Most people watch Spring Training games more out of curiosity rather than expecting a great contest and that’s often the best way to approach them. The intense competition is obviously absent, but you can be rewarded with a few memorable moments.
Last night’s game between the Rays and the Yankees was a good example. David Price, the number one pick in last year’s draft, made his much-hyped debut for the Rays and to say he impressed would be an understatement.
Hitting the first batter wasn’t the best way to start, but in one way it was a good sign. Price is a lefty and he had no fear of hitting the inside corner with his fastball to the right-handed hitters. The scouts were lined up with their radar guns as Price brought the heat while showing very impressive control as he struck out the next three batters to end the inning. The YES Network’s gun had him topping out at 99 MPH, although TV radar guns are notoriously optimistic so it was probably just 97 instead.
The excellent pairing of Michael Kay and Ken Singleton were on commentary and they mentioned that the toughest thing with a guy like Price is to hold yourself back and not to rush him up to the Majors too quickly. The temptation must be great for the Rays to put him in the rotation as soon as possible though. Drafted out of college, Price looks to be fairly polished already and Singleton’s statement that he might be called up later this season doesn’t look to be overambitious. The Rays signed him to a Major League contract so he’s on the forty-man roster and would be exposed to waivers if he isn’t playing in the Majors in three years time. That’s not going to be an issue though.
Okay, it was only a Spring Training game and he wasn’t facing the top Yankee batters (he faced Francisco Cervelli, Shelley Duncan, Jason Lane and Wilson Betemit), but you can forgive Rays fans if they get a bit excited about Price’s performance.
You can’t help feeling that we are moving into a new era for baseball in Tampa. The changes to their name and uniforms over the off-season might have appeared to be mere window-dressing at first, but they are symbolic of the fact that this is a new beginning for the franchise. After struggling along since 1998, they now have an enviable crop of young talent at Major League level and just below. In a division with the Red Sox and Yankees (and the Blue Jays are no pushover either), expecting too much from them this year would be foolish. Yet they have a very good chance of a .500 season, possibly even an 84 or 85 win campaign, and that would be an excellent starting point for them to build on.
There is a sizeable Tampa Bay bandwagon right now and I’m more than happy to jump on it. It’s good for baseball to see the Rays turning the corner and putting a talented young team on the field.
If you missed David Price’s debut (as I did), MLB.tv subscribers can watch it on archive right now. Price’s inning begins at around the 2 hour 37 minute mark. There’s no easy way to find it (during the regular season you can click on each half-inning in a linescore and it takes you straight there, but that’s not operational for S.T. Games) and when I moved the bar along to the correct point the time flicked back to “10 minutes”, but leave it to work itself out and you should be fine.
And it’s worth mentioning that when I clicked on the archive MLB.tv icon, it didn’t prompt me for my e-mail address and password as per usual. So if you’re not an MLB.tv subscriber it might be worth checking to see whether a temporary lapse is allowing non-subscribers in at the moment (I’m writing this at 11.50 GMT).