Simply put, the Jays need a series win if they hope to avoid the ignominy of finishing last in a division that includes...well, the Devil Rays. Tampa comes in following some uneven play in Fenway Park; like the Jays against the Orioles, an excellent pitching performances was accompanied by two mound meltdowns. Scott Kazmir's Toronto debut on Sunday, though, should be interesting to watch.
Today's Scout features an extraordinary collection of not-ready-for-prime-time promise, a strong-armed outfielder starting to get a clue at the plate, two old friends in deep funks and a pitcher who might not only be an easy mark tonight, but an injury risk.
On to the Advance Scout!
* NOTE: The Rays' one outstanding rainout from the New York series last week has been moved to the afternoon of Sept. 23. The Jays had originally been scheduled to play next Tuesday-Thursday in New York, but will now play Monday-Wednesday and take an off-day on Thursday.
* This month, Tampa Bay became just the second team in major league history to post a 12-game winning streak and a 12-game losing streak in the same season. Those lousy spoilers, the '87 Brewers, also turned the trick ...
* After their disheartening losing streak, the Rays took two straight from the Royals and then another from the Red Sox. But Boston rebounded to dump the Rays the last two nights ... Tampa is 7-25 in their last 32 road outings, and this will be games 11 through 13 of their longest road trip of the season ... The D-Rays are dead last in the AL in batting average (.257) and on-base percentage (.320), and are tied with the Jays for fewest homers in the Junior Circuit ... Only their edge in slugging percentage and overall team speed (triples, stolen base percentage, taking extra bases) propels them past the Mariners for 13th in the league in runs ... Their great team defence is really the only reason they're ahead of the Jays in the standings. Despite having the second-fewest strikeouts among American League staffs, Tampa pitchers have allowed the second-fewest hits in the AL ...
* Tonight's starter, Doug Waechter, will be making his third start since his return from the DL, where he was nursing a strained tendon in the middle finger of his pitching hand ... He's pitched poorly in his first two starts back from injury. His composite line: 7 IP, 12 H, 9 ER, 6 BB, 3 K ... Consider Lou Piniella to be among the concerned: "Waechter doesn't look anything at all like the pitcher we brought up last year...I don't know if his finger is still bothering him or if he's just rusty" ... Piniella was seriously considering moving Waechter to the bullpen after his last start, in which his mechanics were so faulty that the skipper was fearing another injury: "Nothing was smooth...[When you're] flying open so much, you can hurt your shoulder. His arm is really dragging. He has no arm speed...I don't want to send a guy out like that" ... For his part, Waechter is confident he can address the problem: "I can picture where my mechanics need to be" ... Waechter was only awarded tonight's start after looking sharp in his between-starts session this week ...
* Closer Danys Baez has converted his last sixteen save opportunities, although he's taken two losses over that time period ... Righties hit just .218 off the hard-throwing Cuban ... He's much less effective away from the Trop. On the road, his ERA swells to 4.91, more than two and a half runs worse than his mark at home ...
* Rocco Baldelli is red-hot, riding a seven-game hitting streak (.400) with three homers and an outstanding 12 RBI in those seven games ... Still only 22, his approach is gradually improving, with his walk rate slightly up and his strikeout rate slightly down ... He's been very tough on lefties (.330/.392/.514), but he won't face any this weekend ... He's hitting .333/.393/.686 in September ... With 11 runners gunned down, he's trying to become the first-ever outfielder to lead the AL in assists in each of his first two seasons. On Saturday, he threw out Abraham Nunez trying to stretch a single into a double -- and added a homer and a single at the plate ...
* Aubrey Huff, who's had a bit of a down year, hasn't yet homered in September, in which he's put up a .244/.346/.311 line after his sizzling August ... He's torn the cover off the ball in SkyDome this season, hitting .364/.464/.636 with five walks and just one strikeout ... Not saying it's a skill, but he's been effective in those all-important runners in scoring position, two out situations this year (.328/.458/.690) ...
* Shortstop Julio Lugo has hit in seven of his last eight ballgames (.364) ... Lugo's tongue was planted firmly in cheek after the Rays snapped their ugly twelve-game skid on Saturday: "I didn't know if we were supposed to smile or cry." Lugo rapped out three doubles in the win ... He's also enjoyed playing at SkyDome this season, hitting .391/.462/.609 in 23 at-bats ... He committed errors in all three games at Fenway this week ...
