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Isringhausen Showing His Arm Is Healthy

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By MARC LANCASTER mlancaster@tampatrib.com

The Tampa Tribune

Published: March 15, 2009

PORT CHARLOTTE - Even after 14 years in the majors, Jason Isringhausen had the juices flowing Sunday as he made his first game appearance in a Rays uniform.

"It's good to have those butterflies," the 36-year-old said. "If I stop having those butterflies, I'll go home."

Isringhausen isn't ready to be put out to pasture just yet. He has drawn rave reviews for his work on the back fields so far this spring, and Manager Joe Maddon was pleased with the reliever's first crack at opposing hitters.

It took Isringhausen some time to settle in, as leadoff man Andrew McCutchen ran the count full before hammering a triple to center field and quickly came in to score on what would best be described as a sacrifice liner to left. But once he got going he made some impressive pitches to retire seasoned hitters Adam LaRoche and Craig Monroe.

"Izzy gave up the run," Maddon said, "but you can see that his arm's healthy."

His spring outings from this point will be focused on hammering his arm and the rest of his body into game shape. Isringhausen said he expects to get about seven or eight appearances the rest of the way, which should give him plenty of time to get up to speed.

"I need to pitch in every game I can," he said. "It's been a while since I faced hitters, so I've just got to build up that endurance in my arm and in my legs and everything else."

B.J. UPDATE

B.J. Upton took another step in his return from shoulder surgery by standing in against live pitching Sunday on the minor-league side.

It wasn't batting practice, per se, though Upton did take a couple of hacks with minimal results - "I didn't get a ball out of the infield." He'll get his hits eventually, but the point of Sunday's session was to get his batting eye back in game shape, as much as anything.

"I think the biggest thing for me right now is just seeing some live pitching, seeing the spins and the rotation of different pitches and things like that," Upton said.

His timetable remains the same, with a return for the first homestand of the season seemingly his prime target. Upton said he probably won't get into a Grapefruit League game until "maybe a week or two" before the end of camp.

KEEPING IT LIGHT

After dropping an easy pop-up for an error in the fourth inning, 3B Morgan Ensberg secured a foul pop in the fifth and spent the next minute or two pumping his fist and doffing his cap as the crowd gave him a hearty ovation.

"You can't take yourself too seriously," Ensberg said, adding that he'd never do that in a regular-season game.

SUNDAY'S GAME

The Rays appeared in good shape after scoring four times in the eighth to take a 7-3 lead into the ninth. But Joe Nelson surrendered back-to-back two-out homers - most notably a towering three-run drive off the center field batter's eye by Pedro Alvarez, the No. 2 pick in last year's draft - to send it to extra innings. ... The Rays already had blown a lead when Dan Wheeler gave up a pair of runs in a tough seventh inning. ... Tim Beckham collected a two-run double in the eighth, his second hit of the spring. ... Troy Percival looked extremely sharp in a 1-2-3 fifth inning.

TONIGHT'S GAME

Several regulars, including Evan Longoria, Pat Burrell, Dioner Navarro and Jason Bartlett, are slated to play in tonight's game in Bradenton, which will also feature David Price's second spring appearance. ... The DH will be in effect. ... The Weather Channel will broadcast from McKechnie Field during the game, with meteorologist Stephanie Abrams providing live updates.

NOTEWORTHY

The Rays have mapped out their starting pitchers for the week, with Jason Hammel set to go Wednesday against the Reds and Jeff Niemann's name not appearing on the list of starters through Sunday. ... The Rays held an organization-wide party Sunday night, getting all of the players and coaches together for festivities that included a player talent show.

Marc Lancaster

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