Watching this series, my buddy House kept saying how bad Jason Bay was. Not really bad, just that he would be exploited in the AL East next year because he could not hit a decent breaking ball. Well, against the stiff competetion of the Angels in the ALDS he showed up and had the best series of any Red Sox player.

He hit .412/.474/.882 with 2 HRs in the series. My friend said that he did most of his damage at the beginning of the series before the Angels started to pitch him backward (much like I do in Whiffle Ball), working off the breaking stuff.

*Those that saw the first version of the post, my bad I accidently hit "Publish" in stead of "Preview."

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Using this This Awesome Tool Via THT I'll run down what the current pitchers and hitters of the Rays will be projected to do the rest of the season. A few things about Marcel first; Its not perfect. First of all, when you see ERA its actually FIP(Fielding Independent Pitching) so bump it up a bit since we have a very good Defense. Secondly, It only takes account of the last four seasons in terms of IP and performance, and Minor League Stats are not taken account of for obvious reasons. So expect players with short track records to lean heavily on their 1^st/2^nd year.

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Toronto at RAYS Tropicana Field St. Petersburg, FL July 18th-20th

2008 Park Factor: 0.810; 3 Year (06-08) Park Factor: 0.915

Friday: 7:10, RAYS TV/ION

Saturday: 6:10, NO TV

Sunday: 1:40, FSN Florida

All Games Broadcast on RAYS RADIO/1250 AM WHNZ

Chicago at RAYS Tropicana Field St. Petersburg, FL May 29th to June 1st

2008 Park Factor: 0.811; 3 Year (06-08) Park Factor: 0.915

Thursday: 7:10, FSN Florida

Friday: 7:10, RAYS TV/ION

Saturday: 6:10, NO TV

Sunday: 1:40, RAYS TV/ION

All Games Broadcast on RAYS RADIO/1250 AM WHNZ

For More on the Visiting Chicago White Sox, Please Follow the Jump

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This was the worst week of the season for the bullpen and unsurprisingly it was the week in which they were the most taxed. With Gary Glover and Al Reyes both on the DL, the team has been turning towards other pitchers for some support. As you can see, the bullpen threw over 20 innings including three days of 70+ pitches.

The best pitcher in the bullpen this week was by far Kurt Birkins. Birkins didn't allow any runs over six innings and provided help in four separate games. The most impressive thing Birkins has shown is that he is capable of working quick innings and keeping his pitch count down. Through six innings pitched he averaged a little over 13 pitches per inning. One of the biggest improvements he has made thus far from last season has been his ability to not allow line drives. His LD% this season is a amazing 4.3% compared to last season's atrocious 23.1%. While this is still a small sample size, Rays fans must be happy with what they have received from the southpaw up to this point.

If Birkins was the best pitcher this week, then Scott Dohmann must have been the worst. Dohmann allowed five runs in three innings of work, and one would expect he would be the first person kicked out once Glover or Reyes are available.

Troy Percival kept his stat-line clean with his save and one inning of work. However, the Rays have continued to show that they will only be using him in save situations. It will be interesting to see how he is used for the rest of the season, and whether he would be brought in during games when we are losing by one run in the ninth.

One thing to keep a close eye on over the next week or two is the performance of Jason Hammel. Sometimes making the transition from starter to the bullpen can be difficult, but the Rays will most likely remain patient either way since he is out of options.