Ben Zobrist, SS
Ryan Roberts, 2B
Evan Longoria, 3B
Leslie Anderson, LF
Shelley Duncan, 1B
Wil Myers, RF
Jack Cust, DH
Sam Fuld, CF
Jose Lobaton, C
—-
David Price, SP

It’s interesting that Anderson is backing cleanup, although that makes sense given his hot start. A couple of other guys competing for a bench role on the Rays, Duncan and Cust are also getting in this one. And then there’s the matter that Ben Zobrist is playing shortstop today. Am I missing anything? Well, yes. Today marks the spring debuts for Evan Longoria and David Price, the Rays’ two superstars, the leaders of their team, and the players that the Rays desperately need to deliver big years in order to make it back to the playoffs. Even if this game happens, I wouldn’t be surprised if either of them, especially Longoria, taken out because there’s no point risking his surgically-repaired hamstring on wet conditions to come back one day earlier. But in any event, today looks to be an exciting day for the Rays and a key checkpoint in their spring with Longoria and Price finally getting into the act, and hopefully the weather won’t hold it back. The game will be available via MLB.com’s Gameday Audio if you want to tune in.

In other news, first baseman Rhyne Hughes, the former Rays prospect who we covered in depth in our Winter League Recaps, has signed a minor league contract with the New York Mets, as Hughes himself tweeted. Hughes played very well for the Gigantes del Cibao in the Dominican Winter League, managing a .261/.393/.459 line with 8 doubles, 4 homers, 15 RBI, and most impressively, a 38-24 strikeout to walk ratio in 37 games and 135 plate appearances. Congrats to Hughes on signing and best of luck to him trying to make it back to the major leagues.

Dominican Winter League: Aguilas Cibaenas 3, Leones del Escogido 2

Omar Luna, starting at second base this time around for Cibaenas, had a good game, going 1 for 2 with a stolen base. He’s still hitting just .235 on the DWL season, but he’s starting to make progress. Manny Ramirez went 0 for 3 for the Aguilas while Julio Lugo went 0 for 2 after entering as a pinch-hitter for Escogido but did have an RBI.

Gigantes del Cibao 7, Toros del Este 4

Rhyne Hughes, batting cleanup for Cibao, turned in a nice game, going 1 for 3 with 2 walks and a run scored. Hughes is hitting just .261 on the season, but his OBP is .400 as he has a nice 27-20 strikeout to walk ratio. Jhonny Nunez worked around a hit and a walk in the 9th to record his 7th save for Cibao.

Estrellas de Oriente 5, Tigres del Licey

Braulio Lara is eligible for the Rule 5 Draft and considering his stuff is electric, a strong performance this winter could tempt a big league team to give him a shot next year. Job not accomplished in this game as he faced three batters, walking 2 of them, and the reliever behind him allowed a 3-run homer so he ended up with 2 earned runs allowed.

Mexican Pacific League: Naranjeros de Hermosillo 10, Yaquis de Obregon 9

This game was crazy as Obregon led 5-0 before Hermosillo tied the game with a 5-run 6th and then took the lead with a 2-run 7th. Obregon went back into the lead with a 3-run 8th, but Hermosillo responded in equal measure in the bottom of the inning before the Yaquis got just 1 run in the 9th to lose 10-9. Jorge Cantu was a major reason the Naranjeros came back, going 2 for 3 and making the two really count: a 3-run shot in the 6th that pulled Hermosillo within a run and then the 2-run single in the 7th that gave them their first lead. Cantu has 3 homers and 10 RBI in his last 4 games. Iker Franco also homered for Obregon, going 1 for 3 with the homer and a walk in the game.

Mayos de Navojoa 5, Algodoneros de Guasave 1

Wes Bankston has had some struggles for the Mayos but whenever you think he’s running out of gas, he responds with another great game. Bankston went 2 for 3 with 2 doubles and a walk in this one and has an outstanding .308/.383/.497 line in 163 plate appearances on the MPL season.

