Tampa Bay Rays News and Links: From Super Sam to the Mallex Effect

On the Anniversary of the origin of Super Sam Fuld, the Rays get a much needed win in front of dozens of Chicagoans

By Darby Robinson@darby_robinson Apr 10, 2018, 9:00am EDT

Tampa Bay Rays v Chicago White Sox

On April 9th, 2011, Sam Fuld gained superpowers and made this incredible bases load, full extension diving catch against the White Sox, in Chicago.

The Rays at the time were 1-7, and really struggling to put wins on the board to start the season.

Exactly 7 years later and it was again a diminutive, speedy, and absolutely impossible not to love RF that helped give the Rays a spark.

#MallexEffect ✅ pic.twitter.com/8Zf733CRPf
— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) April 10, 2018

Super Sam to the Mallex Effect. Let’s hope the regular season story ends a similar way.

Links:

Topkin’s got his journal notes from the Rays second win of the season.
Rays have faced nothing but cold weather since leaving the friendly confines of the Trop, and Chicago was unsurprisingly no different. Ray Tank has some photos from the snowy day at the park (until the awesome White Sox grounds crew cleaned up).
When life gives you snow, you play in the snow:

#Rays Snell and Romo having some fun in the snow before the game. (Video courtesy @snellzilla11): pic.twitter.com/RDJ11GJSYW
— Marc Topkin (@TBTimes_Rays) April 10, 2018

Alex Colome has had only stressful appearances on the season. After his last two chances at saves were blown, Colome got some redemption and notched his 86th save, now moving him to second most in team history:

The second-highest saves total in franchise history now belongs to @AlexanderColome.#Rays20 | #RaysUp pic.twitter.com/Ga3lvOrII5
— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) April 9, 2018

Other Links:

Closer Greg Holland made his debut with the Cardinals after signing just about 9 days ago. It was....not his best.
The Los Angeles Dodgers are also with the Rays in the 2-8 club. I don’t think there should be that much panic for either team, but, as Jay Jaffe at Fangraphs explains, the Dodgers in particular will probably be A-OK.
The home opener for the Cubs was cancelled yesterday. A few miles down the road, the White Sox field was completely transformed from pre-game snowfield to actual baseball field. I think it’s fair to say, White Sox Grounds Crew 1, Cubs Grounds Crew 0 on the 2018 season.