Off-days, preparation and youth

Jays off day... What an oxymoron...in Spring training.

BUT it gives me the opportunity to raise a point that has interested me since being here last couple of weeks. That is the preparedness of the players.
There are two very distinct approaches here. One the Jays approach, look at all the rookies, donlt play the big guys more than 3 innings if that. the other is play the potential starting team every game and also give them more than two at bats and three inings of work.
The Jays are the former of course and show their record is 7-12, One excellent example of the latter are the Rays at 13-4 after yesterday's game.

The upside of the Jays approach is that they do get to see the young guys in action but the obvious downside is that very few of the big guys are ready yet. Thomas, Wells, Johnson are prime examples. White Sox Chair Jerry Reinsdforf says today in USA Today that their worst recrod in spring training last year carried over into the regaular season. But more importantly he said "Last year we not only had a bad record, but the effort wasn't there. You can't just turn on a switch on opening day."

My observation of the Jays is that there are too many of them ambling through the motions. There is no urgency of effort. Wins in April are very important in a division where 90 wins will not be enough for playoff spot.
I compare this to the Rays that I have now seen several times this spring. I have mentioned before their cockiness, aggressiveness and hustle but it compares to the lack of the same by many of the Jays especially now the younger guys have gone.
This week Jays play Boston today, Yankees tomorrow and Detroit at the weekend, it will be very interesting to see if they prove me wrong.

Whilst the Jays were off Phillies were playing the Rays at home and I met a wonderful very knowledgable Phillies fan welcome Jack to the blog.

Tuesday March 18 2008 at Bright House Field. Phillies and Rays two very good teams today.
Good crowd and great weather. 77F at game time.Seems to be a different quieter crowd than yesterday, no Rays bp. Rays are the team to beat this Spring with a 13-3 record the best in Grapefruit league.
Longoria is definitely one phenom to watch, his superb fielding let alone his bat. The Rays all round are a very exciting team to watch this season and are going to make a big impact on the East division. Their confidence right now is sky high and they play hard and exciting ball. With their youth they don't know failure.

Lineups:
Phillies: Rollins, Victorino, Utley, Howard, Burrell, Feliz, Jenkins, Coste and Hamels pitching.
Rays: Johnson, Crawford, Pena, Gomes,Navarro, Longoria,Brignac, Weber, and Garza pitching. National League rules no DH. Rays have the Yankee killers in lineup. Johnson at 2B leading off and "protect his back" Gomes at RF.

The game:

Top of 1st. Johnson (where are the cheers ?) strikes out, Crawford lines to SS, Pena flies out to RF. Good first inning by Hamels.
Bottom of 1st. Garza pitching. Rollins flies to CF nice catch by Crawford, Victorino running bunt, high throw by Garza into crowd at first, Victorino at 2B, error on pitcher. Utley passed ball allows Victorino to 3B, Utley walks, Howard sac fly to LF run scores Victorino, Burrell flies to shallow right nice catch. 1-0 Phillies.

Top of 2nd. Gomes (gets booed ?? not in Toronto, must be some Yankee fans here today) high pop up to 3B, Navarro strikes out on 3 pitches, Longoria grounds to SS. Nice inning by Hamels, he is pitching very well.
Bottom of 2nd. Jenkins ex- Brewer, strikeout, Feliz grounds to 2B, Coste comebacker to Garza throws to 1B. 80F.

Top of 3rd. Hamels smoking... Brignac, Weber and Garza on strikeouts. This guy is good. Still no hits.
Bottom of 3rd. Hamels grounds to SS, Rollins walks, Victorino at bat with Rollins showing steal, Victorino flies to LF, Utley pops up to 2B. Garza has settled down also. Still a no-hitter for both.

Top of 4th. Johnson out at 1B, Crawford pops up to 3B, Pena flies out to CF. Another quick inning, both pitchers doing well with advantage to Hamels.
Bottom of 4th Garza still pitching. Howard strikes out, Burrell base hit to LF breaking no hitter. Jenkins HR to RF, two runs score Phillies 3-0. Jenkins is going to be a good additon to very heavy htting lineup. Feliz flies to LF, Coste grounds to SS. Both pitchers have really been pitching well the score does not reflect the pitching.

Top of 5th.Gomes strikes out, Navarro grounds to 3B, Longora HR to LF 3-1 Philies. First hit against Hamels. Brignac base hit to RF, runner on 1B, steals second on first pitch... old Toronto friend Fred McGriff is first base coach for Rays.Weber flies out to left centre.
Bottom of 5th. Hanmels at bat flies to LF, Rollins stretches out a single into a double and on errant throw goes to 3B, speed kills... Victorino sac fly to RF, Rollins scores. 4-1 Phillies, Utley fly ball to RF lost in background by fielder, Utley on at 1B, Hamels grounds to SS, fielder's choice at 2B.

Top of 6th. Garza nice base hit to RF. Error at 2B, Johnson dribbler down 3B, out at 1B. Crawford strikes out, Pena grounds to 2B. Hamels six innings two hits seven strikeouts. VERY nice. Bottom of 6th. Garza still pitching despite being out on base for last ten minutes as lead off and has been out on field since bottom of 5th inning. Will this affect him at all ? it is very hot out there.Burrell strikes out, Jenkins walks, Garza tiring ? Feliz drives to 3B great play and doubles up Jenkins at 1B. Now Garza can hit the showers he should not be upset at this game. Six innings four hits three strikeouts.

Top of 7th. Castro pitching. Gomes walks, Navarro doubles to LF, Longoria walks, bases loaded, you can't give these Rays any small advantage. Brignac sac fly to RF Gomes scores, Navarro on throw to 3B. 4-2 Phillies. Weber grounds to SS double play. Breathe again Phillies fans.
Bottom of 7th. Rays pitcher Miller sidearm delivery. Coste fly ball to RF, Snelling walks. Maddon out to change pitchers quickly, unusual in Spring to see this. The only other time I have seen this was for injury but it seems the custom to let the pitcher get out of trouble and leave them in until end of inning, BUT Maddon is making a statement with this Rays side this Spring. New pitcher Howell, Smith pops o SS, Olmeda attempts bunt ? with two out strikes out.

Top of 8th. Gary Knotts pitching Giminez grounds to 1B, Hinske (yes Eric of Toronto fame, now with the Rays) grounds to 2B, Rodriguez dribbler down 1B Knotts collects it himself for out.
Bottom of 8th.Howell pitching for Rays, Jaysen Werth (this is like a Jays reunion) strikes out, Bruntlett, strikes out, Dobbs grounds to SS.

Top of 9th. Madson pitching Richards at bat fly ball to LF, Joel Guzman pop up to 1B, Josh Paul flies out to CF.Phillies win a very good entertaining game.

Although Rays lose I still maintain they are a very different team in 2008 and beware any team in the East who takes them lightly.
Phillies: 4 runs, 4 hits and 1 error Rays: 2 runs, 4 hits and 2 errors with game ending temperature 82F.

Tonight major Jays fan flying in from Vancouver to join me for three games... should be an interesting week ahead, I am looking forward to it and seeing whether or not the Jays really are serious...