Tampa Bay Rays news and links: Rays lose spring opener 6-2

Something is very different about this Rays Tank than all of the ones previously over the past months of hard winter: There was Rays baseball yesterday.

It wasn't on TV, but we do have highlight video from the Rays, and our friends at Sports Talk Florida have even set that video to a cool jam. Let's get right to that.

Here's what there is to see:

• A man from the USSOCOM Parachute Team being cool.
• Jake Odorizzi striking out Trea Turner. Looks like a changeup, down and in to me. But really, that's just a guess. Also, who cares?
• Curt Casali making a snap throw to first base that comes up short and bounces past Loney and into the outfield. It's scored a throwing error on Casali, and that's right, but if he had gotten it into a foot further, I actually think he had the runner nabbed.
• Desmond Jennings lining one to the wall, scoring Kevin Kiermaier and Logan Morrison. We get to see Morrison run. Which is way less inspiring than getting to see KK run.
• I bet you didn't know that Jaff Decker has a cannon out there in left field.
• Blake Snell giving up a home run. What a bum.

Click over to Steve Kinella's article, where you can also see an interview with starter Jake Odorizzi. Odor seems to be saying that the strikeout pitch was a curve. Oh well. We're all in preseason mode.

There's more from Kinsella, too, with extended video of Snell's inning, and a funny postgame interview with Snell. Asked what he learned from the home run he gave up: "Don't throw a changeup right down the middle."

Other Links:

- Topkin wrote about how the upcoming trip to Cuba is a homecoming for Rays hopeful Dayron Varona.

- Aroldis Chapman will be suspended for the first 30 games of the season.

- In Tony Blengino's batted ball breakdown of center fielders, he thinks there's some potential for power development from Kiermaier.

- Really cool pitching visualizations from Kevin Dame.