Upset with production, pen alignment, Rays manager plans personnel changes.
By MARC TOPKIN
Published April 28, 2004
BOSTON - Manager Lou Piniella has been increasingly unhappy with the way his Devil Rays have been playing.
And he is making it increasingly obvious he wants to try some different players.
Piniella said before Tuesday's rainout he is "disappointed" with the performance of Geoff Blum, pointed out somewhat incredulously that the Rays have yet to have an RBI from the second-base position and said the current bullpen alignment, with three left-handers, is not workable and has to be changed, with Jeremi Gonzalez perhaps being moved to relief.
Blum, a switch-hitter acquired from Houston to be the starting third baseman, is 3-for-27 (.111) and has been relegated to reserve duty at second and third.
"We're trying to focus in on Blum a little bit and see if we can get this guy to hit," Piniella said. "I think he's improved a little bit (but) I also feel he's going to have to change a few things at home plate.
"I'm disappointed in what I'm seeing. That's honest. I really am. I was expecting more. We were expecting more. He's a good kid, he works hard, he plays good defense for us. But, I'll tell you what, his hitting ... in this league here, a third baseman has got to swing the bat with a little more authority than we've seen."
Piniella has been using Aubrey Huff at third, which allows him to get Robert Fick in the lineup at DH. But if Blum were hitting, Piniella also could use him at second in place of right-handed Rey Sanchez, who is hitting .275 (11-for-40) but has no extra-base hits and is 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position.
"We don't have the type of lineup that you can say, "Boy, we're so loaded all we've got to do is just catch the ball as we don't need production out of that position,' " Piniella said. "We just don't have that type of club. We need a little production from every position. I'm talking about a combination of a little power, hitting, RBIs or whatever."
Piniella doesn't have much choice at second. The only other alternative is to try Damian Rolls there, and Rolls was working on his pivot moves during pregame practice, but he is not nearly as smooth as Sanchez or as experienced as Blum.
The bullpen has been out of alignment all season with three left-handers, but Piniella said it won't stay that way for long because he needs another right-hander for the middle innings.
"We're getting close to addressing it," Piniella said. "We're not going to be able to go too long with the way we are."
The Rays planned to carry one left-handed short reliever, Trever Miller, and one long reliever, John Halama. But they have a second long man because first Damian Moss then Mark Hendrickson struggled as starters and pitched their way into the bullpen.
"It's difficult carrying two similar lefties in your bullpen," Piniella said. "It probably, believe it or not, makes more sense to put Jeremi Gonzalez in the bullpen for now and start one of those guys. It's very difficult using two long lefties."
Gonzalez, scheduled to start Saturday at home, seemed to save his rotation spot with a solid outing Sunday, but Piniella might move him anyway. He is willing to try Travis Harper in some later-inning situations but wants to add a right-hander. The other option would be to get rid of a left-hander (Hendrickson is the only one with minor-league options left) and bring up someone from Triple A, such as Jesus Colome.
One factor will be how well Moss, who starts here Thursday, pitches as a starter. If he pitches well, they can send down Hendrickson and get a reliever. If he struggles then Halama or Hendrickson could go into the rotation and the Rays could try to get Moss through waivers or trade him.
"We're really trying to find out if Moss is going to stay in the rotation," Piniella said. "Once Moss tells us, yeah, he wants the job, then we can act. And hopefully that's what he'll do."
