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Davis Joins Race For No. 5 Spot

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 27, 2009

TAMPA - The list of contenders for the fifth spot in the Rays' starting rotation is growing practically by the hour.
Lake Wales native Wade Davis thrust himself into the mix Thursday with a stout showing in Tampa Bay's 5-1 loss to the Yankees at Steinbrenner Field.

Pitching the first two innings and showing not the least bit of trepidation against a loaded Yankees batting order, the right-hander retired the six batters he faced, while striking out Mark Teixeira, Alex Rodriguez and Robinson Cano.

"He absolutely thinks he belongs," pitching coach Jim Hickey said of Davis, 23, who struggled early last year at Double-A Montgomery before earning a promotion to Triple-A Durham, where he went 4-2 with a 2.72 ERA. "He's also got enough stuff to pitch in the major leagues."

The Rays have one spot open in their rotation, and it's being fought for by top prospect David Price, Jason Hammel, Jeff Niemann, Mitch Talbot and Carlos Hernandez. Hernandez enhanced his candidacy by throwing two hitless innings Wednesday against Cincinnati.

Hickey said Davis is "in that mix just as much as much as anybody else you could name."

CHANGE AT TOP? The addition of free agent DH Pat Burrell has Maddon contemplating a batting order that would drop 2B Akinori Iwamura out of the leadoff spot.

The addition of Burrell's right-handed bat in the lineup gives Maddon the chance to balance his right- and left-handed hitters. Iwamura bats left-handed.

"You put Pat in the lineup somewhere, which then can impact how you're going to set it up," Maddon said. "So there's the potential to maybe move B.J. Upton up and Aki down, leave it where it is, leave Aki on the top and then fudge it a little in the middle."

Maddon indicated he's going to bat LF Carl Crawford second, a spot he occupied much of last year before batting fifth during most of the postseason.

THURSDAY'S GAME: Four of the Yankees' five runs came on two home runs. Shelley Duncan hit a towering three-run shot off Calvin Medlock, and Jorge Posada hit a solo shot of Chad Orvella. Medlock and Orvella are minor-league non-roster invitees.

The Rays scored on a single by Jon Weber that brought in Elliot Johnson.

YANKEES OPENER: Yogi Berra, Reggie Jackson, Ron Guidry and Goose Gossage were among the former Yankees greats introduced before the game, and George Steinbrenner, was in the owner's box.

HOME OPENER SELLS OUT: The Rays' home opener April 13 against the Yankees has sold out. Tickets for games against the Yankees on April 14 and 15, with premium fan giveaways for both, are available.

Single-game tickets go on sale to the general public at raysbaseball.com today at 9 a.m. and through all other outlets, including the Tropicana Field box office and Ticketmaster outlets, Saturday.

MARQUEE MATCHUP: The Rays will get their first look at the Red Sox, the team they beat in last year's American League Championship Series, today at Charlotte Sports Park.

A limited number of berm and standing-room boardwalk tickets were still available late Thursday.

Niemann opens for the Rays against righty Michael Bowden.

Tony Fabrizio

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