333
Brandon Guyer	1	3	1	1	0	0	1	2	0	2	0	0	.333	.333	1.333
Matt Joyce	76	253	44	76	20	2	11	40	25	57	4	0	.300	.359	.526
Justin Ruggiano	26	67	8	20	3	0	4	12	3	16	1	1	.299	.324	.522
Johnny Damon	79	317	41	90	15	3	9	41	20	39	7	4	.284	.328	.435
Ben Zobrist	83	312	53	80	27	4	9	40	42	65	7	1	.256	.342	.455
Evan Longoria	55	196	33	48	15	0	10	37	24	34	1	1	.245	.336	.474
Sam Fuld	67	229	27	54	14	2	3	23	19	33	16	8	.236	.293	.354
John Jaso	61	173	18	40	12	0	3	17	17	21	1	1	.231	.300	.353
B.J. Upton	80	288	43	66	13	0	12	43	36	82	20	5	.229	.315	.399
Sean Rodriguez	59	159	21	35	14	3	3	15	15	44	5	2	.220	.307	.403
Felipe Lopez	32	97	8	21	4	0	2	8	4	28	1	1	.216	.248	.320
Elliot Johnson	39	98	13	21	4	1	3	12	9	32	4	5	.214	.278	.367
Reid Brignac	60	166	15	31	2	0	1	9	9	41	2	0	.187	.233	.217
Kelly Shoppach	45	116	9	20	2	0	4	13	12	46	0	0	.172	.265	.293
Dan Johnson	25	78	5	9	1	0	1	3	5	17	0	0	.115	.179	.167
Manny Ramirez	5	17	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	4	0	0	.059	.059	.059
James Shields	17	8	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	5	0	0	.000	.000	.000
David Price	17	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	2	0	0	.000	.200	.000
Jeremy Hellickson	16	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	.000	.000	.000
Andy Sonnanstine	14	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	.000	.000	.000
Kyle Farnsworth	38	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000
Rob Delaney	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000
Brandon Gomes	10	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000
Jake McGee	11	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000
Cesar Ramos	39	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000
Joel Peralta	40	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000
Adam Russell	32	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000
J.P. Howell	16	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000
Alex Cobb	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000
Juan Cruz	33	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000

Pitching

	W-L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	BS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
Kyle Farnsworth	3-1	38	0	0	0	17	2	34.2	27	9	8	2	4	23	2.08	.89
James Shields	8-5	17	17	6	3	0	0	128.2	96	38	35	13	30	127	2.45	.98
Adam Russell	1-1	32	0	0	0	0	0	29.1	27	10	8	1	14	11	2.45	1.40
Juan Cruz	4-0	33	0	0	0	0	0	30.2	15	10	10	0	21	29	2.93	1.17
Brandon Gomes	0-0	10	0	0	0	0	0	11.2	12	5	4	1	5	9	3.09	1.46
Jeremy Hellickson	8-7	16	16	1	1	0	0	103.2	80	39	37	12	39	68	3.21	1.15
Alex Cobb	2-0	5	5	0	0	0	0	29.0	26	11	11	1	12	19	3.41	1.31
David Price	8-6	17	17	0	0	0	0	118.0	102	46	45	9	22	116	3.43	1.05
Joel Peralta	2-3	40	0	0	0	0	1	37.2	28	17	16	4	12	31	3.82	1.06
Cesar Ramos	0-1	39	0	0	0	0	2	25.1	23	14	11	3	13	17	3.91	1.42
Wade Davis	7-6	17	16	0	0	0	0	98.2	104	48	46	13	35	46	4.20	1.41
Jeff Niemann	3-4	9	9	0	0	0	0	46.1	56	29	26	6	12	29	5.05	1.47
Jake McGee	0-0	11	0	0	0	0	0	7.0	11	4	4	1	3	2	5.14	2.00
Andy Sonnanstine	0-2	14	4	0	0	0	0	34.2	38	22	22	10	12	10	5.71	1.44
J.P. Howell	1-1	16	0	0	0	1	1	11.2	15	16	13	3	6	9	10.03	1.80
Rob Delaney	0-0	3	0	0	0	0	0	2.0	0	3	3	0	4	2	13.50	2.00

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Comments

I wish

we could draft in the top 5 every year for a decade …. wait, no I don’t.

by Gunnarthor on Jul 4, 2011 11:22 AM EDT reply actions

Yeah, we did that already.

Not all of those picks worked out too well.

by Jesse on Jul 4, 2011 11:29 AM EDT up reply actions

Short memory

if you think this is a fabulous franchise. losing seasons until 2008. I’d rather have the Twins success, limited as it may be.

by Theo77 on Jul 4, 2011 11:34 AM EDT reply actions

But they're set up now, aren't they.

A WS appearance, 2 playoff appearances since 2008, a fantastic core of players, 2 division championships in a division that includes the Yankees and Red Sox.

