RaysUp - Rays minors are rolling with talent, Caminero, Simpson, Williams & Wild

Descript RaysUp Pitching Taj Bradley at the Trop BaseballBiz On Deck with Mat Germain

[00:00:00] Mark Corbett: We'll be doing things a little bit differently this week on baseball biz on deck. We're actually splitting the show up into two parts. There'll be the normal, regular part where Mat and I are talking about what's going on with the Tampa Bay Rays. And then we have a special guest on part two, and that's going to be with Miss Colleen Wright.

[00:00:18] Mark Corbett: She is a journalist, a reporter for the Tampa Bay times, and that's Tampa bay. com. You can find it there as well. So that will be part two. It's going to be an exciting show with a lot of great information. And so let's get started.

[00:00:43] Mark Corbett: Welcome. I'm Mark Corbett. And with me today is Mr. Mat Germain. Once again, with here, we are on a raise up edition of baseball biz on deck. Hey, Mat, how the heck you doing today, brother? 

[00:00:55] Mat Germain: I'm feeling the 500 heat, Mark.

[00:01:00] Mark Corbett: Oh gosh, you know, when I first started learning some, some things about sports and, and I heard the team was at 500, I thought, Ooh, man, that must be good. 500. No, no, no, Mark. No, that means 50%. What? Yeah, that means 50%. Oh, I was a slow learner back then. Of course, some things don't change anyway. Oh, brother. Yeah.

[00:01:24] Mark Corbett: What, what about that? I mean, Aspirations been running high last week. We were talking, we're at, uh, 25 percent of the season's gone and man, it's been an interesting few days, but. 

[00:01:37] Mat Germain: The way that I like to think about it is, um, the, the Rays had a makeshift train when they left the station in April or in March.

[00:01:47] Mat Germain: And, uh, and that train, you know, they, they had to get off of that train and onto the actual race train. And, uh, for some reason, they're having a hard time getting that train going. So they need to throw some more coal in that engine and get it rolling so that they can actually, uh, get some for momentum, but it's taking a while to get going.

[00:02:06] Mat Germain: No doubt. 

[00:02:07] Mark Corbett: Well, I think we need to get LL Cool J to get him out there and just get that train going, brother. You know, you see him just crashing through the walls and He's got a guy for that by the way I mean that's Yeah Yeah, we we need we need something happening brother So I don't I don't know that train or maybe it's more like the harry potter ones you can't really find the right train because It's that little special portal to go into hogwarts That's right.

[00:02:35] Mark Corbett: We're not talking quidditch here, boys and girls. We're going to try to come back to baseball. And Mat, you're the Mr. Scout, and I want to pick your brain for some positivity that's not happening in Sands Tropicana Field. I'm talking about above and beyond it. Durham, Charlotte, Montgomery, Bowling Green.

[00:02:55] Mark Corbett: Tell me some of the brother share some sunshine. 

[00:02:59] Mat Germain: All right, well, we'll start with Durham since you started there. Junior Caminero is playing second base and leading off tonight. So there's, there's two trains of thought there. The first is that they're having him lead off, which is, you know, trying to get them the maximum amount of at bats per game.

[00:03:15] Mat Germain: So sometimes that can happen when they're trying to get somebody, uh, you know, the last little looks on before they call them up. So that's encouraging. The other part is the second base because I think everybody's. You know, in the same frame of mind that somebody is going to have to move if he plays third base, uh, more than likely be sock parade is going to first base, but he's not as good at first baseman as Yandy Diaz.

[00:03:38] Mat Germain: So instead of moving everybody around, they're trying to see if Junior Caminero can fit in that second base. It does a couple of things. It also means that Curtis Mead gets more work at third base, which is always good for him. Uh, he still has to work on some throws and things like that, but junior is doing well.

[00:03:53] Mat Germain: And, and, uh, Last night, they had a new pickup in Durham called Angel Sanchez, and he was 34 years old, threw a gem last night, six innings, two hits allowed, a shutout, and really, really, really looked good. I thought it was interesting that he just hops on. He basically stole the start from Shane Boz, who's starting tonight.

