Seven out of ten.
* General: The D-Rays are an awful 8-35 away from home this season and went 0-6 on their last road trip to Minnesota and Chicago ... They're 4-32 in all ballparks other than Tropicana Field and Yankee Stadium ... The D-Rays are 1-11 overall over their last 12 ... Tampa hasn't had so much as a two-game winning streak since winning on June 22 and 23 at New York ... Tampa Bay has surrendered the third-most runs of all time prior to the All-Star Break (553) ... After blowing just ten saves over the entire 2004 season, the Devil Ray bullpen has coughed up 16 leads already thus far ... This explains why the Rays have used 21 pitchers already this season ... Tampa has been outscored 92-28 in the eighth inning ... The D-Rays rank ahead of only the Yankees and Royals in Defensive Efficiency ... One-quarter of Tampa Bay's 28 wins have come against the Yankees! ... Tampa Bay has zero road games left against sub-.500 teams ... The Rays DFA'd Rob Bell to make room for Joe Borowski. After considering it, they've elected not to sign DFA Rick Bauer from the O's ... Borowski on coming to the Rays: "The situation is very appealing...to pitch on a regular basis, to pitch innings that count, to pitch late in games" ... Jesus Colome is nearly ready ... The injured Rocco Baldelli (TJ surgery) recently fired Scott Boras ... Delmon Young is hitting .336 with the AA Montgomery Biscuits, with 20 homers ... Tampa's only All-Star, Danys Baez, didn't get into the game. He wasn't disappointed, though ... Among the changes proposed by fans in the St. Petersburg Times "Fix The Rays" contest: "have a giant pinata of Vince Naimoli built" ... "forfeit the rest of the season's road games" ... "suggest a six-inning game with a 10-run limit like Little League adopts" ... Dee Staas, wife of broadcaster DeWayne, passed away this week after a long battle with cancer ...
* Toby Hall: Prefers the ball up and in ... Can't protect the outside corner of the plate ... Has thrown out 33% of would-be basestealers, and teams seldom run on him. Then again, he never has to face the Tampa speedsters like Crawford or Lugo ...
* Aubrey Huff: In just 10 games, July has already been Huff's biggest power month of the season with three homers and a .538 slugging percentage ... Has a quick enough swing to turn on outside heat, even if it's good ... Can be pitched to in on his fists ... Seems to pull off on breaking stuff dropping down and in ...
* Jorge Cantu: Very good hitter on breaking pitches up and out over the plate. He sits on off-speed stuff ... Legitimate power; not all of his homers are cheapies ... Seems to try hard night-in, night-out ... 7 walks and 43 K's on the season. He hasn't walked since June 20 ... Tread carefully with breaking stuff. He seems to hit curves and sliders better than changeups ... The further away you pound him, the more likely you are to induce a popup ... Still just 23 years old ...
* Casey Fossum: Slightly-built lefty came over from Arizona in the Jose Cruz, Jr. trade ... His mechanics are somewhat reminiscent of a lefthanded David Cone ... Big curve that can come in as slow as 68 or 69 mph. He uses it to backdoor righthanded hitters ... Throws a flat low-80s slider that gets him into trouble when hitters wait on it ...
* Mark Hendrickson: Old friend has allowed at least as many hits as innings pitched in every single start this season except for one: On May 5, the Yankees tallied seven hits over 7 1/3 innings ... His mid-70s curve can be really appetizing when it starts up in the zone ... Touches the low 90s on his four-seamer, but it's pretty straight ... Don't think pull, since he stays away from righthanded hitters all day ... Unless he comes through on Saturday, he'll likely lose his job to the rehabbing Doug Waechter ...
* Hideo Nomo: Has served up 15 home run balls in fewer than 100 innings ... He has to locate his splitter and change down at the knees, or else he'll get pounded. His stuff isn't good enough to blow hitters away anymore ... Defeated the Jays in late June ... His fastball occasionally hangs in the mid-80s ... If hitters sit on the change, his heater is still hittable based on reaction alone ... Splitter is slow, but it moves well ...
* Seth McClung: Economical, almost nonchalant delivery ... Mediocre curve that's worth sitting on. Its movement is more lateral than downward ... Can hit the mid-90s with the fastball, but it's straight ... Big problems with location, both within and outside the strike zone ...
* Julio Lugo: Good low-ball hitter, but he hasn't homered since May 18. He went deep 15 times in 2003 ... Stays down very effectively on curves ... Will chase fastballs up and away, or splitters and sinkers down and in ... Heady fielder at short, and he's tough on the DP pivot ...
