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Art Deco · 09-02-2020, 02:51 PM

Game 1: The Rays visited St. Louis for the first time in 3 years and found several ex-Rays waiting for them. Joey Gallo is the leftfielder, Brad Hand and Matthew Liberatore are in their bullpen and they'll face Noah Syndergaard on Sunday. But tonight was another problematic start for one of their relative newcomers, Walker Buehler. He's been consistenly inconsistent in terms of getting hit hard and tonight he gave up 5 runs on 6 hits (5 doubles) in 5 innings as the Rays lost 8-4. He got his usual strikeouts (6) and only walked one but so many times this season he's been too hittable and his Rays ERA is too high at 4.20. The 5 runs all came in the first 3 innings putting the team in a hole from which they could never recover. Wander's 3rd hit of the game, a double in the 6th, ignited a brief 2-run rally in which Austin Meadows doubled him home and scored on a Rafael Devers single, but Sandy Gaston gave up a 3-run HR to Paul DeJong in the 8th to make it 8-2. Keibert Ruiz's 2-run pinch-hit single in the 9th off Liberatore accounted for the other Rays runs. If this is a possible World Series matchup we might not want to have Buehler pitch Game 1 here.

August 31: Sent OF Spencer Torkelson to AAA Durham on a rehab assignment.

It'll be good to get Tork back, both for his power and his right-handed bat. He'll get a week at least to get at-bats and shake the rust off, and when he comes back expect Heston Kjerstad to go back down. The idea right now for September expansion is to bring up Shane McClanahan and put him back in the rotation pending Dustin May's return, which is still the better part of 2 weeks away and he'll need a rehab start or two in Durham (thankfully they'll be in the playoffs come mid-September). The other expansion spot will probably go to Mitchell Verburg.

Game 2: Today's game featured an A+ pitching matchup of Matt Manning vs Jack Flaherty, and it lived up to billing, including both pitchers driving in runs off the other. The game itself was one of the best and most well-played of the year as these two World Series contenders battled tooth and nail until the Rays broke through in the top of 11th and pulled out a 3-2 win. The game was scoreless until the 5th when Nick Schnell doubled and with two out, Manning picked up his first career extra-base hit, doubling down the LF line to score Schnell. But perhaps the baserunning tired him out a bit as St. Louis scored 2 off him in the bottom of the frame, including an RBI single poked to right by Flaherty. Schnell was involved again when the Rays tied it in the 7th. He singled, went to second on a groundout, and scored on Vidal Brujan's single with two out. So on and on we went. Manning left with a fine 6 6 2 2 1 8 line, Nick Anderson got the Rays through the 7th and Jose Alvarado did likewise in the 8th. In the bottom of the ninth with two lefties due up Will Smith got the call and not only pitched a perfect 9th but ended up getting the Cards 1-2-3 in the 10th as well. This set the stage for the game-winner as Brandon Marsh doubled and scored on another Brujan RBI single, off former Rays closer Brad Hand. Jasseel De La Cruz got St. Louis 1-2-3 in the bottom of the inning to nab save #24 while Smith grabbed his 2nd win. Brujan also stole his 50th base of the season earlier in the game.

September 1: Recalled Ps Shane McClanahan and Mitchell Verburg from AAA Durham.

The predicted roster expansion callups. McClanahan will start Monday in Kansas City and he's tentatively scheduled to face former Ray Drew Strotman.

Some news from the minors:

Davis was the guy Cleveland gave us for Jose Abreu, and he's turned into yet another OF that can play at the MLB level that we're going to have to do something with. Also in the monthly scouting update I received today he was upgraded to 65 power and 55 contact. Next year is the final year of Austin Meadows' contract and someone's going to need to play RF in 2026. So put him in the pile with Hunter Bishop and Heston Kjerstad. And here you thought when we moved guys like Kirlloff and Larnach we cleared some of the glut.

As you may remember Tanner Witt was our #1 pick back in 2020 (that sounds funny right now IRL 2020) and he's slowly but steadily progressed one rung at a time. He's a legit 3B already rated at 55 defense there and of course Rafael Devers will probably decline his player option for next season so we'll need a long-term 3B (Triston Casas is Plan B right now). Witt won't be ready next year (and I may have to leave him unprotected for Rule 5 but he seems too raw and low-level for the AI to grab him) but 2026 isn't out of the question.

