clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Daniel Robertson has himself a day, homers twice for Rays

In today's tank: A blockbuster trade, outs, the 2015 sabermetrics preview, fantasy baseball, the American League West, the Padres and Pennants.

By Loic Oumier and Daniel Russell
Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

More seriously than the first post on the site this morning, the Rays beat the Baltimore Orioles and lost to the Red Sox yesterday. Spring Training is serious, right?

In the former, the Rays won with two hits from Asdrubal Cabrera and John Jaso, who played as a left-fielder. Everett Teaford, the Rays starter of the day, recorded two strikeouts and allowed two hits in 3.2 innings pitched. In the latter, the Rays utterly collapsed in the ninth inning as minor league pitchers couldn't close out a bullpen day, but it was a thrilling game, thanks to Steven Souza Jr. and Daniel Robertson.

The broadcast was Red Sox announcers, and the pair were quite confused as to why the pitcher kept throwing to first base, remarking "Souza is not a great threat to run!" and "it didn't even make sense to be throwing over there" to first base. On a wild pitch, Souza immediately took second, and on the following pitch stole third. The announcers blamed the pitcher's slow delivery for the swiped bag.

But the star of the show was Daniel Robertson.

The Rays released infielder Alexi Casilla prior to the game, which lead to his promotion into the starting line up for a one-day call up. Making the best of the situation, his first plate appearance was a good one: a three-run shot off major league pitcher Junichi Tazawa.

He was robbed in the next at bat by taking a plunk to the back on a wild pitch, but in his third plate appearance he destroyed again. This kid is strong.

After his day was done, Robertson didn't leave the dugout, wanting to take in the sites and sounds of being with the Major League club on their last day south of St. Pete. You can listen to his thoughts on the day here:

As for today's game, Tampa Bay will face the New York Yankees. The Rays will start with Jordan Norberto, the 29-year-old Dominican who pitched 9.1 innings during this Spring for a 4.82 ERA.

Also, in case you missed it, the Rays acquired Erasmo Ramirez for Mike Montgomery yesterday. The GM's thoughts:

You can read our coverage of the trade here.

Links

- MLB salaries now average $4 million, a dramatic increase in just three seasons. Thanks TV Money!

- Matthew Trueblood from Baseball Prospectus is taking a new look at the base-out states and especially at the two-out situation, in an attempt to explain baseball's recent drop in offense.

- The 2015 season is almost under way and Beyond the Boxscore offers you their sabermetrics season preview thanks to Michael Bradburn.

- Dave Cameron from Fangraphs published his American League West preview of the year, and it should turn out to be a two-team race for the pennant between the Mariners and the Angels.

- It is season preview day as the Hardball Times also offers us a "season preview" article and this time it is about pursuing pennants.

- Steve Adams from MLB Trade Rumors reports that the San Diego Padres are currently very active to get more relievers on their team before the season starts. After trading Alex Torres to the New York Mets two days ago, the California franchise is looking for new arms for its bullpen.

- If your fantasy baseball draft didn't already take place, you should take a look at the 2015 Razzball picks. Sleepers, busts, come-backs, MVFPs...everything you need to know is there!

- Finally, if you've ever wanted a private tour of the Rays Spring Training facility, here you go:

More From DRaysBay