* To Carlos Delgado's chagrin, tomorrow's starter will not be Jorge Sosa, as originally planned. Sosa's been moved to the bullpen to replace the injured Jesus Colome ... It must be said, however, that Sosa was superb on Sunday in Kansas City. He went seven shutout innings, allowing just five hits and two walks while fanning seven ... Tony Pena believed that Sosa was effective because he was able to throw his slider for strikes -- down in the strike zone ...
* Old friend Jose Cruz Jr. is struggling through a dismal second half at the plate ... His batting eye has abandoned him since the All-Star Break (.224/.273/.371, 16 BB, 48 K) ... September has been particularly harsh, as he's hit no home runs, drawn one walk, and fanned 16 times ... As always, he's been weaker from the left side of the plate. Against righties, he's hit .223/.317/.417 with 85 strikeouts in 336 at-bats ... He earned the golden sombrero on Tuesday night ...
* It seems like setup man Travis Harper is either really sharp or really hittable. In ten of the 15 appearances in which he's been scored upon, he's yielded two or more runs ... In his last 26 2/3 IP, he's only walked three batters while striking out 22 ... Righties hit just .212 off him ... Opponents in general have only hit .181 off the 28-year-old since the All-Star break ...
* Veteran Tino Martinez reached base four times on Sunday ...
* Second baseman Jorge Cantu had a good, pesky-at-the-plate August, but is scuffling in September (.227/.292/.386) ... Cantu stunned the Devil Rays, who didn't even invite him to camp, by going deep 22 times in just 95 AAA games ... Although he's only homered twice in 38 big-league outings, the 22-year-old Mexican rancher's son is confident his line drives will start to leave the park: "I'm going to hit home runs...I'm making really hard contact with the ball" ...
* Ex-closer Lance Carter has walked just two batters over his last 17 innings ... Righties hit just .215 off him, with seven walks in 35 IP ... He's better on the road, where he's 2-1, 2.58 ...
* Noted thief Carl Crawford comes north on a modest six-game hitting streak (.308), in which he's scored six runs and gone 5-for-5 on the basepaths ... Without those spacious, triple-friendly gaps at Tropicana Field, Crawford hits just .266/.301/.392 away from home ... Five of his nine hits at SkyDome this season have been for extra bases, including two homers ... A fine fielder who regularly shows up on highlight reels, Crawford drew applause from the otherwise hostile (okay, indifferent) Kauffman Stadium crowd on Sunday with a full-extension, diving grab. Sosa credited his subsequent confidence to that momentum-changing catch ... Though biased, Piniella may have been right when he opined that there "isn't another left fielder in baseball who can make that play." Crawford admitted that he didn't think he'd get to the ball, and called it "definitely one of the top catches I've ever made" ... He led off Tuesday's game by homering off Pedro ... Crawford has already broken the club record for runs in a season ...
* 20-year-old prodigy Scott Kazmir gets the ball on Sunday, and despite a few hiccups, he's looked awfully promising at the big-league level ... Predictably, his rookie jitters have translated into walks (16 in 22 IP) ... But he was simply outstanding on Tuesday, completely neutralizing the mighty Boston offence for six shutout innings. He allowed just three hits and three walks while striking out nine ... Said Kazmir of his gem at Fenway Park after starting the season in High-A: "I don't even know how to explain it" ...
* Speaking of prodigies, B.J. Upton has been playing third after he made five errors in eleven games at short ... But he spelled Lugo at short in last week's Yankee Stadium doubleheader and flashed his excellent throwing arm, going deep in the hole to rob A-Rod ... Upton admitted that he was motivated by playing against Derek Jeter, his idol ...
* Bobby Seay has the makings of a solid LOOGY, as he holds lefties to a .194 average (righties hit .286) ... Interestingly, all of his runs allowed have come on the road ... Meanwhile, Rob Bell is used as a mop-up man, but his splits indicate that he might be an effective short guy. His WHIP is a solid 1.04 against righthanded batters ...
* 21-year-old Chad Gaudin was really tagged in his first two post-callup appearances, but settled down a bit with some effective third-of-an-inning outings at Fenway ...
* Catcher Toby Hall has hit in six of his last seven (.320) ... Once projected to be a major power source in the lineup, he's gone 24 games without a homer ... He's hit poorly against righthanders this season (.251/.297/.356) ...
