The Rays win a few games and maybe you start to feel better about this team. If you squint you can see a road to the postseason. Maybe even a team that could get lucky in a 3 game Wild Card series.
And then you get a game like this.
You remember that Ryan Pepiot, who at the moment is the only pitcher other than Rasmussen that has earned any faith at all, is actually kind of meh. He has his moments! Today he pitched five great innings and one terrible inning, and maybe if Cash had anticipated the sixth inning collapse a little earlier, had someone warming, pulled Pepiot say after he walked Willy Adames on four completely uncompetitive pitches, things would have gone better, but he stuck around long enough to give up four runs.
(I was convinced that Pepiot was one of those guys who faded when he hit the third time through the order, but I checked his splits and actually, first time through his FIP is 4.05 and third time through it’s 4.82 so actually he’s just a very mid pitcher who has flashes of a guy who could be better).
Then you remember that maybe Cash didn’t have the bullpen warming at the start of the sixth because he had used the pen heavily in the previous two games, and the guys who were available just aren’t that good. And as if to prove that point, Mason Englert eventually replaced Pepiot and proceeded to give up three more runs.
And watching Chandler Simpson misplay what should have been a routine single into a run scoring double, you remember that Simpson has amazing speed that somehow isn’t enough to be a good outfielder.
You also remember that there are a lot of black holes in the lineup. When B Lowe and Junior go hitless, as they did today (with Caminero striking out four times), all you get is five scattered singles. Facing an effective pitcher like Logan Webb, they aren’t particularly good and making adjustments. I don’t know, maybe Webb made zero mistakes today and no team would have been able to fight off that hard sinker but other than Kim (two singles) and Diaz (a single but also an actual fly ball), everyone seemed content to strike out or pound easily fielded grounders.
You are surprised to realize that you miss Johnny De Luca, whose body decided to give out on him in the year when he finally remembered how to hit. Heck, sometimes you even miss Taylor Walls.
At least Bob Seymour got his first major league hit. I hate to see guys get called up, parents in the stands, and then go 0 for infinity.
This brings the Rays’ two week road trip to a close. The team will get to sleep in their own beds and then play baseball in the unrelenting heat we’ve been getting.
