Tampa Bay Rays

Another week and another batch of Hot 8 players are making a splash. Last week's list featured David Price, who picked up his first win in dominating fashion on Saturday. Ross Detwiler, who won his first two starts after being called to the big leagues and Jake Fox who finally got the call up from Iowa and has gone 3-4 all as a pinch hitter. Not to mention Sean Rodriguez who is about to be called up by the Angels any day now...dammit! I am not supposed to let that one slip, my bad!

With two months of the 2009 MLB Season into the record books, we are coming back to reality as we expected it to be this season.

The great starts of the Florida Marlins and the Toronto Blue Jays caught the eye of the public earlier in the year, questioning if they can stay on top of their respective divisions.

The Marlins went cold for weeks after their hot start, while the Blue Jays suffered a losing streak that has brought them into third place in the AL East.

Speaking of the great East, how about them Rays?

David Price is back. The young lefty was called up when Scott Kazmir went to the 15-day DL due to a bad right quad.

It has been a long, winding road for Price. Just two years ago he was the Major League's No. 1 overall pick. The Rays decided to take a chance on the southpaw, as his maturity branded him for early success.

Price ascended quickly through the minors, drawing raving reports from many scouts. In 2008, he joined a young Rays pitching staff that included the likes of Matt Garza, James Shields, and Scott Kazmir.

Let's start this article off by saying one thing.  Rocco Baldelli is not only athletically gifted, but pretty damn smart as well.

He attended the Gifted and Talented student program while at La Salle Academy in Rhode Island, and then switched to a normal high school by the name of Bishop Hendrickson High School, also in Rhode Island.

While at BHHS, the baseball stud posted a 4.25 grade-point average.  He played baseball, indoor track, basketball, and even volleyball, and was a four-star athlete at those sports.

May 3, 2007: The (then) Devil Rays sat two games under .500 at 13-15, fans were cautiously optimistic, but the team was on its way to another dismal finish, a full 30 games out of first place.

Just one year later, the Rays were two games over .500, 16-14, and champing at the bit to get their Ace back. They had improved over there previous season by four games and done so without strikeout artist Scott Kazmir.