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For the longest time now, we've had it drilled into our heads that Matt Joyce is a platoon player. Or, to be more accurate, that he has a large platoon split and should not be used against left-handed pitchers. Joe Maddon loves to optimize his lineup and place hitters in a position to succeed, so for the past few years, Joyce has never seen more than 100 plate appearances against left-handed pitchers.

This year, though? Due to part to the rash of injuries -- and, I think, in part to Maddon wanting to play Joyce against more lefties -- Joyce has seen his playing time against lefties explode. He already has 40 plate appearances against left-handed pitchers, putting him on pace for around 160 PAs on the season -- or in other words, close to a full-season load for a regular starter.

Since we're dealing with a split, it's still way too early to begin to draw any definitive conclusions about whether the experiment has been a success or flop. But we can begin to get some idea of if Joyce is thriving in that sort of a role, or if he truly is out of his depth against lefties. It's not exactly like Maddon has a choice right now, but once players start returning from injuries, the question is going to loom large: should Joyce continue to start against both hands, or should Maddon turn him back into a platoon player?

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The draft may not be as fun for Rays fans to follow this year without 11 picks in the top 80, as they had last season, but it is just two weeks away. This means the mock drafts have started rolling in, and while they're hardly accurate for picks as late as the Rays (25th), they can give an idea as to which players the team might be looking at. Here's a quick look at some various mocks:

BaseballAmerica (Jim Callis):
25. RAYS: After having a record 12 selections in the first two rounds in 2011, Tampa Bay will have to make its picks count now with no extra choices and a relatively small $3.8 million bonus pool for the top 10 rounds. The Rays develop high school pitchers as well as anyone, and Ty Hensley could give them another potential frontline starter.
Projected Pick: TY HENSLEY.

ESPN (Keith Law):
Tampa Bay Rays - Carson Kelly, 3B, Westview H.S. (Portland, Ore.)
Kelly is a two-way prospect who has strong hands but a noisy lower half. He's the best player available for the Rays, a team with a history of drafting top talent from the Pacific Northwest, such as 2011 supplemental first-rounders Jeff Ames and Blake Snell.

Minor League Ball (John Sickels, from late April):
25) Tampa Bay Rays (John): There are all kinds of scenarios that make sense here. I'll look for a premium tool and pick the fastest man in the draft, prep outfielder D.J. Davis, who has made enough progress with the rest of his game this year to push into first round consideration. D.J. Davis, OF, Mississippi HS. (previous: Trahan)

Again, take these with a grain of salt. Keith Law's May 2011 mock draft had the Rays taking Joe Ross, Levi Michael, and Brandon Nimmo. Jim Callis' had Jose Fernandez, Kolten Wong, and Blake Swihart. And John Sickels projected Robert Stephenson, Jorge Lopez, and Levi Michael. You might note that none of those players are in the Rays system.

The pillar of the Rays success over the past four seasons has been pitching and defense. With the budget they roll with they're never going to be able to sign high priced offensive talent, so it's the only means to success they have. Lately the pitching has been stellar but the defense has been lacking, with last night as a prime example. Couple that with the lack of offense and it's taking a toll.

The Rays were able to weather the storm early on with all of the injuries, but lately the effect has been more evident. They haven't scored more than four runs in seven straight games. The same thing could have happened even with Evan Longoria and Desmond Jennings in the lineup, but I wouldn't bet on it. Even the loss of Jeff Keppinger is having a bigger effect than was originally thought. They're currently two games out of first but not so far removed from last place in the stacked A.L. East. The patchwork offense and defense needs to tough it out a little bit longer.

• More gladiator helmets? More gladiator helmets.
• The great Sam Miller discusses baseball and the F-word with an appearance by J.P. Howell.
• Someone stormed the field at AT&T Park and Jon Bois is all over it.
• It's funny how things can change in a month.

While the Stone Crabs had a spectacular offensive showing, the big news of yesterday was Josh Sale. After smacking a double and hitting a SF, Sale was removed from the game. As of now, there have been no reports as to the reason, but it appears that it might have been an injury. Hopefully, if it was an injury, it was only minor and precautionary.

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That's how bad tonight's game was, I can't even think of a punny headline.

With seemingly the entire Rays offense on the DL, pitching and defense are paramount to this team's success. Well, the pitching did its part tonight in the performances of Jeremy Hellickson and the bullpen, but the defense was a huge fail, giving up three errors, and some sloppy, though technically-errorless, play.

Before we get to the hairy stuff, let's talk about HellBoy's night. The sophomore hurled 7.1 innings and allowed five runs (two earned) on eight hits, and one intentional walk while striking out three. He allowed some hard hits on some Rasmus doubles and one mammoth Yunel Escobar homer to left center, but also handled Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion effectively. One 3-2 strikeout pitch had Bautista so frustrated that he tried to break the bat over his knee and failed.

Kind of like the Rays defense tonight...

It all started in the second inning on a botched double play courtesy of Carlos Pena. I know the Official Scorer credited the error to Will Rhymes, but it wasn't his fault (this time). His throw to first was a scoch off the mark, but Pena just whiffed it and Arencibia advanced to second. He'd score on a Eric Thames single to right-center for the Jays first run.

The Jays second and third runs were on the level: a nice GTMI sequence of double, productive fly out, sac fly and the aforementioned bomb by Escobar.

Then things got out of hand in the eighth. With men on first and second and one out, Burke Badenhop relieved Hellickson and induced three straight could-be-a-double-play groundballs that resulted in a grand total of one out. The first error was his as he misplayed a Ynuel Escobar two-hopper to load the bases. Next, he looked like he'd be saved when Jose Bautista grounded to Sean Rodriguez at third, but instead of throwing the ball to second to start the double play, Rodriguez decided to throw the ball to right field and allow two runs to score. But, it's not over yet. Badenhop induced yet another grounder that looked like two, but this time Will Rhymes did make an errant throw to first, and the run scored. It was not an error because you "can't assume two," and if tonight is any indication, the Rays can't assume one anymore.

I know, I'm being a Bitter Beatrice. Tomorrow is another day.

Bullets after the jump...

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Wait, that's not Derek Zoolander?

If you see something during the game that would fit "This Week in Sun Sports," please help us out and tag it (#TWSS) in the GDT or email to ThisWeekInSS@gmail.com. (Include inning and outs if possible.)

Move Provides Infield Depth

The Tampa Bay Rays have acquired middle infielder Drew Sutton from the Pittsburgh Pirates for a player to be named later, according to Roger Mooney of the Tampa Tribune:

#Rays acquire inf Drew Sutton from Pirates for PTBN. Expected to join roster today.

— RMooneyTrib (@RMooneyTrib) May 21, 2012

Sutton, 28, joins the Rays after a brief stay in Pittsburgh, following his acquisition for cash from the Atlanta Braves just yesterday. He has three seasons of professional experience across several organizations, including the Cincinnati Reds, Cleveland Indians, and the Boston Red Sox, though he's never seen more than 76 plate appearances in that time.

Before being swapped by the Braves and Pirates, Sutton was last called up by the Red Sox on May 20th, 2011. He's batting at a career clip of of .258/.322/.403 in 86 total games and has experience at all four infield positions as well as time in both corners of the outfield.

Sutton, a switch-hitter, provides Rays Manager Joe Maddon with depth off the bench while Evan Longoria and Brandon Allen both continue to recover from leg injuries. He will join the team tonight.