Rays/MLB

Seo shakes off rust, fatigue

By MARC TOPKIN
Published June 29, 2006

MIAMI - Jae Seo's trip from Minneapolis to south Florida was rough, his flight diverted from Fort Lauderdale to Miami and his arrival at Dolphin Stadium delayed until less than an hour before gametime.

The first inning of his Devil Rays debut wasn't much better, as he nearly gave away a one-run lead in the sixth, allowing a double and two walks before escaping the jam. But the veteran right-hander, acquired Tuesday with catcher Dioner Navarro from the Dodgers, rallied in his second inning, retiring the side in order and playing a part in the Rays' 3-1 victory.

"He was rusty in the beginning, obviously," manager Joe Maddon said. "He was a little bit off with his command. I kind of liked that he wasn't pleased with his first inning, and he came back out and pitched much better in the second."

Seo is going into the Rays rotation to replace Mark Hendrickson and will start Sunday at Washington, but Maddon wanted to get him some work in relief Wednesday as he hadn't pitched since June 23.

Seo, a native of South Korea, said he was surprised to be traded but welcomed the opportunity.

"I come here and I get to start again," he said. "I'm happy now."

EXPEDITED LEARNING: Navarro's first task is learning the pitching staff, and Maddon put him right to work and put him in charge of calling the game

"I want him to learn," Maddon said. "It's just like when you're driving a car. When you're driving the car in a new city, you have a better chance to learn that new city quickly. If you're the passenger, it takes you forever. So I want him to be the driver."

Maddon said the pitchers also have to learn Navarro.

"As a catcher you come into a new staff, and until you start thinking along with them it takes some time. It's going to take some time in the bullpen when he goes down there and catches whenever he can, prior to a game in particular. The bullpen guys are going to be new until he gets them all in a game. So there's a learning curve involved right there," Maddon said.

"Then again, pitcher to him, they have to see what he looks like, how he sets up, what kind of target he gives. When it comes down to calling a game, getting on the same proverbial page may take some time. I don't know his level of sophistication in regard to calling a game. He's got to learn a new league basically. There's a lot of adjustments going on there."

STARRY-EYED: Pitcher Scott Kazmir and leftfielder Carl Crawford are the Rays most likely to be named to the AL All-Star team Sunday. If a Ray is not voted in by players (as none will be by the fans), it will be up to White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen and AL officials to pick. Guillen may call Maddon for advice but had not as of Wednesday afternoon.

It's possible Kazmir, who is second in the AL with 108 strikeouts and tied for second with nine wins, could be picked and Crawford could be one of the five players competing for the final spot through Internet voting. If so, the Rays are preparing a big PR campaign to get the vote out and had staffers in Miami on Wednesday working on it.

MINOR MATTERS: First-round draft pick Evan Longoria was promoted to Class A Visalia and will debut there Friday. He finished 14-for-33 (.424) with four homers and 11 RBIs in eight games at Hudson Valley. . . . Double-A Montgomery had five players selected for the July 10 Southern League All-Star game: catcher Ryan Christianson, third baseman Wes Bankston, second baseman Elliot Johnson and pitchers Jim Magrane and Juan Salas, who can't participate because he was promoted to Triple A. . . . Visalia shortstop Reid Brignac went 2-for-4 with an RBI in Tuesday's Class A California- Carolina League All-Star game; Patrick Breen was 0-for-4 and John Jaso 1-for-3.

MISCELLANY: The Rays snapped a six-game losing streak at Dolphin Stadium, winning for the first time since July 3, 2004. . . . Crawford was out of the lineup so he could have two days off and will play up to the July 10-13 All-Star break. . . . Pro wrestlers Hulk Hogan and Brian Knobs were guests of the Rays and wore Rays jerseys. . . . The 26 strikeouts by Rays pitchers Monday and Tuesday matched the team record for consecutive games, also done Sept. 11-12, 1999, at Oakland. . . . Seo was the 22nd pitcher used this season, two shy of the team record for a season (2000, 2003, 2004).

- MARC TOPKIN, Times staff writer

[Last modified June 29, 2006, 06:47:21]