Tampa Bay Rays news and links: Will Kiermaier hit?

Straight to links. No nonsense here:

• Bill Chastain of MLB.com wrote about Kevin Kiermaier's offense. Kiermaier credits his improvement in the last two months of the season to a thumb injury forcing him to simplify his approach. KK says that he cut down on his strikeouts with the simpler approach. I don't know what specifically in the approach he's referring to, but I did note in August that Kiermaier was, for much of the season, being too aggressive on pitches on the edges of the strike zone.
  
  
• Projection systems, PECOTA especially, seem to believe in Kiermaier's offensive potential, and this could be a very interesting season for him if he's able to take even a small step forward.
  
  
• Topkin writes that Logan Forsythe, who took a large step forward last year, will bat leadoff.
  
  
• The FanGraphs starting rotation rankings have the Rays at #15. I'd take the over on that, but give Jeff Sullivan's comments a read. It's good to put some outside dampers on what could be runaway enthusiasm on the part of Rays fans.
  
  
• Beyond the Box Score is celebrating Ichiro today.
  
  
• The Dodgers still aren't on TV in much of LA. This is what happens when big TV deals go wrong.
  
  
• The Blue Jays claimed former top prospect Jesus Montero off waivers from the Mariners. That means that the Rays passed on him (they had waiver priority over the Jays), which is probably totally the right thing to do. But if you like to complain about management, circle this moment in case he's about to hit a bunch of homers in Toronto.
  
  
• Tango found something interesting. Offenses are most efficient with a three and four run lead. They are not efficient with a 5+ run lead. Not sure why.
  
  
• For those who like to attend minor league games rather than Rays games, Mike Lortz has collected the area minor league promotional schedules.
  
  
• One former Ray, Wesley Wright, was released by the Diamondbacks.
  
  
• But another, Nathan Karns, secured a job.

ICYMI: Karns (shown) wins rotation job. #Mariners option Paxton, Romero and Taylor. https://t.co/kd4RqsuWQd pic.twitter.com/lwKKrwGaMP

— Bob Dutton (@TNT_Mariners) March 29, 2016