[00:04:16] Mat Germain: And that's the other, you know, positive spin is Shane Boz is, uh, at first I was worried that he was hurt because he missed the start last night, but no worries. He's on there today and, uh, velocity looks good. So those are three intriguing pieces they brought in. I think Angel Sanchez might be because of Jake Jacob, uh, wag, uh, you know, being on a 60 day IL, maybe they're, they're looking for somebody like him to fill that spot for a bit.

[00:04:43] Mat Germain: And then when we go to double a Chandler Simpson, the, the, the roadrunner, uh, promoted from, uh, Bowling green up to, uh, Montgomery, his first game, he gets three stolen bases, you know, welcome to double a channel.

[00:05:02] Mat Germain: So, so he's, uh. He's on pace right now. Like if you were, so I posted this just the other day, uh, at the time he had 599 at bats in the minors, he's on pace to basically exceed 130 stolen bases in a season. 

[00:05:16] Mark Corbett: If he 

[00:05:18] Mat Germain: gets that. So, so, I mean, you're talking about, you know, a guy that if he doesn't steal a base, you're, you're kind of wondering why he didn't.

[00:05:28] Mat Germain: You know, to that point and, and he's hitting ahead of Carson Williams, which everybody knows is one of the hottest bats right now in the minors and, and, uh, MLB pipeline, baseball America, everybody is, is starting to trumpet him as, as possibly an even better prospect than junior Kevin narrow. And that's extremely intriguing.

[00:05:46] Mat Germain: And I think the reasoning behind that is that his defense is, is, is no question. Um, so remember when Taylor walls was coming up, everybody was talking about his 60 or 80 grade D. Um, well, basically Carson Williams is that, and he has power in his bat and he has speed. So, so I think they're putting it all together and saying, because of the position he plays, uh, that's a premium, premium player.

[00:06:11] Mat Germain: And then Right. Carson Williams this year has elevated his hit tool to the point where now, you know, he's going to hit at the MLB level more than likely. It's never a guarantee, but, and then beyond that, um, looking at, uh, Bowling Green, uh, Owen Wilde was just promoted today, uh, from, uh, Charleston up to Bowling Green and Owen Wilde's a guy that a lot of people are starting to take note of because he's, he's getting just a bit over a K per inning, um, pitched and, and he's got some really, really good control.

[00:06:48] Mat Germain: Um, everybody seems to like how, uh, how his composure is on the mound, his command. So I think he's, uh, he's in one of those arms to watch. And he got a promotion ahead of some other, you know, higher profiled prospects like Santiago Suarez. So that tells you a little bit about how ready, uh, the race feel he is.

[00:07:08] Mat Germain: And he's only 21 years old. Um, Looking at the standings. Montgomery is in first place in their division. That's in double A. Uh, when you're looking at over at the, um, uh, the A plus level, uh, you also have Bowling Green at first place in their division. So those are the two areas of strength I would say for the raise right now where they have a glut of really, really, really talented teams in a plus and double A.

[00:07:36] Mat Germain: Uh, and they also have junior Caminero and a couple of other interesting guys in Triple A. So everything's chugging along really well for the Rays and the Miners. And, uh, I think, you know, there's a one last note that I would make. It is Braylor Guerrero, which was one of their higher, uh, International prospects that they signed recently.

[00:07:57] Mat Germain: Uh, he's 17 years old and, you know, 17 years old is a young age. Usually to bring guys up to the, uh, FCL, um, it's the rookie level, uh, league and, um, and they brought him over and he's lighting it up. He's just. He looks like he needs to get promoted so that he can be challenged sort of guy. So that's exciting because the, the Rays haven't had that, um, really much in, in, in low weight right now in Charleston, they're having a little bit of a hard time getting runs across.

[00:08:26] Mat Germain: So if he could get promoted to, uh, the A level, I think that would help them out a lot. And he's been playing a lot of center, center field. He has solid speed. So to have that kind of power bad, maybe in center field, uh, with that plus hit tool. That's really intriguing. So it's an extra note I'll make on that.

