I was stuck in a meeting, right in the very middle of it, and heard my phone beep multiple times. When I checked my phone, DRaysBay slack was off the chain going nuts. I saw the MLB alert that confirmed the news: Willy Adames finally got his call to the Show.
We have been waiting, certainly not patiently, for the news that Adames would get the call.
Obviously though, facing Chris Sale in his first game, we had to temper our expectations. Maybe he can get a couple good swings, fight some tough pitches off, try not to em....what’s that you say? After getting a few looks at pitches from Sale in his first at bat, Willy knew exactly what to look for and what to do with it when he got it:
This dude got here 30 minutes before first pitch. pic.twitter.com/FbNvZglqdX
— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) May 23, 2018
Rays Links:
- After the game, Willy Adames spoke with the media:
.@RaysBaseball Willy Adames addresses the media after his first MLB game. #RaysUp #MLB pic.twitter.com/kzStWu48fl
— FOX Sports Florida (@FOXSportsFL) May 23, 2018
- Rays lost both Jacob Faria and Wilson Ramos to injuries in the 3rd inning, and both did not look pretty. After the game, it was revealed Faria suffered a left oblique strain and Cash thinks he will “miss some time”, Marc Topkin reports. The news sounds better for Ramos, who is confident he will avoid going to the DL.
- Mr and Mrs Wendle have a brand new baby boy!
Romo’ing/Opener Talk!
- Eno Sarris at The Athletic makes a case for why the Rays Romo/Opener experiment is not the future of starting pitching. There have been a lot of really bad arguments against what the Rays tried recently, but Eno is a great writer and this is a really good piece dissecting this strategy with the pros and cons. Not to spoil his ending, but Sarris’ isn’t saying it’s a bad strategy, a disgrace the Abner Doubleday, or that it should never be used: just that it probably won’t be the league wide standard in general.
- On episode 1219 of Effectively Wild, Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan talk with Joe Sheehan about the Rays brining proof of concept of The Opener to baseball. It’s a really good discussion of the strategy and the whole idea in general.
Around the League:
- The Mets signed Jose Bautista to a 1 year deal after the Braves recently released the former Blue Jays slugger. The man formerly known as Joey Bats went 1-3 with a 2B and 2 Ks in his Mets debut.
- Jay Jaffe at Fangraphs explains that right not, in this current time: Mike Trout is an average Hall of Famer. Mike Trout is 26 years old. Sometimes we need to stop and realize that we are watching somebody truly all time great.