That's a wrap on spring training

ROGER MOONEY
rmooney@bradenton.com

SARASOTA – The Rays finished spring training at 18-8, their best record ever and the best among American League East teams.

Eric Hinske appeared in 25 games, the most of any player.

A non-roster invitee, Hinske made every trip.

“First time I ever did that,” he said.

Elliot Johnson led the team with a .418 average and 22 hits and set a team record for most runs scored in an exhibition season with 17. He received the Al Lopez Award as the best rookie in camp.

Final moves
The Rays cut the roster down to the mandated 25 by making 13 moves on Saturday.

Pitchers Kurt Birkins (left elbow neuritis) and Chad Orvella (right shoulder tendonitis) were placed on the disabled list.

Pitcher Grant Balfour was designated for assignment.

Catcher Josh Paul was released.

First baseman Chris Richard, infielder Andy Cannizaro, catcher Mike DiFelice, outfielders John Rodriguez and Jon Weber and pitcher Scott Munter were reassigned to minor league camp.

Infielder Joel Guzman was optioned to Triple A Durham.

Pitcher Juan Salas, who has yet to leave the Dominican republic because of visa problems, was assigned to Hudson Valley.

Hinske’s leap of faith
Eric Hinske was taking a chance when he signed a minor league deal with an invite to the Rays minor league camp.

“I think anytime you’re a non-roster guy it’s a leap of faith,” he said. “You try to pick the right situation. This is the first time I was in this situation in my career. I really didn’t know what to expect. I just know I had to come in and compete for a job. It kind of lit a fire under me a little bit. I couldn’t take anything for granted, just come in and work the right way, work hard.”

Hinske made the team because he can play the corner positions in both the infield and the outfield and because Rays manager Joe Maddon said he is a more “professional hitter” Than Guzman is at this point in Guzman’s career.

“It definitely helps if you can play all four corners,” Maddon said. “It gives the manager more flexibility, and that’s what he told me he was looking for. He said I would pretty much play all over the place. He said he’d try to give me a day’s notice on where I’m going to play.”

Riggans sticks
It might have made sense to send Shawn Riggans to Durham so he could play every day rather than let the rookie sit behind Dioner Navarro at the major league level. But Maddon said his plans call for Riggans to catch two times a week.

“We love what Mike did during the spring,” Maddon said. “We believe him going back to Durham and catching for us, that he’s a great insurance policy for us right now. And Riggo, we just felt it was time to give him an opportunity also. Primarily just to give Riggo his opportunity to play in the big leagues right now based on what’s happened for him historically and what he’s done in the minor leagues. But it’s a nice feeling to have DeFelice sitting where he is right now.”

Riggans reached the Rays in each of the past two seasons, but played just three games last season after undergoing surgery to remove bone chips in his right elbow.

“Obviously they see something in me that they like, and they feel I can contribute to the ball club, and that’s the most important part, and I feel that I can,” Riggans said. “I know all the guys on the club, I know the pitching staff. I think I have some good things to offer.”

Why Howell?
The might lose Grant Balfour, who was placed on waivers Saturday, because he was out of options. One option might have been to keep Balfour and send Howell to Durham, because Howell still has an option.

Maddon said the decision to keep Howell and move the left-hander to the bullpen is because the Rays need a long man, and he feels Howell can fill that role better than anyone else.

“I just think J.P. has done such a great job,” Maddon said. “I like idea of him coming out of the bullpen, I like the idea of him coming out and going one time thru the batting order. He’s the kind of guy you can go the innings, possibly four if necessary. He was the one guy we felt could be that guy that can be that guy who can bridge if you have a starter getting beat up in the second inning. And I’m also curious because I believe by beginning with this particular role in the bullpen, that eventually he might be able to be placed later in the game. I think his makeup permits it he has strike-throwing ability. He gets both righties and lefties out. He’s got deception, and he’s got great makeup for me. I kind of like him in our bullpen.”

Up next
The Rays open their 11th season Monday in Baltimore against the Orioles.

James Shields makes his first Opening Day start Monday faces Jeremy Guthrie on Opening Day.

Matt Garza makes his Rays debut when faces Daniel Cabrera on Wednesday.

Andy Sonnanstine will pitch the finale Thursday night against former Rays Steve Trachsel.

Rays set Opening Day roster

ROGER MOONEY
rmooney@bradenton.com

ST. PETERSBURG – The Rays finalized their Opening Day roster Saturday morning when they optioned Joel Guzman to Triple A Durham and added Eric Hinske to the roster.
Hinske’s offensive was the tipping point, according to Rays manager Joe Maddon.
Elliot Johnson was named the utility infielder, and Shawn Riggans will begin the year as the back-up catcher. Mike DiFelice was optioned to Durham, and Josh Paul is believed to have been released.
The Rays won’t make the moves official until after Saturday’s spring training finale against the Reds in Sarasota.

Here’s the Opening Day roster:

Pitchers
Rotation
James Shields
Matt Garza
Andy Sonnanstine
Edwin Jackson
Jason Hammel

Bullpen
J.P. Howell
Gary Glover
Scott Dohmann
Al Reyes
Dan Wheeler
Travis Miller
Troy Percival

Catchers
Dioner Navarro
Shawn Riggans

Infielders
Carlos Pena
Akinori Iwamura
Jason Bartlett
Willy Aybar
Elliot Johnson
Eric Hinske

Outfield
Carl Crawford
B.J. Upton
Jonny Gomes
Cliff Floyd
Nathan Haynes

Disabled list
Scott Kazmir
Ben Zobrist
Rocco Baldelli
Kurt Birkins
Chad Orvella

Rays get help for right field

ROGER MOONEY
rmooney@bradenton.com

ST. PETERSBURG – Nathan Haynes, picked up off waivers Friday by the Rays, will be part of a right field platoon with Jonny Gomes.

A left-handed hitter, Haynes will play against right-handed pitchers and might even see time at the end of games as a defensive replacement.

“If he doesn’t start the game he probably gives us our best chance to finish the game with the lead,” Rays manager Joe Maddon said.

The 28-year-old Haynes was the 32nd pick in the 1997 draft by the Oakland A’s, but didn’t reach the majors until last season when he played in 40 games with the Angels, his third organization.

He hit .267 for the Angels after batting .386 for Triple A Salt Lake.

This spring Haynes batted .265 with four stolen base before becoming the odd man out in a crowded Angels outfield.

The Rays like his speed, defense and arm, Maddon said.

“He’s gradually gotten better over the last few years,” Maddon said. “He might be one of those late bloomers.”

Aybar update
Both Maddon and vice president of baseball Andrew Friedman expected third baseman Willy Aybar (left hamstring strain) to start Monday when the team opens the season at Baltimore.

“We’ll know more (Saturday),” Maddon said.

Aybar was 1-for-2 with a home run Friday while playing in a minor league game.

Kazmir update
Scott Kazmir (left elbow strain) played catch in outfield with pitching coach Jim Hickey on Friday morning, making 70 to 80 throws from 100 feet.

“I’m not going to put any timetable on (a return to the rotation),” Kazmir said. “The good news is it feels wonderful right now. It feels great. All it is now is building up innings. Getting three outs, sitting down, getting back up and going back out there for another inning. And that’s it.”

Kazmir has basically restarted his spring training. The long-tossing will lead to bullpen sessions then to innings in extended spring games and a rehab start or two with one of the minor league teams.

Spring training runs seven weeks for pitchers, and by starting over, Kazmir’s timetable probably won’t have him back with the Rays until, at best, the end of April.

“Hopefully, it won’t be as long as spring training,” he said.


The finale
The Rays played their 150th and final spring training game at Al Lang Field on Friday and lost 6-3 to the visiting Cincinnati Reds.

Matt Garza started, making his first start at Al Lang this spring, and struggled through his first three innings. He allowed two runs in five innings. His next start will be April 2 against the Orioles in Baltimore.

Carl Crawford had a pair of doubles.

The Rays used Dan Wheeler, Gary Glovers, Al Reyes and Troy Percival and each allowed a run. Reyes and Glover allowed their first runs of the spring.

Up next
The Rays finish their best spring in team history against the Reds at Ed Smith Stadium in Sarasota on Saturday.
Edwin Jackson will start for the Rays.

Rays claim Haynes from Angels

ROGER MOONEY
rmooney@bradenton.com

ST. PETERSBURG – The Rays claimed Nathan Haynes off waivers from the Los Angeles Angels on Friday afternoon. To make room on the 40-man roster, the team placed Rocco Baldelli in the 60-day disabled list.

Haynes is a left-handed outfielder who can play all three outfield positions.

A career minor leaguer, Haynes batted .267 in 40 games with the Angels last season.

He hit .265 for the Angles this spring.

It’s not sure how this will impact the roster.

This could mean Eric Hinske doesn’t make the team. Or, it could mean Hinske makes the team as an infielder/outfielder and Joel Guzman doesn’t make the club.

Dohmann gets final spot in bullpen

ROGER MOONEY
rmooney@bradenton.com

ST. PETERSBURG – The Rays begin trimming the roster Friday shortly after the team returned from its morning workout at Tropicana Field.

Several players made the long walk to manager Joe Maddon’s office, but the Rays would make only one cut official – relief pitcher Grant Balfour, who will be designated for assignment Saturday.

Balfour, the 30-year-old right-hander acquired from Milwaukee last July in a trade for Seth McClung, lost the battle for the last spot in the bullpen to Scott Dohmann, despite having better numbers in almost every important category this spring.

“They know who they want from the get-go probably,” Balfour said. “I don’t know what they wanted to do. I could have probably given up no runs and not make it, I don’t know. It’s frustrating. That’s the way it goes. I wish them the best of luck.”

Balfour pitched 12 innings. He allowed four runs and seven hits. He struck out 11 and walked nine.

Dohmann pitched 11 1/3 innings. He allowed 11 runs and 16 hits. He struck out 10 and walked four.

Balfour had one bad outing, and that came Thursday in Winter Haven when he allowed a one-out single in the sixth inning and walked the next three batters. Balfour had entered the game in the fifth and retired the first batters he faced, including three by strikeout.

Rays manager Joe Maddon won’t be available until after the game, so management’s take in the situation is unknown at this point.

“I don’t know how that’s stuff works,” Balfour said. “All I know is I’m not on the team.”

Dohmann spent half the 2007 with the Rays. He was 3-0 with a 3.31 ERA in 32 2/3 innings over 31 games.

Balfour was 1-0 with a 6.14 ERA in 22 innings over 22 games.

