Rays Colored Glasses » gabe kapler

Bye, Bye, To Hank “I Tanked” Blalock

Wed, 30 Jun 2010 21:05:28 +0000

Hank Blalock was the player who was supposed to take the slack when Pat Burrell was designated for assignment, but with a very poor performance since being brought up from Durham, Blalock has also been designated for assignment. Blalock did not see the field much, hitting .254 with a home run and seven RBIs in 63 at-bats for the Rays.” Hopefully there will be a team that wants me to play for them. … I’m not sure how the designated for assignment or released thing works out, or whatever. I’ll fly back to Tampa and pack my stuff up and go be with my family in San Diego, and we’ll see if there’s another team that wants me.” DOUBT IT.

And if your wondering what Pat “the bat” Burell is doing for the San Francisco Giants, he’s doing what he was suppsoed to do here. Burrell is hitting .344 with 5 home runs and 11 RBIs in 61 at-bats. For the Rays, Burrell hit .202 with 2 home runs and 13 RBIs in 84 at-bats. Damn. I guess being a DH wasn’t Burrell’s cup of tea.

With the designation of Hank Blalock, the Rays filled in the roster with the return of Gabe Kapler off the DL. Kapler was injured with a right hip flexor strain and will return to the team tonight against the Red Sox.

Added Outfield Depth Sends Navarro To Durham

Fri, 25 Jun 2010 19:23:21 +0000

Carl Crawford has been suffering from left shoulder sorness since throwing the ball home in Wednesday’s game against the Padres and had to leave early in yesterday’s game. Crawford is now listed as day-to-day. But should be back sometime this weekend.

With Gabe Kapler being on the DL and the Rays currently holding 3 catchers, adding outfield depth is a must. This lead to Doineer Navarro being sent to Durham. I stated a couple weeks ago Navarro would be the catcher outside looking in for playing time and I was right. With Shoppach back on the team and Jaso being consistent on the field, there is no place for a third catcher.”Navvy is a wonderful professional, and actually that was as hard for me to talk to about that right now as it was for him to hear it from me,” Maddon said. “This guy never makes excuses. He’s always there. When you’re managing a game and you go out to the mound to talk to everybody, Navvy’s out there and comes to the mound, and this guy is always under control. He’s always in the moment.” Navarro was only batting .210 for the year.

Matt Joyce was brought up to fill in the depth chart and Im excited to see what this kid has to offer. Joyce has been plagued with injuries since being traded here from Detroit. Joyce is hitting .293 with a .435 on-base percentage, .478 slugging percentage, 3 homeruns and 12 RBI’s. He should see some action tonight against Edwin Jackson, the guy he was associated with in the trade from Detroit.

Ruggiano Called up After Kapler Lands On DL

Tue, 15 Jun 2010 05:55:43 +0000

Justin Ruggiano was called up after Gabe Kapler landed on the 15-day DL with a hip flexor strain. Prior to being called up, Ruggiano was hitting .291 with four home runs, 19 RBIs, and 12 stolen bases in 44 games. He did suffer from a bicpes problem that had him on the bench for a couple of weeks but are still decent numbers in the mean time. Ruggiano hasn’t played in the majors since 2008. “It’s been a year,” Ruggiano said. “I was gone all of last year and it’s been a few months this year. So I was happy to get the phone call. Feels like my first time.”

One of the other players that most of us have anticipated to be apart of our outfield, Matt Joyce, has only played in 18 games for the Durham Bulls since his shoulder surgery. In 67 at bats, he is hitting .343, 1hr, and has 10 RBI’s. Im guessing he’s still not 100% yet or he would be up here instead of Ruggiano. Lets face it, Ruggiano cant play any worse than “Old Man Willy”, Gabe Kapler.