Monday May 14, 2012

Ryan Ritchey: The Tampa Bay Rays are a team to watch this season for sure. A 21-14 record has them 1 game back of Baltimore for first in the East. The Rays this off-season went out and got Carlos Pena back from Chicago and moved Fernando Rodney to closer. The Rays depend on pitching to carry them and they have the starting pitching to do it. Leading the way for this staff is James Shields. Shields is 6-1 with a 3.52 ERA. Not far behind is Jeremy Hellickson who is 3-0 with a team leading 2.95 ERA. Both of these guys are going to need to lead this team to the promise land.

Another promising young arm the Rays have is Matt Moore. Moore is struggling thus far in this young season but has the stuff to be a great starter down the road for this Rays team. Making his debut last season late in the year has helped him this season tremendously by knowing what to do in big situations. Not to down play the number one guy in this rotation but David Price is one of the most quiet players in all of baseball. Price’s name is rarely mentioned when people talk about the Rays but he is getting it done with a 5-2 record and a 2.98 ERA.

Lets not forget about this Tampa Bay offense. Playing in a dome really helps out at some points but at other times it doesn’t. For example, the cat walk at Tropicana Field sometimes comes into play and mostly doesn’t help the Rays out. The Rays offense is 9th in runs scored with 149 and 8th in slugging. The offense isn’t bad but with the Longoria injury, they are going to need another bat to take his spot.

The Rays are a team that have movable parts already on the major league roster so they might not need to go shopping just yet. If these parts do not work out the Rays need to go shopping quick if they expect to stay atop the American League East. The Rays have a good enough team to win the East it is just going to depend on if the pitching stays consistent and if they can still win without Longoria.

The one thing that has caught my eye the most when I watch the Rays play is the shift. They shift the most in the majors. The thing I saw that shocked me the most was the shift against the right-handed hitters. In all the games I have watched I have never seen a shift on a right-hander like that. It is amazing how Joe Maddon studies the hitting charts and puts his players where they need to be. That is one of many reasons (including their pitching depth) why I believe will the Rays will win the AL East in 2012.

Ryan Ritchey is a Baseball Writer for MLB reports. I am a high school senior, play second base and plan on studying sports journalism in college. I am a huge fan of Barry Larkin and Brandon Phillips. Have been a baseball fan my whole life and have been writing about baseball since freshman year. You can reach me on Twitter (@Ryan13Ritchey)

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