“We just haven’t put our whole game together,” Maddon said. “We’re definitely better than that.”

He continued, “Of course I’d like to have a better record, absolutely. But I’m not really concerned yet. It’s too early to be concerned. If we had been playing as well as we possibly could have played and had this record, I’d be more concerned. We have not even scratched the surface of how well we’re capable of playing.”

Whatever was said in that meeting seemed to work, as the Rays bounced back after giving up two runs in the top of the first to take an 8-3 victory last night. Hopefully, this meeting, and the subsequent victory, can help the Rays shake their early season doldrums.

There was a bit of news on Luke Scott and his return from his strained calf yesterday, as Scott ran at full speed on the field and threw in the outfield. Even though a time frame has not yet been given for when he is going to start a rehab assignment, but he is hoping to be able to rejoin the Rays soon.

“As soon as Ron clears me, I am gone. I’m gone as soon as I feel good,” Scott said. “Hopefully it’ll be in a day or two.”

It also has not been ruled out for Scott to join the Rays in time for their next road trip, beginning on Thursday. With the Rays offense beginning to find it’s stride, adding another potential power threat in Scott can only help.

Finally, in more injury news, Juan Carlos Oviedo, the pitcher formerly known as Leo Nunez, played catch Friday afternoon at Tropicana Field. Oviedo is a long way away from being able to contribute to the Rays, but the fact that he has begun throwing is a good first step. Hopefully, he continues to throw without pain, and the Rays can get a time frame as to whether or not he will be able to contribute at all this season.

Things cannot be looking great for Luke Scott right now. With Scott’s current calf injury deemed that could sideline him for as many as five weeks, the Rays had to make a move to get a real hitter to replace- the 40-man roster options of Chris Gimenez, Brandon Guyer, and Vogt were not impressive and they had to make another move. The player they decided on was Duncan, who came to camp on a minor league contract and proceeded to lead the team with 5 home runs, although he did hit just .224. In 770 plate appearances the last three years with the Indians, Duncan has a solid .231/.309/.430 line (106 OPS+) and has been almost completely split-neutral, managing a .747 OPS versus right-handed pitching and a .720 mark against lefties. Duncan is about an average hitter overall, not hitting for much average and showing pretty poor plate discipline, but he has always stood out for his good power, averaging right around 21 homers per 500 plate appearances in both the major leagues and minor leagues. Duncan is certainly not the hitter Scott is, but his ability to replace at least some of his power, play both corner outfield spots and first base, and also potential slot in against both righties and lefties had to be attractive to the Rays. Duncan is receiving a golden opportunity to prove to the Rays that he belongs in the major leagues and we know given the Rays’ offensive woes of the past several years that if Duncan hits, the Rays will find a way to keep getting him at-bats.

Wright, we know, made the Rays thanks to his great low-90′s sinker that has forced a groundball rate among the best in baseball the past few years and also an assortment of effective secondary pitches, but what’s the story with Oviedo? As it turns out, Oviedo, formerly known as Leo Nunez, was placed on the 40-man roster by the Rays and then immediately placed on the 60-day DL as he continues his recovery from Tommy JohnSurgery last September. Nunez was an effective closer for the Marlins for a while, and the Rays took a no-risk flier on him this offseason on a minor league contract hoping he could be a valuable part of their bullpen at the end of this year and also next season, when they hold an option on him. Being on the 60-day DL means that Oviedo doesn’t count towards the 40-man roster, which allowed the Rays to add him along with Duncan and Wright but only designate two players for assignment.

You have to feel sorry for Stephen Vogt, who went just 0 for 25 for the Rays last season and had fallen out of favor enough with the team that they were willing to designate him for assignment and expose him to waivers. Vogt has good minor league numbers, managing a .299/.360/.448 line, but he’s a catcher who has never been very good defensively and lacks the power to profile long-term in first base or left field, although he can play both positions decently enough. Vogt interested the Rays enough as a power bat off the bench that they put him on their Opening Day roster to begin 2012, but after he sputtered so spectacularly, they had to risk losing him to put a player in Duncan who can contribute to their major league team on the roster. Vogt has some value, but there’s also a very good chance he’ll pass through waivers and remain in the organization at Triple-A Durham.

The tougher move for the Rays had to be designating fellow catcher Robinson Chirinos, who was not a real factor in their backup catcher competition this spring coming off a season derailed by a concussion in 2012, but he also represented the Rays catcher anywhere near the major leagues with the most upside. Chirinos, acquired by the Rays in the Matt Garza deal, had a huge 2010 between Double-A and Triple-A for the Cubs, managing a .326/.416/.583 line with 18 home runs, also throwing out 32% of attempted basestealers, and although he dropped off in his first season in the Rays organization in 2011, he played decently in 20 MLB games for the Rays, most notably delivering a game-tying single and a walk-off single in the same game on August 4th. Chirinos is the only Rays catcher who has shown flashes of being above-average both at the plate and defensively. However, he hasn’t been the same since the concussion and the Rays just ran out of time and ran out of roster spots and he had to be the one to go. Chirinos may be claimed by another team if they believe he’s healthy, but the Rays hope he’s another player that will pass through waivers and if he does and stays healthy, he has a chance to emerge as a catching option at some point in the season.

