Rays left-hander Ryan Yarbrough is going to start tonight’s game against the Athletics, reports Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. The southpaw has yet to make his season debut, as he landed on the injured list in April with groin tightness.
On a Tampa Bay team that frequently rotates players on and off the roster, Yarbrough has been one of the more consistent members of the club. Over the four seasons beginning in 2018, he’s appeared in 107 games, throwing 499 2/3 innings with an ERA of 4.30. He doesn’t miss a ton of bats, as evidenced by his 19.5% career strikeout rate. However, he’s limited walks to a career rate of 5.2% and has also been good at limiting hard contact.
The Rays have a decent number of potential starting pitchers on the injured list right now, including Shane Baz, Tyler Glasnow, Brendan McKay and Luis Patino. The club has already resorted to a few of their patented bullpen games to get through the first month of the schedule. A healthy and effective Yarbrough could be a valuable stabilizing force for a staff that’s been heavily worked in the season’s early going.
When Yarbrough comes off the IL, he might be switching places with righty Phoenix Sanders, reports Topkin. Sanders threw an inning in last night’s game and was supposed to head back out for a second until an issue with his back arose, according to manager Kevin Cash. Sanders, who turns 27 next month, is in his first MLB season and is off to a good start. Through 10 innings on the year, he has a 1.80 ERA, with nine strikeouts and just two walks.
As for Wander Franco, he’s been dealing with some hamstring tightness that kept him out of Sunday’s game. The issue doesn’t seem to be overly serious, as he was back in the lineup on Monday. The club tried to convince him to avoid running hard when possible, which he’s found difficult. “The coaches have said that to me,” Franco tells Topkin, “but (running hard) is definitely the way I’ve played since I was a kid, and that’s the form I’m going to play.” In last night’s game, Franco spent some time on the basepaths after hitting a couple of singles. He was pinch-hit for in the ninth inning, though the Rays were already up 6-1 at the time. Signed to an 11-year extension in the offseason, Franco figures to be the face of the Rays for the next decade-plus. The hamstring issue doesn’t seem to have hurt his bat at all, as he’s currently hitting .322/.341/.575 on the season, good enough for a wRC+ of 174.
Wander Franco is a special, special talent and as a Red Sox fan getting to watch him as much as we do is a privilege. Congrats to Rays fans who get to watch this guy for the next decade.
As a Red Sox I am surprised you think Wander Franco will be with the Tampa Bay Rays for a decade or longer: they’ll probably trade him sooner than later with that backloaded contract.
That assumes the Rays will be in Tampa and not Louisville or Charlotte or Montreal.
You forgot Nashville. A’s is a given to Los Vegas. 3,000 at game last night
Louisville? Interesting. That’s the first time I’ve heard that one mentioned. Louisville is less than 100 miles to CIN. Only 1.1M people. Is their AAA team not enough?
2,488 according to the box score.
Nashville Numchuks
I live in Louisville and there is absolutely no way an MLB team would survive here
Yes, Louisville could support a mlb team, look at the Bats attendance it’s almost as high as the Rays. The problem is the city government does not support Pro sports. Little city syndrome 25 years ago Louisville had the same population as Indy and Nashville
Thats actually not indicative of being able to support an MLB team. If the Bats are drawing similar to the Rays that doesn’t mean the Rays would draw better there
They could probably draw more fans here than in St. Petersburg but that’s not saying much. There were a lot of transplants from up north that went to the games when they played NY, BOS etc. people don’t care about the American League in Louisville. People show up to the bats because you can usually get free tickets or the beer nights.
They’ll probably do the same thing as they did with Longoria. That seemed to work out good for the Rays. Got the best years and traded him for prospects. Although Longoria hasn’t been awful in SF, he’s only been about league average with some injuries.
Since becoming a Giant, Longo’s missed:
2018: 23% of games
2019: 21% of games
2020: 12% of games
2021: 50% of games (they won 107 reg season games)
2022: all 22 games so far (starting rehab assignment)
TB didn’t want a 32 y/o 3B wanting big money?
Haters are gonna hate.
Rays did really well trading Smyly for Yarbrough. Plus Mallex Smith was included in that trade and they got a nice year out of him in 2018 then the Rays traded Mallex and that got them Zunino.
GO RAYS!!!
Cash said Wander has a tougher time on turf. That shouldn’t be a problem because Wander plays in beautiful Florida and not on turf.
Oh wait…
I didn’t hear that–heard the interview, didn’t hear that. Said he needed to be careful w him on turf.
“[Franco acknowledged that playing home games on Tampa’s artificial surface could be irritating his legs. He even has heard suggestions that he should tone down his all-out, all-the-time playing style to preserve his durability. He dismissed such a thought. “That’s the way I’ve played since I was a kid,” he said.]”
Cash specifically noted that the Rays had been on a long homestand and that the turf field at Tropicana Field had been more grueling on Franco’s body than a typical grass surface. While the Rays will begin a nine-game stint on the road Monday, they start that trip on a grass field in Oakland
cbssports.com/fantasy/baseball/news/rays-wander-fr…
The infield and base paths are Clay. If KK and the rest of the outfielders who play 100% of the time on turf can do it then so should he. I think it has to do with his Pete Rose style of hustle which is awesome to watch.
Awesome to watch, but maybe not logical. I’m a fan of hustling, but if there is a chance of injury, and the hustle does add any value, then I am okay with 90%.. I said that all the time with Papi. There is almost no reason for a full sprint to 1B on a grounder.. Even a 5% chance of a hamstring issue is far more important than hustling.
KK is not your poster boy for health. Doesn’t help your argument in anyway.