NewsNiemann faces Jays after long layoff
Tampa Bay (42-35) at Toronto (41-36), 7:07 p.m. ET
By Zach Schonbrun / MLB.com
06/28/09 7:10 PM ET
ST. PETERSBURG -- Jeff Niemann may be pining for some semblance of routine. The Rays rookie right-hander was coasting along until a switch in the rotation bumped him back a few days before making a start against the Angels on June 10. He made his next appearance six days later, after a travel day, against Colorado. Now, after a normally timed start against the Mets, he's set to go in Toronto, despite a six-day layoff due to the activation of Scott Kazmir, who pitched in Niemann's place on Saturday. The fluctuations have left him battling to catch up with the cycles. "I've gotten some extra work in on the side with the few extra days," Niemann said. "Hopefully it will just be normal. I'm trying to make it as normal as I could." There is some cause for concern. The last seven-day break he received ended with him lasting only 3 2/3 innings and allowing seven hits and five runs to the Angels, after coming in with a 2.36 ERA in his previous six starts. Niemann admitted afterward that the extra days off could have affected his flow. On Sunday, Rays manager Joe Maddon said he wasn't concerned with the possibility of this time off having the same outcome. "I think he's going to be fine," Maddon said. "It's just a matter of setting this up. We had a whole bunch of different ways to go about it. We knew that once we decided on Kaz on Saturday, then the next would be what to do with Jeff and when. And just looking at the two different teams, we thought, 'Let's pop him in against Toronto.'" It was announced after Friday's game that Kazmir was going to be activated from the 15-day disabled list and start Saturday against Florida, taking Andy Sonnanstine's spot in the rotation and bumping Niemann back a few days. Maddon said the decision to postpone Niemann until Monday -- flipping him with left-hander David Price -- was made in order to get three right-handers going against the Blue Jays. Matt Garza and James Shields will start Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively. "We had the chance to play around with things, and looking at it, we wanted to go all righties against Toronto," Maddon said. "That was all that was about. We could've done it the other way around, too." The result was another brief respite for the 6-foot-9 rookie Niemann, something he's been getting used to recently. "You just kind of take it, easy days here; hard days, you push back a little bit," Niemann said. "You do your best just to kind of keep it as close to a five-day rotation as you can." Pitching matchupTB: RHP Jeff Niemann (6-4, 4.23 ERA)
Niemann struggled with his control June 21 against the Mets when he walked four and left the game with the Rays trailing 2-0. Tampa Bay came back to take a 4-2 lead to get Niemann off the hook. Niemann uses his 6-foot-9 height to create a downward angle on his pitches that can be extremely difficult for hitters to hit. When Niemann is throwing his breaking pitches for strikes, he usually finds success. Niemann has not faced the Blue Jays. TOR: RHP Roy Halladay (10-1, 2.53 ERA)
Halladay makes his first start since June 12 on Monday, after missing just over two weeks with a right groin strain. He left his last start two pitches into the fourth inning of the Jays' 7-5 loss to Florida at Rogers Centre, giving up one run en route to a no-decision. It was the only one of Halladay's 13 starts this season in which the right-hander did not pitch at least seven innings. Over his past 10 games, Halladay has gone 7-0 with a 2.07 ERA, 62 strikeouts and nine walks. Tidbits
B.J. Upton's third-inning home run gave Tampa Bay 100 on the season, becoming the fastest team in modern Major League history (since 1900) to reach the century mark in both homers and steals. They're also just the fifth team ever to do it before the All-Star break. "It speaks to the athleticism of the group," Rays manager Joe Maddon said. "I think we have a great combination of speed and power." ... Tampa Bay has yet to face Toronto this season, though it has already played at least two series with each of the other American League East teams. Thus, over the next 85 games, the Rays will meet the Blue Jays 18 times. "It seemed like the last couple of years, we were playing them all the time early in the season," Maddon said. "Now we haven't even seen them yet. I don't get exactly why [the schedule] is set up the way it's set up." ... The Rays finished 13-5 in Interleague Play this season. They led the Majors with 6.28 runs per game and a .300 average. Tickets
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• Tuesday: Rays (Matt Garza, 5-5, 3.61) at Blue Jays (Scott Richmond, 6-4, 3.68), 7:07 p.m. ET
• Wednesday: Rays (James Shields, 6-5, 3.41) at Blue Jays (Ricky Romero, 5-3, 3.20), 1:07 p.m. ET
• Thursday: Off-day
Zach Schonbrun is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
