Sometimes I get the impression that “Merlot” Joe Maddon, the manager of the Tampa Bay Rays is oblivious to what’s going on around him. Now don’t get the wrong idea; I think for the past two years nobody could have done a better job in working with the kids the Rays have been playing with than Maddon has. He seems to know how control the fragile egos of rich young men who have been put on a pedestal. In this neighborhood, Merlot Joe is considered to be a “cerebral” and “nurturing” manager rather than being an “emotional” one. I for one would love to know the thought process that goes into some of his decisions or lack of them. 

            Last night I watched him manage his way into the 26th Rays win of the season but it appeared that he did his best to avoid that accomplishment. James Shields was on the hill in the 8th inning. He had 2 outs and a runner on 2nd base and Frank Thomas was coming to bat. That is the same Frank Thomas who had already hit 2 homers off of Shields. There were 2 Rays pitchers ready in the bullpen yet Maddon elected to have Shields pitch to Thomas who promptly doubled in the tying run. Maddon then removed Shields but the damage was already done. Why did he let Shields pitch to Thomas?

            Carlos Pena came off of the DL about a month ago. He has not been able to hit his weight since he returned and in fact now leads the American League in strikeouts with 55 in 163 official at bats. There is no doubt in my mind that Pena will come out of this slump but in the meantime, why is he still batting cleanup?

            The Rays have arguably the fastest team in baseball with guys like Crawford, Upton, Bartlett and Iwamura, yet they only have two bunt singles to this point in the season and I think only four have been attempted.

            That speed has caused the Rays to be a very close third in the league in stolen bases yet they are first in the majors in caught stealing. Now to be fair, the 20 times that they have been caught stealing is misleading. They have been picked off of bases almost half of those times. When runners get picked off of bases it is generally the result of poor coaching (unless it is by Andy Pettitte with that legal balk move he uses) and poor coaching is a result of poor managing.

            Carl Crawford and B.J. Upton have the green light when it comes to base stealing. Yet neither one of them seems to know when it is a good time to steal. On at least 3 different occasions I have heard Joe Magraine on the TV broadcast make statements in an amazed fashion that he couldn’t believe that Crawford was still on first and he hadn’t even attempted to leave. Carl Crawford is very, very fast. He has limited power, and a rag arm. He has no command of the strike zone and in fact has only walked 11 times this year. If he doesn’t use his speed, he is just an average ballplayer and so far this year he hasn’t used it much except in the outfield.

            The Rays are second in the league in strikeouts; 5 behind the Rangers. However, the Rangers have walked 36 more time than the Rays. I think it is time that Maddon should start looking for a new batting coach. It is becoming very obvious that the one they have is not getting the job done. It is so frustrating to watch these kids look at call third strikes to end innings when they had men in scoring position and it happens all too frequently. I am all for being patient at the plate but when you have no command of the strike zone, patience becomes a liability, not an asset. At least if you swing you run the risk of hitting the ball and maybe something good comes of it.

            Carl Crawford is a high fastball junkie. He is lured to them like bugs to a light at night. There must be some way to rehab him from this addiction he has.  I know if I were pitching to him, he wouldn’t see much below the letters and would definitely not see very many strikes.

            I believe all the skills problems that I have identified can be corrected with coaching. Did not Akinori Iwamura turn into one of the best second basemen in the league in his first season? He did because of the intensive work of third base coach, Tom Foley.

            Now I started this article last night during the eleventh inning of the Rays/Athletics game. I was convinced that Maddon would somehow find a way to keep the Rays from winning the game. I was wrong. They won the game in the thirteenth inning with an Evan Longoria 2 run homer and Troy Percival got the A’s out to end the game.

            I’m frustrated and I know it. When the game is played “tight”, and I don’t mean when the score is close, but when every bounce of the ball is predictable, this team is as good as anybody. When it not going that way you don’t know what you are getting and “Merlot Joe Maddon” has to be the one who is accountable.