Notable Additions: Asdrubal Cabrera IF, Steven Souza Jr. OF, Kevin Jepsen RP, John Jaso C, Ernesto Frieri RP

Notable Losses: Yunel Escobar IF, Wil Myers OF, Ben Zobrist OF/IF, Joel Peralta RP, Matt Joyce OF, Jermey Hellickson SP, Jose Molina C

The Rays have one strength they will rely on all season; pitching. The Rays’ pitching rotation finished in the top ten last season with a collective 3.48 ERA in 2014. They were led by Alex Cobb who has been a rather quite contributor the past two seasons. He finished with a 2.87 ERA through 166.1 innings of work. He has held his ERA under 3.00 in each of his past two seasons and will be looking to make 2015 the third consecutive year. Chris Archer will be the second man in the rotation. Archer has been excellent the past two seasons where he’s kept his ERA in the low 3’s. Drew Smyly has will take the the third spot in the rotation and he too has been solid in the past two seasons. He’s kept his ERA in the low 3’s. Seeing the trend yet? Jake Odorizzi will be the fourth man in the rotation and will be looking to breakout in 2015. He finished 2014 with a 4.13 ERA and had a 9.3 SO9 rate. He clearly has the ability to finish off batters and will be looking to get ahead in counts. When healthy, Matt Moore will take over as the fifth starter. He missed almost all of 2014 with an arm injury but will be ready to compete in 2015. He finished 2013 with a 3.29 ERA through 150.1 innings and picked up 17 wins.

Most people think the Rays will struggle in 2015 and might end up at the bottom of the division. They might be right. I think the Rays might surprise people in 2015. I know they have little to no hitting but defense wins championships. Their pitching will keep them in just about every game and if the offense can find a way to scrape out around four runs a game, this team will win their fair share of games. The rest of the AL East have very little pitching which will make the job easier on the Rays.

The offense will turn to Evan Longoria for answers in 2015. Longoria saw a dip in his batting average last season when he finished hitting .253 with 22 home runs. He played in 162 games last season and will strive to do so again in 2015. He’s hit 30+ home runs three different time throughout his career and has driven in over 100 runs twice. He has the talent to provide the offense with consistency and will make or break this offense. The Rays have a few other players who have the capability to provide power. Desmond Jennings has hit double digit home runs each of his four full seasons in the Majors. John Jaso hit 9 home runs in just 307 at bats. He will finally be given the opportunity to play a full season and will be ready to show what he can do. James Loney has reemerged in the past two seasons and has shown his ability to make superb contact. He finished last season with a .290 batting average and struck out just 80 times. The offense will have to play small ball to produce runs. They definitely won’t be a top offense but might be able to produce enough for wins.

Breakout Player: Jake Odorizzi SP

Odorizzi will be entering his second season as a full time starter and will be looking to prove that he is capable of dominating hitters. His 9.3 SO9 rate shows that he has the ability to finish off batters but he will be looking to work deeper into games and get ahead early in the count. He will enjoy having a strong bullpen to back him up. If healthy I expect:

3.57 ERA, 181.2 IP, 9.2 SO9

Game Changer: Steven Souza Jr. OF

Souza will have the opportunity to start in the outfield this season. There are a lot of people who believe that he can be a difference maker in the Majors and he will have to prove that in 2015. He struggled in his short time in 2014 when he finished with a .130 batting average through just 23 at bats. If he can get going, the offense will have enough firepower to win games.

The Rays have the pitching to go a long way. It will be a matter of if the offense can produce. With a weak AL East the Rays will have a chance to surprise people. We will just have to wait to see.

Make sure to check back in on March 31st for my complete standing predictions along with a few other fun pieces of news. Until then, you will be able to find a new preview of an individual team from March 1st through the 30th here at KRUI.FM.

The post Tampa Bay Rays 2015 Preview Edition #21 appeared first on KRUI Radio.

The south siders have been bashed for years in regards to their lack of talent in the minor leagues and had been given the tag of an old, slow team. In his second year as GM, however, Rick Hahn has injected a once old White Sox squad with young and exciting talent.

The White Sox, currently 72-86, have nine more wins than last season with four games remaining. The additions of Adam Eaton and, and Cuban-slugger Jose Abreu have been a huge boost to an offense that struggled to do virtually everything last season. Abreu has stolen the spotlight during his remarkable rookie season with a slash line of .318/.384/.587 to go along with his 35 bombs and 105 RBIs, and oh, did I mention he missed 15 games? Abreu bat gives the White Sox a Miguel Cabrera-like presence in the middle of their lineup that can wreak havoc for years to come.

As crazy as it sounds, Abreu’s numbers have a chance of improving next year when he will have the luxury of Avisail Garcia, 23, batting behind him the lineup. Garcia missed most of this season after suffering a torn labrum, but has shown in the past the possibility of being a five-tool player.

At the top of the lineup, Adam Eaton has lived up to all of the off-season hype after the Sox felt confident enough to deal their 25 year old 40 save closer, Addison Reed. Eaton’s ability to get on base set the table for the White Sox all season long, and it was very noticeable that the Pale Hose offense had trouble scoring runs when he was out of the lineup. Eaton’s ability to work the count and make pitchers throw pitches has made him the epitome of what the White Sox want to see at the leadoff position.

Here’s a look at some key offensive stats of Sox players who will be returning next season.

*= Only played in 44 games

With only 46 million committed to the 2015 payroll the White Sox have a lot of spending money and the arrival of rookie Carlos Rodon will give them three top of the line starters in Sale, Quintana, and Rodon. Sure, it’s a little early to consider Rodon a top of the line starter when he hasn’t thrown a pitch yet, but the kid who has been called “the best left hander drafted since David Price” has lived up to the expectations so far in the minors.

Rodon streaked through single and double A ball, and in his second triple A start he fanned eight over four innings while giving up one run on one hit. If the Sox can land a solid number two in free agency and let Danks and Noesi battle for the fifth spot, they would have one of the better rotations in baseball.

The rest of that spending money could then be used to fix a bullpen that was not invested in for this season and to add an additional bat to the lineup. With an MVP candidate in Abreu, a CY Young candidate in Sale, and an exceptional leadoff hitter in Adam Eaton, the pieces are certainly falling into place for the South Siders to make some noise in ’15.

The post White Sox Planning to Bounce Back in ’15 appeared first on KRUI Radio.