The Tampa Bay Rays started the season really hot, got into a slump and then finished the first half strong. They are 54-34 on the season which has them in second place in the A.L. East, only two games behind the Yankees. They would be the Wild Card team in the A.L. if the playoffs started today. The Rays have had some pleasant surprises and some disappointments in the first half of the season and here’s a look at them:

Pleasant Surprises: Offensively, rookie 26-year old lefty swinging John Jaso has been the biggest surprise for the Rays. Jaso has played in 57 games for the Rays this season and he is 48 of 175 (.274 avg, .771 OPS) with 25 runs scored, 3 homers, 29 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. His play is the reason that Dioner Navarro is playing in AAA right now and the Rays hope Jaso keeps up the good work in the second half of the season. 27-year old righty starting pitcher Jeff Niemann always seems to get overlooked. He got snubbed for the Rookie of the Year Award in 2009 and he certainley deserved to be on the All-Star Team this season but won’t be pitching in it. Niemann has started 18 games for the Rays this season and he is 7-2 with a 2.77 ERA and a 1.09 WHIP. He has only given up 94 hits in 117 innings this season which is outstanding. The surprise isn’t that he’s pitching well…..it’s just how well that he is pitching. 24-year old David Price had a disappointing 2009 season but you wouldn’t know it watching him this year. Price has started 17 games for the Rays this year and he is 12-4 with a 2.42 ERA and a 1.20 WHIP. He has only given up 95 hits in 115 1/3 innings this season as he has been “The Man” for the Rays this year. If he has a second half like his first half he will without a doubt win the Cy Young Award in 2010. When the Rays signed 32-year old righty reliever Joaquin Benoit to a minor league deal over the winter they weren’t expecting much. Benoit has been outstanding this season as he has worked himself from the minor leagues to be the set up man for the Rays. Benoit has pitched in 29 games (0 starts) this season for the Rays and he is 0-0 with 1 save, a 0.65 ERA and a 0.51 WHIP. He only gave up 10 hits and walked only 4 batters in 27 2/3 first half innings this year for the Rays while whiffing 40 batters. Those are eye popping stats!

Disappointments: 25-year old righty swinging CF B.J. Upton certainly has athletic talent but he’s still not a good baseball player. He is lazy and it seems like he’s not interested in changing his approach at either the plate or in the field. Upton should be hitting the ball on the ground but he thinks of himself as a power hitter…..which he is not. Upton has played in 83 games for the Rays this season and he is 67 of 291 (.230 avg, .715 OPS) with 50 runs scored, 7 homers, 31 RBIs and 25 stolen bases. No one has ever doubted his talent but Upton is regressing as a baseball player to the point that the Rays seem willing to deal him. 30-year old Jason Bartlett was outstanding in his first two years with the Rays but this year he has been banged up and unproductive. Bartlett has played in 69 games for the Rays this season and he is 56 of 242 (.231 avg, .649 OPS) with 31 runs scored, 2 homers, 33 RBIs and only 4 stolen bases. Bartlett, like Upton, could be on the trading block for the Rays due to how well Reid Brignac played while he was out of action. 26-year old catcher Dioner Navarro was so awful this season that he is in AAA playing for the Durham Bulls right now. Navarro played in 37 games for the Rays this season and he is 22 of 105 (.210 avg, .576 OPS) with 11 runs scored, 1 homer and 7 RBIs. I don’t see him getting back to Tampa any time soon. Pat Burrell was the starting DH for the Rays at the start of the year. He played in 24 games for the Rays and he was 17 of 84 (.202 avg, .625 OPS) with 9 runs scored, 2 homers and 13 RBIs. The Giants have signed him and put him in the field…..and now he’s hitting the ball.

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.

The Rays had a rough weekend losing two out of three games at the Trop against the Yankees. The Rays are now 3-3 which has them tied for 3rd in the A.L. East with the Red Sox, two games behind the surprising Blue Jays. The Rays have been outscored 31-24 this season mostly because of the bullpen. The starting pitchers are 2-1 with a 3.41 ERA and a 1.31 WHIP in the first six games for the Rays but it’s being wasted by the bullpen. Hopefully the offense and the pen get back into gear this week as the Rays will travel to Baltimore for three games starting today and then on to Boston for the weekend.

The Tampa Bay Rays have taken two out of three from the Orioles to begin the 2010 season. The Rays had some hard fought games against the O’s as they only outscored them 12-11 in the series. The Rays had a good chance for a sweep until Mike Ekstrom and Grant Balfour conspired to blow the game wide open for the O’s last night. It doesn’t get any easier tonight as the 2-1 New York Yankees come in this weekend for a three game series. The Rays really need to send the Yankees a message this weekend.

Scott Kazmir has been good for a while but he finally appears like he will work a full season.  The lefty has started 32 games this season for the D-Rays and he is 13-8 with a 3.54 ERA and a 1.40 WHIP.  In 195.2 innings this season, Kazmir has allowed 189 hits, walked 85 batters and whiffed 220.  It’s quite possible that he could win the strikeout crown in the American League as he is tied with Johan Santana, 1 strikeout behind Erik Bedard (who is done for the season).  James Shields has really stepped up his game in his 2nd year in the league.  He has started 31 games for the Devil Rays and he is 12-8 with a 3.85 ERA and a 1.11 WHIP.  He should have more wins but the bullpen has blown a lot of his leads.  Shields has worked 215 innings this season and he has allowed 202 hits, walked 36 batters and whiffed 184.  The only problem Shields has is with the long ball as he has allowed 28 homers this season.  But the homers didn’t hurt him too bad this season because he rarely walks batters.  The Devil Rays are still in last place in the American League East with a 63-89 record which has them 27 games behind the Red Sox, but they are only 2 games behind the Orioles for 4th place.