Historically, Scott Kazmir is a terrible hitter. In his career, he is 1 for 8 with an RBI. That is compared to our best hitting pitcher, Andy Sonnanstine, who is 4 for 10 in his 2 year career. It is safe to say that Kaz is meant for the American League. Coming in to Sunday, the Rays were heading to Sarasota, the home of the Reds. The Rays knew they were basically giving away an out when they reached the ninth spot, but that was not important, since all that mattered was that Kaz got his work in.

That is where the magic started. Sarasota is 2 and 1/2 hours and 120 miles from Walt Disney World, but some of the magic seemed to rub off on Scott Kazmir yesterday. Kaz, the worst hitting pitcher on the Rays, went 2 for 3, with a single, a double, 3 RBI’s and a run. He doubled the amount of hits he’s ever had in the regular season. He also tripled his amount of RBI’s. I think that’s magic. On his own, he accounted for four of the Rays 11 runs and HE’S A PITCHER. Way to go Kaz.

Oh, and by the way, he pitched well too, going 6 innings and only giving up two runs, giving him a win in the Rays 11-2 win,

Other notable performances:

Adam Kennedy went 3 for 4 with a run.

Gape Kapler went 2 for 5 with 2 runs and 2 RBI’s.

Matt Joyce, went 2 for 4 with a run and 2 RBI’s.

and,

Shawn Riggans went 3 for 5 with an RBI.

MLB Depth Chart:

1. Troy Percival

2. JP Howell

3. Grant Balfour

4. Joe Nelson,

5. Jason Hammel/ Jeff Niemann

6. Dan Wheeler

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The Rays have sent down five players. Ried Brignac, Elliot Johnson, Justin Ruggiano, John Jaso, and David Price. The biggest one is David Price.

Also, the Rays are expected to announce the fifth starter after tonights game in which Jeff Niemann will start.

Team Japan has left the WBC with their second straight World Baseball Classic title. They won the Innagural WBC in 2006. This game was an extra innings thriller against Korea.

Now that the WBC is over, Akinori Iwamura can finally report to Rays camp for the first time. Aki should be ready for the season now that he has been playing full games as Japan’s starting second baseman.

Here is the start of a new series. I will go position by position reviewing the MLB depth chart followed by what we have in the minors.

MLB Depth chart: (5-7 in no particular order)

1.James Shields

2. Scott Kazmir

3. Matt Garza

4. Andy Sonnanstine

5.David Price

6. Jeff Niemann

7. Jason Hammel

Even though Price should get the job, it still is up in the air.

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David Price made his first start of the spring and pitched four scorless innings against the Yankees. The game was won by the Rays 5-0. David Price has had an awsome spring so far, so it is ashame he will be in the minors. The Rays need to look at what is right in front of their face and see that DP is the best decision for the fifth starter. He has proven himself in major league games and playoffs. He has also played 10 times better than any other contender this spring. We will have to wait and see what happens, but how can you tell a guy who deserves a spot no.

Akinori Iwamura and team Japan have eliminated team USA, a team that has JP Howell and newly added Evan Longoria. The score was 9-4. Japan will play Korea tonight in the final game. For me, I want Aki and team Japan to win since Aki is on the team.

Aki got one at-bat against JP and he flied out to center.

BJ Upton appears to be fine after being hit in the hand during a minor league game against the Red Sox farm clubs.(I think they might be out to get us.) His x-rays were negative and it appears to only be a minor bone bruise. He is day to day, but this may push back his Spring debut that was scheduled to be this week.

In other news, with the rain out Saturday, David Price will start Sunday’s game and Saturday and Sunday’s scheduled starters, Shields and Sonnanstine, will get work in the Triple-A game on Sunday at the Charlotte complex.

Evan Longoria is heading to the WBC in Los Angeles. He will replace Chipper Jones on the team as a third baseman. He and David Wright will share the duties but as of now, Wright is banged up as well. It is good to see JP has a friend now. Team USA plays Japan on Sunday for their next game.

This is an enigma to me why David Price doesn’t already have this job locked up since he did so well against some of the best hitters in the league, but it sounds more and more like he will start in the minors. DP will have this job a month or two down the road, but for now, there are three contenders for this job.

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