SB Nation User Blog: Erik Hahmann

Gone But Not Forgotten: Mike Kelly

Erik Hahmann — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 02:43:07 -0000

While searching for a topic for this week's piece I began, for one reason or another, to think about my favorite (Devil) Ray players of years past. The usual suspects came up; Crawford, Shields, Kazmir, McGriff, etc. A name that appears on my list, and I'm sure no one elses, is Mike Kelly. Hell, I'm sure some(most) Rays fans have no idea who Mike Kelly is.

Michael Raymond Kelly was the Devil Rays starting left fielder in the first game in franchise history.

Kelly was an outstanding collegiate hitter. In fact, while playing for Arizona State in 1991 he was outstanding enough to win the 1991 Golden Spikes Award, given to the top player in the country. The 1991 draft saw Kelly selected second overall by the Atlanta Braves, one spot behind punchy Yankee prospect Brien Taylor. Even after a couple of disappointing minor league seasons Kelly was somehow promoted to the majors in the 1994 season. Kelly would play in 30 games and post an OPS of .806 despite a .300 OBP before the strike shut down the season. In 1995 Kelly would appear in 97 games but starting just 26 of them. His good OPS-fortune from the season before would not transfer over. In his 153 plate appearances Kelly would hit .190 and produce a .572 OPS. Apparently the Braves had seen enough of the outfielder as they would trade him to the Reds in exchange for Chad Fox prior to the 1996 season.

Kelly's stay in the Queen City wouldn't work out any better. He would play in only 19 games for the Reds in 1996 and produce an OPS of .660, though higher than his 1995 total, was still embarrassing. For some reason the in 1997 the Reds felt the need to give Kelly more than double the amount of plate appearances he had received the year before(60 to 151). Kelly took full advantage, turning the 151PA's into an .881 OPS due largely to his absurd .543 slugging percentage. The Reds took full advantage of that fluky season and traded Kelly to the expansion Tampa Bay Devil Rays in exchange for the man who had been taken two spots behind him in the 1991 draft, Dimitri Young. The Devil Rays would give Kelly something he had always wanted, a starting job. Although he would end up splitting most of the at bats with the immortal Rich Butler, Mike Kelly would play more than he ever had before and the 12 year old version of myself would be there in the left field seats every game, watching him, cultivating my love of the game. He'd finish up the season with a slash line of .240/.295/.401 and be released after spring training the following year. Kelly signed with the Rockies in 1999, but would only get two at bats all season. Those would be the final two at bats he'd see in a major league uniform.

After being out of baseball from 2000-2002 Kelly signed a minor league contract with the Royals prior to the 2003 season. He arguably had his best season as a professional baseball player that season, hitting .296/.382/495 in full time duty with the Royals AAA team. Released following the season Kelly gave it one last shot with the Yankees at the age of 34. He hit resonably well (.784 OPS) but was never going to get the call from New York and hung up his cleates for good at the end of the season.

I Google'd my damndest trying to find out what Mike Kelly is doing with his life these days but my efforts came up empty. His Wikipedia entry may be the least populated page ever. No matter what he is doing now---selling insurance? Used cars? Both?---I hope he has fond memories of that god-awful inaugural Devil Rays team. I know I do. Thanks Mike.

via www.autograph-sports.com

Possible Backstop Solutions: Chris Snyder

Erik Hahmann — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 03:13:58 -0000

Over the past several months we've talked an awful lot about the Rays catcher position; Will Navarro be back? Zaun? There really haven't been many alternatives discussed. One candidate, at least in my mind, is Chris Snyder*.

*You can add this to the long offseason wishlist of players who we'd like to see the Rays go after.;

Snyder was taken in the second round of the 2002 draft by the Diamondbacks. He would advance fairly quickly through the Arizona system, piling up a little over 1,100 minor league at bats before being called up to the big club from AA El Paso in 2004. The call up was well deserved as Snyder hit .301/.389/520 in 401 at bats. He began the 2005 season as the Diamondbacks' starting catcher but struggled mightily while posting a .598 OPS in 115 games. Those terrible numbers would lead Arizona to trade for then All-Star catcher Johnny Estrada, pushing Snyder to the bench, to begin the 2006 season. In limited duty Snyder would post a .773 OPS, nearly 200 points higher than the year before. With his bat seemingly back on track Snyder regained the starting position on the 2007 team as Estrada was shipped to Milwaukee. The next two seasons would see Snyder post OPS's of .775 and .780, both numbers more than respectable for a catcher.

