The Rays Tank: Windy City Travels

The Rays are in Chicago this weekend for a three game series against the White Sox. Lucky for Tampa Bay, they won't have to face Chris Sale, as he was placed on the DL three days ago with a flexor strain. The series preview will be posted later this afternoon, and tonight, Chris Archer will take the mound for the Rays against Erik Johnson of the White Sox at 8:10 PM ET.

After yesterday's loss to the Twins, the Rays left the Trop in style, with the theme of this road trip being "Express yourself with a hat 2.0". The Rays twitter provided pictures of some of the players in their hats, as shown below.

Joel Peralta. #RaysHatTrip pic.twitter.com/zwgfDcDZQF

— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) April 24, 2014

Really diggin that leopard print.

Today Juan Carlos Oviedo pitched in his first game since 2011 - then heads out on the #RaysHatTrip. #ElCaballero pic.twitter.com/dZNbfWtQOW

— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) April 24, 2014

#Rays @JakeOdorizzi reppin' the @StLouisBlues on the #RaysHatTrip. pic.twitter.com/PH58GRTmIc

— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) April 24, 2014

Jake missed the perfect opportunity to wear the Sorting Hat for this trip. There's always next time, I guess.

Brandon Gomes. Grrrrrr. #RaysHatTrip pic.twitter.com/Yt7MyH3CJo

— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) April 24, 2014

Precious!

Joe Maddon offered his two cents on pinetar, and won twitter for the day.

I'm in favor of legalizing pine tar, but it's usage may have to begin with the Rockies and Mariners.

— Joe Maddon (@RaysJoeMaddon) April 24, 2014

Wil gave thanks to a fan for providing some words of wisdom.

"@EWHalsey: @wilmyers See a pitch or 2! swinging at 1st pitch COMPLETELY WRONG thing to do!" Thanks for all your baseball knowledge

— Wil Myers (@wilmyers) April 24, 2014

Links:

-Pineda was given a ten game suspension for his use of pinetar, so with a little rotation shuffle, he'll essentially miss one start.

-David Temple of FanGraphs takes a look at body types per lineup position.

-Carl Bialik of FiveThirtyEight wonders if the DH role is slowing the speed of games.

-AJ Griffin of the Athletics is still experiencing elbow discomfort and will have his elbow examined again next Tuesday.

-The Phillies backup catcher, Wil Nieves, is using a picture of him and his baby daughter as his Tinder profile picture.

-Reds pitcher, Alfredo Simon, is being sued for alleged sexual assault.

-Does the Lightning's elimination from the NHL playoffs have you feeling down lately? Clark Brooks of SB Nation's Raw Charge understands your pain. You can let the healing begin. Some of the pointers are also applicable towards the Rays current struggles.