Rays' Longoria on struggles: 'I felt like I never played the game before'

Evan Longoria picked the wrong season to have a power outage.

Owners of one of the league's worst offenses, the Tampa Bay Rays have managed to stay in the postseason conversation despite struggling to score runs. Meanwhile, their highest-paid player has placed himself under the magnifying glass by failing to provide a spark in the middle of the order.

"It's been tough," Longoria told Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. "It's been tough just because I know I'm better than this. And I know at some point I'm going to figure it out.

"It's just, I don't know … I told (manager Kevin) Cash the other day, I felt like I never played the game before."

Longoria isn't completely to blame. The front office has failed to construct a lineup that protects the three-time All-Star, allowing opposing pitching to attack the Rays' biggest offensive threat.

"There's no excuse, other than it's been difficult, it's been tough so far this year," he said. "I've just got to keep showing up and keep working at it and hope that - I guess, not hope - believe that things are going to turn around at some point. …

"The game is difficult and sometimes you're going to go through times like this. I have no doubt that at some point I will figure out how to be that player again."

The 29-year-old has seen his power numbers decline in each of the past three years. That's a concern for the cash-conscious Rays, considering Longoria still has seven years and $107.5 million remaining on his deal after this season.

"I feel like I've swung the bat pretty well overall, more consistent than last year, I just haven't hit the home runs. …

"I feel like I'm hitting the ball hard, it's just not going in the air. So I don't know what it is. I've done nothing different."