Balfour said he wasn’t sure which carried more weight – his body of work last season or his body of work this spring.

“I don’t know how that’s stuff works,” he said. “All I know is I’m not on the team.”

Balfour can only return to the Rays organization if he clears waivers. He said he would consider going to Triple A Durham but hoped it wouldn’t come to that.

“I’m hoping someone picks me up and I can pitch in the big leagues,” he said. “I feel I can pitch in the big leagues.”

Balfour, Dohmann pitch for last spot in bullpen

ROGER MOONEY
rmooney@bradenton.com

WINTER HAVEN – With cuts expected Friday morning, you could view Thursday’s game against the Indians at Chain O’Lakes Park as a final audition for Grant Balfour and Scott Dohmann, the candidates for the final spot in the rotation.

“They have to pick one of us,” Balfour said.

Neither right-hander made the decision for manager Joe Maddon.

Balfour, who was having the best spring of the two, walked three straight batters in the sixth inning, including Jason Tyner with the bases loaded.

“I don’t know where that came from,” Balfour said. “Maybe I was thinking too much and put too much pressure on myself. I’m annoyed at myself, but I don’t know if that means I’m still on the team or not.”

Dohmann came in from the bullpen to record the final out and threw a perfect seventh inning to lower his ERA to 8.74, which tells you what type of spring he was having prior to Thursday’s game.

“It was a big part of the game, and I’m glad they went to me,” Dohmann said. “I’ve done that a couple of times last year and it was good to get into that situation. To get it done is a good feeling.”

Both pitchers are out of options, meaning they would have clear waivers before they can be reassigned to Triple A Durham. Since both have major league experience, there’s a good chance whomever is exposed to waivers will get picked up by another team.

“I’d like to stay here. I like it here a lot,” Balfour said. “If for some reason I have to go to another club, that’s what I got to do, and I’ll give it 100 percent for that other team. If they don’t choose me, I’ll have to admit, I’d love to go to another club. You want to pitch in the big leagues. I want to pitch in the big leagues here.”

Said Dohmann: “What they have going on is very positive. To be a part of this team would be great. But at the same time it’s a business and things happen and it’s always good to be wanted if it comes down to it.”

Balfour, acquired from Milwaukee last July in a trade for Seth McClung1-0 with a 6.14 ERA in 22 games for Tampa Bay. Dohmann, who spent have the season at Triple A Durham, was 3-0 with a 3.31 ERA in 31 appearances for the Rays.

Maddon has said much of the decision will be bases on their work at the major league level, but spring training counts for something, too.

Another scenario is the Rays optioned J.P. Howell to Durham since the left-hander has another option and keep Balfour and Dohmann.

“We’ll just have to go back and discuss it a little more,” Maddon said.

Neither pitcher said they’ve thought about the possibility of being placed on waivers or even the fact the competition for the final spot came down to them.

“I came to camp, and I see myself being on the team,” Balfour said. “Whether or not they see me being on the team is a different story.”

Said Dohmann: “Grant is not going to step in that box against me. That’s not who we’re competing against. We’re competing against the hitters. Our job is to get three outs or more that day if the need us to that day, it’s not against each other.”

Balfour pitched in 10 games this spring. He looked sharp in the first nine, before struggling against the Indians.

“It’s tough to go out and pitch every time wondering if you’re on the team or off the team,” Balfour said. “It’s tough, I must admit. It would be nice to know you can out there and relax. You can pitch much easier, I must admit.”

Zim, Maddon reflect on an old ballpark

ROGER MOONEY
rmooney@bradenton.com

WINER HAVEN – Don Zimmer spun tales of Ted Williams and Joe Maddon waxed poetically about Chain O’Lakes Park, which for the past 16 years, was the spring home of the Cleveland Indians.

The park opened in 1966 and was home to the Red Sox until they left for Fort Myers in 1993.

Thursday was the final spring game at the ballpark. The Indians are moving to Goodyear, Ariz., next spring.

“I’m looking at this place and it’s the essence of spring training,” Maddon said before the Rays 9-7, 10-inning victory.

Winter Haven is the smallest city in Florida to have a spring training venue, and over the years the fans have built a connection to the ballplayers, and the players to the city.

Zimmer, who managed the Red Sox from 1976 to 1980, remembers Williams, who was a spring training instructor. The fans would lineup down the right field line to get autographs from the players as they moved to and from the clubhouse.

“But when Ted Williams walked by everyone grew quiet,” Zimmer said.

Zimmer once took Williams to diner at an out-of-the-way steakhouse and recalled how the room fell silent when they were led to a table in the back.

“No one said a word as they ate,” Zimmer said. “They all wanted to hear what Ted Williams had to say.”

Senior citizens walk the bases after every Indians home game in the spring. It’s called the “Senior Stroll.” After Thursday’s game, everyone was allowed to walk the bases – young and old.

Fathers took pictures of their sons standing on the pitcher’s mound. Fans had their picture taken at home plate, in the dugouts and next to the Indians logo behind home plate.

The Winter Haven police stood by patiently, allowing fans to take their time leaving the ballpark so they could enjoy every last minute in a stadium that will no longer play host to a major league baseball game.

“It’s been such a big part of their lives,” Maddon said. “That’s kind of the sad part about it. It’s like the passing of a good old friend. It’s very unique place. It’s quaint. It’s the essence of spring training.”

Plans for the stadium and the surrounding complex are still sketchy. If could become a park, condos or a shopping mall.

“I really wish they wouldn’t tear this place down,” Maddon said. “I look at it and my first thought is that I really wish they would preserve it for the youth, high school teams, tournaments in the summer time. Keep the place. They always tear the cool old places down. At some point, let’s find away to keep them.”

Sonny not sharp in final spring start

ROGER MOONEY
rmooney@bradenton.com

WINTER HAVEN – Andy Sonnanstine grew up a fan of the Cleveland Indians so you would think starting the final game at Chain O’Lakes Park would have been a big deal for the Rays right-hander.

“I don’t know,” he said.

OK.

Sonnanstine, the Rays No. 3 starter, struggled during his four innings Thursday in the Rays 9-7, 10-inning victory against the Indians. He allowed five hits and four runs, all of which game on a grand slam by Andy Gonzalez in the fourth inning.

“I didn’t have my control,” Sonnanstine said. “I’m not sure (why). Maybe it was just one of those days.”

Sonnanstine said he had trouble spotting his fastball, and since he can’t hit 90 mph with the pitch, control is his best weapon. But he found himself falling behind and pitching in 3-0 counts, which is unusual.

He had walked just two batters and allowed only one run through his first 14 innings this spring.

Perhaps the fact he was named to the rotation and was simply getting in his work Thursday took a little edge off his mental and physical game.

“I don’t think it’s that, but it very well could be,” he said. “It’s a little bit of a conundrum. I don’t now what was going on.”

Sonnanstine will next pitch April 3 in Baltimore.

Aybar update
Willy Aybar was scheduled to play in a minor league Thursday at the Rays complex, testing his injured left hamstring by leading off every other inning.

Rays manager Joe Maddon didn’t have an update after the game, but said things went well of Aybar while he worked out at Al Lang Field in the morning.

Maddon still expects Aybar to be the Opening Day third baseman March 31 against Baltimore.

More cuts
It’s expected the Rays will make, if not all, than most of their final cuts Friday morning.

There are 37 players still in camp, and they have to trim the roster to 25 by Sunday night.

Still to be determined is the final spot in the bullpen, a move which involves Grant Balfour, Scott Dohmann and possibly J.P. Howell.

Shawn Riggans is expected to be the back-up catcher.

Eric Hinske should make the team as the fifth outfielder.

Elliot Johnson should make the team as the utility infielder.

There’s a chance Joel Guzman could make the team as the backup third and first baseman.

On the bubble in the outfield are Jon Weber and John Rodriguez.

While Mike DiFelice has had a solid camp and is an option at back-up catcher if the Rays want to send Riggans to Triple A Durham so he can play every day.

There is still a possibility the Rays could swing a trade for a right fielder or sign a player released by another team.

Up next
Friday is the final game at Al Lang Field.

Matt Garza will start for the Rays.

There will be a flyover from McDill Air Force Base, posters to the first 6,500 fans, the announcement of the All-Al Lang team and a free post-game barbecue on the field.

This & That
Despite the fact he might not return to the rotation until early May, Rays vice president of baseball Andrew Friedman said he expects Scott Kazmir to pitch 200 innings this or be on that pace when the season ends … Carl Crawford hit his first home run of the spring Thursday against the Indians … Aki Iwamura also homered for the first time this month … Mike DiFelice doubled home Chris Richard in the 10th inning for the go-ahead run as the Rays won the last spring train game ever played at Chain O’Lakes Park … The Rays will conduct their pre-game drills and batting practice at Tropicana Field on Friday and Saturday.

Status of Aybar still uncertain

ROGER MOONEY
rmooney@bradenton.com

FORT MYERS – Willy Aybar didn’t play Wednesday against the Twins in Fort Myers, but he might play Thursday against Cleveland in Winter Haven.

Or, he might not.

Rays manager Joe Maddon didn’t present a clear picture on the status of his opening Day third baseman, who has been nursing a sore left hamstring for nearly two weeks.

“Still not ready,” Maddon said before the game. “(Trainer Ron Porterfield) wanted him to take another day. We’ll see what it looks like (Thursday).”

Aybar hasn’t started since last Saturday and that start came a week after his previous start. The third baseman who joined the team in an offseason trade with Atlanta for pitcher Jeff Ridgeway, has had just two at-bats since March 16.

Maddon said Aybar’s lack of playing time isn’t a factor.

“Not yet. I really don’t think so yet,” Maddon said. “I want to get him some at-bats, but this guy played a lot this winter. My biggest concern would be timing at the plate more than anything.”

Maddon anticipates Aybar returning the lineup soon. But he felt the same Tuesday when he said Aybar would play against the Twins.

“It was one of those situations if we wanted to push him he could play right now,” Maddon said. “Ronnie is not quite satisfied. He did everything well (in running drills Tuesday), but he’s just not there. Ronnie does a good job listening to how people talk to him, and the kid said he’s fine, but Ronnie is not totally convinced. We’ll push it back another day because of the response.”

And for the season opener Monday in Baltimore?

“I’m still anticipating he’s going to play,” Maddon said. “I’ve not heard anything that leads me to believe he won’t.”

