Double-A Southern League: Tennessee Smokies (CHC) 8, Montgomery Biscuits 3

Not much going on for the Biscuits in this one, although a few players did have nice games. Merrill Kelly and Andrew Bellatti allowed just 8 runs on 8 hits in 7 innings, but Matt Nevarez followed by looking sharp in his season debut, striking out 2 in a scoreless inning working around a walk. Nevarez had been dealing with shoulder soreness, but he was able to get beyond that and get off to a nice start in his first outing. On the offensive side, Todd Glaesmann had a nice game, going 3 for 4 with a double and a run scored, and Mark Thomas went 2 for 3 with a double, a walk, and an RBI while Mikie Mahtook went 2 for 4 with an RBI. Obviously you want the entire team doing better, but it was great for Nevarez to start so well and all three players who had multi-hit games have been struggling to begin the year, making their nice performances even more notable.

High-A Florida State League: St. Lucie Mets 2, Charlotte Stone Crabs 1

The Stone Crabs shouldn’t have messed with the formula. Despite the trio of Jesse Hahn, Jake Floethe, and Lenny Linsky doing great things the last several times out, Charlotte changed up who would pitch on Monday, putting Jacob Partridge behind Hahn and Floethe. Partridge pitched well, striking out the side working around a walk in the 9th, but after a game like this you can’t ignore the urge to find someone to blame. Jesse Hahn was a little enigmatic but kept the Mets off the board, going 3 innings allowing no runs on 3 hits, striking out 1 while walking 1 and managing a 5-1 groundout to flyout ratio. Jake Floethe, though, let up 2 runs, 1 earned on 4 hits in 5 innings, striking out 2 while walking 2, and that would prove to be the difference. Alejandro Segovia did have a nice day at the plate for Charlotte, going 2 for 3 with 2 doubles, a walk, and an RBI, and Kes Carter went 2 for 4 with a double and a stolen base, but they accounted for most of the Stone Crabs’ offense as they got some baserunners but went just 0 for 9 with runners in scoring position. Tough loss for Charlotte, especially with the pairing of Hahn and Floethe pitching solidly again.

Low-A Midwest League: Bowling Green Hot Rods 10, Fort Wayne TinCaps (SDP) 5

When we watch games at the major league level, one of the keys for pitchers is the ability to battle to keep their team in games even without their best stuff. Taylor Guerrieri has pitched so well in his pro career that we can forget that even he has his bad days. When that happened for him on Monday, though, he followed the lead of the Rays’ starting staff he hopes to join within a couple of years and fought to give the Hot Rods 5 solid innings. Guerrieri, usually a control artist, was really off against Fort Wayne, walking 2 batters and hitting 2 more with pitches while striking out just 1 in 5 innings of work. However, he held the TinCaps to just 3 runs, 2 earned, on 5 hits, forcing a 9-3 groundout to flyout ratio, and while it was far from his best game, he was rewarded with a victory, his first of the season and second of his career, for his efforts. The Hot Rods’ offense certainly helped. Tyler Goeddel kept his hot streak going with his best game yet, going 3 for 5 with a stolen base and a run scored. He has now hit in 10 straight games, managing a .333/.391/.478 line over that span. But while Goeddel was great, it was three other Hot Rods who stole the show with 3 RBI each. Marty Gantt slammed a 3-run home run in the 5th inning, Andrew Toles went 2 for 5 with 2 doubles, a stolen base, and 3 RBI, and Joey Rickard had a bases-clearing 3-run double in the 4th. Ryan Dunn and Leonardo Reginatto also had multiple hits for the Hot Rods as they pounded out 10 runs on 12 hits as their offense was in full throttle. Great to see Guerrieri overcome some adversity, and especially in the Rays organization, offensive outbursts like this are always special.

Pitchers (34):
RHP Chris Archer
RHP Matt Buschmann (NR)
RHP Alex Cobb
RHP Alex Colome
RHP Dane De La Rosa
LHP Frank De Los Santos
RHP Marquis Fleming (NR)
RHP Brandon Gomes
RHP Jeremy Hellickson
RHP Roberto Hernandez
RHP Will Inman (NR)
LHP Adam Liberatore (NR)
RHP Josh Lueke
RHP J.D. Martin (NR)
LHP Jake McGee
LHP Mike Montgomery
LHP Matt Moore
RHP Matt Nevarez (NR)
RHP Jeff Niemann
RHP Jake Odorizzi
RHP Juan Carlos Oviedo (NR)
RHP Jim Paduch (NR)
LHP Jim Patterson (NR)
RHP Joel Peralta
LHP David Price
LHP Cesar Ramos
LHP Felipe Rivero
RHP Fernando Rodney
LHP Enny Romero
RHP Juan Sandoval (NR)
LHP Neil Schenk (NR)
LHP Alexander Torres
RHP Jamie Wright (NR)
RHP Kirby Yates (NR)

