In a key moment for the Rays and righty Brent Honeywell, the prized youngster resumed throwing from the mound today, as Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports. He remains a long ways away from competitive action but now can begin his rehab in earnest.
Long a lauded talent, Honeywell has been rehabbing for about two years now. He was sidelined by a brutal string of health problems in his elbow, beginning with Tommy John surgery and most recently featuring a fracture.
Honeywell’s timeline is still unclear, but Topkin provides some parameters. In the best case scenario, Honeywell might be ready to join a Rays affiliate at some point in May. Whether and when he could end up on the MLB map is obviously depend upon quite a few preliminary factors.
Honeywell seemed close to big league readiness when last he was seen in game action. In 2017, he worked to a 3.49 ERA with 11.3 K/9 against 2.3 BB/9 over 136 2/3 innings in the upper minors.
The future still remains bright as Honeywell closes in on his 25th birthday — presuming, at least, that he can finally get back to competitive pitching. Baseball America and MLB.com have ranked him among the game’s hundred best prospects in each of the past five years, even as the health concerns have mounted.
Honeywell knows he has a lot of work left, of course, having gone through this process before. But he called the return to the mound “a big, big leap mentally wise” and says he “was real happy with it.” Indeed, the former second rounder even indicated that he feels better and more confident now than he did at any point during his original comeback effort.
Hope he makes it. God speed.
do hope Honeywell doesn’t follow Taillon’s career arc too closely. hopefully he skips the second TJ part.
Pull for the guy. “Hopefully he skips the second TJ part”. What does that even mean. You my friend are a booger eater.
Pretty obvious it means he hopes he doesn’t have a second TJ surgery like Taillon..
Clear as day. Only a booger eater would miss that.
Great old-timey name. i hope he succeeds for that alone.
And old-timey game! He features a screwball!
is he still planning on using that with the injuries?
I’d imagine so; it’s his highest rated pitch (65) in his scouting report.
It’s easy to see what the scouts are in love with; one of the smoothest, most mechanically sound deliveries I’ve ever seen. And he repeats it EVERY time, and has since he was a kid. He’s been coached by kinesiology-guru Mike Marshall, so I’m sure that has something to do with it. And Marshall taught him the screwball, which Honeywell uses with some efficiency (tho sometimes it gets away from him).
If he can make it back by June, it adds to what might be (emphasis on “might”; there are some questions) the best rotation in MLB. .
Hopefully he didn’t learn his uncle’s screwball mentality too.
If Honeywell is fully healthy and can join the ML staff sometime in June, the Rays are going to be a tough out in the AL. They already have Morton, Snell, Glasnow, Yarbrough, McKay / Chirinos as healthy starters which has to be a Top 3-5 rotation in all of MLB. Adding a fully healthy Honeywell to this staff would be borderline unfair! If Tampa can get a steady, Top 5-10 offensive output this year, they have a legitimate chance of winning the AL East outright. They are also built to contend for years to come too, so long as they can financially retain their talented young core. There could be a real changing of the guard in the AL East over the next 2-3 years as Tampa is already there and Toronto is potentially building something special north of the border. Boston and NY have their hands full it what is becoming one of the deepest divisions in all of baseball.
The roto is not nearly that good. Morton? Yes he’s a stud. Glasnow dominated over a short stretch last year but gothurt so it’s tough to predict what he will do this year. Snell was mediocre last year and every other candidate is either unproven or hasn’t really done much in the bigs. A very talented rotation with a lot of potential, but to say they are a top 3-5 roto in all of mlb is wayyyyy out there
Easily top 5, probably top 3.
Morton
Snell
Glassnow
and if they pitch to their potential
McKay
Honeywell
That is the best rotation in baseball period.
Not to mention the deepest bullpen as well. The Rays are winning 100 games.
Slow down buddy
I’ll take Buehler, Kershaw, and Price over those three. Then to back it up any combination of Julio Urías, Dustin May, Tony Gonsolin, Alex Wood, and evening Jimmy Nelson! I don’t have as much faith in the pen though.
Kayrall – Definitely!!
Kewldood69 – You’re going with established names who are clearly in decline. Kershaw and Price may have good seasons, but they would struggle to be top 3 in the Rays rotation.
Guessing you haven’t seen them play. Glasnow did dominate–why would he not be solid again? Maybe not as dominant, but he has all the tools, and is finally with a team that can maximize his strengths. Snell dominated the year before–2018 he won the Cy Young, then dealt with injuries last year. Those three are as good as they get, as long as each is healthy. If McKay lives up to expectations, and Honeywell can return anywhere close to where he was, this is a top five rotation. Name five others who are better.
Thats alot of if’s to be throwing out name a better 5 … If German wasnt suspended and if Severino wasn’t hurt and if Deivi pitches as well in MLBs as minors along with if Paxton was healthy and if tanaka pitches like he did 2 years ago and if JA Happ pitched his prime and add Cole… Id take that if a million times if we can use this if stuff.. Plus Yankees pen > rays
And im not close to being a Yankees fan, just a realist
Sideline – You’re actually not giving Snell his full due. Look at his peripherals and you’ll see that by some measures Snell had as good if not better a year in 2019 as he did in 2018. I expect him to be absolutely dominant in 2020. And I love how no one is giving Chirinos and Yarbrough their due. Those guys don’t have the high upside of the others, but they are very good pitchers too, especially for 4th and 5th pitchers (and frankly, one of them will lose their spot to McKay by June).
“Rotation is not that good”. Lol yeah the team with the 2nd best era in the AL and 3rd best in the majors has a bad rotation. What a clown comment
You know it Mr. Mania. But some people only see top rotations in the big market cities with the names that were great 5 years ago.
Jkinser, they’re easily a top 5 rotation. It’s not really that difficult to see.
Best of luck to Matthew McConaughey Jr.
For depth top3 for Quality top five or six
Rooting for Honeywell, hope he makes it back
What’s his timeline to make it back? Second half?
driftcat28 – Kyle Snyder (Rays pitching coach) said he hopes to see Honey in the Bigs by season’s end as either long relief or as starter. Honey is going to be on a real strict innings limit, having not pitched in 2 years.
Wholeheartedly rooting for this kid!!!
Loved watching his dad Rick carve up hitters in the 80’s
Yep, Honey could Cutt some good ones.
The rays will give the yankees a run for their money, if their big three can be healthy all season, then they have a legit chance to take first from the evil empire.
Can’t wait to see his screwball in the majors.