After a career season in 2008 in the Diamondbacks looked to avoid arbitration and inked the 27 year old catcher to a 3 year, $14.25 million deal. The 2009 season would not nearly be as good. Plauged by lower back problems for most of the season, Snyder was limited to just 165 at bats in 65 games. He would see his OBP, SLG, and LD% all fall short of career norms. One reason for this drop in production, the injury notwithstanding, could be a decreased BABiP. Though never one to have even a league average BABiP, it was just .280 and .290 in '07/'08, Snyder would get particularly unlucky in 2009 as it fell to a Navarro-like .241. That number is almost assured of rising in 2010. If Snyder is healthy again I see no reason why he couldn't put up numbers close to his '07/'08 seasons. Seeing as how well Miguel Montero has played in Snyder's place I highly doubt the Diamondbacks want to pay Snyder $4.75 million this season to ride the bench.

I don't know what kind of wizardry it would take by Andrew Friedman and company to get Snyder on this team, but I'm supportive of any deal that brings Snyder to St. Petersburg.

Blogger Nine Innings

Erik Hahmann — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 02:06:23 -0000

Blogger Nine Innings

My mini-interview with Jesse Spector of the NY Daily News. Follow him on twitter as @jessespector .

The Last Man Sitting

Erik Hahmann — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 00:59:38 -0000

One of the more interesting story lines of this offseason, to me at anyway, will be the competition for the last remaining bench spot*.

*This is barring any major trades or signings before opening day

The Rays came into 2009 with a fairly strong bench consisting of Ben Zobrist, Gabe Kapler/Gross, Willy Aybar, and Shawn Riggans. Although he was already getting semi-regular at bats, Ben Zobrist was thrust into the starting lineup when Aki Iwamura went down with a knee injury in late May. That injury forced the Rays to call up players like Reid Brignac and Joe Dillon to warm the now vacant bench spot. Shawn Riggans suffered his usual injury set back which allowed Michel Hernandez a roster spot until the Zaunbie Nation came to Tampa Bay. The bench was obviously stretched out more than the Rays would have liked last season but it did an admirable job. The options for 2010 will offer a slightly different cast of characters.

Fernando Perez:

-Perez has long been one of my favorite Ray players, but that’s been more for his talents off the field than on it. A useful reserve outfielder for most teams, Perez may be forced out of a roster spot with the Rays thanks to a likely Matt Joyce/Ben Zobrist platoon in right field. Perez would be better served playing every day in Triple A and working on the next great American novel instead of wasting away at the end of the Rays bench.

Reid Brignac:

-The probable shortstop of the future, Brignac does have an option left and would no doubt be better off playing full time at Durham than riding the pine in St. Pete. Unless the Rays trade Jason Bartlett I don't see Brignac beginning the year on the Rays bench.

Gabe Kapler:

-Kapler is an interesting candidate. He doesn't yet have a contract for 2010, but the Rays would be in need of a right handed outfield bat coming off the bench. Kapler earned $1m last season and did job very well, putting up an OPS of .931 against left handed pitching. If Kapler is willing to accept another contract of $1m, or maybe a little less, I think the Rays have to seriously consider bringing him back.

Willy Aybar:

Aybar will undoubtably be a member of the Rays' bench in 2010 as the primary backup at 3B/1B. Even though Aybar rated uncharacteristically poor at every defensive position he played in 2009 he isn't a liability with the glove and his bat more than holds its own. The addition of Sean Rodriguez will drastically cut into the amount of games Aybar sees at second base next season. His salary of $1.35m is very reasonable for the production he provides.

Sean Rodriguez:

The main piece in the Scott Kazmir trade, Rodriguez will likely be the platoon partner of Ben Zobrist at second base and is able to backup Jason Bartlett at shortstop. He'll strike out enough to get the local fans to boo him, but his versatility and power bat should be enough to assure himself of a bench spot in 2010.

Matt Joyce:

I see Matt Joyce being a part of what I'm calling the Ben Zobrist Platoon menage a trois. Joyce starts in right field against right handed pitchers while Zobrist starts at 2B. Against southpaws Joyce would sit in favor of the switch hitting Zobrist, while Rodriguez would play second base. Joyce spent most of 2009 in AAA and played well enough to earn a promotion, not to mention the fact that Gabe Gross and Gabe Kapler are not likely to return.