Catchers (7):
Craig Albernaz (NR)
Robinson Chirinos
Chris Gimenez
Jose Lobaton
Jose Molina
Mark Thomas (NR)
Stephen Vogt

Infielders (14):
1B/OF Leslie Anderson (NR)
2B Tim Beckham
SS Reid Brignac
SS Yunel Escobar
2B/3B Cole Figueroa (NR)
UTIL Mike Fontenot (NR)
UTIL Elliot Johnson
SS Hak-Ju Lee
1B James Loney
3B Evan Longoria
UTIL Shawn O’Malley (NR)
2B/3B Ryan Roberts
UTIL Sean Rodriguez
1B/OF Nick Weglarz (NR)

Outfielders (9):
OF Jason Bougeois (NR)
OF/1B Shelley Duncan (NR)
OF Sam Fuld
RF/LF Brandon Guyer
CF Desmond Jennings
RF/LF Matt Joyce
RF Wil Myers (NR)
LF/RF Rich Thompson (NR)
UTIL Ben Zobrist

That 64-man roster is not final- note that Kyle Farnsworth, Luke Scott, and Kelly Johnson all don’t appear- but it gives us a pretty good idea of who we’ll in spring training, including several interesting names. We’ve discussed almost all the non-roster invitees elsewhere (feel free to search away in the search box on the upper right-hand corner of the page), but let’s run through several that we have not discussed too much previously.

Matt Nevarez, who will turn 26 later in February, was once traded for Ivan Rodriguez and used to be a solid relief prospect for the Houston Astros before injuries derailed his career. But he recovered to dominate at Independent ball before the Rays signed him and continued blowing away hitters as he moved up from High-A to Double-A. Overall on the season, Nevarez managed a 2.22 ERA, a 13.7 K/9, a 3.0 BB/9, and a 0.8 HR/9 in 37 relief appearances. Nevarez throws a fastball in the low-to-mid-90′s along with a sharp slider and solid changeup, and if he can continue to stay healthy, he could wind up being a real find for the Rays out of Independent ball.

Jim Paduch, 30, was once a promising prospect for the Cincinnati Reds before his career fell apart and he also ended up in Independent ball. After staying in unaffiliated ball for four years, the Rays signed him prior to 2011 and he has spent the last two years primarily with their Triple-A Durham affiliate, going 6-12 in 2012 with a 5.48 ERA, a 5.6 K/9, a 3.2 BB/9, and a 1.0 HR/9 in 22 starts, 7 relief appearances, and 120 innings pitched. The Rays rewarded Paduch for his continued perseverance with his first invite to major league camp. Paduch throws a fastball in the high-80′s, touching 90 MPH, along with a solid changeup and a breaking ball, Paduch did get better results against right-handed batters compared to lefties, and despite Paduch being a starter his entire career, a conversion to relief to see if he can better results could be in the cards.

Neil Schenk, 26, is a lefty reliever coming off a good year at Double-A, going 3-1 with a 2.97 ERA, a 6.2 K/9, a 3.0 BB/9, and a 1.0 HR/9 in 42 relief appearances and 60.2 innings pitched. He held lefties to a .713 OPS with a 52.6% groundball rate and he will look to play a lefty specialist role in the major leagues with a deceptive delivery, a high-80′s fastball, a curveball, and a changeup.

Jim Patterson, who will turn 24 in a few days, is another lefty coming off a great season primarily at High-A, going 8-4 with a 2.70 ERA, a 5.8 K/9, a 2.0 BB/9, and a 0.4 HR/9 in 39 appearances and 80 innings pitched. Lefties managed just a .595 OPS, but then again, righties were at just .553. Patterson has gotten excellent results since his first day as a pro with great control, a high-80′s fastball with great late life, and a good slider, and although he played just a game each at Double-A and Triple-A, he could see time at both of those levels in 2012 and maybe even taste the major leagues.

Finally, Cole Figueroa, 25, is a sleeper prospect acquired by the Rays in the Jason Bartlett trade. Figueroa had a nice season between Double-A and Triple-A in 2012, managing a .292/.362/.413 line with 23 doubles, 5 triples, 5 homers, 54 RBI, and 43 walks compared to 31 strikeouts in 113 games and 452 plate appearances. Figueroa doesn’t have much power or speed, but he has a compact stroke, great plate discipline, and good defense abilities at third base and second base, and he has the ability to be a good utility infielder in the major leagues, and that might happen as soon as 2013.

Overall, the Rays have a lot of talent coming to their camp, as usual, but we also see that they’re giving quite a few players chances to compete for their open spots: a couple of bullpen spots, a right-handed hitting first baseman, the backup catcher behind Jose Molina, and a utility spot or two. The ability is there for the Rays to make a run to the postseason in 2013- but first to have to figure out who exactly are the players that will lead them there. With several positions up in the air, expect a spring training with plenty of competition as veterans not coming off their best seasons look to reestablish themselves, non-roster invitees hope to impress, and young players strive to prove themselves and defy the odds by making the Rays’ Opening Day roster.