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Chris Archer is "refining his game" this Spring Training, at the "OK" of Joe Maddon,
"I think he's accountable enough that he's saying it within the right spirit of that phrase, and there's no complacency intended or felt on his part," Rays manager Joe Maddon said. "I just think that he's looking at it pragmatically - 'Listen, I know I'm on the team now and I can work on other things' - which I think in his mind's eye can make him even better this year.
"If it came from somebody else and I didn't feel that strongly about their accountability and the way they were, that might bother me a little bit. But from him it does not."
Some great quotes from both Archer and Maddon in the article, discussing Archer's attention to his changeup and fastball command, and you can hear the admiration both Joe and David Price have for Chris.
Archer will make his Spring debut against the Red Sox this afternoon in Ft. Myers.
The Process Report took a look at Ryan Hanigan and Jose Molina, particularly their reputations handling pitching staffs, and broke down their pitch framing trends around the strikezone. Tommy Rancel then makes a few possible connections on preferred catcher-pitcher match ups, based on reputation.
David DeJesus was one of seven players chosen to be on the advisory board for the Taylor Hooton Foundation:
The Taylor Hooton Foundation, a leader in advocacy against PED use by U.S. youth, announces advisory board of seven active players...
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) March 3, 2014
The players are: Reds&src=hash">#Reds' Bruce, #Rays' DeJesus, Mets&src=hash">#Mets' Gee, Dodgers&src=hash">#Dodgers' Kershaw, Tigers&src=hash">#Tigers' Scherzer, Angels&src=hash">#Angels' Wilson and #DBacks' Ziegler.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) March 3, 2014
Jerry Sands talked with Rays Radio about being claimed by the Rays and the opportunity to play in Durham, close to home.
And concluding the Rays news, the team picked up a local this morning:
#Rays sign RH Sergio Perez, Univ. of Tampa product who has spent 8 years in minors (#Astros, #Athletics), mostly at Triple-A
— Marc Topkin (@TBTimes_Rays) March 4, 2014
LINKS
- Instant replay was put into use for the first time yesterday. It's not the most thrilling of plays, but the system works!
Spring Training actually saw two replay challenges on Monday, one in Florida and one in Arizona...and both were unsuccessful.
- We got our first peek at MLBAM's new tracking technology, as it was applied to Jason Heyward's game winning catch from last season. Here's that video, ICYMI:
Ben Lindbergh provided some answers over at Baseball Prospectus as to how it works, how it can best be utilized, when we actually get to play with it and the potential it holds. This is going to be fuuuuuuuun.
- Longoria is part of a promotion for sports equipment manufacturer SKLZ, joining for a 30-video series on hitting techniques throughout the month of March.
- Eno Sarris spoke to the Rays old pal Stephen Vogt on Fangraphs about how pitcher/catcher familiarity plays into successful framing and defense, with non-standard responses.
- The O's appear on their way to signing Santanta -- that is, Johan Santana and his rehabbing shoulder. In other O's snap! news, "Delmon Young is 'in as good a shape as he's been in a long time.'" Not quite "best shape of his life" status, but ehhhh, somewhere around there...
- Really interesting brief on The Hardball Times about the history and physics of the curveball.
- Russell Wilson was in Rangers camp after his contract was nabbed from Colorado in the Rule 5 draft, and you can believe there was plenty of merchandise to be sold by Texas.
- Injuries in Spring Training: Padres' outfielder Cameron Maybin ruptured his left bicep tendon making a diving grab in right-center.
- Finally, baseball projections can be incredible depressing, but what happens if you normalize the distribution? Neil Weinberg investigates.