Rays righty Jose De Leon has at long last returned to active duty, the club announced. But he’ll return to Triple-A on optional assignment as he looks to get his injury-addled career back on track.
De Leon, once a top prospect who is now almost 27 years of age, underwent Tommy John surgery last March. His rehab assignment was twice extended, as is permissible for hurlers working back from TJ procedures, extending it to a total of ninety days. With that time up, the club swung a deal earlier today to clear a 40-man spot for De Leon’s activation from the 60-day injured list.
During his lengthy rehab stint, De Leon threw 34 innings over 11 outings. He worked to a 3.97 ERA with 11.4 K/9 and 5.0 BB/9. That’s not a perfect showing, by any stretch, but it seems promising that he was able to generate swings and misses from top-level minor-leaguers.
It’s certainly possible that De Leon will be seen as a MLB option in the near future. Odds are he’d be utilized as less than a full-fledged starter, much like most of the rest of the Tampa Bay staff. In De Leon’s case, he has only once topped one hundred innings in a given professional season (2015).
Another former Dodger.
fascinating, thanks
Great new, DeLeon was light out in Triple A and will be very helpful as RH bulk reliever after the All-star break! Oh! Lets see what we got back from the L Forsythe trade.
I still can’t believe they heisted DeLeon, then a top-30 prospect in all of baseball, for Forsythe
Dodgers have won the trade so far lol.
if DeLeon provides any value at all, even in AAA, it will b3 a Tampa win.
If DeLeon fails as a starter he has the velocity and nasty stuff to become a reliever so I think the Rays will end up winning the trade.
As a Dodger fan I hope the Rays win the trade, it would be great to see De Leon succeed as a major leaguer
I love JDL, but even as a Dodger fan, I can’t at all be mad at this even if he were to turn into a CY Young type. His stuff backed up, and he was passed on the depth chart. These are some of the trades you make in an attempt to win. You can’t keep every prospect. I hope this does go down as a “heist” by the Rays.