Rays bring their boots to Fort Myers

ROGER MOONEY
rmooney@bradenton.com

FORT MYERS – One of the reasons for the Rays success this spring – a team-record 17 wins – has been the defense. The Rays 18 errors prior to Wednesday’s 4-2 loss against the Twins were the third fewest by an American League team.

In fact, he Rays brought a 27-inning errorless streak into the game.

That was snapped in the first inning on a throwing error by first baseman Chris Richard that allowed a run to score.

Two innings later, it was Elliot Johnson’s turn.

The second baseman played center field in his continuing attempt to replace Ben Zobrist as the super utility fielder. For the most part, Johnson has looked smooth in the field.

Then Craig Monroe singled up the middle and Johnson fell apart.

First he mishandled the grounder, allowing Justin Morneau, who was on first, to continue to third.

Then Johnson tried to throw out Morneau at third.

“Once he booted the ball he should have just thrown it into second base,” Rays manager Joe Maddon said. “That will just come with experience. At that point he was just trying to make a play.”

The ball sailed past Rays third baseman Joel Guzman. Pitcher James Shields, who did not anticipate Johnson throwing to third, didn’t hustle over to back up the base. That bit of miscommunication allowed the ball to sail into the dugout and Morneau to score.

“He’ll learn from that,” Maddon said. “I was not upset. He was trying to make an aggressive play. We’ll talk about it.”

Shields final tune-up
James Shields’ final start of the spring was not his best outing this month. He allowed a spring-high seven hits and four runs, though only two of those runs were earned. He also suffered his first loss of the spring.

“He got his work in,” Maddon said. “I thought he was fine.”

Shields next start will be Monday in Baltimore when the Rays open the season against the Orioles.

Who is Scott Munter?
A candidate for the bullpen, that’s who.

The right-hander signed as a minor league free agent in January has pushed his way among Scott Dohmann and Grant Balfour for the last spot in the bullpen.

“There’s still one position that we’re pretty torn about,” Maddon said before that game, and without mentioning which position, he was talking about the final spot in the pen.

Dohmann has struggled.

Balfour has pitched well lately.

Munter has been solid for much of the spring.

The 6-foot-6, 260-pound right-hander who doesn’t throw hard but gets ground balls is making that decision hard.

He allowed three hits in two scoreless innings against the Twins, and got out of one jam by inducing Nick Punto to hit into a double play.

“I like Munter,” Maddon said. “Munter has been pitching really well. He has a hard sinker and gets a lot of ground balls. He’s becoming very interesting.”

Other decisions
Maddon said the team is closer to deciding on their extra infielder, a race that includes Elliot Johnson, Erick Hinske and Joel Guzman. The key is who can play third base and if Johnson starts there Thursday against the Indians, Maddon will have seen all three there during a three-game span.

Hinske played third Tuesday against Toronto and Guzman started there Wednesday against the Twins.

“We pretty much have in our mind what it’s going to look like, but we want to give it another day or two,” Maddon said. “Quite frankly that’s what’s going on.”

The play of the spring
Elliot Johnson led off the second inning and tried to drag a bunt down the first base line. Twins pitcher Livan Hernandez chased after the ball, but couldn’t reach down and grab it and still make the play so he kicked it toward first baseman Justin Morneau, who caught it in time to nip Johnson.

“That was pretty impressive,” Maddon said. “And not only that, you have give Morneau some credit at first base. He was holding the glove like he was saying, ‘Kick it here.’ I don’t know if he willed it there. It was some kind of ESPN at that point.”

Hernandez received a standing ovation from the crowd for his heads-up – foots-up? – effort.

“That was impressive,” Maddon said. “Didn’t like it, but it was impressive.”

Shields liked it. He said the Rays should incorporate that as part of their pitcher’s fielding practice.

Maddon isn’t so is that’s a play everyone can make.

“Only if you played soccer some time in your life,” Maddon said. “I don’t want any sprained ankles.”

Up next
They’ve been playing spring training baseball at Winter Haven’s Chain O’Lakes Park since 1966. They will play the last game there Thursday when the Rays meet the Indians at 1:05 p.m.

Andy Sonnanstine will pitch for the Rays. Cliff Lee is the Indians scheduled starter.

This & That
Shortstop Jason Bartlett, acquired from the Twins last November, was 3-for-4 against his former team. He doubled in the first and singled home a run in the third. Bartlett is hitting .357 this spring … Aki Iwamura tripled and scored in the second … J.P. Howell threw two perfect innings and lowered his ERA to 0.82 … Edwin Jackson was officially named the fourth starter and Jason Hammel the fifth … Delmon Young, who was involved in the trade that brought Bartlett and pitcher Matt Garza to the Rays, was presented the “Outstanding Rookie” award for the 2007 season by the members of the Tampa Bay chapter of the Baseball Writer’s Association of America.

Kaz conservative in second comeback this spring

ROGER MOONEY
rmooney@bradenton.com

DUNEDIN – Perhaps admitting that the first try at getting Scott Kazmir back on the mound was a little too aggressive, Rays manager Joe Maddon detailed Kazmir’s workload for the next week or so before Tuesday’s game against the Toronto Blue Jays at Konology park.

Kazmir, who strained his left elbow Feb. 26, threw Tuesday morning with Rays trainer Ron Porterfield in the outfield at Al Lang Field. It was the second straight day Kazmir played catch with Porterfield, making 30 throws from 90 feet.

Kazmir, who was officially placed on the disabled list Tuesday retroactive to March 21, will not throw Wednesday.

He will throw again Thursday and Friday with the idea of getting the distance of each throw to 120 feet by weeks end.

If Kazmir comes through that with out any pain or setbacks, he will return to the mound sometime next week.

“The rest of this week is the progression of throwing distances and next week try to work to get him toward the mound by some point,” Maddon said.

Kazmir’s first comeback was stopped when he experienced pain in the back of his elbow after pitching batting practice to Jon Weber and Joel Guzman on March 13. Kazmir was scheduled to start against the Tigers on March 16, but was scratched.
His throwing sessions since they have been light.

Tuesday was the first time he threw on consecutive days in two weeks.

This second try at getting Kazmir back into a game is not as aggressive as the first program.

“It’s a little more conservative this time around,” Maddon said.

Kazmir is eligible to come off the disabled list April 5, but will not be ready until the end of the month. He will need several starts in extended spring to build the arm strength and gain the game experience needed before pitching in a big league game.

Aybar still expected to start season at third base

ROGER MOONEY
rmooney@bradenton.com

DUNEDIN – Despite having just two at-bats in since March 16, Rays manager Joe Maddon expects Willy Aybar will be ready to play third base by Opening Day on March 31 in Baltimore.

The third baseman has started just once since March 15 because of a hamstring injury. That start was against the Pirates on March 22 in a game that was stopped by rain after two innings. Aybar did have an at-bat that day, grounding out to shortstop in the second inning.

Maddon said he’s not concerned with Aybar’s lack of work during the last 10 days.

“Not really,” Maddon said. “Of course I would like him to get more at-bats, but this is a guy who played winter ball. He was swinging the bat pretty well prior to the injury, so I’m not overly concerned.”

Maddon said Aybar will be his Opening Day third baseman on Monday, just a half hour after rookie third baseman Evan Longoria was sent to Triple A Durham.

Eric Hinske played third base Tuesday against the Blue Jays. Elliot Johnson may get a another look there as well. He played three innings there Monday.

Maddon said Aybar participated in running drills Tuesday morning and expects Aybar to return to the lineup Wednesday when the Rays travel to Fort Myers to play the Twins. If not Wednesday than Thursday against the Indians in Cleveland.

“We’re being cautions with that,” Maddon said.

Johnson is smooth at short

ROGER MOONEY
rmooney@bradenton.com

DUNEDIN – Elliot Johnson debuted at shortstop Tuesday against the Blue Jays and looked smooth, handling two chances and being the middle man on a double play.

“I like the double play,” Rays manager Joe Maddon said. “He really simplified his footwork in all the best ways. And in the ground ball to shortstop you saw he came and got the ball a little bit. He got his feet set and threw the ball without patting (his glove), there was no extra time with the ball in his glove, and it was very accurate.”

A second baseman by trade, Johnson is trying to learn shortstop, third base and center field so he can assume the role of super utility fielder currently held by Ben Zobrist.

Zobrist was placed on the disabled list Tuesday with a fracture left thumb. The move is retroactive to March 21, meaning Zobrist is eligible to come off the disabled list April 5. Johnson’s serviced will be needed for four regular season games providing Zobrist is ready to return to action that day.

Johnson helped turn the double play in the first inning when he moved across second base, taking the feed from second baseman Andy Cannizaro and firing to Carlos Pena at first base to complete the play.

He also handled two other chances with ease.

“Every place we’ve put him he looks good, third base, shortstop, center field,” Maddon said.

Johnson had a hit in four at-bats against the Jays and is hitting .447. He stole his sxith base Tuesday and scored his 15 run.

Hammelday?
Jason Hammel, in his last spring start before the regular season, had his best outing of the month in the Rays 10-0 win, holding the Jays to three hits in four scoreless innings. He struck out two and didn’t walk a batter.

Hammel was matched against Roy Halladay, and out-pitched the former Cy Young Award winner.

“They told me (Hammel) was sharper (against) Atlanta (March 8), but I really liked how he threw today, the mixture of his breaking ball with the fastball and he brought the change-up into the mix,” Maddon said.

Hammel will likely pitch in a minor league game Sunday before the team flies to Baltimore for Monday’s season opener. Maddon hasn’t announced when Hammel will make his first start. It will be at Yankee Stadium on either April 4 or 5.

Rays batter Halladay
Halladay had the fifth inning from hell Tuesday. The Jays committed five errors behind him and the Jays Opening Day starter allowed 10 runs (four earned) on seven hits.

John Tolisano, an 18-year-old minor leaguer called up to play second base, made three errors.

Jonny Gomes had a homer and a single in the inning as the Rays sent 14 batters to the plate and scored all their runs in the 10-0 victory.

Carlos Pena, B.J. Upton and Eric Hinske doubled in the inning.

Halladay threw 26 pitches before being removed without recording an out.

The annual shutout
Hammel and relievers Trever Miller, Gary Glover, Dan Wheeler, Al Reyes and Troy Percival each threw a scoreless inning as the Rays posted their first spring training shutout since a 1-0 victory against the Jays on March 27, 2007 in Dunedin.

Percival worked the ninth inning for the first time this season, and bounced back nicely from his meltdown at Sarasota last Sunday when he allowed seven runs against the Reds.

Up next
James Shields will make his final start of the spring Wednesday against the Twins in Fort Myers.

