| Alex Noshirvan. 28th August, 2005 - 5:34 pm
 Well another second half, another big turnaround for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. What is it with this team? Why can’t they put this kind of play together at the start of the year, and try and sustain the great play throughout the season? Well there are quite a number of reasons why this year started off so slow for the Rays, beginning with Rocco Baldelli tearing up his knee in the backyard of his parent’s house, playing baseball with his little brother.
This was a major blow to the team and it happened in November, not even a month after last year’s season was over. Baldelli was not even expected to start a rehab assignment until May, but then before he even made it back to the big leagues, Rocco found out he would need Tommy John surgery on his throwing elbow, ending his season once and for all right there. So Tampa lost their starting centerfielder, and then in spring training, the guy they signed in free agency to help with Baldelli’s absence, Denny Bautista, suddenly retires with two weeks before opening day, along with future Hall of Famer, Robby Alomar.
So what does management do after all these unfortunate events? Call up all their stud prospects, like BJ Upton, and Delmon Young, two of the best players in the world who are not actually in the Majors yet? No and you know what, they made the right call by not rushing those two up and potentially screwing up their careers for life. They managed to piece together role players with up and comers, and while it took a while for the offense to come around, since the All Star break the D-Rays have the second best record in the AL, and have one of the top run scoring offenses in all of MLB.
Enter the Three Young J’s, Joey, Jonny, and Jorge. Let’s start with Jorge Cantu, who caught his big break when Alomar retired. All year long Mr. Cantu sure Can-Do, so all he has done is lead the team with 20 HR’s, drove in 83 RBI’s, to go along with .293 batting average and a .810 OPS. Cantu also has 31 doubles and has crossed home plate 57 times. This production really came out of nowhere and a problem area two weeks before Opening Day turned into the best power hitter Tampa has had all year.
Jonny Gomes was called up for good on June 13th, and since then he has hit 15 HR’s and has 30 RBI’s with 38 runs scored. For the season (Gomes had an eight game call up in late April) Jonny Be Good has put up a solid case for AL Rookie of the Year honors. He currently leads all Major League rookies with 17 HR’s to go with 35 total RBI’s, 4 SB’s and a remarkable .943 OPS. In one game earlier this year against Kansas City, Gomes, who was converted from a shortstop to the outfield, had 3 HR’s. It was an amazing show of power, and they all came on successive plate appearances. Both of these guys, Gomes and Cantu have really come out of the blue to put up solid numbers, and both have been instrumental to Tampa Bay’s sterling second half.
Joey Gathright was called up for good on July 3rd and has hit .290 and swiped 10 bags so far, but where Joey has really excelled is in centerfield. I mean this guy has been putting up Web Gems on a daily basis.If you have ever seen this kid play then you already know, but if you haven’t, he is the fastest player in the big leagues hands down. With these guys stepping up like they have, to go along with the All-star caliber play of Carl Crawford, (who is probably the second fastest player in the game behind Gathright) and the steady influence of Aubrey Huff, Julio Lugo, and Toby Hall, the future can only get better for the D-Rays. |
