The Hook

Surging Rays Rotation Starts to Take Form

Admit it. You're just like me. When you heard that the Tampa Bay Devil Rays had actually won twelve games, your first inclination was that the next words you would hear were "all year," rather than "in a row." Think about it, though. The price of gas has actually dropped recently, the Lakers lost in the NBA Finals, and the Texas Rangers are in first place in the AL West. Hell may indeed be freezing over. In the immortal words of Stephen King's gunslinger, Roland Deschain: "The world has moved on."

So what was it that propelled this most recent sign of the apocalypse? Was it the fact that the Rays scored exactly six runs a game over the span of their streak? You could use their 72 runs over that twelve game span as a decent explanation, but they scored 38 of those runs in four games, two of which were against Colorado. In the other eight games, the Rays' offense looked as pathetic as ever, putting up just 34 runs in eight games, or just over four runs a game.

Like it or not, the Devil Rays, who finished 30th and 23rd in team ERA in 2002 and 2003 respectively, have done it with pitching. After assembling a makeshift rotation entering the season, consisting of ten pitchers who have started at least one game, the Rays finally seem to have found a combination that's putting together some decent starts on a consistent basis. Don't believe me? The Rays allowed more than three runs just four times over that twelve game span, holding their opponents to 38 runs (3.2/game) in the two week stretch. Considering that Tampa allowed 20 runs in three of their victories (including fourteen in the first two against Colorado), this group of youngsters and castoffs has done an astounding job for the past two weeks. Heck... they didn't even look too bad when their streak ended Wednesday night with a 2-1 loss to the Blue Jays. Let's take a look at some of the names that have carried the Devil Rays in recent weeks.

Mark Hendrickson - While everyone and their mother was touting Victor Zambrano as the second coming in mid-April, Hendrickson was off to a horrific start. The former Blue Jay starter (and NBA draft pick) was strong in his first start of the season, but was lit up in his next two starts, allowing ten runs in ten innings against the Yankees and Orioles, leading to the proverbial quick hook that the Rays (in their short and not-so-storied history) are known for. When Damian Moss (speaking of castoffs!) looked even worse in Hendrickson's place in the rotation, his demotion to the bullpen didn't last long.

The lanky lefty returned to the rotation on May 2, and hasn't looked back since. His 5-3 record over that span might not absolutely blow many fantasy owners away, but Hendrickson has turned in seven quality starts in his last ten appearances. Over that span, he has an extremely solid 3.64 ERA in 59.1 innings, lowering his ERA from 5.84 to a team-leading 4.07 entering play on Thursday. Despite his xize, Hendrickson is a finesse pitcher who won't blow anyone away in the strikeout department, but he's definitely worth a look in deep mixed leagues right now.

Rob Bell - Bell has moved around quite a bit in his career, spending time in the Braves, Reds, and Rangers' organizations. Always a highly touted power pitching prospect, he never really has managed to put it together, including the last two seasons when he stuck in the Rays' rotation with disastrous results. His numbers since securing a rotation spot in mid-May haven't been mind-blowing (2-2, 4.50 ERA, 1.29 WHIP), but they're certainly a step in the right direction. Bell may not be a spring chicken anymore, but he's entering his prime at 27, and should stick for good the rest of the way. Unlike Hendrickson, he gets his fair share of strikeouts, and has good control for a power pitching prospect (if you can still call him that). Until he turns in a handful of starts that look similar to his last outing against Arizona (seven innings of four hit shutout ball), he's not worth a look in most fantasy leagues.

Chad Gaudin - In most organizations, Gaudin would have spent all season in the minors, but we're talking about the Devil Rays here. Gaudin, who turned 21 in March, has shuffled back and forth a bit between the big leagues and the minors for much of the year, pitching primarily out of the bullpen when he's up in the majors. In the long-term, he projects as a starter, and many consider him the best pitcher in a relatively deep pool of prospects that include Dewon Brazelton and Doug Waechter. Gaudin still needs a lot of time to develop, and should move back to the bullpen (or, hopefully, to AAA Durham) when Waechter returns from the disabled list, but should eventually fit into the Tampa rotation and become a fixture down the road. In his two most recent starts in place of Waechter, Gaudin has been solid, allowing four runs in ten innings.

Dewon Brazelton - Brazelton is another youngster who the Rays continue to shift between the rotation and the bullpen. Tampa has high hopes for him in the future, and spent the third overall pick to get him in 2001. Still, with just two years of professional experience under his belt, Brazelton is a year away from making his impact truly felt. He's another power pitcher who consistently throws in the mid-90's. At 24, Brazelton is much more likely to stick in the rotation than Gaudin, but with a wealth of other options that are performing well (Bell, Hendrickson, John Halama, Victor Zambrano, and Waechter), he could continue to shift back and forth all year. The club prefers using Halama out of the bullpen, so don't be surprised if Brazelton sticks. That said, he's someone you should think about for 2005 rather than this season.

Line of the Week

The pitching line of the week will always be either a great line (green), an awful line (red), or a bizarre line (yellow)

4.0 IP, 4 H, 4 BB, 7 R, 6 ER, 3 K

Tim Wakefield continues to struggle ever since the Red Sox decided that they'd move his scheduled start so that he didn't pitch in Colorado. In this, the (technically) offending start that was moved, Wakefield looked every bit as bad in one of the best pitcher's parks in the league (SBC Park) as he could have in Coors. Wakefield has allowed 15 runs in his last two starts, a span of 8.1 innings.

