Weekly Links: A Look Back at the Rays Blogosphere

Instead of posting any full-fledged articles today, we've decided to post a bunch of links to articles from the past week from this website, as well as our good friends at The Process Report and Dock of the Rays. Plenty of awesome Rays' coverage after the jump

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The Derek Shelton Effect - FreeZorilla looks into how the Rays offense has performed under Shelton this year, in comparison to their performance last year

Life of a Rays Fan: We're Darn Lucky - Stevesie makes us all think about and appreciate how awesome the Rays are, in case we have lost some love over the course of the year

James Shields and Optimizing the Changeup - I look into how Shields uses his changeup on a game-to-game basis, and try to find at what point the pitch is most effective

Putting the Big Game Back in James Shields, Pt 1 - Transplanted looks into why James Shields has struggled this year, and looks into how his fastball and cutter usage correlate with his success, or lack thereof

Is Gabe Kapler Out of His League? - FreeZorilla ventures into Gabe Kapler's splits, and looks at how his performance vs the National League may have inflated his numbers, and our perception of him

Mythbusting the Rays Offense Part 2: The All or Nothing Boys - PGP checks out the variance of the Rays offense, and compares their boom or bust tendencies to the Yankees and Red Sox, to see if there is a problem

The Lineup Protection Theory: Was Carlos Pena's DL Stint the Cause of Evan Longoria's Slump? - Not only did PGP succeed in creating the longest headline of the week, but he also produced a very intriguing article about how Evan Longoria's approach changed during Pena's DL stint, and raises some interesting questions about the idea of lineup protection

Dock of the Rays

Deserved Wins Through 8/16 - Jason Hanselman updates the series on how many wins each Rays starter has earned by their pitching, as opposed to however many luck has thrown upon them. 

He Has Risen - Jason Collette reminds us how BJ has been a complete Boss this August, and looks at some spray charts to back up his numbers for the month

Rays Spend on Draft Bonuses - Jason Collette gives a quick update on how much the Rays have spent on the draft, and how it ranks compared to the rest of the league

Andy Sonnanstine's Release Points 2008-10 - Jason Hanselman looks at how Andy's release point has shifted over the past couple years, and whether or not it may be responsible for his success/failures

The Process Report

Pump the Brakes on Jeremy Hellickson for President - RJ Anderson takes a rational appoach, and reminds us that even though Hellickson has looked great, we don't really know enough about his true talent yet to start crowning him King

The Rays Eligible for the Rule 5 Draft - RJ Anderson gives a quick rundown of the Rays that are eligible, and looks at who will probably be added to the 40 man in the upcoming year

Exploring the Rays and Johnny Damon... again - Looks at the rumor given by Buster Olney that Damon has passed through waivers, and evaluates how/if he would fit in with the Rays 

Sonnanstine the Starter - RJ Anderson checks out Andy's performance as a starter this year, notably looking at his fading fastball velocity