The Rays have called up 32-year old righty reliever Joaquin Benoit from AAA and he deserved the promotion. Benoit pitched in 8 games (0 starts) in AAA-ball so far this season and he was 0-1 with 2 saves, a 2.79 ERA and a 1.14 WHIP. He has been throwing bullets in AAA as he has 17 whiffs in only 9 2/3 innings there. The Rays will likely use Benoit early in games with Mike Ekstrom now out of the picture (he has been sent to AAA). This only makes the Rays’ bullpen even more talented than it was before Benoit got the call.

26-year old lefty swinging catcher John Jaso probably thought he would be spending most of the 2010 season in the minors with Kelly Shoppach and Dioner Navarro above him on the depth chart. But, Kelly Shoppach got injured which opened the door for Jaso to join the Rays and he appears to have kicked the door down. Jaso has played in 7 games for the Rays so far this season and he is 6 for 14 (.429 avg, 1.386 OPS) with 2 runs scored, 2 doubles, 1 homer and 6 RBIs. His homer came off Ricky Romero of the Blue Jays who is one of the best lefties in the A.L. Jaso is showing great discipline while in the batters box too as he only has whiffed 1 time this year while walking 5 times. Jaso will probably get to keep playing quite a bit because of both his own play and because of how poorly Dioner Navarro is playing this year. Navarro has played in 14 games for the Rays this season and he is 6 for 44 (.136 avg, .367 OPS) with 4 runs scored, 1 double and 2 RBIs. The Rays should ride the hot hand and continue to play Jaso for the time being.

The biggest reason the Rays are 12-4 and sitting in first place in the A.L. East right now if because of their young and very talented starting rotation. James Shields, Matt Garza, David Price, Jeff Niemann and Wade Davis are a combined 9-2 with a 2.67 ERA and a 1.21 WHIP so far this season. They are all throwing strikes and all of them bring the fastball 90+ mph and maintaining that velocity late into ballgames. But, Matt Garza and David Price really have the potential to be aces of the pitching staff based on stuff alone and they both appear to be getting that killer instinct that pitchers like Roy Halladay of the Phillies has. No team in the American League can match firepower with the Rays rotation, period.

Carl Crawford is off to a great start early in this 2010 season for the Tampa Bay Rays.  Whether it is hitting a homerun, stealing a base, or sacrificing a runner over, Crawford has been doing a little bit of everything for the Rays.  He is swinging a very good bat so far, with a .327 BA (18/55), 2 HRs, 10 RBIs, 12 Rs, 6 SBs, .381 OBP, and a .545 SLG.  Crawford is a big reason why the Rays are off to such a good start at 11-4 near the top of the AL East.  The New York Yankees are currently a half game up with an 11-3 record, but the Rays have been just as impressive as the Yankees.  They have been much better than the Boston Red Sox, who many still believed had the edge over the Rays still.  It is still very early, but the Rays definitely look like the favorite to beat out the Red Sox this season for the Wild Card, or perhaps even the AL East Division Title.  Their four-game sweep over the Red Sox has set the tone early in the season that they are no longer going to take a backseat to the Yankees and Red Sox and they are out to prove their 2008 AL Pennant was no fluke.  Look for the Rays to be near the top of the AL East all season long.

The Tampa Bay Rays pounded the Red Sox 8-2 in the Patriot Day Game this morning in Boston. They swept the Red Sox in a four game series ending today outscoring them 24-9 sending Boston a message in the process. The Rays improved to 7-0 on the road with today’s win which is pretty darn awesome seeing how they only had a .395 win/loss % on the road last season. The Rays are now in first place in the A.L. East with a 10-3 record which has them 1/2 of a game ahead of the Yankees. The Rays have outscored their opponents 70-48 on the season as they are both hitting and pitching well right now. The Rays will travel to Chicago to play three games against the struggling White Sox before returning home to play three games against the division rival Blue Jays.