Game 3: Daniel Lynch had a day at the ballpark as the Rays took 2 of 3 from a tough Cardinals team with a 4-1 win. Lynch went 6 5 1 0 1 6 with the only run scoring in the first thanks to a pair of errors behind him. And like Matt Manning yesterday, Lynch came through at the plate as well with his 5th inning RBI single the game-winning hit. Lynch was matched up against last year's Rays ace, Noah Syndergaard, but Thor had to leave in the 5th with elbow inflammation and they took advantage of reliever Alvaro Seijas for that run and another in the 7th when Brandon Marsh singled in Nick Schnell, who had doubled. Wander added HR #23 off Hector Neris in the 8th inning to cap the scoring. Earlier, Wander had singled off Syndergaard in the 1st, stole second, and scored on an Austin Meadows double. The troika got them through the final 3 innings although Jose Alvarado had his struggles, loading the bases with a pair of walks and 2 out before Nick Anderson got Ian Happ to fly out. Anderson stayed on and pitched a perfect 8th, and Jasseel De La Cruz did it again for save #25, throwing a perfect inning with a pair of whiffs. Lynch improves to 11-6, 3.39 and although the advanced metrics don't like him (1.0 WAR, 4.60 FIP) he keeps getting it done.

Team record: 87-45. Next up: 3 games in Kansas City where we get to see more old friends, such as Drew Strotman who's scheduled to start tomorrow night, Xavier Edwards, 2nd in the AL in batting at .328 and on pace for nearly a 6 WAR season (just in case anyone out there thinks I ripped off the AI for Spencer Torkelson), JJ Bleday, whom we traded away twice and is 278/323/523 with 17 HR and 61 RBI and last but not least Ronaldo Hernandez, who is doing a little better with the Royals since the trade, with 3 HR and 9 RBI in 57 AB (218/246/400) but still nothing like his 2022-23 production.

