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AP/David Zalubowski
The Tampa Bay Rays appeared to suffer from a World Series hangover in the early weeks of the 2009 season. Tampa went 8-14 to start the year. Some began to suggest that the Rays would come back to reality after last year's stunning 97-65 pennant winning campaign.
With the midway point (81 games) of Tampa's 2009 season set to come by the end of the week, any thoughts of the Rays being a "one hit wonder" have quickly evaporated. Since their slow start, Tampa is 35-21 heading into tonight's game in Toronto. The Rays bring a six-game winning streak into this evening's matchup at the Rogers Centre.
It's been a different Tampa squad than the one that captured the American League pennant a year ago. In 2008, the arms led the way. This year, the bats have stepped up to pace the club.
Pitching was supposed to be the foundation of the Rays franchise heading into the next decade. The young rotation came together in 2008. The starting staff was expected to only get better over the next few years. It hasn't exactly gone as planned in the first half of the 2009 season.
Based on the numbers, Tampa's pitching staff is just a little down from last year's numbers. The Rays 4.13 team E.R.A. isn't that much higher than last year's 3.82 E.R.A. The surprise is that two of the club's starters have struggled so badly. Scott Kazmir and Andy Sonnanstine have combined to post an alarming 6.87 E.R.A. in 25 starts. Kazmir, the foundation of the rotation, went on the disabled list in late May. He was sharp in his return to the mound this past weekend against the Marlins.
The Rays had enough confidence in their supply of young arms heading into this year to deal right-hander Edwin Jackson to the Detroit Tigers. Jackson is second in the league with a 2.49 E.R.A. While Jackson has come to life in his new locale, the deal opened up a spot in the rotation for top prospect David Price. The lefty has battled some control problems in his seven starts this year but is still on track to be a dominant arm for many years to come. Right-handers James Shields (3.41 E.R.A.) and Matt Garza (3.61 E.R.A.) have carried the rotation while Jeff Niemann has been a pleasant surprise as spot starter in 2009.
The bullpen has used several different closers to get the job done. Randy Choate, J.P. Howell and Troy Percival have all saved at least four games for the Rays this season. The bullpen depth has been critical with some of the inconsistencies in the rotation this year.
Tampa was ninth in the AL in runs scored in 2008. The offense did just enough to support their strong pitching staff last season. In a role reversal, the Rays lead the majors in runs scored in 2009 with 438. Tampa can beat opponents with the unusual combination of power and speed. The Rays are fourth in the major leagues in homers while leading in stolen bases. Tampa's 121 steals are 45 more than the next team in the rankings.
The power duo of Carlos Pena and Evan Longoria have combined to slug 39 homers while driving in 118 runs. While the power from this pair isn't a surprise, the emergence of Ben Zobrist is. After hitting just 15 home runs in part-time duty over the first three years of his career heading into 2009, Zobrist has emerged to pound 16 homers this season. The speed comes from Carl Crawford and B.J. Upton. The outfielders have combined to swipe 69 bases.
So, just how good is Tampa? The Rays lead all of baseball with a run differential of +90. Usually, over 162 games, this statistic is a strong indication of just how good or bad a team is. The Rays are in second-place in the AL wild-card chase, just 1.5 games behind the New York Yankees. Tampa is five games behind division leader Boston.
Entering tonight's contest, Tampa has 84 games left on their schedule with an even 42 at home and 42 on the road. The Rays have been dominant at Tropicana Field over the last two years with a record of 83-37 but have struggled to an away mark of 57-63. The Rays have eight games left with the Red Sox and ten contests left against the Yankees. Eleven of these games will be at home including a three-game series against New York to conclude the regular season.
While most of the focus will be on the Yankees and Red Sox in the second half of the season, the Rays are in a good position to spoil the party for one of these squads again in 2009.
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