[00:08:45] Mark Corbett: Wow, man. I love the positivity oozing out of you about the minor leagues of the race, man. This is fantastic. The 1 challenge I'm having is looking at all these rays and maybe coming back soon and will there be a place for him. We're talking about Taylor walls coming back soon, and I just don't know 1 is there going to be a spot for him?

[00:09:07] Mark Corbett: I mean, everything that I'm hearing says, yes, he's going to be back. He's coming all the way up. He's going to be array again. We're talking about moving people out. You and I were saying last week, Harold Ramirez and, uh, Siri or candidates to not be there. What do you think? 

[00:09:24] Mat Germain: I think that's still the case.

[00:09:26] Mat Germain: Harold Ramirez hasn't started, or sorry. He's only started once in his last five games, including tonight. So that's an indication that they're, they're starting to have a hard time fit, finding a spot for him in the lineup and they're, they're paying him a decent amount of money. So I think, you know, the Alexander Bogarts got injured in for San Diego.

[00:09:45] Mat Germain: There's a couple of other injuries around the league where I think the Rays will try to find an opportunity right now. They have a lot of off days coming up. So they're able to carry more hitters and less pitchers. So they're making do and they're trying to find a right deal. I think, um, and, and trying to work out who that'll be.

[00:10:02] Mat Germain: Uh, Jose Siri is getting a little bit more playing time, but that's, you know, when he's focused, he can play to a really high level. So I'm not as positive that they'll move on from Jose Siri as I am that they'll move on from, uh, From Harold Ramirez, uh, just mainly because Ahmed Rosario really stole Harold Ramirez, Marie Ramirez's role, um, because he can play right field and left field just as well as Harold can, and he can also do the entire infield.

[00:10:33] Mat Germain: Um, when you have that kind of right handed bat, you know, on the bench, then what is Harold Ramirez's role? It gets a little bit, you know, Minimized is the best way to put it. So if, if I'm a team out there in, in, in the majors and I'm looking at, uh, uh, you know, I'm in a division where I have to, my team has to face a lot of left handed pitching, Ramirez is a really interesting piece to add that probably wouldn't cost very much.

[00:11:02] Mark Corbett: Well, and that's the key with everything with the raise is trying to find the best deal that it can and still keep a quality product out there on the field. And that ain't always easy, but they seem to do a pretty good job of it right now. It just seems like there's been so many people out, but I mean, that's, it's been a challenge.

[00:11:20] Mat Germain: Yeah, I think sometimes we're not as forgiving on players that are essentially going still through their spring training right now. Uh, and Brandon Lau, Josh Lowe, Johnny Aranda. You know, they're, they're getting up to speed. Sometimes guys will click quicker, uh, quicker than others. Uh, but the rays have also faced a lot of good pitching.

[00:11:39] Mat Germain: Like I'm not, I mean, the Jays have good pitching. The Yankees are good pitching. The Red Sox are good pitching. It's the ALBs for a reason. Uh, nothing's been easier given to the race. So the fact that they've been 500 through this stretch of AL East. You know, play, uh, is still solid. Uh, you, I think we've been a little bit spoiled in, in how dominant the rays have been, you know, in recent years.

[00:12:02] Mat Germain: So we're expecting that level of, of consistency and dominance. Uh, and sometimes you just don't get it. Sometimes you have to wait for things to catch up and click. Um, I'm hoping that happens soon so that. The right deals are made in the right personnel put in place, but though, you know, there's a lot of pressure, especially when you have junior Caminero and other pieces that, you know, are coming back and are going to force your hand pretty soon.

[00:12:31] Mark Corbett: Well, let's go back to some of your saying a moment ago about the pitching in the AL East. And I have to tell you, man. The way the game started out the other night, and you had Taj Bradley and Tanner Halk out there, uh, pitching. It was amazing. Those first three innings just completely knocked me down. I mean, looking at Taj, man, he wasn't the first three innings, eight of the nine batters that came out, he struck out.

