Tampa Bay Rays Grades for Every Player in August

For a team trying to contend for a division title, the Tampa Bay Rays were terrible in August.

The Rays were coming off the best month in club history, following a 21-5 record in July. Their encore performance, an 11-15 August, was the team's worst record since also going 11-15 in July 2011.

The month was the team's first losing August since Manager Joe Maddon's first season in 2006.

The team's struggles were in large part due to their inability to produce runs. The 89 runs scored (3.4 runs per game) also marked a franchise low for the month of August.

There were some exciting moments from individual players from August, including walk-off victories and spectacular plays.

Here are the grades for the players for the month of August.

Jamal Wilburg is a Correspondentor for Bleacher Report. Unless otherwise noted, all quotations in this article were obtained via Official Team Game Notes

Infielders and DH

Yunel Escobar, Shortstop: B

Yunel Escobar had a good month overall with a .315/.390/.371 line. His 28 hits were a season high and tied for the team lead with Ben Zobrist and Evan Longoria. Aside from his consistent production at the plate, he continues to be impressive on the field, making plays a lot of players cannot.

Jose Lobaton, Catcher: A-

While most of August was pretty forgettable, Jose Lobaton put on some performances to remember. He finished the month with a .326 AVG and .380 OBP. He hit a walk-off triple and a walk-off homer in the same series against the Toronto Blue Jays.

James Loney, First Baseman: C

James Loney had his worst month of the season in August. His .247 batting average, one double and no home runs were all season lows. He was particularly struggling with extra-base hits, with a 21-game drought during the month.

Evan Longoria, Third Baseman: C+

Longoria’s July struggles improved in August, though still not to the level of performance expected from a player of his caliber. He finished August with a .245/.319/.529 line with seven home runs and 14 RBI. He showed flashes of greatness, including his five home runs in a seven-game span Aug. 18-25, including four straight home games.

He also had struggles, including a 0-18 slump toward the end of the month.

Jose Molina, Catcher: C

Jose Molina had a decent month behind the plate to couple with his .244/.333/.311 line for the month.

Sean Rodriguez, Infielder: D-

Somehow, Sean Rodriguez continues to find his way into the lineup against left-handed starters. Through August he started in 44 of the 45 games the Rays played against lefties. He was coming off of a positive July, where he was batting .326 with six RBI.

That changed when Rodriguez, listed at 200 pounds, would hit below his body weight for the second month of the season, finishing with a .179 average.

Luke Scott, Designated Hitter: D

Luke Scott only appeared in nine games in August, spending the majority of the month (14 games) on the 15-day disabled list. In those nine games he had a dreadful .176/.263/.176 line with no runs, home runs or RBI.

Ben Zobrist, Second Baseman: C+

August was a decent month for Zobrist. His .275 batting average is about where his performance usually is. He had a season low 10 strikeouts for the month, though he tied his season high for at-bats with 102.

His defense remained incredible, with the only blemish being a throwing error against the Oakland A’s. The error snapped his club record of 81 consecutive games at second base without an error.

Outfielders

David DeJesus, Outfielder: B-

His sample size for the month is small. David DeJesus played in seven games with the Rays after he was acquired from the Washington Nationals. His move to the Rays was his second trade in one week.

He made those seven games count, batting .320 overall after going 7-for-16 (.438) in his first five games with the team. He also made some impressive plays in the field.

Sam Fuld, Outfielder: C-

Sam Fuld appeared in 19 games for the Rays in August. His batting average was a low .206, though he did manage to hit a season-high five RBI for the month.

Desmond Jennings, Center Fielder: D-

Desmond Jennings spent half of the month on the 15-day DL. The games he did play, he might wish he didn’t, as he finished the month with a .149 batting average. Included in the horrendous numbers was a 0-for-18 stretch as part of his 5-for-39 (.128) performance to close the month, following his return from the DL. His nine strikeouts in August outnumbered his seven hits.

Kelly Johnson, Left Fielder: D

Kelly Johnson’s performance continues to dwindle along with his playing time. He was only able to get one extra-base hit in August and finished the month with a .213 average. With the additions of DeJesus and Delmon Young to the roster, he may be seen with even greater scarcity.

Matt Joyce, Right Fielder: A-

Matt Joyce was a diamond among the lumps of coal on the roster. He finished the month with a .350/.425/.633 line with eight doubles and three home runs. His 17 home runs on the season leave him just two shy of his career-high 19 that he set in 2011.

Wil Myers, Right Fielder: C-

Wil Myers' month started with a postgame ice water bath after a walk-off single Aug. 3. Unfortunately, he remained cold for the remainder of the month. He struggled during a 0-for-22 slump that contributed to his .209 average for August. His five extra-base hits were overshadowed by his 29 strikeouts.

David DeJesus, Outfielder: B-

His sample size for the month is small. DeJesus played in seven games with the Rays after he was acquired from the Washington Nationals. His move to the Rays was his second trade in one week.

He made those seven games count batting .320 overall after going 7-for-16 (.438) in his first five games with the team. He also made some impressive plays in the field.

Sam Fuld, Outfielder: C-

Fuld appeared in 19 games for the Rays in August. His batting average was a low .206, though, he did manage to hit a season high five RBI for the month.

