BaseballHappenings.com

A year after making it to the World Series, the Tampa Bay Rays end up in third place the AL East division with an 84-78 record. The Rays batters scored 754 runs in 2009, a number that was 20 less runs than the previous season.  However, the alarming number was the 803 runs given up, as compared to 671 runs given up in 2008.

Jeff Niemann finally came on the scene and got his chance to pitch in the Rays starting rotation after battling injuries throughout his minor league career. After getting off to a shaky start in his first few outings, the Rays stuck by him and he lived up to his #1 pick status. By far, Niemann was the surprise of the season for the Rays in the pitching department. In comparison, the Rays David Price had somewhat of a disappointing season.  With a lot of expectations thrown his way,  his performance as a starter in 2009  looked shaky at times. Kazmir had another year of injuries, but managed to string together a few good starts after returning from the injury. The Rays were able to find a trading partner in the Angels. If you saw him pitching in the playoffs, you realize the Rays made the right decision. He simply is not the pitcher he once was. His numbers show that. He is just too inconsistent. After his playoff dominance in 2008, Garza was simply not that pitcher in 2009. He pitched well enough to post decent numbers and peripherals, and is still one of their best pitchers. James Shields simply did not pitch as well as he did the previous season, when he established himself as the Rays#1 Ace. pitcher  His strikeout numbers were down, and gave more runs than was expcted, but still managed the teams top spot in quality starts.