* D-Rays management has made some suspect moves, but Brandon Backe for Geoff Blum is already a bust -- and Backe's ceiling appears to be such that it could look even worse in a few years' time ... Blum is nearly hopeless against righties, hitting .197/.239/.307 ... He's a woeful 4-for-35 in September, in which he's putting up a .114/.139/.229 line ...
* The Rays' AAA affiliate, the famous Durham Bulls, lost a tough five-game series to Buffalo, thus ending their hopes for an International League three-peat ... GM Chuck LaMar is optimistic that the Rays will be able to sign first-round pick Jeff Niemann ...
* Vince Naimoli emphatically shot down Piniella-to-the-Mets rumours, noting that Lou's contract runs through 2006: "We honour contracts and we expect them to be honoured" ... For his part, Piniella has been adopting a modified Vince Carter approach: "I'd like to see our organization get after it a little more...Who's interested in winning 65 games or 70 games?...All I want to do, really, is win...And that's what I'm going to put all of my energies to as long as I'm here...It's nice to talk about the future all the time, but I'm 61 years old and I'd like to have an opportunity to win again" ... Naimoli has vowed to push the club's league-low $23 million payroll beyond $30 million next year ...
* Old friend Mark "Lurch" Hendrickson has lost his last seven starts and will be demoted to the bullpen. Piniella: "He's been in a rut" ... Piniella described the influx of September pitching callups as "almost like a tryout camp...The ones who pitch a little better will get the ball again" ...
* Yes, it's that Todd Ritchie in the Rays bullpen ... Ritchie is the club's 24th pitcher of the season, a club record ...
Probable Batting Orders
* Note: The Jays will not be starting a lefthander this series.
vs. RH
7 Crawford
6 Lugo
DH Huff
8 Baldelli
3 Martinez
9 Cruz Jr
5 Upton/Blum
2 Hall
4 Cantu
Pitching Probables
Friday: RH Waechter vs. Towers
Saturday: LH Halama vs. Bush
Sunday: LH Kazmir vs. J Miller
Bullpen Usage
Long: Bell R, Nunez R, Ritchie R
Short: Carter R, Seay L, Gaudin R, T Miller L, Webb R
Setup: Harper R, Sosa R
Closer: Baez R
Today's Scout features an extraordinary collection of not-ready-for-prime-time promise, a strong-armed outfielder starting to get a clue at the plate, two old friends in deep funks and a pitcher who might not only be an easy mark tonight, but an injury risk.
On to the Advance Scout!
* NOTE: The Rays' one outstanding rainout from the New York series last week has been moved to the afternoon of Sept. 23. The Jays had originally been scheduled to play next Tuesday-Thursday in New York, but will now play Monday-Wednesday and take an off-day on Thursday.
* This month, Tampa Bay became just the second team in major league history to post a 12-game winning streak and a 12-game losing streak in the same season. Those lousy spoilers, the '87 Brewers, also turned the trick ...
* After their disheartening losing streak, the Rays took two straight from the Royals and then another from the Red Sox. But Boston rebounded to dump the Rays the last two nights ... Tampa is 7-25 in their last 32 road outings, and this will be games 11 through 13 of their longest road trip of the season ... The D-Rays are dead last in the AL in batting average (.257) and on-base percentage (.320), and are tied with the Jays for fewest homers in the Junior Circuit ... Only their edge in slugging percentage and overall team speed (triples, stolen base percentage, taking extra bases) propels them past the Mariners for 13th in the league in runs ... Their great team defence is really the only reason they're ahead of the Jays in the standings. Despite having the second-fewest strikeouts among American League staffs, Tampa pitchers have allowed the second-fewest hits in the AL ...
* Tonight's starter, Doug Waechter, will be making his third start since his return from the DL, where he was nursing a strained tendon in the middle finger of his pitching hand ... He's pitched poorly in his first two starts back from injury. His composite line: 7 IP, 12 H, 9 ER, 6 BB, 3 K ... Consider Lou Piniella to be among the concerned: "Waechter doesn't look anything at all like the pitcher we brought up last year...I don't know if his finger is still bothering him or if he's just rusty" ... Piniella was seriously considering moving Waechter to the bullpen after his last start, in which his mechanics were so faulty that the skipper was fearing another injury: "Nothing was smooth...[When you're] flying open so much, you can hurt your shoulder. His arm is really dragging. He has no arm speed...I don't want to send a guy out like that" ... For his part, Waechter is confident he can address the problem: "I can picture where my mechanics need to be" ... Waechter was only awarded tonight's start after looking sharp in his between-starts session this week ...
