Rocco In For Injured Rays

It's nice to see Rocco Baldelli back in the big-leagues with the Rays. Before the season started, Baldelli's entire career was in jeopardy because of a mitochondrial something-or-other that left him too tired to play. With that hopefully squared away, or at least under control, Rocco is in a position to really help out the club with both Carl Crawford and Evan Longoria on the DL - the former maybe for the rest of the season. Tampa Bay will be careful with Baldelli, apparently using Gabe Gross to shadow him in case he needs to come out of a game. With top prospect David Price potentially being this year's "Joba" - coming up from the minors to throw upper 90's fastballs and wicked sliders out of the pen - the Rays may actually have the depth to hang on to their AL East lead. I was higher on the team than many, but no way would I have predicted a 95 win season for the Rays. Even Baseball Prospectus, with their seemingly crazy call for 88-89 wins, may have undershot them. What's going to happen to the rest of the teams in the East once Tampa Bay starts calling up the rest of their prospects? How are the Orioles - on their way up and a team that would be in contention in the NL West - going to be able to compete with the Red Sox, Yankees, and Rays (and Blue Jays, I guess)? Read more ...

And I Thought He Was Injury Prone Before

This is a shame.

"Rocco Baldelli will be sidelined indefinitely - but is not retiring - because of what he said are "some type of metabolic and/or mitochondrial abnormalities,'' a condition that leaves him feeling extremely fatigued after just a brief workout.

"When I say "fatigued" my body is literally spent after a very short amount of time out on the field which makes it extremely frustrating and difficult, but it's kind of a reality right now,'' he said during a 13-minute session with reporters before Wednesday's game. "I feel like I've done a serious workout after a very short period of time, and it's a very odd feeling. ... I try not to be too dramatic when I explain what's going on, but it's not easy when you're out on the field for a very short period of time and you're done, and you're not really worth anything else out there. That's a tough thing to handle because you wonder why. You wonder why this is how your body feels.""

Tampa Bay didn't really need Baldelli with Upton now in center, but it would have been an excellent bonus to have the still talented player on the team. I've never heard of this type of thing before, and I hope there is some way to treat it. Maybe the Rays actually sign Bonds now? Read more ...