The right-hander, who will make his first Opening Day start on March 31 in Baltimore, is 3-0 with a 1.84 ERA in four starts this spring.

He will be opposed by Livan Hernandez.

This & That
Jonny Gomes hit his fourth home run of the spring, a bomb over the left field fence that started the 10-run fifth … Eric Hinske is making a strong push to start the season as the fifth outfielder. He’s batting .370 … Cliff Floyd singled in three at-bats but his averaged dropped to .205 … Gary Glover and Al Reyes have yet to allow a run this spring … Tickets still remain for Friday’s game against the Reds at Al Lang. It will be the last spring training game ever played at the historic ballpark.

Kaz, Zobrist placed on DL

ROGER MOONEY
rmooney@bradenton.com

As expected the Rays placed pitcher Scott Kazmir and infielder Ben Zobrist on the 15-day disabled list Tuesday. Both are retroactive to March 21, meaning they are eligible to return April 5.

Zobrist (left thumb fracture) should be ready by then.

Kazmir (strained left elbow) has just started a throwing program that will have him pitching off a mound some time next week.

Kazmir will need more time to return, since he has to build up arm strength to allow him to throw 100 pitches.

Anderson joins coaching staff

ROGER MOONEY
rmooney@bradenton.com

DUNEDIN – Not long after Joe Maddon received word that Brian Anderson’s pitching career was over, a casualty of three torn ligaments in his pitching elbow, the Tampa Bay Rays manager called the pitcher with an idea for Anderson’s immediate future.

“He called the next day and said, ‘I wish you could be a part of it on the field,’ and on and on and on, ‘but this isn’t dead yet,’ ” Anderson said.

Maddon’s idea was to have Anderson join the coaching staff as an assistant to pitching coach Jim Hickey.

“We wanted to keep him in the organization,” Maddon said. “He’s a bright, young man. We’re not quite sure how this is going to work.”

Anderson’s duties vary. He will assist Hickey with the pitchers and will act as a liaison between pitchers and catchers.

“He’s not the assistant pitching coach,” Maddon said. “He’s the assistant to the pitching coach.”

Maddon was channeling Dwight Schrute’s title on the TV show “The Office,” which happens to be Maddon’s favorite show. Schrute is the assistant to the regional manager, Michael Scott, and not the assistant regional manager.

Anderson will also do some scouting, break down video and work with vice president of baseball Andrew Friedman.

“It’s a nice way for me to get a feel for an organization from top to the bottom,” Anderson said. “I’ve had the playing side for quite a while, and now I get to see how the other side works and go from there. Maybe at some time there is a niche that I stumble on and they’re like, ‘That’s it. That’s what you’re going to do full time.’ Who knows what will happen, but until then it will be a little bit of everything.”

Anderson signed a minor league contract and was invited to camp. His rehab from consecutive Tommy John surgeries progressed ahead of schedule, and Anderson found himself pitching in a pair of games. The first went well. The second lasted three batters.

Anderson walked off the mound at Al Lang Field on March 12 after feeling pain in his pitching elbow.

Tests the next day confirmed he tore the ulnar collateral ligament and flexor muscle in his left elbow. He officially retired.

But Maddon, who was behind the move to bring the 35-year-old into the organization, wanted to keep Anderson around.

“You’re always looking for bright young people,” Maddon said. “We got one. We don’t want him to get away.”

Anderson said he’s “honored” to be asked to join an organization in such a capacity given that he was an active player for a month. Maddon said Anderson’s tenure with the team is irrelevant. It’s his personality, experience and knowledge of the game the Rays want to tap into.

“You wouldn’t just do this with anybody,” Maddon said. “We feel he has the intelligence and the experience to take this position forward.”

Price sidelined six weeks with elbow strain

ROGER MOONEY
rmooney@bradenton.com

ST. PETERSBURG – David Price will miss the first six weeks of the season after suffering a muscle strain in his left elbow, according to Tampa Bay Rays executive vice president of baseball Andrew Friedman.
Price felt discomfort while pitching March 20 in a minor league game at the Rays spring training complex. He was examined Monday by Dr. Koco Eaton, the Rays team physician.
“The good news is it’s nothing significant, and we had that sense pretty soon after that happened, but it’s always good to get conformation,” Friedman said.
This is the second arm for Price this spring. He missed the first week of spring training after suffering soreness in his left shoulder Feb. 26.
He pitched a pair of innings for the Rays before being sent back to the minor league complex.
The first overall pick in last June’s draft, Price was expected to start the season with Class A Vero Beach.
Now, he will spend time working with the Rays extended spring team to build arm strength so he can finally reach the mound.
“The biggest delay is building him back up, not getting him healthy,” Friedman said.

Longoria News

ST. PETERSBURG - Evan Longoria won't be starting the season in Baltimore.
The Rays announced Monday that Longoria, the third pick of the 2006 June draft, has been sent down to the team's Triple-A affiliate in Durham, which is where he will begin the season.
The news came after the Rays defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates 13-4 at Al Lang Field.
"It's tough to swallow," Longoria said. Asked when he thought he thought he would be brought back up, Longoria said, "I guess that's up to me."
Longoria hit .262 this spring, and was among the team leaders in home runs (three) and RBIs (10). He appeared in 20 of the team's 21 games.

Rays Notes

By JOHN LEMBO
jlembo@bradenton.com

ST . PETERSBURG – Carlos Pena and Reid Brignac homered, and Edwin Jackson settled in after a rough start as the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 13-4 Monday during the next-to-last game at Al Lang Field. Jackson, who spotted Pittsburgh two runs in the first, went seven innings to earn his first win of the spring. He allowed seven hits, struck out two and walked two. Tampa Bay improved to 16-5 with the win, while the Pirates fell to 9-16.

NEVER GETS OLD: The Rays have found a surefire way to score three runs – put Akinora Iwamura and Carl Crawford on base, and have Pena swing for the fences. Pena has hit two three-run home runs in the last three days, and both have come with Iwamura and Crawford on base. Pena, who swatted a franchise-record 46 home runs last season, leads the team in homers (four) and RBIs (13) this spring. He is also batting .286.
THE WONDER FROM DOWN UNDER: Australian native Grant Balfour had another good outing Monday, when he closed the game with a scoreless ninth inning. Acquired last summer from Milwaukee for Seth McLung, Balfour lowered his ERA to 2.61 in nine games this spring. He has struck out eight and walked five in 10 1/3 innings, and is holding opponents to a .162 clip.

SPARKPLUG: Iwamura stoked the Rays rallies Monday, reaching base in all three plate appearances and scoring three runs. Iwamura, who batted leadoff, is hitting .316 on the season with 10 runs scored.

HE CAN HIT, TOO: Elliot Johnson may have made his name with a home-plate collision against the New York Yankees earlier this spring. But the guy has done much more than. Johnson went 1-for-2 Monday, raising his average to .465. He has team-high 20 hits and 14 runs scored, and has also drove in eight runs and homered once.

JACKSON FINDING GROOVE: Jackson appears to be getting stronger as the spring runs longer. Counting Monday’s performance against the Pirates, Jackson has allowed three runs and 10 hits in his last two starts – a stretch of 12 2/3 innings. He’s struck out nine in that span.

UP NEXT: The Rays hit the road Tuesday when they head to Knology Park in Dunedin to face the Toronto Blue Jays for a 1:05 p.m. start. Jason Hammel is expected to go for the Rays, while former Cy Young winner Roy Halladay is slated to start for the Blue Jays.

Plenty of questions to answer

ROGER MOONEY
rmooney@bradenton.com

SARASOTA – There were high-level meetings Friday night and Saturday afternoon and there was another scheduled for Sunday night when manager Joe Maddon and the Rays front office headed to a Tampa restaurant to sort through the questions that need answers.

What to do with rookie third baseman Evan Longoria?

Who is the utility infielder?

Who is the fifth outfielder?

The bullpen? Who stays? Who goes?

Spring training heads into its final week, and the Rays have a number of positions to sort out.

“I guess it could have been decided (earlier), but I’m not upset by any means,” Maddon said. “We’ve had a great spring. We’re playing hard every day. We’re doing some great things at the end of the games, so if it takes a couple of more days I’m OK with that.”

Injuries will provide some answers.

The Rays will learn Monday if Ben Zobrist needs more time for the hairline fracture in his left thumb to heal or if he can resume his work toward being a super utility player. If not, Elliot Johnson likely makes the roster.

If Willy Aybar’s hamstring isn’t quite ready the Rays may be forced to keep Longoria on the major league roster.

Plus, there is always the possibility of a trade or signing players who have been released.

The Rays are rumored to be looking for an outfielder to play right field. Boston center fielder Coco Crisp is apparently on their radar.

Also, Toronto released outfielder Reed Johnson on Sunday.

“I anticipate it will be a busy week,” Rays vice president of baseball Andrew Friedman said. “At this time of year conversations with other teams become a little more pointed, you have a little better sense of what’s available, and in the meantime trying to juggle your internal roster decisions and set our roster on (March) 30th while maintaining as much depth as we can. It’s a fluid situation. The timing aspect of it is critical to navigate as well as we can.”

At the top of the list is Longoria. The prized prospect has done nothing on the field to suggest he can’t handle life in the big leagues, but the Rays may want to start him off at Triple A Durham and allow him to build some momentum before promoting the 22-year-old to the big leagues.

Starting the season in the minors delays Longoria’s clock from ticking toward free agency for another year.

“That’s obviously a big topic of discussion,” Maddon said.

Said Friedman: “We had discussions (Saturday) night on all our pending rosters positions and we’ll have more (Sunday). In the big picture sense, health plays a role in what we’re going to do in shaping our roster and also having guys in a position to be ready for opening day. We have a lot of things to balance and go through and figure out so we’ll continue those discussions tonight.”

Maddon said he would like to keep five outfielders, six infielder and two catchers.
Dioner Navarro and Shawn Riggans are the catchers.

Zobrist, Aybar, Johnson, Andy Cannizaro and Joel Guzman are in the running for the final two spots in the infield.

Eric Hinske, John Rodriguez and Jon Weber are still competing for the final spot in the outfield.

In the race in the bullpen is between Scott Dohmann and Grant Balfour and, to an extent, J.P. Howell for one or possibly two of the final spots.

With three road games following Monday’s home game with the Pirates, it’s likely the Rays will make some moves early in the week.

“The bullpen would probably the one that goes the deepest, the other ones probably not,” Maddon said. “We should know within the next couple of days.”