A "Closer" Look

Closers with three saves in the past seven days: Eddie Guardado, Eric Gagne, Joe Nathan (3)

It became official late last week. The despicable marriage between Billy Koch and the White Sox is over. Shingo Takatsu and Damaso Marte have seen their value bump up a little the rest of the way with Koch in Florida. Koch loses all value, and will set up for Armando Bentiez in Florida... Speaking of Japanese import closers, Akinori Otsuka has blown saves in each of his last two appearances. On Tuesday, Otsuka couldn't hold onto a 1-0 lead in his usual setup role, while he failed in an honest to god save opportunity on Wednesday night because Trevor Hoffman had pitched four of the last five days. There's no controversy here, though. Hoffman's the man... With Jose Valverde on the shelf, the Diamondbacks seem to be turning to former starter Elmer Dessens in his stead. Many figured that Mike Koplove might be the primary beneficiary, and the club's only had a couple of save chances since Valverde's injury, so they may go by committee.... A chink in the armor? Our boy Eric Gagne gave up a solo blast to Jason Giambi on Sunday against New York. No worries, though, as old Goggles held on for his 81st consecutive save.... Reports were finally coming out of Denver that the Rockies may remove Shawn Chacon from the closer's role, but they've decided to stick with him. Sadly, the Rockies wouldn't really have anyone to turn to instead anyway.

Let's Play Two

The following is a list of all starters scheduled to make two starts in the following fantasy week (6/28-7/4). All home games are in CAPS.

American League

Bartolo Colon - Oakland, LOS ANGELES
Erik Bedard - Kansas City, Philadelphia
Sidney Ponson - Kansas City, Philadelphia
Derek Lowe - New York Yankees, Atlanta
Mark Buehrle - Minnesota, Chicago Cubs
Cliff Lee - Detroit, Cincinnati
Gary Knotts - CLEVELAND, Colorado
Darrell May - BALTIMORE, San Diego
Chris George - BALTIMORE, San Diego
Carlos Silva - CHICAGO WHITE SOX, Arizona
Jon Lieber - BOSTON, New York Mets
Mark Redman - ANAHEIM, San Francisco
Ryan Franklin - TEXAS, St. Louis
Joel Pineiro - TEXAS, St. Louis
Victor Zambrano - TORONTO, Florida
Jon Halama - TORONTO, Florida
Nick Beirbrodt - Seattle, Houston
Joaquin Benoit - Seattle, Houston
Roy Halladay - Tampa Bay, Montreal
Ted Lilly - Tampa Bay, Montreal

Start of the Week

We'll take the Cy Young winner from last season, Roy Halladay, facing the suddenly surging Devil Rays (no-decision Wednesday, but pitched seven strong) and the (sniff) hapless Montreal Expos. Halladay's numbers aren't exactly overwhelming against either team in his career, with a 4-3 record. He does boast a 3.09 ERA against Montreal in four starts and a 3.48 ERA in nine starts against the Rays, and nobody's numbers this week are great.

Last Week's Selection: Tim Hudson - 0-1, 5.0 IP, 5 R, 4 ER, 7 H, 3 BB, 2 K - Maybe we should stop jinxing the poor guy. A month and a half ago, we took him against Tampa, who he's smoked his whole career, only to watch him give up eight runs. Next: vs. San Francisco

On the Year: 6-5, 98.2 IP, 57 R, 47 ER, 103 H, 27 BB, 61 K (4.28 ERA, 1.32 WHIP)

National League

Randy Johnson - SAN DIEGO, MINNESOTA
Brandon Webb - SAN DIEGO, MINNESOTA
John Thomson - FLORIDA, BOSTON
Mike Hampton - FLORIDA, BOSTON
Glendon Rusch - HOUSTON, CHICAGO WHITE SOX
Todd Van Poppel - NEW YORK METS, CLEVELAND
Shawn Estes - MILWAUKEE, DETROIT
Brad Penny - Atlanta, TAMPA BAY
Dontrelle Willis - Atlanta, TAMPA BAY
Andy Pettitte - Chicago Cubs, TEXAS
Jeff Weaver - SAN FRANCISCO, Anaheim
Chris Capuano - Colorado, Pittsburgh
Sun-Woo Kim - Philadelphia, TORONTO
Tony Armas - Philadelphia, TORONTO
Jae Weong Seo - Cincinnati, NEW YORK YANKEES
Kevin Millwood - MONTREAL, Baltimore
Eric Milton - MONTREAL, Baltimore
Kris Benson - ST. LOUIS, MILWAUKEE
Ryan Vogelsong - ST. LOUIS, MILWAUKEE
David Wells - Arizona, KANSAS CITY
Brian Lawrence - Arizona, KANSAS CITY
Jerome Williams - Los Angeles, OAKLAND
Jeff Suppan - Pittsburgh, SEATTLE

Start of the Week

We'll take the red hot David Wells for his starts against the Diamondbacks and Royals. Wells always owned the Royals in his AL days, going 14-3 with a 3.32 ERA against them, and he's pitched well against the Diamondbacks twice this year without a decision. All told, he's faced Arizona three times and is 1-0 with a 3.10 ERA. While he'll have to outduel the Unit again on Monday, I'll take my chances.

Last Week's Selection: Roy Oswalt - 1-0, 8.0 IP, 3 R, 3 ER, 9 H, 0 BB, 5 K. Next: Sunday at Texas

On the Year: 6-2, 93.0 IP, 44 R, 37 ER, 92 H, 27 BB, 80 K (3.58 ERA, 1.28 WHIP)

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