Our weekly look at one item tying together the Red Sox' AL East rivals takes a trip to Port Charlotte, where the Rays are now fully engrossed in the always interesting Manny Ramirez-Johnny Damon era. Here is one player whose time in camp has not gone well thus far.
Yes, we know pitchers are just working out the kinks at this point. They rarely, if ever, pitch to a hitter's weaknesses or develop any sort of game plan other than to work on a particular pitch, build arm strength and slowly increase their workload.
So, when Andy Sonnanstine gave up five home runs in a span of 11 batters last week against Baltimore it was easy to chalk up to an early March aberration. Still, five home runs in 11 batters?!? It had to turn some heads, most notably Sonnanstine's…five times.
The righty is pretty well assured of getting a spot in the Tampa Bay bullpen, especially when one considers the massive overhaul the club has undergone in that area and that Sonnanstine is one of the few holdovers that manager Joe Maddon knows well.
This one outing won't change that, necessarily. However, a few more like it could at least open up some speculation (if we haven't already). Oh wait, there already was one. Sonnanstine also gave up four runs in two innings against a Twins lineup loaded with minor leaguers on Saturday. So that's two rough days for the former 13-game winner, who is 0-2 with a 20.25 ERA so far.
Sonnanstine is on the major league roster, so there is not a ton of flexibility with his status. He should be fine going forward, but he will need to get some outs at some point to assure Maddon and the rest of the Rays that this is not just a matter of working out the kinks.
