Matthew Joyce hit what was originally ruled to be a double during Sunday’s game, prompting both Maddon and Baltimore manager Buck Showalter to come out onto the field and argue against the call. Further replay showed that the ball was a home run, but Maddon feels that he may have opened, in his words, a “Pandora’s Box” when it comes to reviewing plays, and admitted that he was wrong with his interpretation of the review process. It will be interesting to see if other managers use the loophole of asking for reviews of ‘home runs’ to make sure that the call is correct.

Speaking of Joyce, he had to leave last night’s game in the sixth inning due to hamstring tightness, but the Rays feel that he will be fine, and considered the move precautionary.

“He’s fine,” Maddon said after the game. “He’s a little tight in the right hammy. He just came up later, a team-type of situation, where he said, ‘I can’t cover.’ I don’t anticipate anything bad with that, but we had to get him out.”

Hopefully Joyce will be back today, or miss a game or two at most. He has been swinging a hot bat as of late, batting .333 with two home runs in his last six games.

Both Jamey Wright and Matt Moore have family in Oklahoma, but were fortunate enough to escape the devastation left by the mile wide band of tornadoes that ravaged the area. Wright’s sister lived in that area, but had moved two or three years prior. He detailed their plan of action in the event of an emergency such as what occurred on Monday:

“My parents [have a shelter], the next-door neighbors have one, my sister has one,” Wright said. “So my dad was out at my sister’s, and my mom was next door. My dad had come home from work, and he went straight to my sister’s house. So they missed my parents and my wife’s parents by two or three miles, almost the same path that it did in ’99. Unfortunately, now there is just so much more in that area, so the destruction will be two or three times worse than it was in ’99.”

Fortunately, their families were fine, and both Moore and Wright were able to speak to relatives in the area.

Naturally, it would make sense that players would attempt to make use of whatever is available to them to make adjustments. As such, it may not be a surprise to hear that Matthew Joyce spent a part of his offseason watching video. However, it may be a bit of a surprise to learn that he turned to YouTube, where, instead of reviewing his swing, he watched the swings of players such as Ken Griffey Jr, Barry Bonds, Robinson Cano and Jose Bautista.

In watching those videos, Joyce feels that he noticed a similarity in the point of impact amongst those players. Right now, he said that he is still working out the kinks in the swing, but he feels that he can generate more bat speed, which may help his hitting rebound after struggling at times last year. Considering how the Rays may be relying upon Joyce to hit behind Evan Longoria and provide protection for him in the lineup, it certainly cannot hurt to attempt to replicate the swings of some of the best hitters in baseball over the past decade.

While there is no guarantee that his will work, it does show a willingness to think outside the box in an attempt to find ways to improve. Even though it is seemingly unlikely, should Joyce turn into a hitter like Cano and Bautista, maybe YouTube will become a major part of a hitter’s regiment.

While games have yet to be played and camp is not even a week old at this point, it may be possible to see who would have a leg up on claiming one of those spots. Presently, the Rays have six players that are currently out of options. Of those six, Jake McGee, Sam Fuld and Matthew Joyce appear to have their positions essentially locked in. McGee is expected to be one of the primary set up men this season, Fuld is expected to be the fourth outfielder, and Joyce will likely get a lot of playing time between right and left field. For the other three players that are out of options – Jeff Niemann, Jose Lobaton and Cesar Ramos – the situation may not be as clear.

Niemann is likely the favorite to win the fifth starter’s spot heading into Spring Traning, but that is not a given. He faces steep competition with free agent signing Roberto Hernandez, as well as prospects Chris Archer and Jake Odorizzi. Should any of those three dominate in camp, Niemann may end up as the long reliever or possibly on the trading block. Like Niemann, Ramos likely has a spot on the Rays Opening Day roster. As the Rays have only McGee and Frank de los Santos as the other left handed relief options on the 40 man roster, Ramos will likely need to implode to lose his spot in the bullpen.

Lobaton, meanwhile, faces more of a battle to retain his spot as the backup catcher, as Chris Gimenez and Robinson Chirinos could make a push during camp. While Chirinos is more of a long shot as he missed last season due to injury, the battle between Gimenez and Lobaton may be the final one to be decided. Last year, the both produced an identical OPS+ of 83. Lobaton produced a .222/.323/.317 batting line, but was helped by his 24 walks in 197 plate appearances. Gimenez hit better, at .260/.315/.330, but only had 8 walks in 109 plate appearances. This battle could be determined based on whether or not either player gets hot in March.

The Rays Opening Day roster may not have many surprises, but there are still a couple of battles to keep an eye on. Depending on how those end up, a couple of familiar faces may wind up elsewhere.