God, I hope I wear this jersey forever
I thought that it was about time to size up the opposition for my new found team, the Tampa Bay Rays, and take a good look at the American League East division. As Sun Tzu said, “know thy enemy” I intend to do just that.
Baltimore Orioles
I hadn’t got a clue what an Oriole was. Seeing a huge bird as a mascot, my guess was avian related but nothing more specific. In the current standings, they are 15-9 and lying second in the division. Their batting success is coming from catcher Matt Wieters with 6 home runs and 15 RBI’s. Chris David heads their batting average with .333 (5 HR, 13 RBI). Right handed pitcher Jason Hammel is leading the way on the mound with a miserly 1.97 ERA and 30 strikeouts. The Rays haven’t played the Orioles yet and won’t do so until the middle of May at the verbosely named Oriole Park at Camden Yards.
Boston Red Sox
The Red Sox are languishing at the foot of the table with a 11-12 record. 3 of those 11 wins came against the Rays at Fenway Park. That series included 12-2 and 13-5 wins but the Red Sox’s season is still hit and miss. David Ortiz is hitting at .386 which is way above his career average. The pitchers have had, basically, a shellacking at times over the season. The Red Sox have condeded 18, 15, 13 and 10 runs in games. I imagine the outfielders are asking for overtime bonuses as hits keep on rolling against the Red Sox.
New York Yankees
The Yankees (13-10) have been about Derek Jeter and CC Sabathia so far. Jeter is demonstrating once again why he’s a Hall-of-Famer in waiting as he’s hitting at .400. Even more impressive when it is accumulated despite series against the Tigers and Rangers. CC Sabathia has 38 strikes so far in his 3 winning games and is Yankees GM Joe Girardi’s “go to” man. ”When you have your ace on the mound and you talk about trying to win all the series and you’re tied 1-1 you feel pretty good going into that day”, Girardi commented after Sabathia’s win over the Tigers to take the series. The Rays swept the Yankees 3-0 in the opening series at Tropicana Field so will be keen on reversing that next week at Yankees Stadium.
Toronto Blue Jays
The Blue Jays (13-11) are currently 4th in the division despite topping it just over a week ago. Edwin Encarnacion leads the batting stats (.323, 8 HR, 21 RBI) for the Blue Jays. It was his hit at the top of the 9th that robbed the Cleveland Indians of a win that turned into the longest opening game on record. Series wins have been achieved against the Indians, Red Sox, Royals and Mariners. But two series losses to the Orioles and a 2-1 series defeat against the Rays have arrested momentum. There are 5 games in May for the Blue Jays and Rays to fight over.
So that’s it then, the Rays are top of the division after playing some great baseball. Evan Longoria’s injury may hinder the progress made but the Rays will have to learn to be resolute. It’s only 24 games out of 162, but I’m happy so far. I guess Rays GM Joe Maddon is too.
