Monday, May 25, 2009

Why the Rays will not make the playoffs



Tonight I witnessed one of the worst games of baseball I have ever seen and the reason why the Rays will fail to make the playoffs this year. After building a quick 10-0 lead in the 4th inning the Rays failed to score again and ended up losing 11-10. As if blowing the a 10-0 lead wasnt bad enough they practically gave the lead away with 10 walks (4 of which came with a 2 run lead in the bot of the 9th with 2 outs). Lets face it the Rays bullpen is garbage from top to bottom and doesnt appear to be getting better anytime soon. Below are some more side notes why this game was complete crap.

- David Price only lasted 4 innings while walking 5 and throwing 100 pitches (sad)
- Rays have now lost 14 straight to the tribe in Cleveland (sad)
- Rays walked 10 total batters (sad)
- Blew the largest lead in team history (sad)
- Martinez who was 0 for his last 17 had the winning hit (sad)

Stick a fork in them, the Rays are done.

13 comments:

Chandler said...

Excellent analysis. I lost $0.05 on this shit.

Jared said...

I stopped watching after Price came out. I figured they couldn't manage to lose an 8 run lead. As far as Price goes, I think he's going to be good, but he still needs work. Too many pitches, he can't manage to get people out. He does throw in the upper 90's though.

M. Gorecki said...

As much as I cursed them and threw shit at the tv afyter witnessing that collapse, I've had time to calm down and assess things..

It was one game that is now recorded in the L column. The Rays just need to bounce back, win the series, get back above .500 and you'll see them in the post season. Hopefully this isn't too much to ask of them.

Jared said...

Unfortunately, it's going to take a lot more than a .500 season to get them into the playoffs. I think the Red Sox and Yankees are playing too well for that to happen. At least the Blue Jays hot streak seems to have come to an end.

Nate Dawg said...

I dont think they are done, its late May. Yes they need to do something about the bullpen, it is terrible. I know all too well about Izzy (being a Cardinals fan) and he isnt the answer. They need a shut down closer first and foremost. I agree with Gorecki, its just one game, and if they win the series this game is just a tally in the loss column and thats it.

Personally I blame MJ since he was at the game...

YellowBird said...

Losing Aki for the year hurts, but I will reserve judgment when Kazmir returns from his apparent "quad injury" that's taking 7-8 mph off his pitches. If he can't get his era down into the 4s or so by the end of July, then yeah I'll agree they're done for this year because they don't have the firepower to keep up with teams spending 5 times as much as them on payroll (surprise, surprise).

FRANK said...

We are definitely a streaky team. Losing Aki is a morale blow, but I think offensively we can compete with any team. Our starters have been doing fairly well recently going 6+ innings in the past few weeks. I think we should use Price as a mid reliever instead of dropping him down to Durham. Get him a few innings a game, and he'll get back up to speed. Need to win more head to head division matchups definitely. We'll be fine.

Ryan said...

What a shocker!

Mike "Fair Weather Fan" Smithkey is giving up on a team when they are down.

Makes me sick.

Smithkey said...

You disappoint me Bito, the over/under was 11am before you called me a fair weather fan.

Like Jared said the three best teams in the American League might all be in the East and judging by the way things look so far I would have to pick the Rays as the odd team out based on the bullpen. This has been an ongoing problem this season and it not just limited to last night.

There is still three quarters of a million games left this season and hopefully they will work it out, but I have my doubts

Chandler said...

I think it's kinda hard to be a fair-weather Rays fan, when we're all still bandwagon fans to begin with. Like 99% of the Rays fans who attended ALCS and World Series games, I couldn't have given a shit two years ago. Winning changes everything.

BUT... that being said... I'd definitely put money on us to miss the playoffs this season.

Ryan said...

Would you be willing to make it a big money bet and say....put down $0.25??

Chandler said...

Jesus... that's like 3% of my net worth... I'm not sure about all that.

MJ said...

What a joke. Good thing Cleveland fans hate the team and no one harassed me at the game...
Got a baseball from Zobrist, though...