Who Will Stop the Rays?

Honestly before the month of June, I do not watch much baseball other than the Milwaukee Brewers and the reason why I haven't wrote about any of the other things in the league. But that doesn't mean I haven't kept my ear to the baseball world and today, we are going to talk about the Tampa Bay Rays who are at a stunning 29-11. 

Everybody taught the Rays were a 'flash in the pan' after they struggled last season after making it to the 2009 somewhat disappointing season and now Tampa is playing great baseball with an unreal record in the first two months.  Unbelievable start to the season and they destroyed the New York Yankees last night 10-6 (it was 9-2 at one point too). There are a couple crazy things to point out about the team first in offense.

Two of their bigger players on their team have gotten off to an awful start so far, Carlos Pena and B.J. Upton. Both guys are not hitting the ball so far .185 and .224 respectively and still they are 18 games above .500, unreal.  I cannot even fathom what the Rays could be when Pena and Upton start hitting regularly again.  Not to mention, has anyone suggested Upton to be traded to make room for Desmond Jennings? If you don't know, Jennings is a superstar prospect ready and waiting in Triple A.  I realize that Upton is younger and maybe more potential but Crawford has been as consistent as anyone else in baseball. Another thing that is crazy to point out is Ben Zobrist who was awesome last year for the Rays hasn't hit a homer yet this season so this obviously points to one thing.

Pitching.  I would wish I could look at the Brewers' pitching and see the pitching staff highest-rated E.R.A is at 3.35 ERA with uber-prospect Wade Davis who people feel can dominate in the coming years.  David Price right now is playing like a Cy Young at his young age with dominating E.R.A at 1.81 and six wins already this season.  Matt Garza and Jeff Niemann are both throwing smoke all over the place making the Rays look awfully tough for the rest of the year. Another thing the Rays have compared to last year is a closer. They couldn't shut down a game last year and bringing in Rafael Soriano this year he has really helped shut the door in late game situations. This team will win ugly with scores like 2-0, 2-1,  4-3 and you will not be entertained if you like a lot of scoring. 

Right now with the way they are pitching, nothing is impossible for the Rays. I learned a long time ago that if you can pitch, you can win games even if your offense is sub-par.  But if your offense starts to hit, then it becomes big time trouble for the rest of the league.

-Charlie.