The Rays, who have employed some outside-the-box thinking with regards to their rotation this season, will turn to veteran reliever Sergio Romo for his first career start Saturday. The 35-year-old right-hander will take the hill against the Angels’ formidable offense after beginning his MLB tenure with 588 straight appearances out of the bullpen. Unsurprisingly, there’s almost no chance Romo will be in the game long enough to pick up a win, manager Kevin Cash suggested. “The thought process is fairly obvious,” Cash said of the decision to start Romo (via Jay Paris of MLB.com). “They are a heavy stacked right-handed lineup. Now, they can obviously change that, but a couple of their guys aren’t going to move no matter who’s pitching. So, if Romo can get through an inning or two, we’ll see where we are at and probably give the ball to (Ryan) Yarbrough.”
Meanwhile, a more traditional starting option – righty Nathan Eovaldi – is nearing his Rays debut. Eovaldi, who hasn’t pitched in the majors since 2016 (as a Yankee), is likely to join the team after a Triple-A rehab start Wednesday, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times tweets. Eovaldi underwent Tommy John surgery late in the ’16 campaign, causing him to miss all of last season and some of this year, and has been dealing with a right rib muscle strain more recently.
More from Tampa Bay and a few other East Coast cities…
- In other Rays news, the club placed shortstop Adeiny Hechavarria on the disabled list with a hamstring strain, retroactive to Friday, Topkin writes. The team recalled righty Ryne Stanek from Triple-A to take Hechavarria’s roster spot. The light-hitting Hechavarria’s absence will leave short to infielder Daniel Robertson, who has quietly been one of the majors’ premier offensive players this year. Robertson’s slashing .284/.438/.471 with four home runs and nearly as many walks (26) as strikeouts (29) through 130 trips to the plate.
- Nationals outfielder Rafael Bautista will undergo season-ending knee surgery, Jorge Castillo of the Washington Post reports. Bautista, 25, tore the ACL, LCL and meniscus in his left knee on a collision Thursday while playing for the Nats’ Triple-A affiliate. Even though Bautista has only totaled 33 major league plate appearances (six this year) since debuting last season, his loss is another unwelcome one for a team whose outfield depth has taken multiple hits in 2018. Washington was already down Adam Eaton and Brian Goodwin prior to Bautista’s injury, and it may have to go without Howie Kendrick after he departed Saturday’s game on a cart with an apparent ankle issue.
- There’s no timetable for Mets third baseman Todd Frazier’s return from the DL, the player said Saturday (via MetsBlog). Frazier landed on the shelf May 8 with a hamstring issue, meaning he would have been eligible to come back Friday. Instead, the injury-riddled, slumping Mets will continue to go without the offseason free-agent signing. The Frazier pickup had been paying off for the Mets prior to his injury, as he began the season with a .237/.357/.412 line and five homers in 140 PAs. New York has turned to Wilmer Flores, Jose Reyes and Luis Guillorme at the hot corner in Frazier’s stead.
- The Phillies activated righty reliever Victor Arano from the DL on Saturday. Arano went down April 30 with a strained right rotator cuff, before which the 23-year-old rookie produced dominant results. Across his first 12 innings of the year, Arano logged a .75 ERA/1.73 FIP with 9.75 K/9 and 2.25 BB/9.
Probably the most logical thing the Rays have done since November (maybe 2nd after grabbing Joe Wendle)
Anything else the Rays want to do? Wanna start Mallex Smith at 3rd? How about use Kevin Cash in their 2 man rotation, see how he likes it.
The thing is, starting Romo is actually smart
This is genius for a team like the Rays. Outside of Archer they just don’t have starters that can get 18-20 outs. Let Romo attack the toughest part of the order in the first inning, use Yarborough or whoever else is available that day (Andriese, Chirinos when healthy etc) to get the bottom half of the lineup and then the entire lineup through once more. That should get you through 4-5 innings and can use traditional bullpen from there.
You are the only thing to say that you’re a good friend to you tomorrow and you have to do something for tomorrow morning I have no problem getting you a job
I need a job tomorrow AFTERNOON. Morning is no good.
how about a life?
I think this is the way teams will go eventually. 2 or 3 inning guys. Seems way more efficient.
Tony LaRussa rolled that out with the Cardinals at one point without much success, though I don’t think he stuck with it long enough. It does make a lot of sense when you consider that the base concept is for the opposing lineup to see a different pitcher in every AB. Bottom line is that everything needs to go right for it to work.
LaRussa actually did it with Oakland in 1994 or 95. And yeah, he only made it a few times through before giving it up because of injury. He had a bunch of old, past their prime starters then (Morgan and Welch and Stewart, etc) Everyone was on a set schedule, 3 innings every third day or something, with relievers on hand to finish out innings or for the last two innings of a game. It will be interesting to see a team try it for a full season, or close to it.
Dick Williams mentioned doing this a while back. I could see making half the staff available one day and the other half available the next. I think you still need some kind of normalcy for the back 3 innings but getting through the first 6 innings I think you can be creative. A lot of teams use 5 pitchers a night anyway so it don’t see why something like this couldn’t work.
Frazier is tired for playing for the drama filled make believe NY team. He must be thinking, “Ok, I’m taking the dope’s $$. I need to suck it up until mid July when my agent forces their hand to trade me. This is like being sentenced to serve in prison”.
Cool story bro
Wow you’re a douche.
You are a loser.
Hey Rusty. What’s your favorite team, bro?
It’s interesting when a mets fan calls ANYONE else a loser. If your team is a loser than you are one. Just sayin.
Not really…