FanPost

Some thoughts on last night...and a silver lining

Reyes, the rest of the bullpen, Dukes, Maddon, and Kaz....

  1.  Reyes.  If you're the closer for a team that's only going to win around 70 games, you should be available to pitch whenever needed.  If you pitch 8 games in a row, you're bound to get 10 straight off the next couple weeks.  (a little saracasm and exaggeration here)
  2.  NEVER, EVER, EVER walk people when you have a 5 run lead in the 9th.  Go make a legitimate offer to Percival, it could work 2 ways for him.  Even if he wants to play for a contender, pitching the next 6 weeks for the Rays could be like minor league rehab for him, and if he's good enough to help a contender, we can trade him in July.  We have no excuse not to bid as high as anyone else.
  3. In the ninth, someone hit a fly ball over Dukes head.  He jogged after it, took his time picking it up, and basically tossed it to BJ.  Upton then threw it home, and despite that, they had a fairly close play at the plate.  A little hustle and that might have made a difference in the momentum of the inning, and thus the game.  With that vague description - who knows what play I'm talking about?  If you know, and I know, then Maddon and the rest of the regulars know.  If Dukes is in the lineup today, what kind of message does that send to the rest of our young players.  Dukes should be traded, and I don't care if we get Chris Henry from the Bengals, Jose Mesa from the Mexican league, or a 30something RP from Oakland.
  4. If Dukes is in the lineup today, Maddon should be fired tomorrow.  I won't even get into my thoughts about how he handles the bullpen.
  5. and finally....that silver lining.  This is the perfect night for Kaz to say "I'm the ace of this team, and they need me."  and then go out, pitch 7+ innings, shut down Toronto, and give us a win.  Let's see him do it.

This post was written by a member of the DRaysBay community and does not necessarily express the views or opinions of DRaysBay staff.