36-year old righty closer Fernando Rodney had a year for the ages in 2012 for the Tampa Bay Rays.  He pitched in 76 games (0 starts) for the Rays last year and he was 2-2 with 48 saves, an amazing 0.60 ERA and a 0.78 WHIP.  He gave up 43 hits (2 homers) and 15 walks while whiffing 76 batters in 74 2/3 innings last year for the Rays, which was amazing.  He was an A.L. All-Star, 5th in the A.L. Cy Young Award voting and he was #13 in the A.L. MVP voting in 2012.  Rodney set an all-time major league record with the lowest ERA in history of a pitcher with more than 60 innings pitched (0.60) in a season last year.  But, it’s looking like Rodney just had a career year last year.  He has already given up more homers, runs and walks than he had in all of 2012 this year.  Rodney has pitched in 19 games (0 starts) for the Rays so far this year and he is 1-2 with 9 saves, a 5.40 ERA and a 1.69 WHIP.  Rodney has given up 14 hits (3 homers) and he has walked 17 batters while whiffing 25 of them in his first 18 1/3 innings in 2013.  If Rodney doesn’t straighten out soon, Joel Peralta is going to replace him as the team’s closer.

Righty swinging SS Julio Lugo was only with the Devil Rays for four years, but he made his mark.  Lugo’s best season for the D-Rays came back in 2005.  Lugo played in 158 games for the Devil Rays in 2005 and he was 182 of 616 (.295 avg, .765 OPS) with 89 runs scored, 6 homers, 57 RBIs and 39 stolen bases.  He played in 505 games in his four years with the D-Rays and he was 550 of 1,919 (.287 avg, .770 OPS) with 283 runs scored, 40 homers, 212 RBIs and 88 stolen bases.  Despite playing only four years for the D-Rays, he’s still all over the record books.  He is #10 in games played in Rays/Devil Rays’ history with 505 of them.  He is also tied for 4th (with Aubrey Huff) in batting average (.287), #8 in hits (550), #7 in OPS (.770), #7 in runs scored (283), #7 in doubles (107), tied for 7th in triples (15), #10 in RBIs (212), #3 in stolen bases (88) and he’s #10 in walks (177) in Devil Rays/Rays’ history.

23-year old righty Jake Odorizzi or 24-year old righty Chris Archer will likely be summoned from AAA-ball next Monday to replace David Price in the starting rotation.  Odorizzi was one of the prizes the Rays got from the Royals in the James Shields’ deal over the winter.  He has pitched in 8 games (all starts) for the Rays in AAA-ball so far this year and he is 4-0 with a 3.83 ERA and a 1.10 WHIP.  He got his first taste of the majors for the Royals in 2012, when he started 2 games in which he was 0-1 with a 4.91 ERA and a 1.64 WHIP.  Odorizzi came into this season as the Rays’ #5 prospect according to Baseball America.  Archer has started 7 games in AAA-ball so far this year and he is 4-2 with a 3.97 ERA and a 1.50 WHIP.  He got his first taste of the majors in 2012 for the Rays, working in 6 games (4 starts) in which he was 1-3 with a 4.60 ERA and a 1.23 WHIP.  Archer came into this season as the Rays’ #4 prospect according to Baseball America.  Both of these guys have big time arms and either of them should be able to help the Rays replace David Price until he’s ready to return to action.

The Rays have placed 27-year old lefty starting pitcher David Price on the 15-day disabled list due to a strained left triceps muscle.  Price has pitched in 9 games (all starts) for the Rays so far this year and he is 1-4 with a 5.24 ERA and a 1.44 WHIP.  I’m starting to wonder if Price has been hurting all year, because his velocity has been way down to this point in the 2013 season.  He looks nothing like the 2012 A.L. Cy Young Award winner.  He pitched in 31 games (all starts) for the Rays last year and he was 20-5 with a 2.56 ERA and a 1.10 WHIP.  The Rays have called up 25-year old lefty starter Alex Torres to replace him on the pitching staff.  Torres has pitched in 7 games (all starts) in AAA-ball so far this year and he is 2-2 with a 2.39 ERA and a 1.06 WHIP.  Torres pitched in 4 games (0 starts) in his first taste of the majors for the Rays in 2011 and he was 1-1 with a 3.38 ERA and a 1.88 WHIP.  Torres will likely serve as the Rays’ long man in the bullpen.