09-02-2020, 02:51 PM	#204
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 7,584	August 30-September 1, 2024: at St. Louis (3) Game 1: The Rays visited St. Louis for the first time in 3 years and found several ex-Rays waiting for them. Joey Gallo is the leftfielder, Brad Hand and Matthew Liberatore are in their bullpen and they'll face Noah Syndergaard on Sunday. But tonight was another problematic start for one of their relative newcomers, Walker Buehler. He's been consistenly inconsistent in terms of getting hit hard and tonight he gave up 5 runs on 6 hits (5 doubles) in 5 innings as the Rays lost 8-4. He got his usual strikeouts (6) and only walked one but so many times this season he's been too hittable and his Rays ERA is too high at 4.20. The 5 runs all came in the first 3 innings putting the team in a hole from which they could never recover. Wander's 3rd hit of the game, a double in the 6th, ignited a brief 2-run rally in which Austin Meadows doubled him home and scored on a Rafael Devers single, but Sandy Gaston gave up a 3-run HR to Paul DeJong in the 8th to make it 8-2. Keibert Ruiz's 2-run pinch-hit single in the 9th off Liberatore accounted for the other Rays runs. If this is a possible World Series matchup we might not want to have Buehler pitch Game 1 here. August 31: Sent OF Spencer Torkelson to AAA Durham on a rehab assignment. It'll be good to get Tork back, both for his power and his right-handed bat. He'll get a week at least to get at-bats and shake the rust off, and when he comes back expect Heston Kjerstad to go back down. The idea right now for September expansion is to bring up Shane McClanahan and put him back in the rotation pending Dustin May's return, which is still the better part of 2 weeks away and he'll need a rehab start or two in Durham (thankfully they'll be in the playoffs come mid-September). The other expansion spot will probably go to Mitchell Verburg. Game 2: Today's game featured an A+ pitching matchup of Matt Manning vs Jack Flaherty, and it lived up to billing, including both pitchers driving in runs off the other. The game itself was one of the best and most well-played of the year as these two World Series contenders battled tooth and nail until the Rays broke through in the top of 11th and pulled out a 3-2 win. The game was scoreless until the 5th when Nick Schnell doubled and with two out, Manning picked up his first career extra-base hit, doubling down the LF line to score Schnell. But perhaps the baserunning tired him out a bit as St. Louis scored 2 off him in the bottom of the frame, including an RBI single poked to right by Flaherty. Schnell was involved again when the Rays tied it in the 7th. He singled, went to second on a groundout, and scored on Vidal Brujan's single with two out. So on and on we went. Manning left with a fine 6 6 2 2 1 8 line, Nick Anderson got the Rays through the 7th and Jose Alvarado did likewise in the 8th. In the bottom of the ninth with two lefties due up Will Smith got the call and not only pitched a perfect 9th but ended up getting the Cards 1-2-3 in the 10th as well. This set the stage for the game-winner as Brandon Marsh doubled and scored on another Brujan RBI single, off former Rays closer Brad Hand. Jasseel De La Cruz got St. Louis 1-2-3 in the bottom of the inning to nab save #24 while Smith grabbed his 2nd win. Brujan also stole his 50th base of the season earlier in the game. September 1: Recalled Ps Shane McClanahan and Mitchell Verburg from AAA Durham. The predicted roster expansion callups. McClanahan will start Monday in Kansas City and he's tentatively scheduled to face former Ray Drew Strotman. Some news from the minors: Davis was the guy Cleveland gave us for Jose Abreu, and he's turned into yet another OF that can play at the MLB level that we're going to have to do something with. Also in the monthly scouting update I received today he was upgraded to 65 power and 55 contact. Next year is the final year of Austin Meadows' contract and someone's going to need to play RF in 2026. So put him in the pile with Hunter Bishop and Heston Kjerstad. And here you thought when we moved guys like Kirlloff and Larnach we cleared some of the glut. As you may remember Tanner Witt was our #1 pick back in 2020 (that sounds funny right now IRL 2020) and he's slowly but steadily progressed one rung at a time. He's a legit 3B already rated at 55 defense there and of course Rafael Devers will probably decline his player option for next season so we'll need a long-term 3B (Triston Casas is Plan B right now). Witt won't be ready next year (and I may have to leave him unprotected for Rule 5 but he seems too raw and low-level for the AI to grab him) but 2026 isn't out of the question. Game 3: Daniel Lynch had a day at the ballpark as the Rays took 2 of 3 from a tough Cardinals team with a 4-1 win. Lynch went 6 5 1 0 1 6 with the only run scoring in the first thanks to a pair of errors behind him. And like Matt Manning yesterday, Lynch came through at the plate as well with his 5th inning RBI single the game-winning hit. Lynch was matched up against last year's Rays ace, Noah Syndergaard, but Thor had to leave in the 5th with elbow inflammation and they took advantage of reliever Alvaro Seijas for that run and another in the 7th when Brandon Marsh singled in Nick Schnell, who had doubled. Wander added HR #23 off Hector Neris in the 8th inning to cap the scoring. Earlier, Wander had singled off Syndergaard in the 1st, stole second, and scored on an Austin Meadows double. The troika got them through the final 3 innings although Jose Alvarado had his struggles, loading the bases with a pair of walks and 2 out before Nick Anderson got Ian Happ to fly out. Anderson stayed on and pitched a perfect 8th, and Jasseel De La Cruz did it again for save #25, throwing a perfect inning with a pair of whiffs. Lynch improves to 11-6, 3.39 and although the advanced metrics don't like him (1.0 WAR, 4.60 FIP) he keeps getting it done. Team record: 87-45. Next up: 3 games in Kansas City where we get to see more old friends, such as Drew Strotman who's scheduled to start tomorrow night, Xavier Edwards, 2nd in the AL in batting at .328 and on pace for nearly a 6 WAR season (just in case anyone out there thinks I ripped off the AI for Spencer Torkelson), JJ Bleday, whom we traded away twice and is 278/323/523 with 17 HR and 61 RBI and last but not least Ronaldo Hernandez, who is doing a little better with the Royals since the trade, with 3 HR and 9 RBI in 57 AB (218/246/400) but still nothing like his 2022-23 production. Last edited by Art Deco; 09-02-2020 at 06:01 PM.