Garza stretched to 95 pitches

ROGER MOONEY
rmooney@bradenton.com

SARASOTA – Matt Garza reached second base before he reached the pitcher’s mound Sunday at Ed Smith Stadium.

The Rays starting pitcher came to bat during the first inning as the Rays sent 11 batters to the plate and scored five times in what became a 10-9 victory against the Reds.

Garza drew a walk. He struck out during his other two at-bats, but showed a keen eye by getting the count to at least three balls each time.

Still, it was Garza’s pitching that he was more concerned with.

The Rays No. 2 starter threw a spring-high 95 pitches in his 5 1/3 innings. He allowed two runs, walked two and struck out two.

“I felt strong. I felt like I’m ready (to start the season),” Garza said. “The heat took its toll a little bit later in the game.”

Garza will pitch the second game of the season April 2 at Baltimore.

“I think a lot of people will tell you the same answer, let’s get going already,” Garza said. “It’s been going on a little too long.”

Maddon was glad to Garza’s pitch-count up to the high 90s. He said would have allowed Garza to finish the sixth inning, but Garza had pitched in-and-out of jams during the fourth and fifth innings.

“I just thought he was escaping some many difficulties he was always turning up the dial, and I didn’t want it happening again,” Maddon said.

Garza will start once more this spring. Maddon wouldn’t mind a little more fine tuning before the team reaches Baltimore.

“Stuff-wise he was very good,” Maddon said, “but he has to sharpen his sword a little bit in regards when he gets ahead of hitters, he has to put them away.”

Zobrist sees the doc Monday
Ben Zobrist plans on being with the ball club on Opening Day, but the Rays will wait until Zobrist has his left thumb examined Monday.

Zobrist, expected to play every position except pitcher and catcher this season, suffered a hairline fracture in the tip of his left thumb two weeks ago.

“It wasn’t a large fracture, but where it was located and the way it developed we have to be very careful that that is healed probably otherwise it can get bad,” Maddon said.

The manager added that there is a “slight possibility” of Zobrist joining the team in Baltimore.

“He has to get his at-bats,” Maddon said. “I know he kept his arm in shape and his legs in shape and his brain in shape, I understand. We’ll see. We’ll find out more (Monday).”

Also, Zobrist’s health will dictate how the roster unfolds. Elliot Johnson could make the team if Zobrist heads to the disabled list.

Kaz gleeful
Ready for your daily Scott Kazmir update?

Here it is:

Kazmir, who has missed almost a month with a strained left elbow, said he felt fine Sunday after playing catch with trainer Ron Porterfield on Saturday.

“He came in (Sunday) smiling, feeling good about himself, and that’s a good sign,” Maddon said. “When a guy is hurt and he’s coming in upbeat, you know he’s feeling better, and I think that’s what’s happening with him right now.”

When told Kazmir has always appeared upbeat when talking to reporters, Maddon said: “Behind close doors he’s been not as happy, maybe, and right now he’s kind of getting gleeful again.”

Percy struggles
Troy Percival had the worst outing of the spring when he allowed seven runs in the seventh inning. The closer allowed a two-run homer to Andy Phillips that started the Cincinnati rally and a three-run homer by Javier Valentine that finished it as the Reds turned a 7-2 deficit into a 9-7 lead.

“He got hit today,” Maddon said. “His stuff was fine from the side. He just got hit. He didn’t do anything exceptionally bad. He threw his strikes and they hit him.”

Percival was heard grunting on the mound, something the crowd at Ed Smith Stadium picked up on. Several fans began grunting as Percival began his delivery.

“He’s a grunter,” Maddon said. “When he’s not growing that’s when I’m concerned.”

Record win
The Rays rallied for their 15th win of the spring, setting the franchise record for most in one exhibition season.

“It’s nice that we played well enough to get those wins,” Maddon said. “It’s all about the attitude and doing the right things.”

Up next
Edwin Jackson starts Monday against the Pirates at Al Lang Field.

The Rays play the final two games at historic Al Lang this week. They will train in Port Charlotte begin in February.

Tickets for Friday’s finale are still available.

This & That
Carlos Pena hit his third home run of the spring, a three-run shot in the first inning that gave him 10 RBIs, tying home with Evan Longoria for the team lead … Jonny Gomes hit his third home run of the spring in the eighth … Eduardo Morlan, acquired in the trade from Minnesota along with Garza and Jason Bartlett, pitched the ninth inning. He walked two and struck out two. Maddon was impressed with his poise as well as live fastball … Al Reyes struck out the side in the eighth and earned his second win of the spring. Reyes has not allowed a run in six appearances … Reid Brignac doubled home Shawn Riggans with the winning run in the top of the ninth … Bartlett and Aki Iwamura turned two double plays … There has been no word on Jonny Gomes’ appeal of his two-game suspension.

Niemann leaves good impression

ROGER MOONEY
rmooney@bradenton.com

ST. PETERSBURG – Jeff Niemann cleaned out his locker last season after being optioned to Triple A Durham and was surprised to see a handful of reporters gathered in front of him.

Never a candidate to make the team, Niemann’s sole goal last March was to prove he was healthy.

This year it was a different story.

Niemann cleaned out his locker Saturday after again being sent to Durham, but the 6-foot-9 right-handed pitcher who was the Rays first pick in the 2004 draft leaves knowing he showed the Tampa Bay Rays he can pitch at the major league level.

“I’m just going to stay with what I’ve been doing here,” Niemann said. “I feel as back to normal as I’ve felt since I had surgery. That’s the biggest thing for me, once I’m healthy and once I’m right, I know what I can do. Now I have that confidence to back that up. It doesn’t matter where I’m pitching; I know I can pitch and I’ve just got to do it consistently.”

Niemann had a 1.50 ERA in four appearances, three starts.

He impressed manager Joe Maddon with his poise and his ability to keep the ball low in the strike zone.

“He’s starting to get it, and heads up when he does,” Maddon said.

Niemann is learning to use his height to his advantage. Being so tall, his pitches to the plate can have more of a pronounced downward trajectory, which makes it hard for batters to pick up.

“It’s an exclusive way to throwing a baseball. He’s got it, and he understands it,” Maddon said.

Niemann was asked when he thought he might surface at the major league level, a normal question for some one taken in the first round nearly four years ago.

“I’ve been asked that question the last two or three years and my answer is never right,” Niemann said. “So I’m going to take the fifth on that one.”

Howell stays in the pen
Talk of J.P. Howell moving into the mix of candidates for one of the openings in the rotation after Scott Kazmir’s strained left elbow will force him to the disabled list when the season starts was just talk.

Howell said he was told early in camp that he was going to the bullpen.
“It helped me out knowing two weeks ago instead of today when they set the rotation. I had time to prepare,” he said.

Maddon said he likes the idea of the soft-throwing left-hander in the bullpen, because hitters need at least one at-bat to adjust to Howell, which makes the pitcher less effective the second time through the order.

“As a long person he really fits the requirements,” Maddon said. “As a bullpen pitcher this is the kind of guy we can develop confidence in even later in a situation, because he has the kind of makeup to do those things. He’s very versatile.”

Howell, who has struggled as a starter at the major league level, said he’s fine with his new role.

“It’s good timing,” Howell said. “I think relieving fits my mentality right now. No doubt about it.”

The rest of the pen
Maddon set the rotation Saturday, but said it might take all of the final week of spring training to set his bullpen.

Troy Percival, Al Reyes, Dan Wheeler and Trever Miller are locks. It would appear Howell is in there as well, but Maddon said Howell is still competing for one of the final three spots.

Scott Dohmann, Gary Glover and Grant Balfour are also candidates, and Maddon has been impressed with Balfour’s work during the last week or so.

Longoria’s status
It was thought the Rays would make a decision on rookie third baseman Evan Longoria this weekend, but Maddon said that decision won’t come until sometime next week, maybe as late as March 29, the final day of spring training.

The Rays have to see if Willy Aybar is healthy enough to start the season as the third baseman if Longoria is indeed headed to Triple A Durham.

The Rays may also be giving Longoria a chance to play his way onto the big club.
Most teams will have two more cuts before the end of spring training, but Maddon said the Rays may just wait until the final day to set their roster.

“If this runs the course of the entire week I’m OK with it,” Maddon said.

Kazmir update
Scott Kazmir (left elbow strain) played catch with Rays trainer Ron Porterfield on Saturday, throwing the ball 25 times at a distance of 90 feet.

Kazmir still thinks he can be ready relatively early in the regular season.

“Any time we play catch my arm feels strong, so I don’t feel I have to build up arm strength,” he said.

He also said he and Porterfield will devise a throwing scheduled in the next few days that will end with Kazmir pitching for the Rays sometime in April.

Up next
The Rays travel to Sarasota for an Easter Sunday match-up with the Reds.

Matt Garza will start for the Rays.

Niemann sent to Durham

ROGER MOONEY
rmooney@bradenton.com

ST. PETERSBURG – Rays manager Joe Maddon will announce his rotation after Saturday’s game with visiting Pittsburgh. The picture began to clear moments after first pitch when it was announced Jeff Niemann was optioned to Triple A Durham.

The 6-foot-9 right-hander was 2-0 in four appearances, three starts, with a 1.50 ERA.

“I felt I came in and threw the ball pretty well, but that’s how it goes,” Niemann said. “It was totally out of my hands.”

With Niemann gone and Scott Kazmir headed to the disabled list, the rotation will likely look like this: James Shields, Matt Garza, Edwin Jackson, Andy Sonnanstine and Jason Hammel.

J.P. Howell, who started against the Pirates on Saturday and allowed two runs in the first inning, will likely head to the bullpen.

Last year, Niemann came to camp intent on proving to the Rays that he was healthy.
This year he had a different goal.

“To show them that I can pitch in the major leagues,” he said.

Sonnanstine in the rotaion?

ROGER MOONEY
rmooney@bradenton.com

TAMPA – Rays manager Joe Maddon will announce his pitching rotation Sunday and there’s a good chance Andy Sonnanstine will be one of the five.

The right-hander made a strong case for himself Friday with five scoreless innings against the Yankees in the Rays 2-1 loss at Legends Field.

“No question,” Maddon said. “Yes, he made a very good case for himself.”

Sonnanstine allowed just three hits and lowered his ERA to 0.64. He’s allowed just one run in 14 innings this spring.

“I felt like I showcased what I had pretty well,” he said. “I was ahead of hitters and pretty much stuck to the game plan, so I’m very happy with the way I performed.”

He pointed to a victory at Yankee Stadium last August as a possible turning point to his season.

