February 20th Tampa Bay Rays Camp Notes

General Statistics:

Not much going on in camp today. All pitchers and catchers worked out as well as the other position players in camp. Ray Olmedo showed up yesterday, meaning only Aki Iwamura is missing, but we won't see him until after the WBC. Maddon seems to hope Longoria isn't on the WBC's final roster.

Maddon Quotes:

On Evan Longoria:

"I have a lot of confidence in Evan. I think last year when he came on the scene he started off OK and then got into a slump for a while. So he had to battle a lot of that himself and really came back well and obviously did a great job the rest of the season. So he's actually had to struggle on the big-league level already, which is important, and he's been able to fight his way through that."

"It's good to have him stay here (rather than play in World Baseball Classic), and a lot of our major concern is that we played so deeply in the season last year. Furthermore, you don't want anybody to go into that situation as a position player and maybe not get a chance to play regularly whereas they would not get enough at-bats. So there's all those different kinds of concerns. If he stays with us I'll be very happy."

Scheduled starters for first few games:

 "I want to nail that down with Hick [Pitching Coach Jim Hickey]. The first couple games there will be a lot of pitchers, but we're going to decide, among the guys, who's gonna start on that very first day. I have someone in mind, but I want to nail it down with him before we make that announcement."

Tomorrow's Schedule for those making the trip

• Parking lot opens at 8 a.m.
•  Gates open at 9 a.m.
• Players take the field at 9:30 am
• Workout will include "Live BP," where pitchers throw to hitters for the first time of the spring