The World Baseball Classic may have garnered all of the attention this weekend but several key storylines still remain in Rays camp.
A .500 record through 14 Grapefruit League games, the Rays continue to tinker with the idea of adding pieces before the end of spring training. Here’s an update from Port Charlotte…
Three-up:
1. For the first time in franchise history it appears that the Rays are making a big effort to improve the catcher position. For years, fans in the Tampa area have labored through the Buster Posey-effect. The Rays passed on Posey in the 2008 draft, instead selecting Tim Beckham. The team already added Wilson Ramos in the off-season and now they are linked to another Nationals catcher, Derek Norris. The Rays don’t want to pick up the $4.2MM price tag on the veteran so they would be hoping for his release from DC.
Would think #Rays would have some interest in C Derek Norris if he is indeed released by #Nationals
— Marc Topkin (@TBTimes_Rays) March 12, 2017
2. Jake Bauers is doing everything he can to show that he is the future at first base. A career .280 hitter in the minors, Bauers has looked good in March. Manager Kevin Cash is giving the former 7th-round pick plenty of opportunity. In 20 at-bats this spring he’s batting .400, 2HR, and 6RBI but more impressive is that he has only struck out once.
3. For seven seasons, Derek Shelton was the hitting coach for this team. That changed this year when the Rays relieved Shelton of his duties in favor of minor league hitting coordinator, Chad Mottola. In 2008 and 2009, the two seasons before Shelton arrived, the Rays batted .260 and .263, respectively. During his seven year tenure with the club the team posted a collective .247 average. That average would have put the Rays 25th in the majors during the 2016 regular season.
Many of the guys that will be heavily called upon this season are off to a great start. Nick Franklin, Evan Longoria, Rickie Weeks Jr, Luke Maile, and Corey Dickerson have all reached at least 15 at-bats and they are all batting above the .333 mark. Somebody needs to tell Franklin that he is not projected to be a starter…9-for-18 with 1.304 OPS.
Three down:
1. Defense has been a big issue this spring. In their 14 exhibition games, the Rays have committed 20 errors as a team, including multiple games with multiple miscues in the field. The “glass half full” approach to this is that of the 20 errors, only seven have come from players who are slated to make the Opening Day roster.
2. Blake Snell is gearing up for his first Opening Day rotation this season but has struggled a bit this spring. The lefty has pitched in three games, two of them starts, and has allowed 10 hits in 6.2 innings.
3. The Rays are hoping Daniel Robertson is soon at the MLB level and producing. Unfortunately, in the last two years, he’s struggled to prove he’s indeed ready to take that next step. This year, in 11 games (23 ABs) he’s hitting .087 with nine strikeouts.