“That’s a tough lineup that’s for sure. But after that game in New York where I got the win, that was a confidence booster for me,” Sonnanstine said. “I know it can be done, so I try to think like that every time I face them.”

He proved that again Friday against a Yankees lineup that included Johnny Damon, Derek Jeter, Bobby Abreu, Alex Rodriguez, Jason Giambi, Robinson Cano and Melky Cabrera.

“Sonnanstine looked rally good,” Maddon said. “Very sharp. He had everything working and made good pitches when he had to. It was a very impressive performance, I thought.”

Sonnanstine wasn’t sure if he was pitching for a spot in the rotation, the bullpen or headed to Triple A Durham this spring. Yet he has been the most effective of the five candidates vying for the last three spots in the rotation.

“Definitely,” Sonnanstine said. “There’s been a lot of what ifs, but those decisions are not up to me, so I’ll go with the punches and be glad to come to a big league spring training.”

Play of the Game
The Rays trailed 2-0 in the ninth when Johnny Gomes walked, moved to second on a wild pitch and scored on a double by Evan Longoria. The Rays rookie third baseman worked the count 3-2 and fouled off seven pitches before doubling home Gomes.

Eric Hinske followed with a line drive to right-center field.

“When he hit it I thought it was 3-2,” Maddon said. “And he couldn’t have hit it any harder. The wind was blowing in enough that it held it up.”

Yankee center fielder Brett Gardner ran the ball down near the wall to prevent the tying run from scoring.

“It was a great play,” Maddon said.

Play of the Game II
Robinson Cano was on first with one out in the fifth inning when Yankee catcher Chad Moeller bounced a slow roller over the mound. The ball looked headed to center field when Rays second baseman Elliot Johnson caught up with on the run, spun, jumped and threw Moeller out at first.

“The play by Johnson I thought showed a lot of good baseball instinct, because the runner was going to second base and you think it would be easier to flip, but he was going so hard in the direction that he was that to stop and flip it to second was a harder play,” Maddon said. “I was really impressed with that play, the athleticism and the mental wherewithal on the play.”

Injury updates
Catcher Shawn Riggans (bruised left hand), infielder Willy Aybar (left hamstring) and infielder Andy Cannizaro (back) are expected to rejoin the lineup Saturday against the Pirates. Scott Kazmir (elbow) played catch with trainer Ron Porterfield. Second baseman Aki Iwamura (lower back stiffness) is expected to play Sunday against the Reds in Sarasota.

Up next
J.P. Howell starts Saturday against Pittsburgh during the first of two trips to Al Lang by the Pirates in a three-day span. Howell is one of five pitchers in competition for the final three spots in the rotation. The left-hander could end up in the bullpen if he doesn’t make the rotation.

Zack Duke is expected to start for the Pirates.

This & That
Maddon said Cliff Floyd will spend the majority of the season as the DH … Longoria now has the team lead in RBIs with 10. He’s batting .289 … Elliot Johnson began the day leading the American League Grapefruit League teams in hitting with a .457 average and an on-base percentage of .512. Eric Hinske was fifth in batting at .382 … James Shields pitched seven innings of one-hit ball for Triple A Durham against Scranton on Friday. He allowed an unearned run and struck out seven.

Injury not serious, Upton could return Saturday

ROGER MOONEY
rmooney@bradenton.com

TAMPA – The swelling subsided in B.J. Upton’s left triceps Friday, but the Rays center fielder was held out of Friday night’s game against the Yankees at Legends Field.

“It stung a little bit, but it calmed down as the night went on,” Upton said. “I had a lot more movement in it (Thursday) night and (Friday) morning. It felt good.”

Upton was struck by a pitch thrown by Paul Byrd in the first inning of Thursday’s game against Cleveland in Winter Haven. He immediately left the game and drove back to St. Petersburg, where X-rays revealed it was just a bruise.

Upton is not scheduled to play Saturday against visiting Pittsburgh, but said he would lobby to be in the lineup.

Rays manager Joe Maddon would like to give Upton more time off, but since there was little swelling Friday, Maddon said he could be persuaded to change his mind.

“He can talk himself into it,” Maddon said. “If he’s really convincing, we’ll do the ‘Boston Legal’ thing, the closing argument. If he’s convincing, if he plays Alan Shore very convincingly, then I’ll be willing to listen. He’s one of my favorite characters maybe of all time, he’s that good at it.”

Upton injury not believed to be serious

ROGER MOONEY
rmooney@bradenton.com

WINTER HAVEN – The Rays received a scare in the top of the first inning Thursday when B.J. Upton was drilled above the left elbow with a fastball from Cleveland’s Paul Byrd.

He walked slowly to first and was attended to by Rays assistant trainer Paul Harker for about three minutes then left the game.

“He couldn’t get a good feel or grip or close his wrist,” Rays manager Joe Maddon said.

The official word from the Rays is Upton suffered a contusion in his triceps and returned to St. Petersburg, where he saw one of the team doctors.

“I don’t think it’s anything serious,” Maddon said. “It just hit him in a bad spot. It swelled up very quickly.”

The irony was Upton was originally scheduled to play center field, but was moved to designated hitter after the Rays arrived at Chain O’Lakes Park and saw the remains of a big puddle in shallow center field. Maddon decided not to play Upton in the outfield so as not to risk a leg injury while running on the soggy turf.

So he leaves the game with an arm injury from batting.

“We’ll see later, but I think he’s going to be fine,” Maddon said.

Second baseman Aki Iwamura left the game with stiffness in his lower back, but Maddon expects Iwamura to play tonight against the Yankees in Tampa.

Longoria update

WINTER HAVEN - Tampa Bay Rays manager Joe Maddon wouldn’t indicate which way the Rays are leaning when it comes to Evan Longoria on Thursday morning, but did say a decision will come soon as to whether the rookie third baseman opens the season in Durham or with the Rays.
The decision could come as early as Saturday when the Rays make their next round of cuts.
If Longoria is headed to Durham, Maddon wants him to have enough time to get over the sting of the demotion and still have time to prepare for the season.
And if Longoria is going to make the big club, Maddon wants him to get over the excitement of making his first big league roster and prepare for Opening Day.
Factoring into the decision is the health of Willy Aybar, who has not played all week because of a tight hamstring. Maddon is hoping Aybar will play Friday night against the Yankees.

Roger Mooney, Herald Staff Writer

Hammel not impressed with his spring

ROGER MOONEY
rmooney@bradenton.com

WINTER HAVEN – Jason Hammel is one of five pitchers vying for the three openings in the rotation, and if you ask him, he’ll tell you the other four are having better springs.
“I haven't performed as well as I wanted to,” Hammel said Thursday after pitching 4 1/3 innings in the Rays 4-4 tie with Cleveland. “There's a lot of good arms here. I've given it my best, and we're making adjustments, and we're improving, and we'll see how it all falls into place.”
The right-hander allowed three runs on four hits Thursday. He walked two and struck out three.
Hammel found himself in trouble in the second inning when he walked Kelly Shoppach with one out then allowed a home run to Andy Gonzalez one out later.
He fell behind in the count often and needed 86 pitches to get through 4 1/3 innings.
“When he broke out his slider he started pitching a little more. I liked it,” Rays manager Joe Maddon said. “I think in the beginning of the game he was trying to force his fastball, and it wasn’t there command wise.”
Jeff Niemann, who pitched the final four innings and allowed just one run, Edwin Jackson, Andy Sonnanstine and J.P. Howell are the other four finalists.
Howell and Sonnanstine have ERAs of 1.00. Niemann’s is 1.50.
Jackson has a 5.40 ERA, while Hammel lowered his to7.64 on Thursday.
Earned runs are not the deciding factor on who makes the rotation and who doesn’t. Maddon wants his pitchers to pound the bottom of the strike zone and pitch to contact.
Despite being somewhat wild Thursday, Hammel did that.
So did Niemann.
Maddon said Niemann is very much in the mix, but of the five, Niemann is the one who will probably begin the season in Triple A Durham.
Of the remaining four, the two who don’t earn a spot in the rotation will likely begin the season in the bullpen. Howell seemed destined for the bullpen until the injury to Scott Kazmir opened up a third spot in the rotation.
Hammel has followed a rough outing against Cleveland on March 10 when he allowed nine earned runs with two good outings.
“I felt all right (Thursday),” he said. “I made some good pitches when I needed to, but I probably put too much pressure on myself, got behind in the counts. I got to work on getting ahead with the fastball again. That was basically the only problem.”
When asked if he felt he showed enough to gain a spot in the rotation, Hammel said, “No honestly. There's other guys who have thrown better than me. I haven't pitched to my potential, but I'm going to. I can definitely get better. I'll keep working hard and it will take care of itself.”
Maddon was pleased to hear Hammel’s self-evaluation.
“I like it. We talk about guys being accountable, and I kind of like the fact he’s not pleased with himself,” Maddon said. “I’m pointing out the better things he did (Thursday), but he knows there are some things he could do better, and I like that. This guy is not afraid. He has great make up, great poise. He just has to be able to make better quality pitches when he wants to, and he knows. His self-evaluations will permit him to get better.”
Maddon said he will announce the rotation Sunday.

Niemann goes four
Jeff Niemann pitched a season-high four innings, though it would have been three had he got out of the ninth without allowing the trying run to score and force an extra inning.
Maddon was pleased with the way the 6-foot-9 Niemann held Jose Constanza on first in the ninth, which enabled catcher Josh Paul to throw out Constanza as he tried to steal second.
“He’s a big man and he can’t be ultra-quick to the plate, because he has long limbs, and he takes a long time to unload the ball,” Maddon said.

Weber goes yard again
Jon Weber, trying to make the squad as the fifth outfielder, raised his average above .200 with a 3-for-5 day that included a home run to right field. He also scored a run.
It was Weber’s second home run of the spring, and it game with two-out in the fourth inning of Cleveland’s Paul Byrd and tied the score at 2-2. The non-roster invitee is now batting .222.

Up next
The Rays play the Yankees for the fourth and final time Friday night in Tampa. It is the Rays lone night game of the spring.
Andy Sonnanstine will start for the Rays. Darrell Rasner is scheduled to pitch for the Yankees.
The Rays are 3-0 vs. the Yankees this season.

