The Rays have reinstated Jeffrey Springs from the 15-day injured list and optioned right-hander Luis Patino to Triple-A, per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times (via Twitter).
Patino started yesterday’s ballgame for the Rays, giving up three earned runs in four innings of work. It was just Patino’s third start of the season, and just his second as a true starter. He was an opener for his first outing, going just 2/3 of an inning. In Triple-A, the 22-year-old has posted a 3.57 ERA across six starts totaling 17 2/3 innings.
Springs is having a mini breakout campaign at the age of 29. Across 11 starts and seven relief appearances, Springs has registered a 2.53 ERA/3.66 FIP in 64 innings, which is already a career-high. He’s been particularly sharp in terms of limiting free passes with a career-best 5.9 percent walk rate, well below the league average rate.
Waiting for the “Rays have reinstated 2/3rds of their OF along with their SS and 2 SP’s” news.
Sigh*
He’s still young, and injuries have been nagging, but I’ve been surprised by Patino’s lack of progress to date.
One again you’re spot-on, Brew… his pangs have prohibited any purposeful progression for Patiño. He’ll come around, he’s still only 22 and the Rays have a great track record with live arms.
@Gwynning. I forgot he was that young still. I always thought he was the better of the two prized SP prospects (vs. Paddock). He’s certainly in the right place when you consider how the Rays develop and don’t give up on young pitchers (ex. McClanahan, who’s vying for a Cy).
Good perspective. Indeed, he is 22 years old! This year was rough, as he was out before he got into any type of groove, and the return has been a bit ugly for the most part. Was hoping he could hold down spot number five in the rotation, alas it is not to be. With all the injuries, curious if maybe he should be a relief piece this year…and maybe going forward.
The Tampa Bay front office really knows how to identify untapped potential. I was beyond shocked when Tampa traded catching prospect Ronaldo Hernandez and IF Nick Sogard to the Red Sox for Jeffery Springs and Chris Mazza. Springs had a 7.08 ERA for Boston and Chris Mazza was designated for assignment, yet Tampa sent two pretty well regarded prospects to Boston for these two below-average pitchers. I thought Boston robbed them in this deal.
I’m not sure what they do down in Tampa, but they have turned Springs into a true weapon on the mound and Mazza gave them some solid work as well for a little bit. Meanwhile, neither Hernandez nor Sogard have sniffed the major leagues in Boston. The Sox are still pretty high on Hernandez, but it sure seems like Tampa got the better of this deal thanks to Springs. Amazing work yet again from the Tampa front office!
Tampa does get short term results with pitchers that were not successful elsewhere, particularly relief pitchers. But we also see a high percentage of their pitchers develop major injuries.
When comparing them to pitching factories such as Houston, Cleveland, Milwaukee, and now emerging Baltimore; one doesn’t see near the amount of injuries with their pitchers.