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Hamstring Still Hurting Percy

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The Tampa Tribune

The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 26, 2008

MIAMI - Tuesday night marked the third time in about five weeks a Rays trainer has come to the mound to check on closer Troy Percival in the middle of a save situation.

The problem in each case was the same - Percival's balky left hamstring, which already has caused him to miss a couple of weeks for a disabled list stint. Though Percival was able to gut out another flare-up Tuesday night, he believes he'll be able to work his way through the issue.

But it is understood now that Manager Joe Maddon will have to check with Percival on a daily basis to gauge his availability.

"It's just something I'm going to have to deal with until it gets better," Percival said. "It's not anything that'll keep me from going out there, but there might be a day where it's worse than others where I might need a day off."

More important to Percival is finding a way to be more effective on nights when his leg is bothering him. That was a struggle Tuesday, as 18 of the 31 pitches he threw went for balls.

Percival said his problems Tuesday stemmed from making mechanical adjustments on the fly. He didn't feel he could put his full weight on his left leg, so he was releasing the ball earlier in his delivery than normal. That hurt his fastball command and velocity, so he went mostly with change-ups to get by.

"I think it affected me Tuesday night worse than it should have," he said. "I was having a real tough time getting my mechanics locked in."

OH, WELL: The Rays player most crestfallen about the Rays pulling their stadium proposal off the table Wednesday probably was LF Carl Crawford. The turf at Tropicana Field does a number on his knees, and he'd love to play his home games on a grass surface.

"It's a little disappointing," Crawford said. "We were looking forward to it - everybody was. I think it was just something to get excited about."

On the other hand, 3B Evan Longoria didn't sound all that upset about the project's demise, noting how hot it has been for outdoor games at Dolphin Stadium this week. He wouldn't mind seeing air conditioning in the next plan.

"I'm sure that when it comes about and the time's right, they'll make the move to build a new stadium," said Longoria, "but in my opinion it doesn't really matter one way or another at this point."

PENA IN SARASOTA: The Vero Beach roster for tonight's game at Sarasota will feature a couple of major-leaguers: Rocco Baldelli and Carlos Pena.

Pena (broken left index finger) is slated for a one-game cameo with Vero that will give him a chance to see some live pitching after three weeks on the disabled list. He'll DH tonight and meet the team in Pittsburgh with the expectation that he'll be activated this weekend.

Baldelli is expected to pinch-hit tonight after starting at DH on Wednesday in Clearwater.

UNDER APPEAL: Nearly three weeks after the Rays-Red Sox brawl at Fenway Park, 2B Akinori Iwamura finally had his appeal hearing via teleconference Wednesday afternoon from the team hotel. It lasted about an hour, and Maddon listened in along with Iwamura and his interpreter, "Bori" Uchibori.

"All I can say at this point right now is we appealed, and everything is in their hands so we'll just see what's going to happen," Iwamura said through his interpreter.

Iwamura hopes to get a game knocked off his three-game ban. Neither he nor the team knew when the decision might come down.

NEWEST RAY: Kelly Bartlett, wife of Rays shortstop Jason, gave birth to the couple's first child at 4:03 p.m. Wednesday in St. Petersburg. Jayden Anthony Bartlett weighed in at 6 pounds, 8 ounces and his dad reported via text message to Rays director of team travel Jeff Ziegler that the youngster was "healthy and loving life."

Bartlett is expected to rejoin the team Friday in Pittsburgh.

FARM FACTS: Tim Beckham, the first overall pick in this year's draft, is scheduled to make his pro debut tonight. The 18-year-old shortstop, who signed for a record $6.15 million bonus last week, will DH for Princeton against Burlington.

EXPOSURE: ESPN has picked up Wednesday's Rays-Red Sox game. That broadcast will be seen by most of the country outside the Tampa Bay and Boston markets.

Marc Lancaster

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