Bert Blyleven

Coming out of the All-Star break the Rays will be doing something quite different from what’s occurred in the 11-year history of the franchise: The team will be focusing on how to finish first in the AL East rather than on how to avoid winding up last in the division.

Only once has Tampa Bay not been the AL East cellar dweller when the curtain has come down on a season – that was in 2004 when the Rays finished three games better than the Blue Jays.

But the times they are a-changin’.

It’s been a stunning turnaround for the Rays. They were losers of 96 games last season yet on July 4 they had the best record in baseball. The final week before the All-Star break they struggled against the Yankees and Indians, showing signs they are tired from a first half of the season in which they put forth so much hard work and emotion to become winners.

They’ll benefit from four days off, getting a chance to rest and recharge their batteries. Then the Rays will go back to work at answering what is one of the biggest questions the second half of the season holds: Can Tampa Bay remain in the division race and hold its own with perennial AL East powers Boston and New York?

Well, I don’t have a crystal ball but given the Rays’ athleticism, abundant young talent, veteran presence and the rock solid leadership of manager Joe Maddon it’s my bet that while they may not finish ahead of the Red Sox and Yankees, they’ll remain in contention with the big boys in the remaining months of the season.

Maddon working his magic
It’s been a combination of factors that have led to the Rays doing away with their failure and ushering in their success. Let’s start with Maddon. He manages a team made up of mostly young talent but also some veterans most notably Cliff Floyd and Troy Percival, both of whom have well-earned reputations as clubhouse leaders.

Whether those on his roster are fairly new to the big leagues or whether they have been around a while, Maddon connects with them. He’s from the old school and demands his team get done the little things that can translate into winning games. His players get the message: They need to play the game the right way. At times they benefit from Maddon’s calmness and at other times they feed off his fire and intensity.

Maddon has been instrumental in creating a winning attitude in Tampa Bay. He also has his players going about the game aggressively and the Rays style of play makes other teams take notice right from the first pitch that this is not the Tampa Bay of the past. Maddon’s biggest challenge in the second half will be keeping his younger talent positive even if they hit the expected bumps in the road that all players do over the course of a season.

Rotation rising in stature
The Rays knew they had a terrific 1-2 punch at the top of the rotation in Scott Kazmir and James Shields. Kazmir, their ace, was the AL strikeout king last season when he fanned 239 en route to a 13-9 record and a 3.48 ERA. He missed some time earlier this season due to injury but he’s on pace to be at least as productive as he was last season.

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One issue for Kazmir to work on is getting outs earlier in counts. For a pitcher with his kind of talent, he has too many starts where he’s reached or exceeded 100 pitches by just the fifth inning. Any young pitcher – and I went through the same thing myself early in my career – feels he has to strike out every hitter but somewhere down the line it will click to Kazmir that he doesn’t need to try for that. The left-hander is not a groundball pitcher, he’s a fly-ball pitcher so he should be looking to get that fly ball on the first or second pitch rather than getting it after he’s gone to 2-2 or 3-2 in the count because that’s how his pitch count mounts much too early in games.

Matt Garza, Andy Sonnanstine and Edwin Jackson round out the Rays’ rotation. Sonnanstine is having his best year in his third season with Tampa Bay and if his second half is anything like his first half he should 15 or more games. Garza’s been a big plus. The Rays got him from the Twins in an offseason multi-player deal. It’s possible that in Minnesota Garza was putting too much pressure on himself having been a No. 1 pick of the Twins. Something’s clicked with him since the change of scenery and with his good work ethic and his repertoire of pitches highlighted by a good curveball and a very good changeup he has the potential to go from a mid-rotation starter to a No. 1 or No. 2 starter.