TODAY: Kiermaier was indeed placed on the 10-day injured list prior to today’s game. Right-hander Louis Head was called up from Triple-A to take Kiermaier’s roster spot.
MAY 8: X-rays are negative on Kevin Kiermaier’s left wrist after the outfielder left today’s game due to what the team described as a wrist sprain. The injury occurred when Kiermaier was trying to steal second base in the second inning, and the center fielder looked to be in significant pain after jamming his left arm into the bag.
It seems like another trip to the injured list could be in order for Kiermaier, whose career has been defined by both superb center field defense and (unfortunately) his inability to stay on the field. Kiermaier averaged just 105 games per season from 2016-19 due to a variety of injuries, including a past wrist problem in 2019. A left quad strain already sidelined Kiermaier for 12 days in April, though if there wasn’t any structural damage on his wrist, he could be able to return to action from this latest issue after another relatively short absence.
The Rays already made an IL move prior to today’s game with the Athletics, as catcher Francisco Mejia was placed on the 10-day injured list due to left intercostal discomfort. The injury doesn’t appear to be overly serious, as manager Kevin Cash told reporters (including MLB.com’s Justice delos Santos) that the team’s initial hope was that Mejia would be fine after just a couple of days’ off, but a minimum 10-day absence will give time for Mejia to fully recover.
Given how Mejia has played in his debut season in Tampa, the Rays certainly want the young backstop to be free of any lingering injury. Acquired from the Padres as part of the Blake Snell blockbuster last offseason, Mejia has hit .300/.348/.450 over his first 67 plate appearances for the Rays, helping to bolster a catching spot that has long been a weak link in Tampa Bay’s lineup.
With Mejia out, Mike Zunino will get the bulk of playing time at catcher, while Kevan Smith was added from the taxi squad yesterday when Ryan Yarbrough was temporarily placed on the COVID-19 list. Yarbrough was already reinstated from the COVID-IL today, after recovering from some vaccine side effects.
To create a 40-man roster spot, Chris Archer was shifted from the 10-day IL to the 60-day IL as the veteran right-hander continues to recover from forearm tightness. It was roughly two weeks ago that Cash said Archer would need “at least” a couple of more weeks of rehab time, and today’s transaction will push Archer’s return to June at the earliest. [UPDATE: Archer has been away from the team for several weeks due to a personal matter, and Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times writes that Archer’s mother passed away on May 1. MLBTR sends our condolences to Archer and his family.]
While we have a new forum talking about the snell deal…. can we again talk about how much smarter than Rays are than literally ever single baseball person out there. Every media outlet and fan and analyst criticized the Rays for the snell move and again he’s failing to perform like most the time in Tampa (except the national World Series game that every baseball fan saw and just assumed snell pitched like that all the time) and the Rays return is looking sweeter and sweeter. Wont call it a steal but so far a Rays win for sure. #stopgettingattachedtonames
I agree. The trade was supposed to be a win-now trade for San Diego and a win-later trade for Tampa yet Blake Snell has been worth 0.3 WAR so far this year while Luis Patiño has been worth 0.2 and Francisco Mejia has been worth 0.5.
And I don’t want to hear about how MeJiA nEvEr WoUlD hAvE hIt LiKe ThIs In SaN dIeGo! That just means their coaches have no idea what they are doing. If that is the case then they have a much bigger problem on their hands than just a couple prospects busting.
I agree that Snell has been a massive disappointment so far, but it’s still too early to say that the trade is bad.
Mejia’s stats are impressive, but his high batting average is being boosted by a .347 babip that is most likely unsustainable. Plus, the Padres already have a solid catching tandem in Nola and Caratini, with top prospect Campusano probably a year or two away from being a reliable major league player.
In regards to Patino, I do think he will be a great starter at some point in the future, but it’s hard to point to 7.2 innings as proof that he is great right now.
Not sure how Austin Nola and his .478 OPS makes for a “solid catching tandem.”
That trade was made because Preller wasn’t willing to be patient with Patiño. So no, I will not be patient with Snell.
Austin Nola has only had 18 plate appearances this season, and he just came off the injured list from a broken middle finger. It’s not fair to bring up his OPS right now. Wait until the middle of the season so that he can get enough plate appearances for it to matter.
1. Being injured isn’t a point in his favor.
2. Mejia already does have a solid OPS. Still have my doubts about his work behind the plate but I can say the same for Campusano.
No one is saying that Patino is great or even great now. It’s that the Rays should be given the benefit of the doubt when they trade a star. They do it routinely.
Just laughing cause San Diego did this a few years ago when they traded for Shields and other big names before busting. They got all cocky again this year, and we’re finding they still can’t compete with the Giants.
Its been a month and they’re only 2 games back, there’s absolutely no one but you who thinks the old men in SF are going to be at the top after 6 months. But good job on your April title!
This would have been past the halfway mark in 2020, the only year you’ve been good since 2010. Your catching situation is bad, starters are overhyped, and a shortstop that’s bound to need shoulder surgery. I like our chances tbh.
They never traded for Shields. Signed as a free agent and became Tatis Jr for them.
Massive? His era is below 4. Not that awful. But I do appreciate the perspective…something not often seen on this board.
Patino looks pretty darn good to me!
@Sideline Redwine when you trade that kind of a package for the guy, more is expected of him. It would be fine if they traded the Darvish package or the Musgrove package for Snell, but they didn’t.
All teams make good……and bad trades.
I’d wager even the Rays didn’t know what they had in Jake Cronenworth.
Rays and Indians sure don’t make bad trades. Yet Preller keeps trading with them.
And the poor get poorer…
Zinino is on fire: avg .222 and ops+ .139
Albert Pujols is bristling at the fact that CoViD19 got to take out Ryan Yarbrough, yet he did not.
Bring up Wander and Brujan. Brujan bats first playing second (Lowe to outfield),Wander second at DH…w some time at short. Arozarena is the inly OF who deserves every day play, followed by Margot. Plenty of opp to move players around–Lowe could play 1B, Wander can play 3B, Etc. The time has come. These guys are ready.
It’s early but Snell has an era of 4.15 and Morton has an era of 4.98. Their combined war is 0.
The Rays knew what they were doing, as they often do. It’s a bummer so many people only saw Snell removed in game 6 and didnt see the many amazing Rays moves make on a regular basis to remain competitive.
Still comical to me snell has yet to finish a 6th inning yet this year. But don’t hear about that???
From the beginning, the trade looked to be fair. Patino is for real; so is Cole Wilcox; the other two guys’ ceilings is “meh”. Getting two impact types for Snell is now, and was then, a pretty good move. And as i said, was fair.
Rays fans know how inconsistent Snell can be, and the contract was probably a mistake; he just doesn’t seem to be the kind of guy you give those deals to; ask him about pitching, and he’ll tell you all about video games. But I can see why SD did the deal. If you project his AL East numbers into the NL West, they look to be pretty strong.
And it’s pretty early to jump on Blake’s butt right now; they’ll be time enough for that later.
Hope they give Head a shot.
i was so happy to get rid of Snell, he is NOT an ace, dude cant get through 5 innings without throwing 100 pitches!