[00:12:57] Mark Corbett: Bam. There you go. I mean, that, that was just amazing. And we always talk about when you see a batter, or excuse me, when a batter sees a pitcher for the second or third time, they usually maybe learn a little bit and can change things out. But last night with Bradley, they figured out at the first go round.

[00:13:18] Mat Germain: Yeah, I don't think that's what it was. I think it was more of a, the, the pitch mix and pitch selection needs to be more varied with Taj and he doesn't need to use his fast ball as often as he does, and he needs to start working the curve ball in a lot more because like you're saying the second time through there needs to be more deception on that.

[00:13:39] Mat Germain: But, but stuff wise, I don't, even if you know. The fastball is coming. If it's in the right location, I still don't think they would hit it out. Um, so Taj Bradley's, uh, only really sore point since he's come up and into the league, it has been giving up home runs. Generally speaking, his stuff in terms of swing and miss is way beyond.

[00:14:03] Mat Germain: Where David Price, Blake Snell and Chris Archer were at his age at this point in his career. So, you're talking about a guy who, you know, when you're putting him amongst the raised greats of all time, he's ahead of them in that. So that, that just tells you about the potential of where he may be headed eventually.

[00:14:21] Mat Germain: He does need to sort out that, um, turning from a thrower to a pitcher. And I think that's where it, you know, it clicked for Blake Snell, it clicked for David Price, et cetera, to the point where you start. Pitching a little bit more smart and not trying to blow the doors off the place when you're pitching and for Taj.

[00:14:45] Mat Germain: He's still a very young guy and he's coming back from injury on top of it. So he's just happy to be out there healthy and chucking it. So, at some point, they're going to have to sit down and kind of work out. Okay, where. Do we need to pitch and, and how many pitches can we waste and which pitches should we be wasting during a count so that we don't have these occurrences of a home run ruining your outing, you know, here and there.

[00:15:12] Mat Germain: Um, so it's, it's a valid point, but I think Taj is ceiling. I'm so excited by it that, that sometimes I, I have to kind of stop myself from tweeting out. You know, stuff that could get him come back to bite me later on the best way to put it. 

[00:15:29] Mark Corbett: He is exciting to watch. I know you were talking about him a long time ago before he even got up to the race where he's at now.

[00:15:36] Mark Corbett: I mean, the man seems to keep his composure. That's something we said last week. I don't be too much repeating the same thing over and over, but it Maters to be able to do that. And I think still has. Uh, he was able to come back even after he had some real, I don't want to say failings. He, he had some real issues for a while in that game, but he still seemed to come back.

[00:16:01] Mark Corbett: And I think that's because of his attitude and his composure. So I look still for a lot of great things to come from him. One thing though, last night, he put a big stop sign up to Raphael Devers. Well, yeah, I'm sorry, Rafi, you know, he's been what, how many, uh, he had six games straight with a home run and then last night that didn't happen for him.

[00:16:25] Mark Corbett: And that's Taj is part of the reason why that didn't happen. So he was, uh, I guess Rafi Divers was pretty much sitting up there in the clouds with the greats from the Boston Red Sox of long before. And was hoping to get that seventh straight game with the home run, but was denied. 

[00:16:47] Mat Germain: Yeah, I don't know if you saw the single that Devers hit, but in the at bat, you could tell he was trying to hit one out, and then eventually he settled for the single, just because there was no way he was going to catch up to it to get it out the way that Taj was pitching at the time, but yeah, you know, you tell a lot from a player when they pitch to certain people a certain way.

[00:17:11] Mat Germain: The other thing I'll throw out there too, from that start, and I tweeted this, the Rays, I don't know what their scouting plan is for, for, uh, Jaron Duran, but, but it's wrong. Like he's, he's lighting up the Rays like a Christmas tree. It's insane what he's doing this year. He's got, I think it's seven extra base hits in, in less than 40 at bats.

