No, I’m not talking about MCeezy. There’s another Matt out there that is tearing up Major League pitching this year, and it seems like nobody is talking about him. Maybe one of the only reasons I’ve noticed his existence is because he’s on two of my fantasy teams, but there’s good reason to take notice of what he’s been doing this year. While others try to figure out if Jose Bautista is “for real” or not, nobody is really talking about ML leader in batting. Matt Joyce is hitting a ridiculous .370 this year. I’m not so sure he’ll keep that up, but it definitely should warrant some more attention than it has received. Maybe it’s because he’s in his fourth year as a pro making him slide under the radar in a time when people are more excited about a rookie sensation like Eric Hosmer. His career normals are in the .250/10/40 range, but then again, Joyce was always in a platoon situation or just a substitute when someone got injured. Fortunately for the Rays, Manny Ramirez decided to call it quits, errr, fail a drug test, and open a spot in the lineup for Joyce. He’s probably already done as much as Manny would’ve done at the plate this year, and plays some really good defense to boot.
With 3 more homers, 10 more RBI’s, and 6 more runs this season, he will have career highs in all categories (already has career highs in doubles and SB’s). At his current pace he’ll have those well before the All-Star break. Can you label this a fluke? I wound’t, because looking at his games played each season as he’s never played over 92 games in a season. He’s always hit for power, but the average has never been there like it has this year. If you had to pick an MVP for the Rays this year, it would be Joyce hands down. Longoria, Damon, and Zobrist have been good on and off, but the rock in the lineup that’s been hot all year long is Matt Joyce. What I can’t figure out for the life of me is why Maddon puts Joyce so far down in the lineup. Sometimes he has his .370 hitter in the six or seven slot. A guy that hits with power and average should be in the top three hitters or protecting Longoria. I know we have one Rays reader, so maybe he can explain Maddon’s theory of putting him so far down in the lineup half the time.
If you didn’t know it’s all-star voting time, and there’s sure to be some bad picks as there are every year. Here’s how I feel like the AL outfield should look. Joyce, Bautista, and Granderson. Too bad it will probably be something like Crawford, Ichiro, and Hamilton or something like that…
By
cali4dre
chappy81
dyslecix
mceezy
Doin Work 
June 1st, 2011 at 10:30 am
He’s but one of the many reasons why the Rays are scaring the rest of the AL and the league at present . Simply imagine if the middle relief and back end of that pitching rotation could be more consistent ?
This month could tell us a great deal about the Rays before the All Star Game in July .
tophatal ……………
June 1st, 2011 at 10:35 am
Yeah too bad they let pretty much their whole bullpen go during the off-season or they’d be even scarier! I hope they can hang in there and somehow take out NY and Boston, but Boston seems like they are getting it together, which is scary for the rest of the East…
June 1st, 2011 at 11:24 am
As always money has been the issue with the Rays and when I’ve suggested to Chris that if Sternberg wants to this team to succeed he now needs to take on a partner with real deep pockets .
Have you seen what the Rangers have done with regard to their organization ? They’ve several multi millionaires and billionaires as partners within the front office never mind before his abrupt departure Chuck Greenberg negotiated that multi million dollar tv contract . Their farm system and prospects are not too shoddy either .
I know that money doesn’t always solve the problem but it helps if you have it and you spend it judiciously unlike the Mets ! LOL,LOL,LOL !!!
I still think David Einhorn plunking down $200 million for a piece of the Mets is like throwing sand on the beach and then trying to count how many grains there are ! And now they’re saying that was for a 20% stake in the team ? Who thinks that the Mets are worth a $1 billion …….. raise your hand ? I don’t care that they’re in the nation’s largest ad market that organization is seriously in the crapper . And that was long before the owners were embroiled in the Madoff scandal .
But who says you have to be bright to be involved in the business of owning a MLB team to begin with ?
So tell the truth did you help out McCourt by aiding him in meeting the Dodgers’ payroll for May ? I hear that he may well have had some of his minions dressed as hobos panhandling all over LA ? He’ll be doing the same thing again for the month of June no doubt .
In the AL East the wildcard will come from that division . It’s going to be a dogfight there ! As the season winds down hopefully we will a get a much clearer picture as to who will triumph there .
Pryor will be raffling off his Z and the money will be donated to a charity .