This & That
Dioner Navarro hit his second home run of the spring. He also batted second, doubling to right field in his first at-bat … Jonny Gomes played moved from right field to center in the sixth inning, playing center for the first time this spring … Reid Brignac tripled … Former Ray Jason Tyner, a non-roster invitee to the Indians camp, had two hits in five at-bats and scored once. He’s hitting .294 this spring … Catcher Shawn Riggans is expected to play Saturday, a week after bruising his left hand when he was hit by a pitch. He made the trip to Winter Haven and warmed up the pitchers in the bullpen.

Upton leaves game with injury

Rays center fielder B.J. Upton left Thursday's game against the Indians in Winter Haven after he was struck on his left triceps by a pitch from Paul Byrd in the first inning.

Upton walked slowly to first base as Rays assistant trainer Paul Harker worked on his arm.

Upton reached first base but left the game immediately.

He will have the injury X-rayed once the team returns to St. Pete later this afternoon.

Upton was supposed to play center field but was moved to designated hitter because of a large puddle in shallow center field. Rays manager Joe Maddon didn't want Upton to risk a leg injury while playing on the soft turf.

Shields named Opening Day starter

ROGER MOONEY
rmooney@bradenton.com

ST. PETERSBURG – The worst kept secret around the Tampa Bay Rays is now official: James Shields will start Opening Day on March 31 at Baltimore.

Rays manager Joe Maddon told Shields before Wednesday’s game against the Phillies.

“He was very excited,” Maddon said. “This young man is quite a competitor, and he said, ‘I’m ready. I’m ready to do this.’ I said we know you’re ready to do this.”

The spot came open when it became evident that Scott Kazmir will not be ready by the start of the season. The lefty, who pitched the previous two season openers for the Rays, is still trying to work his way back from a strained left elbow sustained Feb. 26.

“It's one of the biggest honors a starter could ever have,” Shields said. “I've worked hard to get here so it's very gratifying.”

Shields was 12-8 with a 3.85 ERA in 31 starts last season.

He’s 3-0 with a 1.84 ERA in four starts this spring.

“If Kaz can’t do that we have a pretty good alternative in Mr. Shields,” Maddon said.

Kazmir is 0-1 with a no-decision in his two starts. He took the loss at Baltimore in 2006 and received the no-decision last April at Yankee Stadium.

“The unfortunate thing about it is you don't like to get it this way without Kaz,” Shields said. “But now that I am (the Opening Day starter), I'll be doing the best I can. And hopefully he'll be back real soon. Like I've said all along, he’s our ace.”

Jackson has best outing of spring

ROGER MOONEY
rmooney@bradenton.com

ST. PETERSBURG – Edwin Jackson had his best outing of the spring Wednesday when he held the visiting Phillies to just one run on three hits in 5 2/3 innings. Jackson hit two batters, walked another and struck out spring-high seven.

“I liked it from an execution perspective,” Rays manager Joe Maddon said. “Better location down. A better slider today. Overall I thought he pitched pretty well, and I thought it was his best outing to date.”

Jackson retired the first 11 batters he faced before drilling Chris Snelling with a slider on his right foot with two-out and two strikes on Snelling in the fourth inning.

“I was trying to bury a slider inside to the left-handed hitter,” Jackson said. “I buried it a little too inside.”

A leadoff double by Geoff Jenkins in the fifth broke up Jackson’s no-hitter. Carlos Ruiz drove Jenkins home with a two-out single to left.

Jackson ran into a little trouble in the sixth when he allowed a two-out single to Snelling, walked Ryan Howard and hit Jenkins on his right foot. It was the same pitched he tried to throw to Snelling two innings earlier.

That was Jackson’s final pitch. Al Reyes came on and got the final out of the inning.

Jackson was pleased with his outing.

He eliminated the big innings that usually plague his starts.

Jackson will assume one of the spots in the rotation. He’s just not sure which one it will be.

“I’m not worried about that,” he said. “I’m just going out there and trying to be me.”

Kaz update
There hasn’t been much news with Scott Kazmir other than he will not be the Opening Day starter, which Maddon finally confirmed after Wednesday’s game.

Kazmir did throw with trainer Ron Porterfield before Wednesday’s game. But what’s next is still up in the air.

“He’s going to come in (Thursday) and we see how he’s doing, we’re going to make that evaluation in a daily basis,” Maddon said. “He is able to throw right now. We’re going to talk to Ronnie and find out on a daily basis what he can do when he walks through that door and we’ll build the day around how he feels.”

Now that’s relief
The bullpen continues to pitch well.

Reyes came in with the bases loaded and two out and got Pedro Feliz to foul out to catcher Mike DiFelice to end Philadelphia’s threat in the top of the sixth.

Troy Percival, Grant Balfour and Scott Dohmann followed with a scoreless inning each.

In fact, the Rays bullpen did not allow a hit.

“Real crisp out of the bullpen, and that was nice to see,” Maddon said.
Maddon was especially impressed with Balfour.

“I like what Balfour is doing right now,” Maddon said. “He is down in the zone more now than he has been, probably at any time, and I like that.”


Respect for Longoria?
Evan Longoria, the Rays rookie third baseman, came to bat with runners on second and third and one out in the sixth inning and was walked intentionally, which drew boos from the nearly sold-out stadium, but smiles from Maddon.

“I liked it,” Maddon said. “They’re playing to win this game. I kind of liked the whole think. It indicates to me they’re trying to win the game, and I respect that.”

And?

“And it was Longoria,” Maddon said.

Longoria eventually scored on a double by Jason Bartlett. He’s batting .313.

New look
The Rays debut their white home uniforms Wednesday.

”They’re much warmer than the other ones,” Maddon said.

The uniforms are all white with short sleeve jerseys. They also wore the all blue game caps they’ll wear during the regular season.

“I like them,” Maddon said. “They are ultra white. I think they are the whitest jerseys I’ve ever seen.”

Injury front
The timetable for when catcher Shawn Riggans returns from a bruised left hand has not been fixed.

"Right now, we want to get him back to swinging,” Maddon said. "We are just going to take it a day at a time, and I think he's going to be fine over the next couple days.”

Infielder Andy Cannizaro continues to workout with the team during batting practice, though on a limited basis.

Infielder Willy Aybar is out of the lineup with a tight right hamstring. Maddon wasn’t sure when he will return.

There is still no progress on pitchers Kurt Birkins (irritated ulnar nerve in left elbow) and Chad Orvella (strained right bicep).

Today’s action
The Rays make their first of two trips to Winter Haven on Thursday to play the Indians. Jason Hammel will start for the Rays. Paul Byrd is expected to pitch for the Indians.

This & That
B.J. Upton’s leadoff double in the sixth sparked a three-run rally. Cliff Flyd and Mike DiFelice had RBI singles. Jason Bartlett had an RBI double … Elliot Johnson began the day third in the American League with a .469 batting average. Former Rays prospect Josh Hamilton, now with the Rangers, led the league with s .556 average. Johnson’s 12 runs scored were second in the league … Matt Garza’s 15 1/3 innings was second in the A.L., behind Detroit’s Jeremy Bonderman, who had 17 2/3 innings … The Rays play just three more games at Al Lang, Saturday and Monday against Pittsburgh and March 28 against the Reds.

Longoria produces and waits

ROGER MOONEY
rmooney@bradenton.com

CLEARWATER – Even Longoria hit his team-leading third home run Tuesday against the Phillies and Bright House Field and started an inning-ending double play in the sixth after dropping to his knees to field the hard-hit grounder to third, and how those play in his immediate future is still a mystery.

Rays manager Joe Maddon said after the Rays 4-2 loss that a decision on Longoria’s fate is imminent, but he doesn’t know when one will be made.

“We’re still evaluating everything,” Maddon said. “He had himself a nice day. A real nice day.”

At the beginning of camp, Maddon and vice president of baseball Andrew Friedman said the decision on whether Longoria begins the season in the major leagues or Triple A Durham would be made in the middle of March.

But that deadline came and went and Longoria is still here.

“Nobody has said anything,” Longoria said. “I show up at the field every day ready to play.”

Longoria is batting .333 with three home runs and nine RBIs, which are tied for B.J. Upton for the team lead. He said he’s not feeling the pressure of trying to impress he front office, nor is he feeling the strain of wondering about their decision.

“Not really,” he said. “I’m not pressing at all. I don’t think I really need to do anything as far as physically, if I keep working hard and doing what I do every day, I have to stay in my routine and worry about that.”

If Longoria doesn’t make the team, Willy Aybar will likely start the year at third base.

Garza looks sharp in six innings

ROGER MOONEY
rmooney@bradenton.com

CLEARWATER – Matt Garza has pitched against the best the Detroit Tigers have to offer. Same with the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox.

So, naturally, he would go to work Tuesday and face a Philadelphia lineup that included Jimmy Rollins, Shane Victorino, Chase Utley, Ryan Howard and Pat Burrell.

“That’s how my spring is,” Garza said.

Here’s something else about Garza’s spring: It’s going very well.

Garza, the projected third starter in the Rays rotation, became the first Tampa Bay pitcher to go six innings when he threw 85 pitches in the Rays 4-2 loss to the Phillies.

He allowed four hits, three earned runs, struck out three and walked three.

“Take (Geoff) Jenkins home run away and he pitched pretty well,” Rays manager Joe Maddon said. “Overall, I was very pleased with his performance.”

Jenkins homer was a bomb to right field that cut through a stiff breeze and landed near the top of the berm in right field.

“I felt good. I felt in control the whole game,” Garza said.

He was able to use all his pitches, getting curveball over for strikes in the later innings. That he needed just 85 pitches to get through six innings was a plus, Garza said.

“That’s outstanding for me,” Garza said. “Usually I’m 100 pitches in six. That’s perfect for me. That’s what I’m working for, pitch efficiency.”

Maddon said they will try to get Garza to throw 100 pitches in his next start then back him off in his final start of the spring. With Kazmir injured, Garza will start the second game of the season.

Wanted: Lefties for Miller

Trever Miller faced two batters in the seventh inning. It wasn’t the two Maddon hoped Miller would face.

“We were trying to get him some lefties. We need to get him some lefties,” Maddon said. “We talked about that when spring training began, but we’ve just had a hard time getting him a left-handed hitter. We’d like to be able to match it up.”

Miller, a left-hander whose job this season will be to face left-handed batters, faced the right-handed hitting Chris Coste and pinch-hitter Chris Snelling, a left-hander.

He retired Coste but walked Snelling.

Maddon was hoping to get Miller in the game earlier to face Chase Utley and Ryan Howard, but Garza was too good.

“He had a nice slot today, but those guys were all gone by the time we had a chance to get to (Miller),” Maddon said.

So Miller will head to the Rays minor league complex Wednesday and pitch in a minor league where he will face nothing but lefties.