They did a pretty good job in the first half of the decade setting themselves up for the second half. Certainly not a short memory. Just an understanding of how long it takes to set a franchise up for long-term success, especially considering where they started from.

by Jesse on Jul 4, 2011 11:39 AM EDT up reply actions

"over the last ten seasons"

I would still rather have the Twins. MAYBE the Rays are better set for the future, but I wouldn’t be too sure. They have done well bringing in veterans for the past couple of years, but, really, isn’t Johnny D. more of a lucky surprise? He is to me.
I don’t like the overall look of our minor league teams, and some of last years moves (Capps) looks to have sapped the future a bit, but this feels like a lull. I think the biggest difference is injuries, and I don’t know how to factor those . . .

by Theo77 on Jul 4, 2011 12:10 PM EDT up reply actions

Yeah I'll definitely concede the point here.

I was wrong in saying last ten seasons.

by Jesse on Jul 4, 2011 12:23 PM EDT up reply actions

I dont know...

I would love to have the rays pitching staff and their minor system remains stacked. Their FO knows how to scout and they beat teams that kick the twin’ ass.

by clutterheart on Jul 4, 2011 12:23 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions

small sample size

Twins had the best winning percent against the AL East for about a two year run between 06-08, which naturally included Gardy’s only losing season. ESPN message boards used to have Red Sox fans complaining about the dome more than White Sox fans. No one cares about that. The Yankees have been kicking our butts but most of the games have been very close and we only play them 6 or 7 games a year. It we played them 18x, the records would even out a bit – heck, we’re .500 in our last 4 games at Yankee stadium! The last two years, we’re 3-6 against them and they’ve outscored us by a whopping 4 runs in those 9 games. Currently, the Tigers are owning us (11-3 since mid 2010) but I don’t think anyone here thinks the Tigers have some weird jedi mind thing over us.

But, yeah, I’d love to have the Rays pitching prospects.

by Gunnarthor on Jul 4, 2011 12:53 PM EDT up reply actions

Bit of a stretch

do say they do things better than the Twins for a decade though. They are where they are mostly because they they drafted near the top. Certainly, they’ve done other things well but lets not go overboard yet.

by Gunnarthor on Jul 4, 2011 12:12 PM EDT up reply actions

Yeah, I'll give you that.

Ten years was a bit of a stretch. By about 3 or 4 years. So maybe a big stretch.

by Jesse on Jul 4, 2011 12:23 PM EDT up reply actions

SAM FULD! and Pr0f3ss0r F4rnsw0rth!

We stand defenseless against their memes without STEVE HOLT! and 1337 H4x0r!

"Don't take life for granted, because tomorrow isn't promised to any one of us." -Kirby Puckett
"God grab your neck but never choke" -Ozzie Guillen

by less cowbell, more 'neau on Jul 4, 2011 11:43 AM EDT reply actions

Might as well pack it in

Three Game losing streak right now.

I'm a proud fan of the Minnesota Twins and Dallas Cowboys!
"Life is precious and time is a key element. Let’s make every moment count and help those who have a greater need than our own." – Harmon Killebrew

by Jessy S on Jul 4, 2011 11:49 AM EDT up reply actions

We're an ill-advised Cuddyer leap...

…away from a 6-game streak.

by AM. on Jul 4, 2011 12:47 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions

JI

JIM THOME NEEDS A OLE’ FASHIONED SIDE-KICKER

"...and we'll see ya tomorrow night!" - Jack Buck, Game 6, 1991 World Series

by WindyCityTwinsFan on Jul 4, 2011 11:49 AM EDT up reply actions

What this team needs is a dud from last friday's fireworks to go off in the Rays clubhouse.

by Jessy S on Jul 4, 2011 1:17 PM EDT up reply actions

Boo.

by Jesse on Jul 4, 2011 2:01 PM EDT up reply actions

And you get on my case for bad jokes?

by twinscrazy_german on Jul 4, 2011 4:44 PM EDT up reply actions

Wow, they put Bryce Harper in AA already.

I predict it’s too much for him. He’s not that good is he?

by Luke in MN on Jul 4, 2011 2:09 PM EDT reply actions

He might be

I can’t wait to root for a broken knee

by Gunnarthor on Jul 4, 2011 6:55 PM EDT up reply actions

I agree with

I agree with those who think you gushed excessively over the Rays, Jesse. It’s an impressive franchise, but to say they “do everything better” than the Twins, who have been winners for 10 years, is silly.

"You can't sit on a lead and run a few plays into the line and just kill the clock. You've got to throw the ball over the damn plate and give the other man his chance. That's why baseball is the greatest game of them all."
~ Earl Weaver
"In God we trust. All others must provide evidence."
~ Billy Beane

by AdamOnFirst on Jul 4, 2011 2:30 PM EDT reply actions