Column: No panic, but concern over Rays

Wasn't it just a week ago that the Tampa Bay Rays were winning just about every game on a homestand while moving to the top of the American League East? Why, I think it was!

I also seem to recall people making a big deal how the Rays were one of those rare teams that had gotten to August without missing any starts from the rotation that began the season. Why, that kind of stuff just doesn't happen in major-league baseball, does it?

No, it doesn't.

The Rays can tell you all about that now. They hit the quinella Monday, sending both Jeff Niemann and Wade Davis to the disabled list for apparently ailing shoulders. Maybe they can say hello to first baseman Carlos Pena, who was day-to-day for a lot of days until the Rays finally put him on the DL over the weekend with a foot problem.

There was at least some good news. The Rays broke a five-game losing streak by beating Detroit 6-3, giving David Price his 15th win. That restored some order after some seriously bizarre developments both on the field and off the catwalks in the past week. You'd be forgiven for wondering if the wheels weren't coming off this team.

They were almost no-hit (again) Sunday and struck out 17 times while losing 1-0 at Toronto.

They allowed a pair of unearned runs Friday and lost 2-1. And of course you remember the strange doings with the A ring catwalk in their last game at Tropicana Field.

Now this.

The Rays tell us that nothing serious is going on with Niemann and Davis, who between them have 19 wins. They'd also say someone who just had an amputation is day-to-day, so it's probably best to be skeptical about what's really going on. All I know is, Niemann hasn't looked right for about the past month and now we may have an idea why.

He was 5-0 with a 2.37 ERA at the end of May, but since then he's a pedestrian 5-3 and his ERA is almost a run and a half higher per game.

Couple that with the fact that Davis had trouble getting loose in his last start. His fastball was about 5 mph under his normal velocity and the Twins torched him. Then we consider the hitting struggles of this team and we have to ask - too soon to panic?

Probably. But it's not too soon to be really concerned.

Jeremy Hellickson goes back into the rotation tonight with a chance to build on his strong debut start last week. If they need a fifth starter, well, Andy Sonnanstine did just fine Sunday at Toronto.

There's a bigger issue than two young starting pitchers who may have simply hit the wall. It's on the other side of the ball. I don't believe this lineup can take the Rays all the way - at least as currently configured.

With his unique gift for words, Manager Joe Maddon says the Rays are "a bit schizophrenic" offensively and, we have to admit, they're hard to quantify. They are third in the league in runs scored (behind New York and Boston), sixth in on-base percentage, and - here's a number to chew on - first in the majors in walks. If you're tempted to say the Rays don't have disciplined hitters, that stat represents the counterargument.

They also struck out 32 times over the weekend, including 10 on Friday night, and left 28 runners on base - so there's your counter to the counter.

They're ahead of only Cleveland and Seattle among AL teams in batting average, but since they're third in runs they must be manufacturing the bulk of their offense.

All of this has taxed Maddon's considerable creativity when it comes to creating a lineup. He was juggling again Monday night against the Tigers, moving Evan Longoria to cleanup and Carl Crawford to Longoria's No. 3 spot.

It worked enough to produce six runs and there's nothing wrong with that. A team can only manufacture offense for so long, though, and now the Rays face their first real pitching crisis of this baffling, fascinating season.

Well into August, and it seems like we've been saying the same thing for a while about this team. The Rays still have the second-best record in baseball. Somehow they keep persevering.

As they move forward now with two-fifths of their starting rotation suddenly on the shelf, they'll have to figure another way to keep doing just that.