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Talbot Is Newest 'Reliever'
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Published: July 3, 2008
Updated: 07/03/2008 12:11 am
ST. PETERSBURG - Mitch Talbot, the Rays' new emergency reliever, has exactly one relief appearance to his credit in 140 professional outings. But it was a memorable one.
On June 11, 2006, Talbot pitched three scoreless innings for Houston's Double-A affiliate, the Corpus Christi Hooks, to get a save in relief of the rehabbing Roger Clemens.
"He got my start there and I had to close out for him," Talbot said.
The 24-year-old Utah native will have some time to get reacquainted with relief work during his time with the Rays, though chances to actually pitch figure to be rare. Talbot essentially moves into the role that had been held by Jason Hammel, who has made only 10 appearances since being moved to the bullpen May 4.
That means Talbot probably will only see the mound if something has gone wrong for the Rays or the game is well into extra innings, and Manager Joe Maddon told him as much Wednesday.
"He said it's going to be a tough role, because it's just going to be maybe a blowout game or something happens early in the game that we need a lot of innings covered, so it's going to be tough to stay sharp," Talbot said. "But them calling me up, I know they have the confidence in me, and I have the confidence in me, so I think I can do it."
Though the man he replaced on the roster, Troy Percival, will be out at least through the All-Star break, Talbot isn't guaranteed to stick that long. He likely will cede his spot to Al Reyes if the veteran reliever is able to return from the disabled list, which could come at some point next week.
PERCY'S PROGNOSIS: The Rays' sidelined closer said Wednesday an MRI exam revealed a slight tear of his left hamstring in a different spot than the injury he suffered earlier this season.
"It's not a complete tear, it's not anything like that," Percival said. "It's up higher, may have a few nerve issues that we've got to deal with, and basically we've just got to treat it, rest it - and we started strengthening it today, which I love because I'm really good in the water."
ALL-STAR CHATTER: Maddon and his counterpart Terry Francona sat down to discuss the Rays who might play for the Boston skipper on the American League team in the All-Star Game on July 15.
Without getting into details, Maddon said of Francona, "I thought he had our team pegged perfectly" and indicated "there's a possibility" the Rays might get more than one All-Star.
Maddon already has noted the difficulty of picking an All-Star or two from the Rays since they don't have any individual players with lights-out numbers, and it sounds as if Francona grasps the dilemma.
"They have the best record in baseball, and they have done it in a number of ways and that probably makes Joe Maddon really proud," Francona told reporters. "It has not necessarily translated yet into votes from the fans, so that's a little difficult because from where I sit, their record is what it is and I obviously haven't forgotten that, but it's not easy."
FARM FACTS: Durham placed four players in the Triple-A All-Star Game. SS Reid Brignac, 1B Chris Richard and RHPs Dale Thayer and Jeremy Cummings will make the trip to Louisville for the July 16 game. ... Durham RHP Jeff Niemann struck out 12 in his first career complete game Wednesday. He allowed one run and walked one in a 7-1 win vs. Charlotte.
NOTEWORTHY: Tuesday night's game drew an average 9.1 rating on FSN Florida, more than doubling the network's previous high for a Rays game. That mark was set June 19, when the Rays and Cubs drew a 4.5 rating. ... The Rays said at least 20,000 tickets remain available for each of the four games against Kansas City this weekend.
Marc Lancaster
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