Desmond Jennings, Center Fielder: D-

Jennings spent half of the month on the 15-day DL. The games he did play, he might wish he didn’t as he finished the month with a .149 batting average. Included in the horrendous numbers was an 0-for-18 stretch as part of his month ending 5-for-39 (.128) performance to close the month following his return from the DL. His nine strikeouts in August outnumbered his seven hits.

Kelly Johnson, Left Fielder: D

Johnson’s performance continues to dwindle along with his playing time. He was only able to get one extra-base hit in August and finished the month with a .213 average. With the additions of David DeJesus and Delmon Young to the roster he may be seen with even greater scarcity.

Matt Joyce, Right Fielder: A-

Joyce was a diamond among the lumps of coal on the roster. He finished the month with a .350/.425/.633 line with eight doubles and three home runs. His 17 home runs on the season leave him just two shy of his career-high 19 that he set in 2011.

Wil Myers, Right Fielder: C-

Myers month started with a postgame ice water bath after a walk-off single on August 03. Unfortunately, he remained cold for the remainder of the month. He struggled during an 0-for-22 slump that contributed to his .209 average for August. His five extra-base hits were overshadowed by his 29 strikeouts.

Relief Pitchers

Jake McGee, Left-Handed: B

Jake McGee finished the month with 11 appearances, a 1-0 record and his second-lowest ERA of the season: 2.31. He tallied seven straight scoreless appearances Aug. 13-25.

Joel Peralta, Right-Handed: C+

The hardest working reliever in baseball made 13 appearances in August, finishing with a 2.92 ERA. He allowed only one earned run and no walks in his final seven appearances for the month. The Rays will need him to keep the momentum going as they make the push for the postseason.

Cesar Ramos, Left-Handed: C

Cesar Ramos was dominant over his first six appearances of the month, allowing only one run (0.96 ERA) and holding opponents to a .206 average. Then he allowed five earned runs to the Kansas City Royals Aug. 26.

Fernando Rodney, Right-Handed: C-

Fernando Rodney’s August featured good, bad and ugly moments. The good came at the end of the month with four perfect outings in his last five appearances. The bad consisted of three blown saves and allowing the most hits (12) for any month this season.

The ugly came Aug. 9 when he gave up three earned runs against the Los Angeles Dodgers to blow the save and the game. It was a game the Rays led 6-3 going into the ninth inning.

Alex Torres, Left-Handed: D

Prior to August, Alex Torres' worst ERA for a month this season was 0.48. This was due to him only allowing one run in his first 21 appearances (34.1 IP) this season. After allowing six earned runs in nine appearances (11.2 IP) he finished August with a 4.63 ERA for the month.

Jamey Wright, Right-Handed: B

Jamey Wright performed well for the Rays in August, allowing only one earned run in his nine appearances.

Wesley Wright, Left-Handed: C

Wesley Wright was claimed off waivers from the Houston Astros Aug. 12 and only made five appearances with the Rays for the month. In those appearances, he allowed three earned runs on six innings.

Starting Pitchers

Chris Archer, Right-Handed: C+

The month started off rough for Chris Archer, going 0-2 and allowing 10 earned runs in his first three starts. He would have better results in his final three starts, going 2-0 (Rays won all three games) and allowing only four runs. He also managed to last seven innings in four of his six starts.

Alex Cobb, Right-Handed: A

The fact that Alex Cobb returned to the mound following the baseball he took to the head June 15 was impressive by itself. His month is even more impressive with a win his first start back Aug. 15, two months later to the day from the incident.

Overall, he finished the month with a 2-1 record, 2.19 ERA and held opposing hitters to a .209 average. His month started with celebration and ended with a complete game loss.

Again, the fact that he returned as quickly and as efficiently as he did from his injury is a victory by itself.

Jeremy Hellickson, Right-Handed: F

There is only one grade to give a pitcher who has a Rookie of the Year and Gold Glove on the mantle and gets optioned to the minors.

Jeremy Hellickson’s disappointing season continued in August, as he finished 0-4 in five starts. His 9.15 ERA and .389 opponents average for the month was by far the worst of his season.

The Rays hope he can return to the team well rested and focused to close out the season.

Roberto Hernandez, Right-Handed: F

Roberto Hernandez is another pitcher who saw his struggles continue through August. He finished 0-2 in his four starts for the month, allowing 15 earned runs and 6.33 ERA. Opposing batters were enjoying hitting .356 against him.

The one glimmer of hope was a perfect nine-pitch inning of relief duty against the New York Yankees Aug. 23. It was his first relief appearance since his first major league season in 2006.

David Price, Left-Handed: B-

David Price had a better month than his statistics show. He finished with a 2-1 record and 2.63 ERA in his six starts.

He should have and would have received a third win if not for the team’s implosion and blown save against the Los Angeles Dodgers. He pitched seven innings with only one unearned run given up and received a no-decision. It should be criminal for a pitcher to leave a performance of that caliber with a five-run lead and go home with a no-decision.

He had two subpar outings in the month but was impressive otherwise.

With Matt Moore’s injury and Hellickson and Hernandez struggling, the Rays may need Price more than ever since he has been on the roster.