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Rays Lose Finale and Akinori Iwamura

Tampa Bay Rays' second baseman Akinori Iwamura, right, is carted off the field after injuring his left knee when trying to turn a double play in the eighth inning. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

More photos » by Lynne Sladky - AP

Tampa Bay Rays' second baseman Akinori Iwamura, right, is carted off the field after injuring his left knee when trying to turn a double play in the eighth inning. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

The Rays lost on and off the field today as they dropped the final game of a three game set to the Florida Marlins 5-4 in 11 innings. Erik already covered the deciding factors in the game, but the Rays may have lost their keystone player for much longer. We still don't know what the injury is or the severity, but early signs are Akinori Iwamura will be out of the Rays lineup for quite some time. In a classy move, Marlins left fielder Chris Coghlan, whose slide injured Iwamura, visited the Rays clubhouse after the game and apologized to Aki. Apologizes are nice, but the Rays are likely to be without their second basemen for while. Aki's double play partner, Jason Bartlett, who was injured himself on a slide late in the game, told Marc Lancaster "from what I heard, he's not going to be back soon."

Star-divide

Over the next few days and weeks we could see a few different second basemen depending on matchups. With Pat Burrell not expected back until Tuesday at the earliest, I expect Reid Brignac to get some playing time at second base or at least a look. Brignac is slated to start for Bartlett at short stop tomorrow, a schedule day off for Bartlett that was announced before today's game. If Iwamura is out for an extended period of time which is expected, the Rays have two candidates on the roster already to fill in.

Willy Aybar, a player we have already speculated as Iwamura's successor, figures to get some playing time at the position. He has played 33 career games at second base and has shown to be an above average defender during that small sample size. He would be an upgrade over Iwamura offensively.

The other option is Ben Zobrist, who has now surpassed Gabe Gross and Gabe Kapler in right field UZR ratings. Once more, UZR is good measurement of how a player has been up to this point, but has little predictive value going forward. Nonetheless, Zobrist's bat has warranted more playing time and this could be an opportunity to get him those at-bats. Most of Benzo's playing time this season has come in the outfield, but he does have a handful of starts at second including last night. In a smaller sample size than Aybar, Zobrist has also shown to be slightly above average at second base.

Any time you lose a starter of Iwamura's quality it hurts, but if we've learned anything the Rays are built to survive things of this nature. Sure, it would've helped to have held on to Adam Kennedy for a few days longer, but hindsight is 20-20. The Rays have three capable candidates to replace Iwamura right now, and if Andrew Friedman sees a move that strengthens the teams depth at the position I'm sure he'll do that. However, like I said above, the Rays are built to handle these type of situation.

Best of luck to Aki and whoever plays second base for the Rays going forward.

0 recs  |  Comment 27 comments |

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Someone said John Baker was safe at home when he was thrown out by Bartlett at the plate.

I told him he deserved it anyway because that was 100% bush.

AC/DC + Tampa Bay Rays = Big Balls on a Budget

by Orlando Rays on May 24, 2009 7:42 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

Who's a better fielder at 2B? Aybar or Zobrist?

I think Aybar will probably play 2B while BenZo DHs

by rays1234 on May 24, 2009 8:17 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

Stick

I would be glad to see Aybar’s bat in the lineup every day – plus being switch hitter can really help in relief pitcher match ups.

by Dad2sca on May 24, 2009 8:50 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

OH THAYER YOOOOOOOU....YOU'VE GOT WHAT WE NEED.....

BUT THEY SAY YOU’RE JUST A CALL-UP
THEY SAY YOU’RE JUST A CALL-UP

OH THAYER YOOOOOOOU….YOU’VE GOT WHAT WE NEEEEEED…
A FASTBALL IN THE NINETIES
A GREAT PORNSTACHE FROM THE EIGHTIES

Fuck you Biz Markie. I’m going to go drive drunk because of those commercials.

by ReasonableDoubt on May 24, 2009 9:21 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

I went out drinking this afternoon and I came home to this shit?

God damnit

2009 Rays Baseball: God Damn It, Guys

by JMB on May 24, 2009 10:36 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

I need good news on Barty please

I guess Brignac will stay….or will he? May be demoted for a OF like Joyce or Ruggiano

Rotation: 1. James Shields 2. Matt Garza 3. David Price 4. Andy Sonnanstine 5. Jeff Niemann...... Coming Soon: Wade Davis

by joeybw on May 24, 2009 10:54 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

Brignac or Aybar will be a offensive upgrade

Zobrist at 2B gets Joyce up, it hurt seeing Aki carted off but our team should be better especially if we let Brignac give us good defense

Rotation: 1. James Shields 2. Matt Garza 3. David Price 4. Andy Sonnanstine 5. Jeff Niemann...... Coming Soon: Wade Davis

by joeybw on May 24, 2009 10:59 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

simply a guess but I say yes and hes the only option I would trust with the glove at 2B

Rotation: 1. James Shields 2. Matt Garza 3. David Price 4. Andy Sonnanstine 5. Jeff Niemann...... Coming Soon: Wade Davis

by joeybw on May 24, 2009 11:21 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

That was a reply in that "Aki injury is all the more concerining"

If Reid isn’t going to get time, I think he might till Pat is back, we have Aybar and Zobrist who can both play 2nd need be. We have depth at the position and depth that is around the same level of Aki.

Swav or Die.

by SRQman on May 25, 2009 1:04 AM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

I like Aki, I really do, solid-average player who is very consistent.

But Aybar and Zobrist sharing time at second base won’t hurt as much if at all defensively and will be a way to get those two some playing time, probably mostly Aybar.

by twenty5psi on May 25, 2009 12:26 AM EDT reply actions   0 recs

yeah, i'm glad aybar will get more playing time.

he did an incredible job filling in for longo last year, and with regular PT i’m sure we’ll be happy with his performance.

by yeseggs on May 25, 2009 1:03 AM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

Aki showed below average range last year, but was the best 2B at turning the DP

So far this year that is reversed. Up until this point he has shown improved range, but below average at turning two. UZR changes week to week and even one year of sample size isn’t great, but we don’t have that much data on Aki.

www.draysbay.com

by Tommy Rancel on May 25, 2009 10:11 AM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

At fangraphs

there is a current listing of the 3 best and worst UZR ratings at each position. Just to highlight your point about the lack of adequate data, here it is for CF:

CF
Best: Matt Kemp (7.4), Mike Cameron (6.6), Franklin Gutierrez (5.7)
Worst: Vernon Wells (-10.3), Shane Victorino (-8.1), Carlos Beltran (-4.8)

The previous week there was an appended note that Beltran was the 4th worst to that point, an indication that such a small sample is virtually useless they point out. I suppose it possible that his injury problems have limited him severely, but their interpretation is that there simply is not enough data for 2009 to judge. After all, Ryan Howard is listed as the 2nd best first baseman by UZR.

by bobr on May 25, 2009 10:39 AM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

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