Post by Commissioner Erick on May 7, 2019 7:00:08 GMT -5
Tampa Bay Rays (19-16) @ Toronto Blue Jays (15-24)
TB: Steven Matz (4-2, 3.06)
TOR: Zack Littel (0-1, 7.36)
At 19-16 the Tampa Bay Rays have played great baseball, but have underperformed their base runs by four wins. Despite being second in the league in preventing runs, they sit in third place in their division, three games out.
If they'd clean up their act against the Toronto Blue Jays, they'd probably be in first place.
The Rays head into Toronto to face a Blue Jays team they've struggled with, dropping five of seven to in the early going to keep them away from the top of the division.
Tampa Bay's pitching has been exceptional so far. Even with Madison Bumgarner struggling, they lead the AL in starter's ERA. Tonight's starter, Steven Matz, has been strong yet again with a 4-2 record and a 3.06 ERA. Mats has always been strong against left-handed hitters. As a group, lefties haven't had an OPS higher than .607 in years past. They have a .680 OPS this year, but it's been in a tiny 67 batter sample.
Righties, however, have been decent against Matz. They don't get on base often, but they've been able to slug the ball when they do. That will be the key to beating him.
However, Toronto's bright young prospects have almost entirely struggled this year. Instead of being a transition year where the youngsters would improve and light a path for a division title in a year or two, Toronto is still in a position where they don't know which players will produce and if any will be stars.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. had a .702 OPS last year as a 21-year-old rookie. Instead of improving this year, he's hitting .194 with a .560 OPS. Jake Burger hit 42 home runs last season and looked destined for stardom. He has a .258 on-base percentage, and a .615 OPS. Rowdy Tellez is down around .150 points of OPS compared to last year's All-Star campaign. Jahmai Jones is showing a little more patience this year, but he's not hitting, not banging extra base hits, and not stealing bases.
Either the team has suffered through a collective rough spell, or the development has stalled.
What Toronto has done is really play well against Tampa Bay. A third of the team's 15 wins have come against the Rays, all in Tampa. They've gotten fantastic relief work in their wins, plus two terrific starts from T.J. Zeuch. Rowdy Tellez drove in the go ahead runs in four of the games, including two with home runs, as he's hit .444 with three home runs, seven RBIs, and a stolen base in seven games against Tampa thus far. Tampa Bay hasn't found a way to stymie him thus far, and may not win if they continue to fail in that regard.
Questions for the GM's:
For Graham Stratford, last season Alex Colome was your closer and he turned in a fine year. This year, you relegated Colome to set-up work and Dan Altavilla to closer, and Altavilla has struggled. Why did you make the move?
Casey Gillaspie is off to the best start of his career with the bat. Will you give him a longer leash this year than last year, given how he rebounded from a slow start?
Jake Bauers has shared a lot of time with Willy Adames. Do you think that may be a reason for Bauers' slow start?
For Brian Violette, you went with a new coaching staff in your first year with the team, bringing in Rob Leary as Bench Coach, Kleininger Teran as Hitting Coach. Your team hasn't seemed to respond well to their guidance though, with Teran specifically saying he works well with veterans. With Teran 31, and Luis Meza, a 30-year old pitching coach, extremely young, do you feel this is the best staff?
What course of action would you take if later in the season the players on your team don't show signs of improvement?
Luiz Gohara and Thomas Szapucki should be healed up. How long until we see them in the rotation?
TRIVIA: Four different Blue Jays have had 40 home runs in a year. Name those players.
TB: Steven Matz (4-2, 3.06)
TOR: Zack Littel (0-1, 7.36)
At 19-16 the Tampa Bay Rays have played great baseball, but have underperformed their base runs by four wins. Despite being second in the league in preventing runs, they sit in third place in their division, three games out.
If they'd clean up their act against the Toronto Blue Jays, they'd probably be in first place.
The Rays head into Toronto to face a Blue Jays team they've struggled with, dropping five of seven to in the early going to keep them away from the top of the division.
Tampa Bay's pitching has been exceptional so far. Even with Madison Bumgarner struggling, they lead the AL in starter's ERA. Tonight's starter, Steven Matz, has been strong yet again with a 4-2 record and a 3.06 ERA. Mats has always been strong against left-handed hitters. As a group, lefties haven't had an OPS higher than .607 in years past. They have a .680 OPS this year, but it's been in a tiny 67 batter sample.
Righties, however, have been decent against Matz. They don't get on base often, but they've been able to slug the ball when they do. That will be the key to beating him.
However, Toronto's bright young prospects have almost entirely struggled this year. Instead of being a transition year where the youngsters would improve and light a path for a division title in a year or two, Toronto is still in a position where they don't know which players will produce and if any will be stars.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. had a .702 OPS last year as a 21-year-old rookie. Instead of improving this year, he's hitting .194 with a .560 OPS. Jake Burger hit 42 home runs last season and looked destined for stardom. He has a .258 on-base percentage, and a .615 OPS. Rowdy Tellez is down around .150 points of OPS compared to last year's All-Star campaign. Jahmai Jones is showing a little more patience this year, but he's not hitting, not banging extra base hits, and not stealing bases.
Either the team has suffered through a collective rough spell, or the development has stalled.
What Toronto has done is really play well against Tampa Bay. A third of the team's 15 wins have come against the Rays, all in Tampa. They've gotten fantastic relief work in their wins, plus two terrific starts from T.J. Zeuch. Rowdy Tellez drove in the go ahead runs in four of the games, including two with home runs, as he's hit .444 with three home runs, seven RBIs, and a stolen base in seven games against Tampa thus far. Tampa Bay hasn't found a way to stymie him thus far, and may not win if they continue to fail in that regard.
Questions for the GM's:
For Graham Stratford, last season Alex Colome was your closer and he turned in a fine year. This year, you relegated Colome to set-up work and Dan Altavilla to closer, and Altavilla has struggled. Why did you make the move?
Casey Gillaspie is off to the best start of his career with the bat. Will you give him a longer leash this year than last year, given how he rebounded from a slow start?
Jake Bauers has shared a lot of time with Willy Adames. Do you think that may be a reason for Bauers' slow start?
For Brian Violette, you went with a new coaching staff in your first year with the team, bringing in Rob Leary as Bench Coach, Kleininger Teran as Hitting Coach. Your team hasn't seemed to respond well to their guidance though, with Teran specifically saying he works well with veterans. With Teran 31, and Luis Meza, a 30-year old pitching coach, extremely young, do you feel this is the best staff?
What course of action would you take if later in the season the players on your team don't show signs of improvement?
Luiz Gohara and Thomas Szapucki should be healed up. How long until we see them in the rotation?
TRIVIA: Four different Blue Jays have had 40 home runs in a year. Name those players.
