The Rays have activated right-hander Yonny Chirinos from the 10-day injured list, according to Juan Toribio of MLB.com. He’s been on the shelf since early August, when inflammation to his middle finger forced him to the injured list.
Chirinos has enjoyed a nice sophomore season, blossoming into a full-time starter for the Rays. He was able to provide nice insurance against the injury to Tyler Glasnow and has been a reliable part of the Rays pitching staff.
In his age-25 season, Chirinos has given the Rays 126 2/3 quality innings, tallying a 3.62 ERA and a 4.16 FIP, striking out 7.8 batters per nine innings while averaging 2.0 walks. He’s settled nicely into a role as a regular starter, a change of pace after serving as a “follower” in his rookie year and for the first few outings of 2019.
However, there hasn’t yet been any indication whether Chirinos will return as a starter or reliever. He offers some flexibility, so it could go either way, but don’t expect him to offer the same length that he provided prior to the injury. As fellow starters Tyler Glasnow and Blake Snell likewise work their way back from injuries, they have been strictly limited in their workloads, meaning that Chirinos could serve as a solid multi-inning option behind that pairing.
While Chirinos hasn’t posted the most promising peripheral numbers, his results have been nonetheless impressive, and the Rays will certainly welcome all the help they can get as they aim for a Wild Card berth.
If they can get them all healthy and stretched out the Rays finally have a rotation this year.