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The reinforcements have started to arrive (welcome back, Harold and Manuel!) and the Rays had a 5-2 week, taking two of three from the Yankees and three of four from the Royals. Coincidence? We think not. The Rays are now tied with the Blue Jays for second in the AL East, 8 back of the Yankees. They are in a three way tie with the Jays and the Mariners in the Wild Card race.
No off days this week, as the Joe Maddon-less Angels come to town for four games, then we travel to Boston for a three game set.
Links!
Also coming back to St. Pete is Wander Franco, but not for the reason we’d like to hear.
Wander Franco is still experiencing soreness in his right hand while swinging so #Rays are pulling him off his rehab assignment with AAA @DurhamBulls and he will return to St. Pete and continue getting treatment here
— Marc Topkin (@TBTimes_Rays) August 21, 2022
John Romano on the new old guy.
Our @romano_tbtimes on the journey that led to 31-year-old RHP Kevin Herget finally reaching the big leagues with #Rays, and whether it was worth it#StLCards #Guardians https://t.co/gfynRRaSCc
— Marc Topkin (@TBTimes_Rays) August 21, 2022
Adam Berry on the new(ish) home run tunnel celebration.
Tunnel vision: Rays' unexpected celebration #RaysBaseball #RaysNation #RaysUp https://t.co/0JlA2JxdGZ
— TB Rays Fans (@RaysViews) August 19, 2022
In case you were wondering, it has been as bad as you thought.
MLB top 5, impact on teams from injured players and IL (Lost-WAR metric)
— Man Games Lost MLB (@ManGamesLostMLB) August 21, 2022
1 TBR 7.51 WAR lost
2 LAA 7.05
3 SEA 6.76
4 CIN 6.28
5 PHI 5.90https://t.co/hSRZPxuitj
The Rays set a record on Sunday.
Todays Rays lineup is the first in MLB history to have eight different nationalities in the same starting lineup. United States, Dominican Republic, Cuba, Columbia, Venezuela, Mexico, Panama, and Taiwan. @MLBRandomStats @TBTimes_Rays @TriciaWhitaker
— DJ Rice (@TheReddDJ) August 21, 2022
Ben Clemens of Fangraphs on Drew Rasmussen’s run of success.
I think this is fun. Though with Tango I’m never quite sure.
This is an almost perfect chart for a fielder. In addition, he's one of the fastest players in baseball. Except for one play, every other uncaught ball was virtually uncatchable. Checking on that one play now... pic.twitter.com/psmzV2nIr7
— Tangotiger (@tangotiger) August 16, 2022
Who wants a stingray snuggie?
If you ever wanted to become a giant freshwater stingray, you can do that now with a life-size giant freshwater stingray blanket from Felissimo that you can also wrap around you and pretend to be one pic.twitter.com/kghVdvzj5S
— 箕島 綺譚(they/them) Support Black Trans Liberation (@MishimaKitan) August 17, 2022
Fun Reads
Our own Brian Menéndez write about Camilo Doval over at BPro.
In my latest for @baseballpro, I wrote about Camilo Doval's newest weapon, why he needs it, and why a 100 mph fastball can still be a bad pitch. https://t.co/bcoZPrrNcX
— Brian Menéndez (@briantalksbsb) August 17, 2022
From our friends at Twinkie Town, here’s something I think about more than I should.
Thinking About Bullpen Blowup Risk #TwinsBaseball #Twins #MNTwins #GOTwins https://t.co/2zgSq5qBTx
— Minnesota Twins Fans (@TwinsViews) July 4, 2022
We do love The Onion.
Report: Nothing Beats Seeing Yankees Lose At Home https://t.co/u2rmLtBnGJ pic.twitter.com/ynilU2dr7V
— The Onion (@TheOnion) August 16, 2022
The Orioles beat the Red Sox in the Little League Classic on Sunday. The Orioles social media team had some fun.
well this is weird
— Orioles on MASN (@masnOrioles) August 21, 2022
most games in Little League parks are against the Yankees https://t.co/qAs8OnaZW0 pic.twitter.com/0FNzK5IG4p
This is a fun thread. Can you learn to hit the high fastball?
Sometimes pitchers forget that hitters have the capability to adjust to what they are throwing.
— Alex Kachler (@Alexkachler10) August 19, 2022
Though the high four seam is still a very effective strategy, orgs like the Houston Astros are quickly proving that handling he high heater is a learnable skill.
(Thread) pic.twitter.com/pxiGGOvDNH
This one too, on the ball/strike challenge system experiment.
You are going to be asking the important existential question: What *is* a strike zone? https://t.co/XpZzr7EV7T
— Tangotiger (@tangotiger) August 20, 2022
Ex-Rays News
Topper talks to Joe Maddon, who doesn’t sound bitter at all.
