By Greg Auman and Rick Stroud, Times Staff Writers
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
ST. PETERSBURG — It's only one small part of the Rays' turnaround from an 0-6 start, but Tampa Bay catchers have markedly improved against opposing baserunners, throwing out a would-be basestealer four games in a row for the first time since 2005.
Rays catchers failed to throw out the first 15 opponents who tried to steal, then threw out eight of the next 17, including John Jaso throwing out Adam Lind in the eighth inning of Tuesday night's walkoff win against the Blue Jays.
Jaso said the credit for the improvement should also go to the pitching staff, which has made an effort to get the ball to the plate more quickly to take pressure off the catcher.
"It's good to hear when you come into the dugout and the pitcher is saying, 'I had a feeling he was going and I tried to quicken it up.' That is a good feeling," Jaso said. "That takes a lot of pressure off us. To see that runner almost to the bag by the time we're exchanging the ball, we try to speed things up and that's when we get into trouble."
Rays manager Joe Maddon agreed, saying the key to catching a baserunner often isn't the throw to second but the pitch that precedes it.
"When a pitcher's slow to the plate … right away, man, you're going overdrive, the alarm goes off, all the sudden your mechanics break down and it's a bad throw," he said. "So it really begins with the pitcher. Everybody always wants to criticize catchers. Sometimes it is the catcher's fault, of course it is. For the most part, you steal bases off the pitcher. We send runners based on the pitcher, not based on the catcher."
LUCKY BREAK: The Rays were fortunate to play this series with Toronto without having to face Jays star Jose Bautista, who entered Wednesday's game leading the AL in average (.357) and home runs (nine) but has sat out with neck spasms.
"Right now, he's one of the most dangerous hitters in either league. There's no question about that," Maddon said. "(Tuesday) night's game probably was impacted by him not playing, no doubt. I kept saying how many games we could won had Longo (Evan Longoria) been present. I don't know. That's why roster depth is so important. … You're going to miss somebody good at some point. You've got to be able to fill in that gap."
MISCELLANY: In the fourth inning Wednesday night, Toronto announced it was scratching today's scheduled starter Ricky Romero due to a mild strained oblique muscle. The Jays will start rookie RHP Kyle Drabek, the son of former major-leaguer Doug Drabek, who has never faced the Rays. … 1B Casey Kotchman stole second base in the fifth inning, his first with the Rays. In 682 career games, Kotchman has just 10 steal attempts, but he has been successful on nine of them. … The announced attendance of 10,099 is the Rays' second-lowest of the season at Tropicana Field. The lowest came April 14 with 10,042 against the Twins; Tuesday's game is now the third-lowest at 10,248.
Times staff writer Rick Stroud contributed to this report.