Rays Plagued by Offensive Woes Amid Tumultuous First Week

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Apr 10, 2011

Our weekly look at one item tying together each of the Red Sox' AL East opponents looks at the Tampa Bay Rays, whose first week was as tumultuous as they come.

Real: The offense took a massive hit early when Evan Longoria went on the disabled list. It took another when Manny Ramirez, albeit a struggling one, abruptly retired. That robbed the Rays of the meat of their projected lineup, and they will be forced to scramble for weeks until they find the right spots for everyone and get Longoria healthy. Manager Joe Maddon said that he hopes the Ramirez situation will galvanize the club. However, this could remain a punchless club for some time.

Fake: Having said all of that, there is almost no way the Rays can remain THIS punchless. The numbers entering Friday were embarrassing — Tampa Bay had a .145 team average and a .217 on-base percentage. They finally broke out to score nine runs in their first win, but fell back with a two-run effort in another loss Saturday. In the team's eight games, it has scored one run five times, two runs once and three runs once. Outside of B.J. Upton, nobody is contributing much of anything. However, almost no team with actual major leaguers can be this anemic, and Longoria will be back at some point.  Tampa Bay may have the weakest offense in the division, but it's not going to be this bad all season.

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