Nice gesture by him don’t you think ? LOL,LOL,LOL !!! Just kiddin’ !
tophatal ……………..
June 1st, 2011 at 6:13 pm
I think that’s easier said than done. First, the Rangers are in a place that has the ability to draw a crowd, which allows them to make more. I’m sure you know living in Florida that the Trop just doesn’t pull in a consistent crowd. If I’m an investor, I don’t see myself investing my money in the Rays. Florida just doesn’t seem to be into baseball in general.
I think I saw McCourt panhandling offering up happy endings in West Hollywood.
June 1st, 2011 at 3:59 pm
My wife likes to play Beat the Streak on mlb.com and she asked me about Matt Joyce yesterday. She wondered why she hadn’t heard his name on Sports Center when he was hitting so well. Perfect timing for this post; nice work.
June 1st, 2011 at 6:01 pm
Haha, I love this.
June 2nd, 2011 at 11:39 am
I didn’t just marry her for the cooking.
Though that part helped.
June 1st, 2011 at 6:08 pm
Haha that’s what I’m talking about! That’s cool your wife is into it enough to ask you about it! I probably wouldn’t have noticed like I have if he wasn’t on a couple of my fantasy teams. Actually I think he’s been my best player this year (not sure if that’s a good thing)! I don’t see him winning a batting title, but for a quarter of the season, he hasn’t run into any prolonged slumps.
June 2nd, 2011 at 6:43 am
chappy
Baseball within this state simply can’t work especially within the Tampa Bay area. Many of the residents are transplants and their team loyalties lay elsewhere . I look at this way when either the Red Sox or Yankees are in town for a Rays’ game they simply out-number the fans of the Tampa Bay Rays . What does that tell you about the support of not only the team but the organization as a whole ? Never mind the fact that an ingrate like Selig has been belligerent and has denigrated the organization solely for the fact that they’ve been unable to secure themselves a new ballpark. In the most recent game at the Trop the friggin’ roof began to leak ……….. sign of the times and quite possibly impending woes for the team as a whole ?
The hardcore fans all 15,000 of them can plead and muster up a petition but when I last looked that many fans couldn’t sustain the viability of a sports’ franchise .
I hear that there’s a rumor on tap to film his (McCourt’s) life story ? Who would you like to see play him on the big screen ?
So what would you like call the ‘repo company’ should we set one up and then make our way on to the campus of Ohio State ?
tophatal ………………….
June 2nd, 2011 at 7:30 am
You could make a hell of a baseball team comprised solely of guys you never see on SportsCenter…oh wait, the Cleveland Indians already did that…Asdrubal Who?
June 2nd, 2011 at 10:39 am
Very true! MCeezy already gave them some love in one of his posts writing Asdrubal is an MVP candidate, so I couldnt’ go there haha! You know who else is having a monster year that nobody talks about is the ageless Paul Konerko. 12 hr, 44 rbi, and a .310 ave to boot!
June 2nd, 2011 at 10:58 am
Went 4/6 last night. He’s a monster.
How about this for Cleveland: They got Cabrera from Seattle in a deal for Eduardo Perez in June 2006.
They go Shin Soo Choo in a separate deal with Seattle less than a month later for Ben Broussard.
Now, this may be tough but I think with all of our minds combined we can figure out why former M’s GM Bill Bavasi was fired.
June 2nd, 2011 at 12:55 pm
Wow, some Rays love.
You guys are so East Coast biased.
June 3rd, 2011 at 10:09 am
chappy
Well the series is now even at one game apiece . Now it’s make or break time for the Heat in particular . Big boys come to play while the weenies play in the sandbox .
As and when you’re ready .
I Wanna Be That Guy But Not The Guy Who Succeeds The Guy
It Seems To Be A Sign Of The Times …… Good Quality Coaches Could Soon Become A Thing Of The Past ….. Have You Looked At The NBA Lately ?
tophatal ………………
June 22nd, 2011 at 11:08 am
[…] with that sentiment. Hopefully writing about him doesn’t jinx him like I did writing about Matt Joyce’s great year, but sometimes you have to risk it when you’re excited. It’s been awhile since one of […]
June 29th, 2011 at 11:14 am
[…] If you asked me a month ago I would’ve said Matt Joyce deserved to be on the team, but since I wrote about him at the beginning of the month he decided to come back to earth with a prolonged slump. I also […]