Catcher:

The plan for a starting catcher is still up in the air, so I'm even going to begin to speculate on who the backup will be, but obviously there will be one on the roster.

I'm not sure which direction the team will go, but I'm strongly in favor of the re-signing of Gabe Kapler. They could go with a four or five man bench next season depending on how they decide to structure the bullpen. If they choose a four man bench I think Rodriguez, Aybar, Kapler, and Catcher would be the best fit to begin the season. If they go five then I would lean toward Fernando Perez to fill the last spot, if only for his pinch running abilities. No matter who they choose or how they structure it, the Rays will once again have a cost effective and productive bench in 2010.

Ben Zobrist Enjoys White Squares Under His Feet

Erik Hahmann — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 22:11:54 -0000

More photos » by Steve Nesius - AP

5 months ago: Tampa Bay Rays' Ben Zobrist, right, celebrates as he rounds third base after hitting a two-run pinch-hit homer off Oakland Athletics reliever Andrew Bailey to tie the game during the ninth inning of a baseball game, Thursday, May 21, 2009, in St. Petersburg, Fla.The Rays came from behind to beat the Athletics 6-5. (AP Photo/Steve Nesius)

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The amazing-ness of Ben Zobrist’s 2009 season has been talked about many times on this site. While he didn’t set any club records or did he lead the league in any individual category, but Zobrist did do something that only two players in the illustrious history of the Tampa Bay Rays had ever done before him; End the season with an on base percentage of over .400* (.405 to be exact).

*min. 300 ABs

The Rays' first .400+ OBP season came at the hands, and eyes, of Fred McGriff in the team's second year of existence. The Crime Dog would strike out just 107 times while drawing 86 walks in 620 plate appearances. He also hit .310 with 32HR and 104 RBI. We've seen some very good seasons the past couple of years, but McGriff's 1999 season still ranks as one of the best in team history.

It would be eight seasons before another player would reach the .400 OBP mark. That man would be Carlos Pena. The 2007 season was nearly as big of a surprise for Pena as the 2009 season was for Zobrist. Pena had at least shown flashes of what he was capable of, while Zobrist had not. He would take the American League by storm by posting a slash line of .282/.411/.627. The .411 OBP stands as the club record, and unless Zobrist can duplicate his 2009 season or B.J. Upton gets back to his walking ways I don't see Pena's record falling any time soon. However, a .405 OBP is nothing to be ashamed of.

Had I polled everyone here back in April on who they thought would lead the Rays in OBP this season I’m guessing the responses would have been some mixture of B.J. Upton, Carlos Pena, Evan Longoria, and maybe even some dark horse candidate votes for Carl Crawford. How many of you would have said Ben Zobrist? If you’re hand is raised then you may be the biggest liar the world has ever seen. It will be extremely difficult for Zobrist to duplicate his 2009 success, but if he keeps his O-Swing% around where it finished this season (19.3%) he should be able to maintain an OBP in the .380 range.

One last thing on Zobrist. It’s been written about here and in other places, but seriously, how amazing is it that Zobrist lead the majors in WAR? Ben freaking Zobrist? I mean, a tall, lanky, former shortstop turned super utility man with virtually no track record of offensive success, be it minors or majors, magically morphs into the most valuable player in the game for one season? Really? It would be like J.J. Redick suddenly becoming the most valuable player in the NBA next season. It’s almost crazy enough to make me want to build a time machine, go into the future, steal the Sports Almanac from Biff Tannen, find a bookie who takes bets on WAR, and put my life savings down on Ben Zobrist. Almost.

The Unluckiest Pitcher

Erik Hahmann — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 22:18:54 -0000

To say this has been a strange season would probably be an understatement. We saw everything fromplayers with seemingly little offensive skill putting up spectacular seasons, to 9th inning collapses so bad you had to call into work sick the next day. But perhaps nothing was more strange than Matt Garza's 2009.

