Tampa Bay inherits two very young, very gifted outfielders who each had distinctly different 2011 seasons. Justin Upton first appeared as a teenage phenom for Arizona in 2007. In 2011 Upton demonstrated where his talents can take him by pounding 31 homers to go along with 21 steals. He was named to his second N.L. All-Star team and earned the Silver Slugger Award for his efforts. Jason Heyward debuted as a twenty year old and had an All-Star 2010 season with the promise of better things to come. Well 2011 was far from what many had pictured for Heyward. First came the nagging injuries, which led to altering his approach to the plate and the next thing you know the season is over and the final stats were not pretty. As the 2012 season approaches I feel pretty good having these two in the Rays clubhouse. Being an optimist I would like to think that I have 10 years of production ahead of me from this outfield duo. If Justin and Jason can both put together strong campaigns in 2012, the middle of the Tampa Bay lineup will be looking pretty good.
TWSL TAMPA BAY RAYS
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Two sides of the coin
Tampa Bay inherits two very young, very gifted outfielders who each had distinctly different 2011 seasons. Justin Upton first appeared as a teenage phenom for Arizona in 2007. In 2011 Upton demonstrated where his talents can take him by pounding 31 homers to go along with 21 steals. He was named to his second N.L. All-Star team and earned the Silver Slugger Award for his efforts. Jason Heyward debuted as a twenty year old and had an All-Star 2010 season with the promise of better things to come. Well 2011 was far from what many had pictured for Heyward. First came the nagging injuries, which led to altering his approach to the plate and the next thing you know the season is over and the final stats were not pretty. As the 2012 season approaches I feel pretty good having these two in the Rays clubhouse. Being an optimist I would like to think that I have 10 years of production ahead of me from this outfield duo. If Justin and Jason can both put together strong campaigns in 2012, the middle of the Tampa Bay lineup will be looking pretty good.
Rays Double Play Combo
It helps your pitching staff so much when you can catch the ball, especially when you can catch the ball in the middle of the diamond. The Rays have a duo that does a pretty solid job in that area with Shortstop J.J. Hardy and Second baseman Ben Zobrist. J.J.'s fielding percentage placed him second in the league at the Shortstop position, committing just six errors on the season. Meanwhile, Ben Zobrist matched that error total while covering a lot of ground at second base. Together the duo combined for 50 home runs in 2011, so the Rays feel comfortable with that foundation backing up the pitching staff.
Rays Starting Rotation
With a manager new to the TWSL the Rays head into the the draft with six starting pitchers. From L-R:
This collection of arms may not have the sizzle of some of the bigger names but there is some steak on the plate. Together these pitchers combined for 173 starts in 2011 as Hudson and Bumgarner led the way with 33 starts each. With an influx of health from Peavy, Tampa Bay may be fairly decent at the position moving forward. At this moment, Fausto Carmona and his false identity penalty scenario hasn't played out, so his availability for the coming year is in limbo. The Rays will need to rely on their arms because this current edition doesn't appear to be a juggernaut capable of generating many runs in 2011.
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