The Rays have signed 29-year old righty reliever Cory Wade to a minor league deal.  Wade pitched in 10 games (0 starts) earlier this year for the Cubs and he was 0-2 with a 7.88 ERA and a 2.19 WHIP.  Wade has pitched in 161 games (0 starts) in his first four years in the majors and he is 11-6 with a 3.65 ERA and a 1.12 WHIP.  Wade could get a shot with the Rays later this year if he looks good in AAA-ball.

31-year old lefty swinging 2B/OF/DH Kelly Johnson has come out swinging in May for the Rays.  Johnson has played in 10 games for the Rays so far in May and he is 13 for 36 (.361 avg, 1.040 OPS) with 7 runs scored, 2 homers and 11 RBIs.  He has now played in 32 games overall for the Rays this year and he is 28 of 102 (.275 avg, .832 OPS) with 15 runs scored, 5 homers, 19 RBIs and 4 stolen bases.  He does whiff a lot (31 times), but he also walks (14 times) his fair share of times.  Johnson is #3 in HRs and #4 in RBIs on the Rays so far this year.  The need Johnson to keep raking.

20-year old righty starting pitcher Taylor Guerreri came into this season as the Rays’ #3 prospect according to Baseball America and he’s showing why so far this year.  He has pitched in 5 games (all starts) in A-ball so far this year and he is 1-1 with a 2.45 ERA and a 1.09 WHIP.  He has now pitched in 17 games (all starts) in his first two years in the minors and he is 2-3 with a 1.46 ERA and a 0.87 WHIP.  Guerreri has given up 55 hits and 9 walks while whiffing 60 batters in his first 74 innings as a professional, which is pretty impressive.  The Rays will likely take things slow with Guerreri, as they have a lot of talent on the pitcher’s mound in the organization.

The Rays have placed 28-year old righty reliever Brandon Gomes on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to May 8th due to a right lat strain.  Gomes has pitched in 14 games (0 starts) for the Rays so far this year and he is 0-1 with a 5.40 ERA and a 1.03 WHIP.  The Rays have called up 28-year old righty reliever Josh Lueke to replace Gomes in the pen.  Lueke pitched in 14 games (0 starts) in AAA-ball this year and he was 2-0 with 7 saves, a 0.95 ERA and a 0.90 WHIP.  He only gave up 12 hits and 5 walks while whiffing 29 batters in his first 19 innings this year.  The Rays hope that Lueke will be better than he was in 2012 for them.  Lueke pitched in 3 games (0 starts) for the Rays last year and he was 0-0 with a 18.90 ERA and a 3.60 WHIP.

In 2012, 36-year old righty closer Fernando Rodney, 37-year old righty Joel Peralta and 26-year old lefty Jake McGee were absolutely nails in 2012.  They combined to pitch in 221 games out of the pen for the Rays last year and they were 9-10 with 50 saves, a 2.01 ERA and a 0.85 WHIP.  Rodney was awesome last year, but he has been off so far in 2012.  Rodney has pitched in 11 games (0 starts) for the Rays so far this year and he is 1-1 with 4 saves, a 5.06 ERA and a 1.78 WHIP.  He has given up 10 hits and 9 walks while whiffing 12 batters in his first 10 2/3 innings in 2012.  If he tightens up his control, he should be a lot better in the near future.  Peralta has been the best of this trio so far this year.  He has pitched in 16 games (0 starts) for the Rays so far this year and he is 0-2 with a 2.51 ERA and a 1.19 WHIP.  McGee has been pathetic so far this year.  He has pitched in 15 games (0 starts) for the Rays so far this year and he is 0-2 with a 11.25 ERA and a 2.25 WHIP.  McGee has given up 19 hits (4 homers) and he has walked 8 batters while whiffing 18 batters in his first 12 innings.  McGee needs to start learning how to pitch instead of just pumping very straight 98 mile per hour fastballs up to the plate.  It’s going to be hard to see the Rays turning things around until Rodney, Peralta and McGee start pitching like they can.

28-year old lefty swinging 1B James Loney started this season very slowly, but he is on fire at the plate right now.  In his last 14 games for the Rays, Loney is 22 for 42 (.524 avg) with 6 runs scored, 1 homer and 9 RBIs.  Loney has now played in 27 games so far this year and he is 27 for 72 (.375 avg, .958 OPS) with 7 runs scored, 1 homer, 13 RBIs and 1 stolen base.  The Rays don’t mind Loney’s lack of power as long as he keeps raking at the plate and hits for a high average.