Tampa Bay Rays: Jonny Gomes OF/DH #31

40 Rays 40 Days










Jonny Gomes
OF/DH #31
HT:6'1 WT:225

The Dish: When Jonny Gomes walks in a room, people notice. The 18th round pick of the Tampa Bay Rays in 2001, Jonny Gomes is simply...The Man. Gomes is The Stylin', profilin', limousine riding, jet flying, kiss-stealing, wheelin' n' dealin' son of a gun! Don't believe me? Just ask your girlfriend.

It didn't take long for Jonny Gomes to show the Rays that dude can flat out mash the ball. In 62 games of rookie ball, Gomes hit .291/.442/.597 with 16 home runs. Not even a heart attack on Christmas eve of 2002 could stop Jonny. By the time the 2002 season rolled around Gomes was in Advanced A ball hitting 30 home runs for Bakersfield. Gomes started 2003 in AA Orlando hitting 17 more home runs before a brief promotion to AAA. Gomes played in five games for AAA durham and made his big league debut on 9/12/03. Gomes played in eight games for the Rays that September. In 2004 Jonny had a brief five game stint with the Rays, spending most of his time at AAA Durham hitting .256/.368/.531 with 26 home runs and 78 RBI.

2005 was a good year for Gomes. He was briefly up with the big league club until May and was sent down again playing 45 games total for AAA Durham. He was recalled in June and remained with the Rays for the remainder season. Gomes finished a with a line of .282/.372/.534 21 home runs and 54 RBI. He also finished third in the AL Rookie of the Year voting. There were high hope for Jonny in 2006 and he started off with a bang, hitting 11 home runs in the month of April. However, a shoulder injury hampered Gomes and he finished the season on the DL; hitting .216/.325/.431 with 20 home runs and 59 RBI. The Rays made Gomes battle for a roster spot in the spring of 2007. Gomes broke camp with the team, but barely saw playing time and was sent to the minors in May. Gomes was recalled in June and saw an increase in playing time, playing in 107 games total.

2007 Numbers:(AAA Durham)13 Games .302/.464/.419 with 1 home run. (Rays) .244/.332/.460 with 17 home runs and 49 RBI.

Jules Fantasy Impact: If he gets 350-400+ ABs he should put up a line close to .260/.360/.450 or so with 20-25 HR and 75RBI. He has the potential to exceeded those predictions and have a season similar to his 2005. I'd say he's worth a flyer in an AL-Only league and a waiver wire watch in deeper mixed leagues.

Role for '08: The expectation during the offseason is Jonny Gomes would team up with Rocco Baldelli and Cliff Floyd to form a super trio platoon in RF/DH. Gomes would see the bulk of the AB's against left handed pitchers with Floyd and Baldelli playing against right handers. The Baldelli injury now makes the trio a duo. Gomes and Floyd should be in the line up almost everyday now alternating between RF and DH with Gomes seeing the bulk of time in the field. The Rays are looking internally at Jon Weber, John Rodriguez and Chris Richard as 5th outfield options. If one of those guys makes the team expect Jonny to get 500 AB's and hit 30 home runs. If the Rays choose to bring in Kenny Lofton or another outside candidate Gomes will see a little less AB's, but it won't really make much of a difference. He is also tougher than Shelley Duncan by a long shot.

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