* Closer Danys Baez has converted his last sixteen save opportunities, although he's taken two losses over that time period ... Righties hit just .218 off the hard-throwing Cuban ... He's much less effective away from the Trop. On the road, his ERA swells to 4.91, more than two and a half runs worse than his mark at home ...
* Rocco Baldelli is red-hot, riding a seven-game hitting streak (.400) with three homers and an outstanding 12 RBI in those seven games ... Still only 22, his approach is gradually improving, with his walk rate slightly up and his strikeout rate slightly down ... He's been very tough on lefties (.330/.392/.514), but he won't face any this weekend ... He's hitting .333/.393/.686 in September ... With 11 runners gunned down, he's trying to become the first-ever outfielder to lead the AL in assists in each of his first two seasons. On Saturday, he threw out Abraham Nunez trying to stretch a single into a double -- and added a homer and a single at the plate ...
* Aubrey Huff, who's had a bit of a down year, hasn't yet homered in September, in which he's put up a .244/.346/.311 line after his sizzling August ... He's torn the cover off the ball in SkyDome this season, hitting .364/.464/.636 with five walks and just one strikeout ... Not saying it's a skill, but he's been effective in those all-important runners in scoring position, two out situations this year (.328/.458/.690) ...
* Shortstop Julio Lugo has hit in seven of his last eight ballgames (.364) ... Lugo's tongue was planted firmly in cheek after the Rays snapped their ugly twelve-game skid on Saturday: "I didn't know if we were supposed to smile or cry." Lugo rapped out three doubles in the win ... He's also enjoyed playing at SkyDome this season, hitting .391/.462/.609 in 23 at-bats ... He committed errors in all three games at Fenway this week ...
* To Carlos Delgado's chagrin, tomorrow's starter will not be Jorge Sosa, as originally planned. Sosa's been moved to the bullpen to replace the injured Jesus Colome ... It must be said, however, that Sosa was superb on Sunday in Kansas City. He went seven shutout innings, allowing just five hits and two walks while fanning seven ... Tony Pena believed that Sosa was effective because he was able to throw his slider for strikes -- down in the strike zone ...
* Old friend Jose Cruz Jr. is struggling through a dismal second half at the plate ... His batting eye has abandoned him since the All-Star Break (.224/.273/.371, 16 BB, 48 K) ... September has been particularly harsh, as he's hit no home runs, drawn one walk, and fanned 16 times ... As always, he's been weaker from the left side of the plate. Against righties, he's hit .223/.317/.417 with 85 strikeouts in 336 at-bats ... He earned the golden sombrero on Tuesday night ...
* It seems like setup man Travis Harper is either really sharp or really hittable. In ten of the 15 appearances in which he's been scored upon, he's yielded two or more runs ... In his last 26 2/3 IP, he's only walked three batters while striking out 22 ... Righties hit just .212 off him ... Opponents in general have only hit .181 off the 28-year-old since the All-Star break ...
* Veteran Tino Martinez reached base four times on Sunday ...
* Second baseman Jorge Cantu had a good, pesky-at-the-plate August, but is scuffling in September (.227/.292/.386) ... Cantu stunned the Devil Rays, who didn't even invite him to camp, by going deep 22 times in just 95 AAA games ... Although he's only homered twice in 38 big-league outings, the 22-year-old Mexican rancher's son is confident his line drives will start to leave the park: "I'm going to hit home runs...I'm making really hard contact with the ball" ...
* Ex-closer Lance Carter has walked just two batters over his last 17 innings ... Righties hit just .215 off him, with seven walks in 35 IP ... He's better on the road, where he's 2-1, 2.58 ...
