24-year old lefty starting pitcher David Price has not had the season everyone predicted him to have. He has started 21 games for the Rays this season and he is 9-7 with a 4.41 ERA and a 1.38 WHIP. He has allowed 111 hits in 116 1/3 innings this season and he has whiffed 93 batters so the stuff is there. But, he has also allowed 16 homers and walked 50 batters so he needs to learn how to pitch. Price still has a bright future for the Rays but he has some work to do if he wants to develop into a All-Star type of pitcher that many predicted he would be.

The Rays are wasting time in letting Andy Sonnanstine start games for them. He has pitched in 18 games (17 starts) for the Rays this season and he is 6-9 with a 7.15 ERA and a 1.63 WHIP. He has allowed a whopping 117 hits (18 of them homers) in only 89 1/3 innings so far this season. In three years with the Rays, Sonnanstine has pitched in 72 games (71 starts) in which he is 25-28 with a 5.44 ERA and a 1.38 WHIP. Sonnanstine’s only real skill is that he doesn’t walk batters. Only 92 batters have walked against Sonnanstine in 413 1/3 innings for the Rays but he has allowed 480 hits. The Rays would be smart to trade Sonnanstine over the winter and let prospects like Wade Davis and Jeremy Hellickson duke it out for the #5 spot in the rotation next spring.

Dan Wheeler will likely have to earn the job as the set-up man for the D-Rays but he has the ability to excel in that role. He didn’t pitch too well after the D-Rays acquired him in the Ty Wigginton trade but he has the skill to be much, much better. He has pitched in 327 games (9 starts) in his major league career and he is 32-41 with 25 saves, a 4.09 ERA and a 1.32 WHIP. Wheeler has allowed less hits (404) than innings pitched (406.2) and that’s a good sign for success. He also throws strikes as he has averaged 8.19 strikeouts per 9 innings pitched and he only walks 2.92 batters per 9 innings over his career. Look for him to pitch well at the back end of the bullpen for the Devil Rays in 2008.

The Devil Rays finally did something for their fans when they demoted Shawn Camp to the minors that way they don’t have to watch him pitch lousy anymore.  In 50 games this season for the Devil Rays Camp was 0-3 with a 7.20 ERA and a 2.03 WHIP.  Camp has tossed 40 innings this season for the Devil Rays and he has allowed 63 hits, walked 18 batters and whiffed 36.

Jay Witasick, Gary Glover, Shawn Camp, Jason Hammel, J.P. Howell, Brian Stokes, Edwin Jackson and Casey Fossum should be all dropping to a knee and thanking God that they are getting major league money for what they are doing.  Let’s start with Edwin Jackson.  Jackson is 1-9 with a 7.23 ERA and a 1.89 WHIP so far this season.  He is out of options and that’s the main reason the D-Rays refuse to send him to the minors where he belongs.  Sure, he’s only 23 and has a great arm but he is showing absolutely no improvement on the mound.  Lefty J.P. Howell is also in the rotation and he has been awful.  Unlike Jackson, Howell has no fastball at all as he rarely gets a “fastball” over the mid-80’s on the radar gun.  Howell is 1-3 with a 6.62 ERA and a 1.81 WHIP so far this season and he doesn’t have any upside at all.  Casey Fossum was replaced in the rotation by J.P. Howell and he deserved to get yanked from the rotation.  Instead of putting Fossum in the bullpen they should just cut their losses and release him.  Fossum is 5-7 this season with a 7.52 ERA and a 1.81 WHIP so far this season.  Fossum has allowed a whopping 95 hits and 11 homeruns in only 64.2 innings this year.  Jason Hammel might have already gotten a shot at the starting rotation if he just pitched better out of the bullpen.  Hammel is 1-0 with a 6.48 ERA and a 1.92 WHIP this season.  Brian Stokes started the season as the setup man for the D-Rays but he now is pitching earlier in the game because of his pathetic performance this season.  Stokes is 2-6 with a 6.69 ERA and a 1.87 WHIP so far this season.  Stokes has the pitching arm to succeed but he doesn’t know how to pitch and he belongs in the minors.  Gary Glover is the D-Rays closer by default until Al Reyes returns.  Glover is 3-3 with 1 save, a 5.32 ERA and a 1.52 WHIP so far this season.  Look for Glover to blow a few saves until Reyes is ready to come back.  Shawn Camp has been awful as season long as he is 0-3 with a 5.66 ERA and a 1.80 WHIP.  Camp really doesn’t have the stuff to succeed in the major leagues.  Finally, the D-Rays recently signed Jay Witasick and gave him a chance to be their setup man and he has been horrible at it.  He has pitched in 12 games for the D-Rays and he is 0-0 with a 6.75 ERA and a 2.25 WHIP.  He has only allowed 6 hits in 9.1 innings as a D-Ray but he has walked an amazing 15 batters.