View from the catwalk: “The most unhittable arm in the minors”

Rays Links

• Jeff Sullivan devoted an entire article to Rays Triple-A reliever Colin Poche, calling him “the most unhittable arm in the minors.”
• I missed this one yesterday. At the Athletic, Jayson Stark, prompted by the Rays experiments and by wider trends, talked to front office people throughout baseball about the future of starting pitching. I have a few problems with the article—namely that it makes a false comparison of Sergio Romo to Tyler Chatwood, when the real comparison is of Ryan Yarbrough (who just pitched a heck of a game) to Chatwood—but it’s still worth your time.
• Marc Topkin wrote about Lance McCullers’s happy homecoming against the Rays.
• Also from Topkin, Nationals GM Mike Rizzo took a shot at Sergio Romo, while Romo and Romo appeared not to care.
• J. Scott Butherus wrote that Chris Archer threw a simulated game in Port Charlotte, and could rejoin the Rays before the All-Star break.

Other Links

• Prompted by a case of Arson against the former home of Satchel Paige, and by vandalism against the YMCA where the Negro Leagues were formed, Joe Posnanski wrote about Buck O’Neil, the great player, manager, and story teller of the Negro Leagues: “‘Don’t feel sorry for me,’ he used to say. ‘Feel sorry for everyone who didn’t see us play.’”
• Craig Edwards noted that free-agent spending on relievers this past offseason really didn’t work for the teams doing the spending.
• The Red Sox traded for former-Ray Steve Pearce.