Rays' manager Joe Maddon seems to be passing the ball to Balfour with increasing regularity. And Balf is doing his best to make sure this keeps happening, by striking out opposing batters like clockwork.Since 24 July, Balf has pitched 5.2 innings, striking out 9 and allowing just one walk, no hits and no runs. The last hit he gave up was on 13 July.
Balfour has only allowed 4 runs all year, and has struck out 45 over 30 innings pitched. His opponents are batting only .103 against him. This as an MLB leading stat. He is fourth in MLB in K's per 9 innings (13.5), and his ERA of 1.20 puts him in the top 10 or so pitchers who have made more than a handful of appearances.
These numbers are simply amazing. There are no other words for it.
All this from someone who has not had amazing success previously.
Inside the Box offers some insight into a possible reason for Balfours outstanding year to date:
Hopefully Balf can keep up the velocity, guts and determination and smash it home with the Rays. He picked up a win today, striking out 3 of the 4 batters he faced, including getting out of a jam by striking out Gary Sheffield with runners on to end an the 5th inning. The AL East race is really a classic at the moment. The Rays are 3 games up, with the Red Sox and the Yanks trying real hard to get back at them. The Rays seem to be playing like a real team, with no real superstars, just good, solid baseball. If you havent had a chance to see any of their games, make the effort now. MLB.TV is having a free 5-day trial at the moment, so go and check it out.Rays reliever Grant Balfour hurled a scoreless inning to drop his ERA to
1.26 for the season. A mostly forgettable reliever his previous four campaigns
in the majors, Balfour is focusing on his mid-90s fastball this year, throwing
it nearly 87 percent of the time, compared to 76 percent a year ago. The results
have been impressive as in addition to the fine ERA he also sports a 3.5:1
strikeout:walk ratio with 42 strikeouts in 28.2 IP.
Meanwhile, Ryan Rowland-Smith has been effective in his two starts at Tacoma. He threw 5.2 innings on 25 July at Nashville in a no-decision effort. He gave up 3 hits, 3 walks and 2 runs, while striking out 5. His second start on 30 July was excellent. He threw plenty of first pitch strikes, and allowed 3 hits, 1 walk and 2 runs over 7 innings. He got plenty of run support from the Rainiers, and was awarded the win.The Mariners made one trade before the 31 July deadline, sending reliever Arthur Rhodes to the Marlins. This left only 24 men on the roster. Some say it is likely that Rhodes spot will be taken by either Rowland-Smith or Jared Wells. Others say it is unlikely that RRS will be called up again, as he is still working on being a starter. While MLB.com say that it is likely that the M's will call up RRS. If he does get the call up again, it will be interesting to see in what capacity he plays. He has shown real potential as a starter, and has made it clear that that is where he wants to be. However, for him to join the roster as a starter, there would have to be some roster shuffling occur.
While I would love to see him back in action asap, I reckon one or two more starts in AAA might be the ideal situation. He has strung together 4 reasonable games as a starter this year, I think another couple could really seal the deal for him. I think if he comes back too soon and runs into trouble, it could see him relegated to the pen again in the long term. Fingers crossed that either way, things will be alright. Mariner's manager Jim Riggelman is full of praise for RRS. 'He's doing everything we've asked. He's done well. ... I don't know that it'll be next week or whatever, but I think we'll see him in the near future', he told mlb.com.
As we wait and see whether he will return to the bigs at this time, check out this video from youtube, showing Ryan clowning around with some bozo DJs. He talks about striking out Ken Griffey, eating meat pies, and singing Olivia Newton John songs in the clubhouse. Enjoy!
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