Venezuelan Winter League: Navegantes de Magallanes 14, Cardelanes de Lara

Leslie Anderson finally got a start for Magallanes, in the cleanup spot no less, but was probably the fourth-most valuable current and former Ray in this game alone. Chris Nowak went 2 for 5 with an RBI and a run scored, Jean Machi went 2 shutout innings, and even Erold Andrus went 0 for 3 but with 2 walks. Anderson went 1 for 5 with a run scored. Andrus is on a very interesting run of late, going just 4 for 24 (.167) in his last 7 games but walking 6 times versus 3 strikeouts. You could say he’s on a “walking tear.”

Leones de Caracas 1, Aguilas del Zulia 0

Seeing 1-0 games has to remind you of Rays baseball, right? Henry Wrigley slammed a 4th inning to hand Caracas a win and Austin Bibens-Dirkx an extremely Rays-esque loss as he had a marvelous game, going 6 innings allowing just 1 run on 5 hits, striking out 10 while walking 1. Caracas had 6 hits total in the game, three by former Rays prospects as Wrigley went 2 for 4 and Daniel Mayora went 1 for 3. Mayora also had an outfield assist at home plate at home plate in the 3rd inning that turned out to be game-saving. Ryan Reid also tossed a scoreless top of 9th for Zulia, working around a hit with a strikeout. Wrigley’s homer was his 10th, tied for the most in the VWL- but his 35-10 strikeout to walk ratio won’t cut it.

Dominican Winter League: Aguilas Cibaenas 6, Toros del Este 4

Omar Luna had another rough day for the Aguilas, going just 0 for 5 with a run scored. Luna has just a .221/.289/.287 line on the season, striking out 13 times versus 8 walks but not hitting for any power (8 doubles and no other extra-base hits) and stealing just 3 of 4 bases. He’s hitting .286 against left-handed pitching but just .202 against righties. Sometimes heading to Winter Ball can really help your minor league free agent stock. Coming off a breakout year at Double-A, Luna has taken all the luster off.

Hughes has been waiting for another big league chance for a while now, but if his improvements this year are no fluke, he may just get back. (Credit: Flickr user tjperr)

Tigres del Licey 8, Gigantes del Cibao

Cibao got 4-hit in this game, but 1 of the 4 came from first baseman Rhyne Hughes, who went 1 for 3 with a walk in the game. Hughes, 29, was in the Rays organization from when they drafted him in the 8th round of the 2004 MLB Draft until they traded him to the Orioles in 2009. Hughes saw big league time with the Orioles in 2010, hitting .213 in 51 plate plate appearances before they sent him back to the minor leagues. Hughes’ problem as a prospect was always a complete lack of patience. In his breakout 2009 between the Rays and Orioles organizations, Hughes posted a .279/.349/.506 line with 35 doubles, 25 homers, and 79 RBI- but struck out 171 times against just 44 walks. That was a recurring theme for Hughes in 2010 and 2011 as well as he managed just a 19-4 strikeout to walk ratio in the big leagues and a 232-65 mark at Triple-A. In 2012, Hughes spent the entire season at Double-A, but he did have a nice season, posting a .278/.370/.504 line with 19 doubles, 13 homers, 51 RBI, and a 74-41 strikeout to walk ratio in 75 games and 313 plate appearances. And his patience may not be such a fluke. In 93 plate appearances, Hughes has a .264/.411/.489 line with 5 doubles, 3 homers, 12 RBI, and most impressive of all, a 21-18 strikeout to walk ratio. The 18 walks lead the DWL. Hughes, a left-handed batter, hasn’t hit lefties at all, going just 2 for 22 although with a good 9-6 strikeout to walk ratio, but he has been great versus right-handed pitching, posting a .340/.468/.660 line with 5 doubles, 3 homers, 12 RBI, and a 12-12 strikeout to walk ratio. Hughes is nothing special at all, but he has a chance to make it back to the big leagues as a platoon first baseman, and with the Rays having nothing going on at first base right now, they’ll have to give him a look this offseason on a minor league contract.