a call for patience

by raysfaninminnesota on Apr 17, 2009 4:43 PM EDT

One of the products of watching a banner being raised to the rafters courtesy of some help at MacDill (I was hoping some Yankee schmuck had the cahones to try coming out on the field during the banner raising) is high expectations right out of the shoot. This has led to some very early and illogical rants. We are not even two weeks into this season (just finished our second turn in the rotation) and people are calling for heads. Our bullpen sucks. We can't hit worth crap. We kept the wrong pitcher.

But, has anyone looked at the record of the Red Sux? Yankees? No one is jumping out of the gate. If you ask any perennial contending team, their goal by the end of April, it'd be to escape with a .500 record and no major injuries. Anything else is gravy. That doesn't mean there are not concerns after the first 10 games. The offense so far only connects when there's a pitcher out there essentialy throwing batting practice. Hitting good pitching? That hasn't happened yet. The depth of the lineup has promise. Once Upton and CC start clicking, Longoria and Pena have already shown they can drive them in. Bartlett and Aki look to make an interesting duo at the bottom of the order. Once Burrell starts going deep, this lineup has another dynamic.

If Howell or Balfour or anyone still looks clueless after the first month, then there's probably cause for concern (but Balfour definitely looked great in his last outing). The only major question at this point is Percival. If he doesn't show anything in the next week to 10 days (if that), the Rays may finally be forced with cutting him loose and calling up Isringhausen.

As long as the Rays keep pace with the Sux and Yankees, they are doing just fine. If players are still slumping after the first month, then there are legitimate red flags. But so far, just relax. There are a 162 of these battles to get through. If you're already calling for blood, you better call your doctor to up your blood pressure meds.

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

Tweet Comment 5 comments | 0 recs |

Do you like this story?

Comments

Source please?

If you ask any perennial contending team, their goal by the end of April, it’d be to escape with a .500 record and no major injuries. Anything else is gravy.

Says who? Games in April count the same as games in September. A lot of the concerns about this team were felt last season too…

Aki adds very little at second base and provides below average offense
Scott Kazmir goes into funks where he cannot find the strike zone – most of his career has been exemplified by this problem despite having elite “stuff.”
Balfour has a history of control problems. Is his history a fluke, or is 2008 a fluke?
Wheeler and Percival are basically washed up, and are in the 2 most important bullpen spots for God knows what reason.
Right Field is still largely unfilled by a potent bat.
Sonny is a pitcher who to this point has put up promising peripherals, but that’s about it. We’re still hoping/waiting.

BJ will be fine. Burrell will hit too. Balfour will probably be fine, and Howell will probably deliver a 3.20-3.50 ERA. But I wouldn’t get brash referring to Boston as the “Sux” when we are on our way to a 3rd consecutive series loss and a losing home stand.

by RayFanNY on Apr 18, 2009 10:35 PM EDT reply actions

ask any MLB manager

If you talk to Francona, Girardi, Cox, Piniella, any of them would be pleased with a .500 record and no major injuries. I can’t give you a specific internet source, but I’ll try to find one. All I know is in 10+ years of watching baseball, I’ve heard managers say something along these lines on more than one occasion.

by raysfaninminnesota on Apr 20, 2009 10:16 PM EDT up reply actions

Still Early

Just remember, the Rays really didn’t turn it on until the Toronto series in Orlando last year. That was 20 games. The big difference between this year and last is that the Rays have a monster road trip coming up that they didn’t deal with last year. They had a lot of home games in April.

Visit the Rays Revolutionary Blog at http://raysrev.blogspot.com

by Rays_Rev on Apr 18, 2009 11:19 PM EDT reply actions

Agree

But I don’t think anyone would reasonably argue that future division champions tend to get off to poor starts. I remember last year’s start (which honestly didn’t bother me because expectations were lower at the time). My concern is for weaknesses I am seeing this year, which I have seen in the past as well.

by RayFanNY on Apr 19, 2009 6:37 PM EDT reply actions

no team is going to be flawless

but right now I’d rather have our problems than New York’s. The Rays have come out of the gate in a hitting slump, primarily based by our first two batters not getting on base in front of our run producers. The biggest concern has to be not falling behind the pack too far in the division. The Rays can ill afford to dig themselves a huge hole, because this isn’t the AL Central of 2006 where the Twins were 8 games under .500 in Mid-May and still rallied back to win the Division.

by raysfaninminnesota on Apr 20, 2009 10:19 PM EDT up reply actions