~~~~~The Official 2007 Regular Season Tampa Bay Rays Discussion Thread~~~~

Yeah, the Rays don't pay 55 million for a pitcher like Gil Meche, jk.

[MiltonMack21]

This should be a fun season. The Rays have improved greatly as have my Royals.

Al Reyes for Closer!!!!!!!

We're about two weeks from opening day in the Bronx and I decided why not start the thread a little early?

This is going to be my first full season as a writer, so I'm looking forward to that, and of course this is going to be a fun season.

Anyhow if you're new to the game this thread is all about the Rays, post news, rumors, opinions, ect. , the latter as long as it's not a pointless 'RAYS SUCK, LOL' BS that some around here will likely do. Last season Ray, JD, Ronde, MBF, Seed, ICIT, and myself all were able to run a tight shift even with some arguments about stuff like Rocc- Damon - Figgs and 'Trade either Rocc or BJ', good stuff and I hope we can do the same this year.

So, here's to a good season of Tampa / St. Pete baseball.

[joedav01]

I was at the game in Clearwater today against the Phillies.  And after seeing Kazmir healthy and pitching great again, I can't wait for the opener.

This is going to be a fun year.  By the way, has anyone seen the latest edition of Sports Illustrated?  It has Elijah Dukes and Delmon Young on the cover and says the Rays will be the best team in baseball by 2010.  I can't wait to pick up my copy tomorrow.

I heard about that JD. I'll have to check that out

I got my ticket to the home opener

Whats the latest news on Elijah Dukes, Aki, Niemann, Fossum, Shields, and Riggans as of the last couople weeks? Is Navarro healthy yet? Is Riggans still coming on strong for the starters job? Has Aki got a hit yet? Whats the thoughts on Dukes right now? Will he break camp with the Rays? 4th OF? Is he still being crosstrained at 1B or is that experiment over? Is Ben Zobrist coming around or will we need to give him a couple months into this season to really judge him? How do Cantu, Gomes and Upton look? Has Shields worked on his curveball and pitch sequence?

[joedav01]

I heard about that JD. I'll have to check that out

I got my ticket to the home opener

Whats the latest news on Elijah Dukes, Aki, Niemann, Fossum, Shields, and Riggans as of the last couople weeks? Is Navarro healthy yet? Is Riggans still coming on strong for the starters job? Has Aki got a hit yet? Whats the thoughts on Dukes right now? Will he break camp with the Rays? 4th OF? Is he still being crosstrained at 1B or is that experiment over? Is Ben Zobrist coming around or will we need to give him a couple months into this season to really judge him? How do Cantu, Gomes and Upton look? Has Shields worked on his curveball and pitch sequence?

Wow. So many questions.  I'll try my best to answer.

I'll start with Zobrist.  He has been the best position player in camp.  His defense has been stellar and after getting 3 hits in yesterday's game he pushed his team leading spring average over .360.  This coming off the Arizona Fall League where he lead the league in hitting by batting .366.  I think he is going to have a break out year. 


More to come later. Gotta run now.

Navarro will be back this week, Aki has gotten hits in three straight games, Dukes is going to be the 4th / 5th OF and on the team, the 1B exp. is probably over, Zobrist is carrying over his AFL succcesss, Gomes has k'd a lot, Cantu is meh, Upton's best pos. has been 2b, Shields has been the best SP in camp, Fossum still has a pitch count on his starts, Niemann / Talbot were assigned to AAA to get seasoning, Riggans has outplayed Navarro and Paul,.

[MBF]

Good luck to Tampa. I know I make fun of them alot but it wouldn't be the worst thing to see them do well...if only to see fans scrambling to jump back on the bandwagon...cough*Chrispy*cough

[alldaway]

I have to admit they will have a fun team to watch this year. 

[joedav01]

I am going to disagree with RJ on Shields being the best starter in camp so far.  I would have to give the nod to Jae Seo.  He has only given up like 4 hits in 9 innings this spring.  He has been absolutely unhittable and his velcocity is back to 90-91, which is where it was in 05 when he went 12-5 with 2.51 ERA in the Mets rotation.  Hickey has him throwing a 2 seam sinking fastball and it is really helping him out.  Actually the whole rotation has been outstanding other than Kazmir.  And Kazmr was awesome yesterday.  The highest ERA this spring from a starter competing for a rotation spot besides Kazmir is James Shields and his is in the mid 2's.  Howell, Jackson, Ryu, Seo all have ERA's in the 1's. And Fossum has yet to allow a run, which is amazing considering he is re-habbing from shoulder surgery.

2nd disagreement with RJ is on Cantu.  Cantu has been very solid and he is hitting the ball with power to the Right CF gap a lot.  He has had 2 HR's that I have seen this spring get knocked down by the wind and caught at the wall out there.  He has had a very solid spring.

And Iwamura started off terrible, but has really picked it up lately.  He had a double Friday, and triple Saturday, and an opposite field lazer for a single yesterday. (I got to see that one in person)  I had no idea how fast he was.  He can fly. And his defense is stellar.  I am really starting to get excited about him.

I am going to disagree with RJ on Shields being the best starter in camp so far. I would have to give the nod to Jae Seo. He has only given up like 4 hits in 9 innings this spring. He has been absolutely unhittable and his velcocity is back to 90-91, which is where it was in 05 when he went 12-5 with 2.51 ERA in the Mets rotation. Hickey has him throwing a 2 seem sinking fastball and it is really helping him out. Actually the whole rotation has been outstanding other than Kazmir. And Kazmr was awesome yesterday. THe highest ERA this spring from a starter competing for a rotation spot besides Kazmir is James Shields and his is in hte mid 2's. Howell, Jackson, Ryu, Seo all have ERA's in the 1's.

I'll agee Seo has been good, but hit wise Shields only gives up singles, so it's not as damaging as 6 H in say 4 IP would seem.

Good luck to Tampa. I know I make fun of them alot but it wouldn't be the worst thing to see them do well...if only to see fans scrambling to jump back on the bandwagon...cough*Chrispy*cough

Ugh please don't attract him to this thread, I don't want pissing wars.

I wish them the best but are expecting about the usual from them in '07.  :-

Says the casual Yankees fan.

None the less Joel Guzman was sent to AAA today.