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Rays vs. Yankees GDT 4: All hail Cesar

Sed non est a Romanis.

By Bradley Woodrum
public domain

The Fangraphs scoreboard has the pre-lineup Rays as a 57.5% favorite entering the game.

That's how uninspiring Vidal Nuno's projections are.

That's how flaccid the Yankees position players are.

That's how not-terrible Cesar Ramos can be.

That being said: It feels like the Rays have spent all their run bullets. The ammunition is now dry. The gunners are slinking back into the trenches and exchanging worried looks. They are biting their lips. The Hun is rising from foxholes. They are entering No Man's Land. A Rays shutout feels all but certain, all but rising on the orange horizon.

Vidal Nuno, by the way, has some pretty filthy minor league numbers. Low walk rates. Decent K-rates.

Side note: There's been some hooing and ha-ing about the cold start from David DeJesus. He didn't catch fire during the last 48 hours offensive revival. He's at .122/.200/.220 with a 22 wRC+. So let's look at this numbers super fast.

Contact rate can be the canary in the coalmine. A low contact rate early in the seasons can indicate something wrong mechanical- or health-wise. Moreover, a high K-rate can portend a change in approach. So if these factors are out of place, then we can be concerned:

Season Name Team G PA Contact% (pfx) BB% K% BABIP wOBA wRC+
2008 David DeJesus Royals 135 577 90.50% 8.00% 12.30% 0.335 0.358 116
2009 David DeJesus Royals 144 627 89.10% 8.10% 13.90% 0.311 0.343 105
2010 David DeJesus Royals 91 394 88.50% 8.60% 11.90% 0.355 0.366 127
2011 David DeJesus Athletics 131 506 85.20% 8.90% 17.00% 0.274 0.311 96
2012 David DeJesus Cubs 148 582 86.50% 10.50% 15.30% 0.301 0.332 104
2013 David DeJesus - - - 122 439 85.10% 8.90% 18.00% 0.295 0.323 102
2014 David DeJesus Rays 13 45 91.60% 6.70% 13.30% 0.143 0.195 22

OH WELL. LOOKS LIKE WE CAN SHUT UP NOW. If you don't like the signing of David DeJesus, fine. I was surprised by it myself. But don't for a second think that DeJesus is broken or worthless. These things would be wrong things to think.

It's Easter, for crying out loud.

Poll

How many runs with the Rays score today?

This poll is closed

  • 6%
    None. :( >:( !?!??!1?! ( ≧Д≦) (✖╭╮✖)
    (3 votes)
  • 20%
    1
    (9 votes)
  • 20%
    2
    (9 votes)
  • 8%
    3
    (4 votes)
  • 13%
    4
    (6 votes)
  • 11%
    5
    (5 votes)
  • 6%
    6
    (3 votes)
  • 13%
    7+
    (6 votes)
45 votes total Vote Now

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