Tampa Bay Rays news and links: Mahtook and Pearce both injured

Let’s put this bluntly. Yesterday was not a good day for the Rays. Neil Solondz said pretty much everything you need to know.

But let’s go in order. First this happened:

Then this:

Pearce later said that he felt a “hard grab” but “not a pop,” and that they’ll likely give it a couple days before making a decision about the DL. Bill Chastain has quotes from both injured players.

Trainers also checked on Drew Smyly on the mound at one point during the game but decided he could stay in. He gave up the lead in the seventh, and then Erasmo Ramirez, who may be “in a funk” or may be fatigued, gave up three runs to lose the game in the eighth.

The continued injuries to Rays outfielders will only fuel more talk about the recently released Carl Crawford, but Topkin says that there is no real movement toward a deal yet.

The bad news didn’t stop in the major leagues:

Links:

• On the happier side, while many of us were concerned about Evan Longoria’s swing-at-everything approach at the beginning of the season, at this point, we may all want to reevaluate our scouting ability. Longoria’s decline has been much overstated. He’s now hit nine home runs in the last 15 games, and is on pace to break the American League record for most home runs by a third baseman. Bill Chastain wrote about how he’s tweaked his stance and swing.
• Jeff Sullivan wrote about James Shields’s struggles.
• Corrine Landrey wrote about the Rule 5 draft. Neither has actually played very well in the majors, but there are only two position players taken in this year’s draft who haven’t already been returned to their team: Joey Rickard and Tyler Goeddel.
• Kate Morrison and Russel Carleton have been writing a series on where front office employees come from. Part one highlighted that with the number of highly qualified applicants and the limited number of jobs, it’s very important to have an internship. Part two focuses on how the internship system molds what kind of people can get a job. Spoiler: it reinforces homogeneity in class and race. For anyone interested, I highly recommend Ross Perlin’s book Intern Nation: How to Learn Nothing and Earn Little in the Brave New Economy.