Right-hander Jamey Wright is a 38 year old looking to come back for his 18th major league season. Wright had a solid season for the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2012, going 5-3 with a 7.2 K/9, a 4.0 BB/9, and a 0.3 HR/9 in 66 appearances and 67.2 innings pitched. A groundball specialist who posted a 67.3% groundball rate in 2012, Wright is armed with a low-90′s sinker along with a solid cutter and curveball, and he has a chance to fill the role that Burke Badenhop played for the Rays in 2012. More on him later today here at RCG.

Outfielder and first baseman Shelley Duncan, 33, is the former Yankee and Indians who has slammed 11 MLB home runs each of the last three season but is best known for something entirely different. Back in spring training of 2008, Duncan slid high into Akinori Iwamura in spring training 2008 in retaliation for Elliot Johnson breaking Francisco Cervelli‘s wrist, inciting a brawl and getting Duncan and other suspended to begin the season. It’s certainly ironic to say this because Duncan was on the other side at the time, but Duncan’s fire fits right into the way the Rays play the game of baseball. Duncan is certainly no prospect at 33 year old, but he could compete in spring training for the role of a right-handed platoon partner for James Loney at first base who could also see time in the outfield and at first base. One issue is that he really has never hit lefties that well, managing a .747 career OPS against them compared to .720 versus righties, but the Rays will bring him to spring training and see what he can do. We’ll also elaborate on him by the time today is through.

Finally, there’s right-hander Juan Sandoval, 32, an unbelievable story who David talked about a few days ago. Sandoval was a solid prospect in the Mariners organization back in 2006 when he was in the wrong place at the wrong time and got struck by a bullet in the right eye after two men had gotten into an argument. Sandoval lost vision in his eye and had to undergo several surgeries to keep it altogether, but he managed to relearn how to pitch and field his position with only one eye and managed to make the Mariners’ major league camp the next year. Sandoval last appeared in affiliated ball back in 2010, but he was excellent in 2012 in the Mexican League, going 7-3 with a 2.97 ERA, a 7.4 K/9, a 2.8 BB/9, and a 0.3 HR/9 in 67 relief appearances and 69.2 innings pitched between the teams in Mexico City and Oaxaca (for the uninformed, it’s pronounced “Wahaka”). It’s amazing that he was able to pitch well enough to earn another opportunity, and good luck to him as he tries to make the most of it.

Speaking of bullpen options, the Rays are about to find out whether one is going to re-join their team or not. According to ESPN’s Jim Caple, Free agent reliever Kyle Farnsworth, who spent the last two years with the Rays, is down to just two options for where he wants to play next season, and one of those teams is the Rays. Farnsworth may never be the pitcher that he was in 2011 again, but he still has great stuff and the ability to contribute quite a bit to a major league bullpen. One big consideration for Farnsworth is going to be that he’s unlikely to get too many late-inning appearances if he returns to the Rays thanks to the presences of Fernando Rodney, Joel Peralta, and even Jake McGee, but if he’s willing to settle for more of a middle relief role, the Rays will be glad to welcome him back.

In ex-Rays news, Delmon  Young, who the Rays selected first overall back in 2003, has signed a one-year, $725,000 contract with the Philadelphia Phillies. There was some talk of Young returning to the Rays, but that never wound up coming together. It seemed like the sky was the limit for Young after his abilities were lauded in the minors and then he hit .288 with 38 doubles, 13 homers, 93 RBI, and 10 stolen bases while playing in all 162 games as a rookie in 2007. But then the Rays decided to trade him to the Minnesota Twins, receiving Matt Garza and Jason Bartlett in return in what has been one of the best transactions in the history of their franchise as Garza and Bartlett played key roles in the Rays’ playoff runs in 2008 and 2010 while stubbornness, an unwillingness to make adjustments (specifically regarding plate discipline), and attitude problems have doomed Young’s career. The promise is still there- we saw him 8 home runs in the postseason for the Detroit Tigers the last two years- and Young is only 27 years old, but it’s sad how far Young has fallen and there seems to be little chance he’ll ever be able to return to anything more than a shadow of his former self.

In 2012, Jeremy Hellickson followed up his AL Rookie of the Year campaign of 2011 with a Gold Glove in 2012. Now Hellickson isn’t the only pitcher with some hardware. Rays left-handed pitching prospect Alex Torres tweeted (in Spanish) that he won the Venezuelan Winter League equivalent of Gold Glove. Torres didn’t need to field very much- he struck out a ridiculous 86 batters in 60.1 innings pitched- but apparently when he did field, he did quite well. Torres delivered big-time in the VWL, overpowering hitters and keeping walks to a minimum (he walked only 27), and hopefully he’s primed for a breakout season in 2013.

To close, an editorial in the Tampa Bay Times talked about how Hillsborough and Pinellas Counties need to work together to figure out a course of action for a new Rays stadium in order to keep the Rays to stay in the Tampa Bay area. Noah Pransky of WTSP TV adds that the best way to fund a stadium would be a tax effort across multiple counties that wouldn’t raise tax rates too much for each county but generate the necessary funding to make a stadium happen. The Rays are meeting with the Hillsborough and Pinellas County Commissions over the next few weeks, and hopefully we can begin to see the ball start rolling once again in the stadium talks- and this time reach an ending that isn’t disappointment and malice like it has been seemingly every other time but instead actual progress.