Matt Garza had one of the flukier seasons in (Devil) Rays’ history. I wrote about it a few months ago when it was a possibility but now it’s become a reality; Matt Garza finished with the lowest RS/9 in the American League at 3.68, and second place (Jarrod Washburn 3.94) wasn’t particularly close. In fact he has the lowest RS/9 of any (Devil) Rays’ pitcher with 120IP since Scott Kazmir in 2006(3.67), FanGraphs began keeping track of the stat during the 2002 season. Kazmir's 3.67 isn't that shocking considering the Devil Rays scored a Major League low 689 runs that year. Garza on the other hand had a lineup behind him that scored a team record 803 runs which was good for seventh in all of baseball. yet somehow he has the lowest RS/9 in the AL. That is truly amazing considering the talent on 2009 offense as opposed to the horror shows that constituted the lineups for the majority of the 2002-2008 teams.

Since 2002 a Rays' pitcher has only recorded a RS/9 below 4.00 four times. Garza(2009), Kazmir(2006), Jeremi Gonzalez(2003) and Tanyon Sturtze(2002). That 2006 team was lead in OPS by Greg Norton. Enough said.

Garza is nearly the same exact pitcher he was a year ago, with peripheral numbers nearly identical to one another across the board and FIP's of 4.14 and 4.17. The only numbers radically different are the ones in the Wins/Losses columns. We all know that judging a pitcher solely on wins and losses is about the worst way one could go about things, but after awhile you just start to feel bad for a guy. Even last season Garza had the lowest RS/9 on the team at 4.58. Maybe the offense just severely dislikes him, but I doubt that. He's pitched well enough to win at least a dozen games this year, but had to settle for just eight. Maybe he should go cut off the feet of some rabbits, or perhaps sneak into Tampa Bay Downs and make off with a sack full of horse shoes. Until he does here's hoping that the unluckiest pitcher in Rays history can get a little more support next season.

Taking Things For Granted

Erik Hahmann — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 21:40:20 -0000

Tis better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all. We all know the famous saying, but does it hold true when talking about baseball?

The (Devil) Rays were a putrid team for their first 10 years in existence. Then 2008 comes around and things change. The team starts to win. The fan base grows. The fruits of continually having high draft picks combined with a new, shrewd, Front Office begin to show. The Tampa Bay area falls in love with baseball. The fan base is like the young, bashful, dorky kid in high school who gets a girlfriend after years of rejection and instantly falls in love for the first time. The Rays are this girlfriend. A whirlwind romance follows. Month after month goes by and you start to feel as if you are one. When they’re sad, you feel for them. When they’re happy, you share in the exuberance. You’ve never felt this way before and think it will last forever. You hit a little rough patch in October, but you push through it, knowing that the following year is going to be the best yet. Then that year starts out a little different. Maybe she seems a little distant. When you look into her eyes you no longer see that same person you fell head-over-heels in love with. The little things that were quirky and cool and worked out so well last year don’t seem to have the same touch this time around. As the year drags on you notice her doing things like hiding her text messages, having to take care of her ‘sick mother’ a bit too often on Friday nights, hitting into one too many double plays, what have you. Eventually she comes to you and tells you it’s over and that the same magic just isn’t there from last summer. You’re heartbroken. After years and years of constant rejection you finally find your dream situation, and then before you know it it’s gone.

If 2008 had never happened this Rays season would be looked at as pretty successful, no matter how the final couple of weeks play out. Instead of being so negative and ripping into this team every chance you get, as I’ve heard/read many people in this market do this season, remember what we as a fan base went through from 1998-2007. Having a team that was in playoff contention in August was something we could only dream of. We’d have killed to realistically be able to speak of wild cards and MVP candidates. Has this 2009 team underachieved? Probably, but they know that. Don’t turn on them for having a season where they’re going to win around 85 games. Does this season hurt more than the others? Of course it does, but we should relish in that pain because it’s been 100x more fun to watch the team in 2009 than in 98-07 combined.

Remember, there’s always another pretty girl waiting around the corner in 2010…

Per @tborays

Erik Hahmann — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 22:06:13 -0000

Per @tborays

#Rays Dominican Summer League OF Waldo Rosario suspended 50 games for positive Stanozolol test

The Rays And Run Support

Erik Hahmann — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 01:09:17 -0000

More photos » by Steve Nesius - AP

This look pretty much says it all.(AP Photo/Steve Nesius)

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As I write this the Rays are losing 4-3 to the Tigers, and any hope the Rays had of making the post season seem to be slipping farther and farther away. Despite the fact that the Rays seasons looks like it will not end in another World Series run, the team can still make some history.