* Chad Orvella: Always works from the stretch ... Holds the ball high above his head with his pitching hand before releasing. Does that make it easier to pick up? ... Relies on a good low-80s changeup, but goes to the well too often at times ... Throws a high-80s two seam fastball that runs in on righthanded hitters and away from lefties. It's not a great pitch, though ... 93-mph four-seamer has some good exploding action. He should throw it more often ... Has been compared to David Riske ...
* Carl Crawford: Kicks off the second half on a nine-game hitting streak (.359) ... Drives low fastballs and goes with the pitch well ... Has become just the fifth player in major league history with 150 steals and 500 hits before his 24th birthday. Only Ty Cobb, Cesar Cedeno, Sherry Magee and Rickey Henderson had done it before ... Typically excellent percentage this year, having stolen 27 bases while only being caught five times ... Leads the league with nine triples ... As always, remains tremendously vulnerable to lefthanded breaking stuff ... Has not drawn a walk since June 27 ...
* Dewon Brazelton: The controversial righty is mopping up in long relief these days ... His four-seamer isn't overpowering, and it's the pitch opponents have hit the hardest -- especially when it's thigh-high or higher ... Backdoors lefties with a tailing two-seamer ... Throws a hard slider down and in on righthanded hitters ...
* Jonny Gomes: Drew the ire of Ivan Rodriguez after slowly walking to first while admiring his ninth-inning, 474-foot walk-off blast against Troy Percival on Saturday. It was the second-longest homer in Tropicana Field history ... Gomes on the walk-off: "That's pretty much all that was on my mind the first pitch...Luckily, it was a strike because I probably would have swung just as hard if it was a ball" ... Very strong and will get occasional "muscle hits" on bloops to the outfield ... Uses the entire field ... Can be overpowered by fastballs on the outside corner, or up in the zone ... Poor outfielder in right ...
That's what the Jays have to achieve, at minimum, over their long-anticipated ten-game stretch against the bottom-feeders of the American League, starting with Tampa Bay coming to town. Yes, the Jays are battling significant injuries. But so are the D-Rays, who have been so woeful on the road that Lou Piniella ordered his charges to show up one hour early tonight for a "fundamentals review session." The D-Rays can hit, but they can't pitch or field, and Toronto must take full advantage if they want to remain relevant in the AL East. It can be done, even sans Doc.
This week's Scout features a brash young power hitter, an old friend with his job on the line and some pretty good ideas from a long-suffering fan base.
On to the Advance Scout!* General: The D-Rays are an awful 8-35 away from home this season and went 0-6 on their last road trip to Minnesota and Chicago ... They're 4-32 in all ballparks other than Tropicana Field and Yankee Stadium ... The D-Rays are 1-11 overall over their last 12 ... Tampa hasn't had so much as a two-game winning streak since winning on June 22 and 23 at New York ... Tampa Bay has surrendered the third-most runs of all time prior to the All-Star Break (553) ... After blowing just ten saves over the entire 2004 season, the Devil Ray bullpen has coughed up 16 leads already thus far ... This explains why the Rays have used 21 pitchers already this season ... Tampa has been outscored 92-28 in the eighth inning ... The D-Rays rank ahead of only the Yankees and Royals in Defensive Efficiency ... One-quarter of Tampa Bay's 28 wins have come against the Yankees! ... Tampa Bay has zero road games left against sub-.500 teams ... The Rays DFA'd Rob Bell to make room for Joe Borowski. After considering it, they've elected not to sign DFA Rick Bauer from the O's ... Borowski on coming to the Rays: "The situation is very appealing...to pitch on a regular basis, to pitch innings that count, to pitch late in games" ... Jesus Colome is nearly ready ... The injured Rocco Baldelli (TJ surgery) recently fired Scott Boras ... Delmon Young is hitting .336 with the AA Montgomery Biscuits, with 20 homers ... Tampa's only All-Star, Danys Baez, didn't get into the game. He wasn't disappointed, though ... Among the changes proposed by fans in the St. Petersburg Times "Fix The Rays" contest: "have a giant pinata of Vince Naimoli built" ... "forfeit the rest of the season's road games" ... "suggest a six-inning game with a 10-run limit like Little League adopts" ... Dee Staas, wife of broadcaster DeWayne, passed away this week after a long battle with cancer ...
