Today I really like the Rays with David Price on the hill against Javier Vazquez. NO question Vazquez had one of the best seasons of any pitcher last year with a 2.87 ERA, but that was in the National League. He returns to the American League where he spent many seasons struggling with ERA's over 4.00 and I think that happens again here. TB has a lot of experience against Vazquez with 164 total AB's and a .293 average. Leading the way is Carl Crawford who has a .423 average and behind him is BJ Upton who is 6-12. In 2008 when he was a part of League A, he had a 5.10 ERA on the road and opponents had a .295 average and he was 1-2 vs. the Rays.
David Price will start his sophmore year with the Rays although he pitched in 2008 when the Rays got to the World Series he was still considered a rookie last year as he had just 14IP in 2008. Price was extremely convincing at home last year with an 8-3 record and a 2.93 ERA at Tropicana Field. He actually had three starts against the Yankees in which he pitched 18.2 innings giving up just 7 hits and 4 ER for an ERA below 2.00. In October he pitched at home and went 7 strong giving up 2 hits and 1 ER. Why is he so successful against the Yankees? The Yankees will run into this several times with that heavy hitting lefty line up. While Price gave up 16 HR to RH hitters last year he gave up only 1 to lefties who had an OPS 90 points lower than LH hitters. It is an advantage that continues today and although there are new faces in this Yankee lineup to deal with I'm confident that Price can continue to battle. Add in that the Rays are an amazing 80-30 at home in their last 110 games vs. a RH starter.
