Musings From the Bleachers 07.03.08: Beast of The East
Posted by Frank Fedele on 07.03.2008
The American League East contains two of the biggest hitters in MLB at this time, the Red Sox and the Yankees. Both teams are consistently among the biggest spending teams and have been in the playoff hunt for almost a decade. The Red Sox are the defending World Series champs and came in the season the favorites for a repeat performance this fall. Right now, however both teams are looking up in the standings to the leader of the division. The Tampa Bay Rays. No really, those former Devil Rays are the leaders in the American League East right now and have the best record in Major League Baseball. Can this team keep it up? Read further and find out.
Beast of The East
The American League East has been a two team race for the last decade with the Toronto Blue Jays making a cameo appearance one year when the Red Sox decided to reload and miss the playoffs. The other three teams in the division have not been able to compete with the financial power of the top two teams. This year however another team's young players have come together and formed a cohesive unit that is winning and winning often. That team is the Tampa Bay Rays.
The Tampa Bay Rays
The Tampa Bay Devil Rays had not been able to get above 70 wins in their existence and were a constant bottom dweller in the division. This did allow them to accumulate young talent with picks early in the amateur drafts. They have managed to hit on most of these picks and they began to mature last year showing promise for this year. The team changed its name to the Tampa Bay Rays, dropping the devil. The hope this year was to be competitive in the American League East and approach a .500 record. The team has done that and more this year. Lets take a look at the pieces that have come together so well for the team this year.
Pitching
Rotation
James Shields - 6-5 3.70 ERA
Scott Kazmir – 7-3 2.28 ERA
Matt Garza – 7-4 3.47 ERA
Andy Sonnanstine – 9-3 4.60 ERA
Edwin Jackson – 4-6 4.33 ERA
The team added the last piece to their rotation in the offseason, trading power hitting outfielder Delmon Young to the Minnesota Twins for Matt Garza and shortstop Jason Bartlett. Edwin Jackson and Scott Kazmir came in trades for veteran prospects in past trading deadline deals. Sonnanstine and Shields are the first of a collection of fine young arms the Rays have been drafting. The best may be yet to come also with David Price tearing up the minors at this time.
Scott Kazmir, image courtesy of sptimes.com
David Price, image courtesy of tampabay.com
Bullpen
Closer – Dan Wheeler - 0-2 2 Svs 1.88 ERA
Righty – Gary Glover - 0-2 3.34 ERA
Lefty – J.P. Howell – 6-0 2 Svs 2.96 ERA
Closer (injured) – Troy Percival – 1-0 19 Svs 3.54 ERA
Troy Percival was brought in to anchor the Rays bullpen with Dan Wheeler. J.P. Howell has come on strong this year also, making this a strength of the team. One worry though, is with Percival out, does this team have the veteran leadership it will need down the stretch?
The team is young and fast, with Crawford and Upton leading the way. They also have good power sources in Pena and Longoria, with Hinske also contributing. Bartlett brings no power, but is solid defensively and quick. The team could be looking for a bat to place in right or DH down the stretch.
Carl Crawford, courtesy of mlb.com
Evan Longoria, courtesy of espn.com
Until next week, those are my thoughts from my bleacher seat.