What kind of history you ask? Well, it's rare. But not rare in the good sense.

As it stands right now the Rays sport the most supported and least supported starters in the American League in terms of runs scored per 9 innings(RS/9). The most supported starter being Jeff Niemann at 6.96 RS/9 and the least being Matt Garza with a 3.73, though James Shields is not far behind with his 3.76.

Garza is the 6th least supported starter in all of baseball with Shields being the 7th. The two trail only Barry Zito, Aarong Harang, Kenshin Kawakami, Kevin Corriea, and Doug Davis. It's not surprising to see those names topping the list, seeing as how they play for some of the worst offensive teams in the game. Garza and Shields, however, happen to play for a team that has scored the 5th most runs in baseball.

I wondered how many teams, if any, have ended a season with the most and least supported starter on their roster. Since I'm too lazy to actually look the data up myself, I enlisted the help of Jesse Spector (@jessespector on Twitter) from the New York Daily News. Mr. Spector found that the last team to pull it off was the 2002 Colorado Rockies with Dennis Stark receiving the most and Shawn Chacon receiving the least. However, Spector could not find an AL team since 1980 that has done it. If the season ended right now, the Rays would pull off the rare feat. Edwin Jackson and his 3.81 RS/9 has a chance to usurp Garza/Shields' place upon the least support mountain top, but Jeff Niemann's lead as the most supported AL starter seems safe with second place Joe Saunders trailing by more than half a run.

It would be extremely hard, and also impressive, to make the playoffs while housing the two least supported starters in your respective league. If the Rays are going to get into October those numbers probably can't remain. But If this team doesn't have another playoff run in them, I hope they can grab a little slice of history somewhere else.

Rays Blow Lead Late In Loss To Tigers

Erik Hahmann — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 20:05:37 -0000

More photos » by Duane Burleson - AP

2 months ago: Tampa Bay Rays starter Jeff Niemann pitches against the Detroit Tigers in the third inning of a baseball game Sunday, Aug. 30, 2009, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Duane Burleson)

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Please do not blame this loss on Grant Balfour. Of course he's not totally without blame, but this one rests on the shoulders of Joe Maddon.

Maddon has developed a habit this season of sending his starter back out to begin an inning when he was visibly struggling through the previous inning. The tired starter normally ends up allowing the leadoff batter to reach base somehow, and is then replaced by a middle reliever. Why doesn't Maddon just have the middle reliever start the inning? I really wish I could tell you. He's seemingly done it more and more as the season has progressed, and it's getting to be almost comical.

I was talking to Tommy during the game and when the 7th inning ended he predicted Maddon would send Niemann out to start the 8th despite the signs of fatigue that Niemann displayed in the 7th. Of course, Maddon did, and Tommy said, and I quote, "Niemann will walk or give up a hit to the leadoffman. Then Balfour will come in and get an out, give up a hit, then Choate or Wheeler will come in." That was close. Niemann gave up a leadoff double and Grant Balfour was summoned from the pen. Balfour recorded two outs and with Curtis Granderson due up next was not taken out of the game for some reason. Thre Rays have not one, not two, but THREE left handed relievers in their bullpen. If you hadn't noticed, Curtis Granderson is also left handed. Here are Granderson's career numbers against RHP and LHP:

vs RHP: .295/.370/.530/.900

vs LHP: .211/.274/.355/.629

As you can see, the man is incapable of hitting lefties. It would seem like an ideal situation to use Choate, Shouse, or Howell. Instead, Jim Hickey went to the mound and when he left it was pretty clear what he had told Balfour; pitch around Granderson. And Balfour did, Granderson ended up on first base which brought the go ahead run to the plate. We know how that ended up. Yes, Balfour gave up the game winning (or losing if you're a Rays fan) home run, but he shouldn't have been in there to throw that pitch in the first place. I rarely blame a loss on a manager, but this game was in Maddon's hands, and he dropped it. If the Rays miss the playoffs I know some people are going to blame it on the trade of Scott Kazmir. When in fact it's games such as these they are going to keep the Rays home in October.

-It was nice to see Aki hit his first home run in nearly a year.

-Also, it was nice to see Evan Longoria hit his first home run in nearly 20 games.