* Noted thief Carl Crawford comes north on a modest six-game hitting streak (.308), in which he's scored six runs and gone 5-for-5 on the basepaths ... Without those spacious, triple-friendly gaps at Tropicana Field, Crawford hits just .266/.301/.392 away from home ... Five of his nine hits at SkyDome this season have been for extra bases, including two homers ... A fine fielder who regularly shows up on highlight reels, Crawford drew applause from the otherwise hostile (okay, indifferent) Kauffman Stadium crowd on Sunday with a full-extension, diving grab. Sosa credited his subsequent confidence to that momentum-changing catch ... Though biased, Piniella may have been right when he opined that there "isn't another left fielder in baseball who can make that play." Crawford admitted that he didn't think he'd get to the ball, and called it "definitely one of the top catches I've ever made" ... He led off Tuesday's game by homering off Pedro ... Crawford has already broken the club record for runs in a season ...
* 20-year-old prodigy Scott Kazmir gets the ball on Sunday, and despite a few hiccups, he's looked awfully promising at the big-league level ... Predictably, his rookie jitters have translated into walks (16 in 22 IP) ... But he was simply outstanding on Tuesday, completely neutralizing the mighty Boston offence for six shutout innings. He allowed just three hits and three walks while striking out nine ... Said Kazmir of his gem at Fenway Park after starting the season in High-A: "I don't even know how to explain it" ...
* Speaking of prodigies, B.J. Upton has been playing third after he made five errors in eleven games at short ... But he spelled Lugo at short in last week's Yankee Stadium doubleheader and flashed his excellent throwing arm, going deep in the hole to rob A-Rod ... Upton admitted that he was motivated by playing against Derek Jeter, his idol ...
* Bobby Seay has the makings of a solid LOOGY, as he holds lefties to a .194 average (righties hit .286) ... Interestingly, all of his runs allowed have come on the road ... Meanwhile, Rob Bell is used as a mop-up man, but his splits indicate that he might be an effective short guy. His WHIP is a solid 1.04 against righthanded batters ...
* 21-year-old Chad Gaudin was really tagged in his first two post-callup appearances, but settled down a bit with some effective third-of-an-inning outings at Fenway ...
* Catcher Toby Hall has hit in six of his last seven (.320) ... Once projected to be a major power source in the lineup, he's gone 24 games without a homer ... He's hit poorly against righthanders this season (.251/.297/.356) ...
* D-Rays management has made some suspect moves, but Brandon Backe for Geoff Blum is already a bust -- and Backe's ceiling appears to be such that it could look even worse in a few years' time ... Blum is nearly hopeless against righties, hitting .197/.239/.307 ... He's a woeful 4-for-35 in September, in which he's putting up a .114/.139/.229 line ...
* The Rays' AAA affiliate, the famous Durham Bulls, lost a tough five-game series to Buffalo, thus ending their hopes for an International League three-peat ... GM Chuck LaMar is optimistic that the Rays will be able to sign first-round pick Jeff Niemann ...
* Vince Naimoli emphatically shot down Piniella-to-the-Mets rumours, noting that Lou's contract runs through 2006: "We honour contracts and we expect them to be honoured" ... For his part, Piniella has been adopting a modified Vince Carter approach: "I'd like to see our organization get after it a little more...Who's interested in winning 65 games or 70 games?...All I want to do, really, is win...And that's what I'm going to put all of my energies to as long as I'm here...It's nice to talk about the future all the time, but I'm 61 years old and I'd like to have an opportunity to win again" ... Naimoli has vowed to push the club's league-low $23 million payroll beyond $30 million next year ...
* Old friend Mark "Lurch" Hendrickson has lost his last seven starts and will be demoted to the bullpen. Piniella: "He's been in a rut" ... Piniella described the influx of September pitching callups as "almost like a tryout camp...The ones who pitch a little better will get the ball again" ...
* Yes, it's that Todd Ritchie in the Rays bullpen ... Ritchie is the club's 24th pitcher of the season, a club record ...
Probable Batting Orders
* Note: The Jays will not be starting a lefthander this series.
vs. RH
7 Crawford
6 Lugo
DH Huff
8 Baldelli
3 Martinez
9 Cruz Jr
5 Upton/Blum
2 Hall
4 Cantu
Pitching Probables
Friday: RH Waechter vs. Towers
Saturday: LH Halama vs. Bush
Sunday: LH Kazmir vs. J Miller
Bullpen Usage
Long: Bell R, Nunez R, Ritchie R
Short: Carter R, Seay L, Gaudin R, T Miller L, Webb R
Setup: Harper R, Sosa R
Closer: Baez R