[00:17:33] Mat Germain: And, and he's just like a 429 average or something like that. And, and. He, they can barely ever get him out. So when, when Jaron Duran does damage against Taj Bradley, and part of me goes, is that partially on the scouting that, you know, on where they thought they could attack him to get him out. A lot of times that can be the case, uh, without us knowing, and it has nothing to do with Taj or his stuff, right?

[00:17:58] Mat Germain: Um, so yeah, I enjoyed the start. I thought it was a lot of fun. I wish it would have gone a little bit cleaner. Uh, but I'm really excited about the next time Taj goes up and I think it's against the Royals on Sunday. 

[00:18:11] Mark Corbett: Well, I'm looking forward to seeing him again anytime. And you know, some days are going to be better than others.

[00:18:15] Mark Corbett: And that's just the way the game is. And, you know, being a race fan, I still find myself kind of partially pulling for Rafi the other night to, to get one more home run. And if I was a Red Sox fan, I would have been really ticked when the Rays did an intentional walk on Devers and said, you know, just, you're not going to give you the set pad.

[00:18:36] Mark Corbett: Just go ahead. Just walk on down to first. We're not going to give you a chance to hit it too far. It's 

[00:18:42] Mat Germain: like the guys who sit down for the last two games of the season so they can win the batting title, right? 

[00:18:47] Mark Corbett: Yeah.

[00:18:51] Mat Germain: It's a similar kind of thing. 

[00:18:52] Mark Corbett: Yeah. I'd forgotten about folks who did that. You would see some players basically not play so they could keep the title by it because it's being measured by the number of games they play and that's, yeah, it's, it's insane. It's insane, right? Oh, I see. I did want to talk about Tanner Hauk for just a little bit to, you know, was he amazing?

[00:19:14] Mark Corbett: Yeah, 

[00:19:15] Mat Germain: you know, there's a lesson there and watching the Red Sox and how Bailey's kind of redone their pitching staff that and they mentioned it on the broadcast last night. The use of the 2 seamer, and that's a pitch that the Rays have gotten away from for some reason. And I think they, they. You know, could look to bring it back for some of the guys that can, that can do well with it, uh, because it's, you know, it's obviously throwing the rays way off their game.

[00:19:41] Mat Germain: And I think you through the league, looking at the Red Sox performances, it seems to be having the same impact everywhere. Sometimes that can be because it went out of fashion for a long time and people aren't used to recognizing it. So it's possible they'll catch up to it again over time. Um, but it's really, really, really, really get setting their whole staff up at another level from what we saw last year.

[00:20:05] Mark Corbett: It's, it is interesting to see that I wasn't expecting this much strength from the Red Sox at some point in the year. And let's see, I was reading a little bit more about Tanner. I don't see an article by Mark Paulus, I believe in MLB trade rumors. Said the Red Sox have not signed out to an extension. He does not qualify for arbitration until this upcoming winter.

[00:20:26] Mark Corbett: You would think they'd want to sew him up at a decent rate, but I guess they've got some flexibility. Let's see here. Even in a season marked by impressive pitching around baseball, how could so that as a 1. 9 F war and is behind only Tarek Scubo as the highest in the league. That's in an article from the Boston Globe that last part.

[00:20:47] Mat Germain: Signing pictures to extensions is such a sketchy thing. You look at the Rays and Shane McClanahan as a perfect example. If they had signed him to a huge extension, you know, five, six, seven years, and he had the Tommy John like he has, then all of a sudden you're left holding a bag with a guy, you know, that's had two Tommy Johns now, and you're crossing your fingers that it's not going to happen again.

[00:21:11] Mat Germain: There's a lot of, um, Bad contracts that have taken place with pitching because of that, uh, and the way things are going right now until they figure out how to keep guys healthy for a longer period of time, I think you're going to see minimal amounts of extensions, even when they're pitching really well, like tanneries.

