Roger Mooney
Roger Mooney covers the Tampa Bay Rays for The Tampa Tribune, TBO.com and News Channel 8. He has covered the Rays since their first season in 1998, including 11 years for the Bradenton Herald. Roger has also covered Florida, South Florida and Florida State football, the Bucs and the Lightning.
@RMooneyTrib
TBO_Rays
Send us your questions
More Links:
Most Recent Entries
- Gausman is Bowman’s No. 3 redemption card
- Topps previews baseball Update series
- Panini’s Prime Hockey will have extra treat
- Rays juggle rotation to get Cobb a start this weekend against Yankees
- Beckett opens weekly Wednesday chat room on Facebook page
- Rays @ Jays: Joyce update, Longo DH, Molina returns
- NFL Network report on Revis is revealing
- In The Game acquires Sport Kings LP
- Pasco WR Nate Craig (2016) up to 15 Division I offers
- Tampa Bay softball players honored by FACA
- Western Conference Baseball Teams
- Pasco baseball players Blaine Duncan, Matt Plourde headed to Barry, Daytona State respectively
- Maddon changes stance on Escobar’s home run guesture
- Panini previews Rookies & Stars football
- A peek at Panini’s 2013 Cooperstown Collection
More
- Bucs Report -Tribune staff
- Rays Report - Roger Mooney
- Bolts Report - Erik Erlendsson
- Bulls Report
- Prep Report - Hillsborough
- Prep Report - Pasco
- Prep Report - Region
- Prep Report - Recruiting Updates
- Prep Report - Football
- Go Fishing: On The Waterfront
- The Sports Bookie - Bob D'Angelo
- Gators Report - Tribune staff
- Youth Sports Report
- NFL Draft Report
- Go Ask: Frank's Tacklebox
- Bucified Bert Blog
- BUK Power - Bucs Fan Blog
- Pigskin Preacher - NFL Fan Blog
- Breakfast Bonus - Tom McEwen
- Highlands Sports
Monthly Archives
Kazmir denied WBC chance
Posted Feb 17, 2009 by Marc Lancaster
Updated Feb 17, 2009 at 07:28 PM
PORT CHARLOTTE—Scott Kazmir just passed along word that he will not be allowed to pitch in the World Baseball Classic.
The Rays had filed a petition to keep him out, citing the injury he suffered last year during spring training that kept him out for the first month of the regular season and the extra workload he carried with the team making the playoffs.
Updating: Kazmir called the decision disappointing “in a way, just because of the fact that I was excited about playing for my country and I was looking forward to the experience.”
Now that the word has come down via a phone call from Andrew Friedman, though, he said there’s nothing to do but move on and put all his energy into preparing for the regular season.
“I have to look at the positives out of it,” Kazmir said.
Updating again: Friedman said Kazmir’s Team USA invitation was “very well-deserved,” but reiterated that the team thought it was important for Kazmir to avoid pitching in such a high-intensity situation so early.
“We felt like, with the health issues that he had last year coupled with the fact that we played an extra month, the prudent thing to do would be to push him back a little bit in spring as we were doing with some of our other pitchers as well,” Friedman said.
“We felt like the difference between pitching competitively in early March with ‘USA’ on your chest as opposed to sometime in the second week of March in a Grapefruit League game differed greatly in terms of what it takes to get to that point as well as the stress on the arm.”
He added that he didn’t think the team’s move to deny Kazmir the chance to pitch in the WBC would affect the parties’ relationship.
Post a comment
Members:(Requires free registration.)
Commenting is not available in this weblog entry.
Reader Comments
Por (Steve) on February 17, 2009 (Suggest removal)
Good,now he can take more time getting ready for the REAL games.Hopefully he will rediscover his 96 MPH heater and biting slider that was missing most of last year.
Suggest removal