“Once that happened, I dissolved my affiliation with them,” Joe Maddon (the former #Rays and #Cubs manager) said of being fired in June by #Angels. “There’s no emotion anymore. There’s no anything. It’s like to me they don’t even exist, organizationally.” https://t.co/SjvRsmgdHA
— Marc Topkin (@TBTimes_Rays) August 20, 2022
Blake Snell is very fortunate to be okay.
Padres' Blake Snell hit by suspected drunk driver, 'lucky' to pitch next night https://t.co/QXIztej5tr pic.twitter.com/jhZgqFxWKs
— New York Post (@nypost) August 20, 2022
David Price has a Geltz going.
David Price just threw a no-hitter… kind of
— Blake Harris (@BlakeHarrisTBLA) August 21, 2022
Dating back to July 27, he’s recorded 27 outs without allowing a hit
Evan Longoria is quietly having a nice year in spite of several trips to the IL.
Brett Phillips was DFA’d by the Orioles. He has cleared waivers and accepted an assignment to AAA Norfolk.
The Orioles say that Brett Phillips cleared waivers and accepted an assignment to Triple-A Norfolk, so he remains in the org.
— Zachary Silver (@zachsilver) August 22, 2022
Yusniel Diaz was also returned to Norfolk after serving as today's 27th man.
Around the League(s)
The new A League of Their Own series is out on Amazon Prime Video to generally solid reviews.
I was quite pleasantly surprised by the A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN TV adaptation, which I was skeptical about simply because of how many projects of this kind go badly. This one didn't. https://t.co/38Kef2iWD8
— Linda Holmes (@lindaholmes) August 11, 2022
Joey Votto is done for the year.
NEWS: Joey Votto announced he will have season-ending surgery for a rotator cuff tear on Friday.
— Bobby Nightengale (@nightengalejr) August 17, 2022
There was some concern when Ohtani was pulled early from Sunday’s game. Turns out it was just tummy trouble.
Shohei Ohtani was removed from today’s game due to a stomach virus
— Angels PR (@LAAngelsPR) August 21, 2022
Austin Hedges was fined an undisclosed amount after unloading on umpires following an overturned call at the plate.
MLB has fined catcher Austin Hedges an undisclosed amount for his criticism of the umpires and replay officials after Tuesday’s loss to the Tigers at Progressive Field. https://t.co/3Nr0s6pMHQ
— clevelanddotcom (@clevelanddotcom) August 21, 2022
He can’t say he didn’t get his money’s worth though. Here’s the call.
After appearing to get Javy Baez out at the plate, replay overturned the call due to Austin Hedges blocking the plate pic.twitter.com/TUsJj4WJPK
— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) August 16, 2022
And here’s the suspension.
Damn…. Austin Hedges just went IN on the umpires pic.twitter.com/CKMySHPBEr
— Fuzzy (@fuzzyfromyt) August 17, 2022
This Happened
This happened at the Blue Jays/Yankees game.
This happened at a Mud Hens game.
Baseball is steadfastly not real. pic.twitter.com/5GsORy70uD
— Eephus Tosser (@EephusTosser) August 18, 2022
Mama said there’d be days like this.
17-RUN INNING!
— Minor League Baseball (@MiLB) August 20, 2022
The Triple-A @astros affiliate sent 23 men to the plate, tallying 10 hits and 9 walks to bring the @SLSpaceCowboys' total to 21 runs on the night! pic.twitter.com/mEQJNg75TB
Did...did a rando fan get Tony LaRussa to send in a pinch runner?
No way my Dad got Tony to pinch run Engel in the 8th @JomboyMedia @MLBONFOX @JamesFox917 @NBCSChicago @SoxMach_pnoles pic.twitter.com/CTr7aeUumL
— David (@WeinoChi) August 16, 2022
TLR says no.
Tony La Russa debunked any notion that a fan yelling from the stands impacted a decision last night. Said he was debating whether to pinch run for Jimenez considering it was a tie game and he didn’t want to lose his bat. Ultimately decided to use Adam Engel. (With fan approval!)
— Jesse Rogers (@JesseRogersESPN) August 16, 2022
But you’ll excuse me if I don’t believe him.
Palate Cleansers!
This is cool, and creepy.
The misconception that there is no sound in space originates because most space is a ~vacuum, providing no way for sound waves to travel. A galaxy cluster has so much gas that we've picked up actual sound. Here it's amplified, and mixed with other data, to hear a black hole! pic.twitter.com/RobcZs7F9e
— NASA Exoplanets (@NASAExoplanets) August 21, 2022
This is also cool and creepy.
Tissues, please.
And this is just a cuteness overload.
Baby panda trying to get on a hammock.. pic.twitter.com/t8E2CD8lOq
— Buitengebieden (@buitengebieden) August 20, 2022
Go Rays!
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