[00:21:30] Mark Corbett: Well, I'm looking for a little levity, I gotta tell you, Mat, and one of the things, by the way, folks, just to remind you, you can find Mat and what he has to say in his wisdom on Twitter at Mat, and that's M A T underscore Jermaine, and that's G E R M A I N underscore on Twitter. Check him out all the time there, but I'm looking for something fun here, Mat, and while you share some great positivity about what the Rays are doing, Have to offer coming up through the system.

[00:21:59] Mark Corbett: I thought hmm. What else is going on? Well, you know, uh I see there's a brew fest coming up. Yeah, sunday may 26. I guess the blue law is not in effect. Uh, but yeah So anyway, so let's see reads this here real quick too. Cheers to brew fest at tropicana field on sunday May 26 at 140 when the rays take on the kansas city royals fans can purchase a special brew fest Package that includes a seat in the maiten Maintenance party deck and six drink tickets.

[00:22:35] Mark Corbett: Each good for a four ounce pour. From regional and local breweries. War around, poor gosh, that'll barely touch your tongue, . Oh, 

[00:22:47] Mat Germain: that's funny. 

[00:22:48] Mark Corbett: Oh yeah. 

[00:22:49] Mat Germain: The, the funner the promotions, the better they are, in my opinion. It'll draw out people that may or may not, you know, be interested otherwise. So, uh, I, I love anything they try and they, they, sometimes it'll, it might be a miss, but it's fun to hear.

[00:23:04] Mark Corbett: Now there is a promotion coming up, Mat. And it's not with us, it's with the Yankees, and it's a George Costanza bobblehead. Yeah. I like that. That's awesome. Yeah. Tell folks why George Costanza and the Yankees work together. Well, he was an employee of the Yankees, 

[00:23:25] Mat Germain: of course. So, so I mean, you know, he, he basically was, uh, what is he, he started there and he started getting George's lunch for a while, George Steinbrenner.

[00:23:38] Mat Germain: And you'd always see the, on Seinfeld, the, the camera would be as if you're actually George Steinbrenner looking at George. They never actually showed George. And it's awesome because all you see is the reaction to the way George was. And I thought it was awesome. And that that's something that only the You know, Larry David and the Seinfeld group can actually come up with, because it was genius.

[00:24:02] Mark Corbett: Oh, it was, man. You know, I liked the show, but my favorite ones were when Constanza was there at the Yankees, you know, and they had George Steinbrenner. He said, you know, Hey, George, can you take care of this for me? You know, whatever, go, go down there and get me something from the daily, whatever, you know?

[00:24:19] Mark Corbett: And to me, that was just hilarious. So, oh gosh, you got to have fun, brother. But I might have to get over there for the brew fest brother. That's it's C 

[00:24:32] Mat Germain: there's a, there's a promotion in Montgomery. They're having to, or they're having the low brothers bobblehead. So brothers on a bobblehead. So if anybody's around Montgomery, uh, that's a, that's a pretty sweet bobblehead.

[00:24:44] Mat Germain: And if you want to ship one over to Nova Scotia, uh, by all means, I can, you know, message you my address. And 

[00:24:52] Mark Corbett: that's right. Mat's there on Twitter. Like we told you a moment ago, x. com. That's right. That's a good one, brother. I had to find a way. I probably find myself on eBay before too long for that. We're expecting Ms.

[00:25:06] Mark Corbett: Colleen Wright from the Tampa Bay Times to join us here in a bit. We're going to talk a little bit more about the new Ray Stadium. At least we hope there's a new Ray Stadium. Hope you've been talking to your council people over there in St. Pete and giving them reasons and support about why we should have a new stadium.

[00:25:25] Mark Corbett: But we're going to talk with Colleen and she can kind of give us a breakdown. Thanks for listening to our regular show here on baseball biz on deck. Mat and I both had a great time with you and invite you to listen to part two, where we have Colleen Wright from the Tampa Bay times visiting with us and we're reviewing what's happening with the Tampa Bay Rays and the St.

[00:25:46] Mark Corbett: Pete council on putting together that new stadium over in St. Petersburg. So give it a listen. It's coming right up in the next episode.