Tampa Bay Rays news and links: An interview with “mini Mike Trout”

I know Adam already wrote about this catch yesterday, but, uh, it really doesn’t get old.

The highlight of the links, though, is this interview by David Laurila with Rays All-Star candidate Corey Dickerson. Laurila is the best at getting players to talk substance, so give this a read.

News:

• Steve Kinsella wrote about Brad Miller’s missing power and his new-found patience.
• But from Mark Topkin’s notes, there’s no definitive date on Miller’s return, yet. Matt Duffy is supposed to resume his rehab soon.
• Topkin wrote about the recent winning streak. Best quote is Logan Morrison calling Corey Dickerson “mini Mike Trout.”
• Bill Chastain wrote about all these Rays home runs (club record 10 for a three game series), and he gets into the approach with several of the players. A telling quote from manager Kevin Cash:

"It is [crazy]," Cash said. "We're still hopefully the strikeouts will kind of come down here. The trade off so far has been pretty good with the walks, and obviously the balls that leave the ballpark."

• KATOH ranks Brent Honeywell as one of the most-improved pitching prospects this year. He was already highly rated before this year. Yikes.
• Jeff Sullivan went looking to see if more teams were on the high fastball train this year (that the Rays may have started). Answer—not really.
• Tony Blengino used his system to rank two-seam fastballs, and said that Jake Odorizzi threw one of the best two-seamers in the league last year (ranked a B+). Thing is, I’m not really convinced Odorizzi threw a two-seam fastball. Those pitches MLBAM called a FT in 2016, were more probably just four-seam fastballs with a little less rise and a little more run, because pitch movement is on a spectrum. And I think if he were to look at it closely, Blengino would agree, especially since it explains this line:

He actually allowed more fly balls than grounders on his two-seamer, a very unusual occurrence.

• Clayton Kershaw proved, once again, that he is the best. This is how you handle a benches-clearing shouting match.
• Because everyone loves a Tim Tebow scouting report (whether you do or do not love Tim Tebow).