The Rays felt that they could deal shortstop Jason Bartlett over the winter for bullpen help because they thought 25-year old lefty swinging shortstop Reid Brignac was ready to take over. Brignac played in 113 games last year for the Rays and he was 77 for 301 (.256 avg, .692 OPS) with 39 runs scored, 8 homers, 45 RBIs and 3 stolen bases. This year has been a different story though as Brignac can’t hit out of a wet paper bag right now. Brignac has played in 51 games for the Rays so far this year and he is 24 for 139 (.173 avg, .419 OPS) with 12 runs scored, 1 homer, 8 RBIs and 1 stolen base. The Rays would probably send Brignac to AAA if they had a legit option ready in the minors to replace him, but they don’t right now.

29-year old lefty swinging outfielder Sam Fuld was red hot at the start of the season for the Rays, but he’s ice cold now. In his last 10 games, Fuld is 3 for 45 (.067 avg) with 3 runs scored, 0 homers, 1 RBI and 1 stolen base. He has now played in 31 games for the Rays this year and he is 31 for 125 (.248 avg, .683 OPS) with 18 runs scored, 1 homer, 19 RBIs and 10 stolen bases. Fuld has still been an asset defensively but the Rays need him to get his bat back on track or they are going to have to look at alternatives in LF.

31-year old righty swinging catcher Kelly Shoppach has been downright awful for the Rays so far this year. He has played in 17 games for the Rays so far this year and he is 7 for 47 (.149 avg, .393 OPS) with 3 runs scored, 1 homer and 3 RBIs. Shoppach has whiffed 20 times while only walking 1 time so far this year as he has looked pretty helpless at the plate. In my opinion, the Rays should either deal or simply cut Shoppach loose because I don’t think he has anything to offer the team. 27-year old lefty swinging John Jaso is ready to play more for the Rays. He has played in 20 games for the Rays so far this year and he is 13 for 53 (.245 avg, .739 OPS) with 4 runs scored, 2 homers and 8 RBIs.

31-year old 1B Dan Johnson is likely running out of time if he wants to keep his roster spot with the Rays. He has played in 15 games so far this year for the Rays and he is 7 for 54 (.130 avg, .393 OPS) with 4 runs scored, 1 homer and 3 RBIs. Johnson has been making contact as he has only whiffed 8 times so far this year. His problem is twofold, because Casey Kotchman is light years better than Johnson defensively. Casey Kotchman has played in 10 games for the Rays so far this year and he is 7 for 22 (.318 avg, .787 OPS) with 4 runs scored and 2 RBIs. Kotchman also hasn’t whiffed yet this season which is pretty amazing. Johnson needs to pick up the pace with the bat or he’s going to find himself not only out of the running for the starting 1B job, but for a major league job in general.

Through the first 9 games, the Tampa Bay Rays are only hitting .163 as a team with a awful .515 OPS. They have only scored 20 runs in the first 9 games and that’s the big reason why they are 1-8 on the season. The Rays only have six batters hitting .200 or over and only one of them is a full-time starter (B.J. Upton who is hitting .290). LF/DH Johnny Damon was brought in to give the Rays a spark at the top of the lineup this year, but so far he’s really struggling. Damon has played in 8 games for the Rays so far this year and he is 4 for 32 (.125 avg, .370 OPS) with 2 runs scored, 1 homer, 2 RBIs and 1 stolen base. With Damon’s track record he has earned the benefit of the doubt, so he will likely continue to play every day. IF/OF Ben Zobrist plays all over the field defensively but they Rays were depending on him to help out the offense, but that hasn’t happened to this point of the year. Zobrist has played in 9 games for the Rays so far this year and he is 5 for 34 (.147 avg, .531 OPS) with 2 runs scored, 1 homer and 2 RBIs. Zobrist has already whiffed 10 times this year as he is often looking helpless at the plate. The Rays were set to give lefty swinging Matt Joyce his big shot in RF this year. But, he is having a tough go of it so far this year. Joyce has played in 9 games for the Rays so far this year and he is 3 for 23 (.130 avg, .477 OPS) with 2 runs scored and 1 stolen base. Joyce did get two of his three hits this year yesterday so maybe he will break out of his funk. Lefty swinging 1B/DH Dan Johnson was given the starting 1B job at the start of this year but he didn’t do much with it. Johnson has played in 9 games for the Rays so far this year and he is 3 for 34 (.088 avg, .345 OPS) with 2 runs scored, 1 homer and 3 RBIs. He might start losing P.T. now that the Rays have called up 1B Casey Kotchman to replace Manny Ramirez on the active roster. Lefty swinging catcher John Jaso is also off to a slow start in 2011. He has played in 8 games for the Rays this year and he is 1 for 15 (.067 avg, .192 OPS). Jaso will likely continue platooning with Kelly Shoppach behind the plate for the time being. Lefty swinging SS Reid Brignac was supposed to inherit the starting job from departed Jason Bartlett, but it hasn’t worked out that way so far this year. Brignac has played in 7 games for the Rays so far this year and he is 3 for 17 (.176 avg, .440 OPS) with 1 RBI. The Rays can’t compete if they don’t start scoring more runs, period. I’m starting to get the feeling that is going to be a long summer in Tampa/St. Petersburg this year.