* Toby Hall: Prefers the ball up and in ... Can't protect the outside corner of the plate ... Has thrown out 33% of would-be basestealers, and teams seldom run on him. Then again, he never has to face the Tampa speedsters like Crawford or Lugo ...
* Aubrey Huff: In just 10 games, July has already been Huff's biggest power month of the season with three homers and a .538 slugging percentage ... Has a quick enough swing to turn on outside heat, even if it's good ... Can be pitched to in on his fists ... Seems to pull off on breaking stuff dropping down and in ...
* Jorge Cantu: Very good hitter on breaking pitches up and out over the plate. He sits on off-speed stuff ... Legitimate power; not all of his homers are cheapies ... Seems to try hard night-in, night-out ... 7 walks and 43 K's on the season. He hasn't walked since June 20 ... Tread carefully with breaking stuff. He seems to hit curves and sliders better than changeups ... The further away you pound him, the more likely you are to induce a popup ... Still just 23 years old ...
* Casey Fossum: Slightly-built lefty came over from Arizona in the Jose Cruz, Jr. trade ... His mechanics are somewhat reminiscent of a lefthanded David Cone ... Big curve that can come in as slow as 68 or 69 mph. He uses it to backdoor righthanded hitters ... Throws a flat low-80s slider that gets him into trouble when hitters wait on it ...
* Mark Hendrickson: Old friend has allowed at least as many hits as innings pitched in every single start this season except for one: On May 5, the Yankees tallied seven hits over 7 1/3 innings ... His mid-70s curve can be really appetizing when it starts up in the zone ... Touches the low 90s on his four-seamer, but it's pretty straight ... Don't think pull, since he stays away from righthanded hitters all day ... Unless he comes through on Saturday, he'll likely lose his job to the rehabbing Doug Waechter ...
* Hideo Nomo: Has served up 15 home run balls in fewer than 100 innings ... He has to locate his splitter and change down at the knees, or else he'll get pounded. His stuff isn't good enough to blow hitters away anymore ... Defeated the Jays in late June ... His fastball occasionally hangs in the mid-80s ... If hitters sit on the change, his heater is still hittable based on reaction alone ... Splitter is slow, but it moves well ...
* Seth McClung: Economical, almost nonchalant delivery ... Mediocre curve that's worth sitting on. Its movement is more lateral than downward ... Can hit the mid-90s with the fastball, but it's straight ... Big problems with location, both within and outside the strike zone ...
* Julio Lugo: Good low-ball hitter, but he hasn't homered since May 18. He went deep 15 times in 2003 ... Stays down very effectively on curves ... Will chase fastballs up and away, or splitters and sinkers down and in ... Heady fielder at short, and he's tough on the DP pivot ...
* Chad Orvella: Always works from the stretch ... Holds the ball high above his head with his pitching hand before releasing. Does that make it easier to pick up? ... Relies on a good low-80s changeup, but goes to the well too often at times ... Throws a high-80s two seam fastball that runs in on righthanded hitters and away from lefties. It's not a great pitch, though ... 93-mph four-seamer has some good exploding action. He should throw it more often ... Has been compared to David Riske ...
* Carl Crawford: Kicks off the second half on a nine-game hitting streak (.359) ... Drives low fastballs and goes with the pitch well ... Has become just the fifth player in major league history with 150 steals and 500 hits before his 24th birthday. Only Ty Cobb, Cesar Cedeno, Sherry Magee and Rickey Henderson had done it before ... Typically excellent percentage this year, having stolen 27 bases while only being caught five times ... Leads the league with nine triples ... As always, remains tremendously vulnerable to lefthanded breaking stuff ... Has not drawn a walk since June 27 ...
* Dewon Brazelton: The controversial righty is mopping up in long relief these days ... His four-seamer isn't overpowering, and it's the pitch opponents have hit the hardest -- especially when it's thigh-high or higher ... Backdoors lefties with a tailing two-seamer ... Throws a hard slider down and in on righthanded hitters ...
* Jonny Gomes: Drew the ire of Ivan Rodriguez after slowly walking to first while admiring his ninth-inning, 474-foot walk-off blast against Troy Percival on Saturday. It was the second-longest homer in Tropicana Field history ... Gomes on the walk-off: "That's pretty much all that was on my mind the first pitch...Luckily, it was a strike because I probably would have swung just as hard if it was a ball" ... Very strong and will get occasional "muscle hits" on bloops to the outfield ... Uses the entire field ... Can be overpowered by fastballs on the outside corner, or up in the zone ... Poor outfielder in right ...