The move has two purposes: to get Miller some work against lefties and allow him to pitch on consecutive days.

He’ll be joined by Dan Wheeler and Gary Glover.

Glover pitched against the Phillies on Tuesday, and Wheeler pitched in a minor league game.

No perfect game here

Philly starter Cole Hamels retired the first 14 batters he faced and didn’t come close to allowing a hit to any of them.

“Oh yeah,” Evan Longoria said when asked if he was aware of the perfect game. “We weren’t going to let that happen.”

Longoria broke up the perfect game with a line drive home run into the tiki bar behind left field, turning on a two-strike fastball with two outs.

“He just tried to elevate a fastball and raise my eye-level, but he got it a little too low,” Longoria said.

Still, Hamels was outstanding, allowing just two hits and striking out seven in six innings.

“Hamels was really good for them,” Maddon said. “I’ve heard about how good he is, and I saw it (Tuesday).”

Wednesday’s game

Edwin Jackson makes his fourth start of the spring Wednesday against the visiting Phillies. Also scheduled to pitch are Scott Munter, Scott Dohmann, Troy Percival and Grant Balfour.

Jamie Moyer is scheduled to start for the Phillies.

This & That
Despite the loss, the Rays are off to their best spring training start in the team’s 11-year history … J.P. Howell continues to impress out of the bullpen, throwing a perfect inning with two strikeouts against the Phillies … Jon Weber started in center field and made a nice catch off Jimmy Rollins line drive into the center field gap in the first inning, catching up with the ball at the warning track after a long run … Longoria now leads the team with three home runs and is tied with B.J. Upton for the lead in RBIs with five … Andy Cannizaro (back inflammation) returned to practice Tuesday … Chad Orvella (bicep tendentious) said he’s “day-to-day,” but does not know when he will return.

Anderson's injury catches Kazmir's attention

ROGER MOONEY
rmooney@bradenton.com

ST. PETERSBURG – Brian Anderson felt a little something in his pitching elbow last Wednesday, and that something turned out to be a career-ending injury.
Don’t think Scott Kazmir didn’t notice.

“I didn’t want to get too many images in my head about what was going on,” Kazmir said Tuesday morning. “But yeah, I talked to him a little bit about it right when he came in afterwards.”

And Anderson’s advice: “Dude, don't rush it at all. This is a perfect time to do that, Spring Training.”

That’s one reason Kazmir was shutdown Saturday, just one day before he was to make his first start of the spring. The strain in his left elbow, which he suffered Feb. 26, appears to need more time.

How much time, no one knows. Kazmir will miss his first start of the season, which was supposed to be in Baltimore on Opening Day. He could miss more, and Kazmir said he is prepared for that scenario.

“(I) don’t want to have to battle it the whole season,” Kazmir said. “Maybe miss one start. Once I get in there into the games, I want to be there for the whole season. That’s kind of what we're going for.”

Everything will play off when Kazmir begins throwing.

He was supposed to long toss Sunday, but that was scrapped. So, too, was a throwing session Tuesday.

Rays manager Joe Maddon was not sure when Kazmir’s rehab will allow him to throw again. Neither does Kazmir.

“I'm just going on what the trainers tell me what they want to do,” Kazmir said. “So they pretty much have a game plan. So I'll follow what they say. But like I said, we’re not going to rush it. If I miss one start, it's not going to make a difference, as long as everything is going to be good from then on.”

Zobrist return ahead of schedule

ROGER MOONEY
rmooney@bradenton.com

ST. PETERSBURG – Rays utility infielder/outfielder Ben Zobrist had the cast removed from his left thumb Monday and said he expects to be ready by Opening Day.

“I think so,” said Zobrist, who suffered a hairline fracture of the tip of his thumb sliding into second base March 9 in a game against the Reds. “In my mind I’m going to be back. I’m going to be ready to go. My goal is to play a couple of games the last week (of spring training).”

Zobrist said he will need to be able to slip his hand into a glove before he can return to a game. Right now, the thumb is still sore enough that it hurts when he squeezes his thumb against an object. He can swing a bat, though.

“Hitting-wise, my thumb is not even on the bat,” Zobrist said.

Rays manager Joe Maddon isn't ready to place Zobrist in the Opening Day roster, at least not now, anyway.

“You have to get at-bats, you have to do all the little things you need to do to get ready for the season. I’m not sure about that just yet," Maddon said. “He’s been doing everything he could do under the circumstances to stay ready. He just has not been able to hit, which would be a big factor.”

Zobrist was expected to miss four weeks with the injury, which force him out of the lineup during the first week of the season. He said last week he didn’t think he would need that long. Having the cast removed a week ahead of schedule bolstered that claim.

“I’m really excited about this,” Zobrist said.

Heat slows but doesn't stop Shields

ROGER MOONEY
rmooney@bradenton.com

ST. PETERSBURG – It was a great day to run the Bay-to-Bay 12K across St. Petersburg on Sunday morning what with the low cloud coverage, fog and cool breeze off the water.

Excellent conditions for a strenuous outside activity.

Not so six hours later when James Shields took the mound at Al Lang Field. By then the clouds had cleared and the sun was out and the temperature rose from 76 degrees at game time to the mid-80s.

“The heat was turned up all of a sudden,” Rays manager Joe Maddon said.

And Shields felt it. That, coupled with a cold he’s been fighting the past few days caused Shields to struggle early, especially in the first when he hit a batter and walked another.

Still, the right-hander who will pitch the season opener in place of the injured Scott Kazmir threw 4 2/3 innings scoreless innings and earned the victory as the Rays won 7-2. He walked three, struck out four and allowed just two hits.

“My body was drained the first few innings and I just tried to overthrow, compensate for my energy level,” Shields said. “The last two innings I toned that down a little bit and concentrated on throwing strikes.”

Shields hit Curtis Granderson to start the game, then allowed a hit-and-run single to Palcido Polanco. But he got Gary Sheffield to pop out to first, and catcher Mike DiFelice threw out Granderson trying to steal third base. Shields ended the inning by striking out Jacques Jones.

“He wasn’t as sharp as normal in regards to his rotation, but he got the appropriate number of pitches in and made some good pitches when he had to,” Maddon said. “The walks were a little uncharacteristic. I think he may have been a little bit not feeling it, and he wanted to force it at times. But once again, he demonstrated that even when he’s not at the top of his game he pitches pretty well.”

Shields walked Edgar Renteria to start the second. That’s when DiFelice went out to the mound.

“He’s a veteran,” Shields said. “If I had kept going I might have thrown a lot of balls in the next AB. But he came out and gave me a breather and gathered myself.”
Shields settled down and struck out Brandon Inge and retired the next two Tigers on ground balls.

In between innings he headed to the trainers room and had ice placed on his neck so he good cool off.

“I went out there earlier in the day, this morning and it wasn’t that hot,” Shields said. “It was overcast. But I’ve been kind of sick the last couple of days, my body hasn’t been feeling good, and the heat kind of got me the first couple of innings.”
Shields has thrown a team-high 14 2/3 innings. His ERA is 1.84, second lowest on the team among starters. Jeff Niemann has a 1.13 ERA, but he has pitched just eight innings.

Another home plate collision

Renteria ran over DiFelice while trying to score from first in the sixth inning, but no fingers were pointed and no one accused anyone of being “boarder line criminal.”
“I didn’t think anything of it,” DiFelice said. “I was taught to block the plate. It’s a defensive play. We’re supposed to stop runs. I don’t think anything of it. It was a baseball play, and luckily he was out.”

Said Maddon: “I was good with the entire play.”

Riggans OK

Shawn Riggans feared the worst when he took a fastball off his left hand Saturday against the Atlanta Braves at Disney’s Wide World of Sports.

For someone who has been injured so often during his career, the pain led him to believe he was headed for the disabled list again.

But X-Rays showed only a bruise, and Riggans won’t catch for four or five days until the bruise heals enough to allow him catch a pitch without pain.

“Luckily it hit the meaty part of my hand,” Riggans said. “At first I thought it was bad news. Finally I caught the break I’ve been looking for.”

Johnson in center field

Elliot Johnson pinch-hit in the sixth inning and stayed in the game, playing center field during the final three innings. Maddon wants to see if Johnson, an second baseman by trade, can be as versatile as Ben Zobrist, the man Johnson might replace on the Opening Day roster.

Johnson showed Maddon what he could do by racing to his left to make a diving catch a line drive by Detroit’s Max St. Pierre.

“(Right fielder Jon) Weber moved me over just before the pitch,” Johnson said. “He was like, ‘Get over here.’ He moved over about five steps.”

Johnson said he took a bad angle on the ball but made up for it with the dive.
“It was a very good play,” Maddon said.

Johnson said he is getting comfortable playing the outfield. He takes fly balls out there during batting practice played three innings in right field Saturday.

“I’ve always had natural outfield instincts going back on the ball,” he said. “Coming in is a little more challenging. The more I get out there it’s not as difficult as I thought it was.”

Johnson had a two-run single in the seventh off Bobby Seay with the bases loaded that drove home the final runs of the game. He’s now batting .517 with seven RBIs.

“He’s having a good spring,” Maddon said.

That he can play center field well enough to make a diving catch only enhances Johnson’s worth to the team.

“A play like that is cool for me so (Maddon) can take a look and say, ‘Hey. Maybe this guy can play out there,’ and slide me on that roster to Baltimore,” Johnson said.

Rays win 13th

Aki Iwamura singled home Mike DiFelice to start a three-run third inning as the Raysbeat the visiting Tigers 7-2 for their 13th win of the spring and moved one win shy of tying the franchise record for Grapefruit League victories. The 1999 and 2000 squads both won 14.

The Rays have 14 games left.

The 2005 and 2006 squads each won 13 games.

The Rays won just 10 times last spring.

Next game

The Rays are off today. They return to action Tuesday in Clearwater against the Phillies. Matt Garza is scheduled to make his fourth start of the spring.


This & That
B.J. Upton drove in a run Sunday with a sacrifice fly to give him a team-high nine RBIs this spring. His sixth inning double was his team-high fifth two-base hit of the spring … Troy Percival’s run of consecutive perfect appearances was stopped at three when he allowed a leadoff single to Gary Sheffield in the sixth inning. Percival had retired the first nine batters he faced this spring … Andy Sonnanstine worked the final three innings as he gets stretched out to possibly fill a spot in the rotation … Sunday’s attendance of 6,755 was the largest crowd to see the Rays play at Al Lang.