2:45pm: The Rays cleared space for Velazquez by placing right-hander Jose Mujica on the 60-day disabled list, Topkin tweets.
12:56pm: The Rays have selected infielder/outfielder Andrew Velazquez from Triple-A Durham, as Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times first reported. The club already has a full 40-man roster, so it’ll need to make room for Velazquez.
The switch-hitting Velazquez entered the professional ranks as a seventh-round pick of the Diamondbacks in 2012. Arizona then traded him to Tampa Bay in a November 2014 deal that saw right-hander Jeremy Hellickson head to the D-backs.
Now 24, Velazquez does not rank among the Rays’ top 30 prospects at MLB.com, though he has offered passable production this year with Durham. In his first taste of Triple-A action, Velazquez has hit .258/.317/.409 (105 wRC+) with 12 home runs and 29 stolen bases across 461 plate appearances.
Decent. Could be a good major leaguer.
Rays and D backs love that connection. Souza and Michael Perez too lol
Remember the dude had like a 50 game hitting street sometime when he was a teenager? Idk if it was 50 but it was something ridiculous.
Nevermind. It was a 72 game on base streak when he was in the DBack system
They left him off the 40-man roster last year, thought they would have this year. Has some speed, not much else; low career OBP for a “speed guy”, rather meh defensively. They have a barrage of middle infield types to protect this year, so it’s kind of strange. Keon Wong much more deserving of promotion, but maybe they wanted to keep him in Durham for the playoffs.
Left unprotected, Wong will be taken in Rule 5. Decent overall package, defensive versatility.