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Devil Rays call up Delmon Young
The Tampa Devil Rays have seen how Delmon Young can hurt the organization with his bad behavior and stinging comments. Now they want to see how ready he is to help the team with his potent bat and powerful arm.
The Devil Rays on Monday summoned the Camarillo High graduate to the majors, and he is expected to make his debut tonight in right field against the Chicago White Sox.
"We obviously deliberated over this for a long time and talked to many people," executive vice president Andrew Friedman said. "During Delmon's suspension we talked to him about some of the things he would need to do when he started playing again, and he's performed very well on and off the field lately. We feel this promotion, along with others we'll make, will help us answer some questions going into the offseason."
Young, the top pick of the 2003 draft, said he was a little surprised and a lot excited by the move.
"It's a dream come true,'' he said from Durham, N.C., the home of Tampa Bay's Triple-A team. "When you start playing baseball as a little kid, you want to play in the big leagues, and it's about to happen.''
Young, 20, is considered one of the game's most talented prospects, but has created considerable controversy with his attitude and actions.
He was suspended 50 games after throwing his bat at an umpire in an April 26 game. He also has publicly criticized the Devil Rays for not calling him up sooner.
He has played well since returning in June from the suspension and, according to Devil Rays officials as well as former Durham Bulls teammate Kevin Witt, has improved his attitude as well.
"People learn from their mistakes, and I learned from mine,'' Young said. "I just want to move on and play baseball.''
Young put up solid numbers at Triple-A, hitting .316 with eight homers, 59 RBIs and 22 steals in 86 games. The Devil Rays would like to see more power and improvement in his strikeout/walk ratio of 65/15.
Young was likely to be called up next week after the end of the Triple-A season, but the move was expedited Monday when Tampa Bay Jonny Gomes discovered he needed season-ending surgery on his right shoulder and was placed on the disabled list. Young was in the starting lineup for Durham on Monday, but was pulled out and told of the promotion.
Tampa Bay will be interested to see what Young can do over the final 31 games, but also how he does it — how he deals with success and failure, how he handles himself in tough situations, what he says and how he says it.
"We feel pretty confident that he is ready to come up and fit into our clubhouse," Friedman said, "although obviously we will continue to monitor that, and also gauge his development on the field."
It also will be interesting to see how he is treated by umpires, who might use their calls to show what they thought of his bat toss. "I think Delmon is fully aware that his reputation with the umpires is something that he is going to have to battle for some time," Friedman said.
Source: Ventura County Star
The Devil Rays on Monday summoned the Camarillo High graduate to the majors, and he is expected to make his debut tonight in right field against the Chicago White Sox.
"We obviously deliberated over this for a long time and talked to many people," executive vice president Andrew Friedman said. "During Delmon's suspension we talked to him about some of the things he would need to do when he started playing again, and he's performed very well on and off the field lately. We feel this promotion, along with others we'll make, will help us answer some questions going into the offseason."
Young, the top pick of the 2003 draft, said he was a little surprised and a lot excited by the move.
"It's a dream come true,'' he said from Durham, N.C., the home of Tampa Bay's Triple-A team. "When you start playing baseball as a little kid, you want to play in the big leagues, and it's about to happen.''
Young, 20, is considered one of the game's most talented prospects, but has created considerable controversy with his attitude and actions.
He was suspended 50 games after throwing his bat at an umpire in an April 26 game. He also has publicly criticized the Devil Rays for not calling him up sooner.
He has played well since returning in June from the suspension and, according to Devil Rays officials as well as former Durham Bulls teammate Kevin Witt, has improved his attitude as well.
"People learn from their mistakes, and I learned from mine,'' Young said. "I just want to move on and play baseball.''
Young put up solid numbers at Triple-A, hitting .316 with eight homers, 59 RBIs and 22 steals in 86 games. The Devil Rays would like to see more power and improvement in his strikeout/walk ratio of 65/15.
Young was likely to be called up next week after the end of the Triple-A season, but the move was expedited Monday when Tampa Bay Jonny Gomes discovered he needed season-ending surgery on his right shoulder and was placed on the disabled list. Young was in the starting lineup for Durham on Monday, but was pulled out and told of the promotion.
Tampa Bay will be interested to see what Young can do over the final 31 games, but also how he does it — how he deals with success and failure, how he handles himself in tough situations, what he says and how he says it.
"We feel pretty confident that he is ready to come up and fit into our clubhouse," Friedman said, "although obviously we will continue to monitor that, and also gauge his development on the field."
It also will be interesting to see how he is treated by umpires, who might use their calls to show what they thought of his bat toss. "I think Delmon is fully aware that his reputation with the umpires is something that he is going to have to battle for some time," Friedman said.
Source: Ventura County Star