Rays righty Shawn Armstrong won’t be ready for the start of the season, reports Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. Armstrong, who’s dealing with a neck injury, is “highly unlikely to be ready” for Opening Day, manager Kevin Cash tells Topkin. The team is still working to ascertain a more specific diagnosis.
Armstrong, 32, bounced between four teams from 2019-22 but twice found his way to the Rays and, in 2022, finally had the breakout showing of which several clubs clearly believed him to be capable. In 55 innings with Tampa Bay, he posted a solid 3.60 ERA with even more encouraging strikeout, walk and ground-ball rates of 26%, 6% and 49.7% — all of which are better than the league average. Armstrong’s heater sat at a career-best 95.6 mph with Tampa Bay in 2022, and his 12.3% swinging-strike rate, and 38% opponents’ chase rate both suggest he could have more strikeouts in the tank.
Armstrong was a lock to make the club, both based on last year’s performance and his lack of minor league options, so he’ll be placed on the Major League injured list at some point. Candidates to replace him in the big league bullpen to begin the season include righties Calvin Faucher and Rule 5 selection Kevin Kelly, both of whom are on the 40-man roster. Kelly would have to hold his spot on the MLB roster or be offered back to the Guardians upon clearing waivers. The Rays are expected to select the contract of non-roster righty Trevor Kelley later this month, and other non-roster veterans who’ll be vying for the open spot include Heath Hembree, Kyle Crick and Ryan Burr — among many others.
Some other notes from the division…
- The Rays are going to begin taking a look at shortstop prospect Greg Jones out in the outfield, tweets Topkin. The 2019 first-rounder has played exclusively at short in his minor league career to date, but the Rays place an emphasis on defensive versatility in all their players and the team has Wander Franco entrenched at shortstop. Jones, who was selected to the 40-man roster over the winter, ranked as the No. 91 prospect in baseball prior to the 2022 season, per MLB.com, but his stock dipped a bit with last year’s .238/.318/.392 showing in 358 Double-A plate appearances. Jones appeared in 79 games, but that was actually a career-high, as he’s been plagued by both shoulder and leg injuries in his young career. FanGraphs credits Jones with 80-grade speed, and Baseball America lauds his athleticism, writing that some scouts believe he can be a plus defender in center field. Adding some outfield work to his skill set will only create further opportunities for the 25-year-old switch-hitter to work his way onto the big league roster.
- The Red Sox got a scare earlier this week when infielder Justin Turner was hit in the face with a pitch. Though the scene was quite scary to look at, with a trainer holding a towel to Turner’s bloody face, it appears for now as though Turner has avoided any kind of nightmare scenario. Turner’s wife later reported that the slugger required 16 stitches but didn’t fracture anything. Manager Alex Cora provided an update today, relayed by Mike Monaco of NESN, saying that Turner will probably get those stitches removed in two weeks. With just over three weeks until Opening Day, there could be some time there for Turner to make it back on the field, but Cora says it’s too early to think about that. It’s possible Turner might still miss a bit of time, but given how gruesome the scene was to watch, a small absence would likely be considered a good outcome.
Of course Turner is fine – he’s a strong California boy.
Kewl – The only reason Turner is fine is because Houck told him to suck it up Buttercup.
The last one standing!!
didn’t Samuel post that Turner would very probably be ready by this weekend? I bet they are keeping him out just to spite Samuel… sorry Samuel I could not resist
riff – I muted Samuel ages ago, so I wouldn’t know (or care) what he wrote.
So you muted a guy who never disparages anyone and gives his honest opinion? Interesting. Cant imagine how many people you have muted on here then.
I wouldn’t say Samuel has never disparaged anyone.
Astros – I have muted only 2 other active user names. There are some here who strongly disagree with every post I make, and I’ve never even considered muting them.
I respect how you view other posters, and I would hope you respect how I view them as well. I have my reasons for muting him. Ironically, Samuel is notorious for muting many others who don’t share his opinions.
But hey, glad you enjoy him. To each their own, cheers.
GASox – That’s an understatement. He has a habit of disparaging others and then muting them so as not to allow a response. He doesn’t know what it means to interact.
I simply will not waste my time replying to someone who doesn’t acknowledge responses to his own posts.
Fever – no matter how obnoxious they get, I never mute anyone.
Sometimes I reach a point I don’t bother to recheck a thread and see their ‘last word’ on things, but, in general it never hurts to be able to see all the content going on around you.
And if all you begin to see is comments made by people who think just like you, you’re missing out on a lot
GA – I’ve only muted a few here – mostly ones that did not add anything to the conversation ever ( like the idiot whose only posts were “first” ). I’ve been tempted to mute Samuel a few times since he has a habit of stating an opinion then when asked about how he came to that opinion he replies with something along the lines of ” I’m too busy to explain baseball to you just google it” or some other condescending crap. Often his posts are of epic length but occasionally he does add to the conversation so I tend to quick glance, roll my eyes, and move on. Every now and then my maturity level slips a little and I do rattle his cage.
GASox – Disagreeing doesn’t bother me, in fact I welcome it and will change my opinion sometimes when a good case is presented.
I would like to see Hembree get another shot at making a roster and Tampa Bay could be a good spot for him
Rsox – I would LOVE for Hembree to pitch for the Rays. In fact they should make him their closer ;O)
If I had to guess, Turner is probably begging Alex Cora to get back into games immediately. He has a hockey player mentality which is so refreshing to see in MLB. I think he’s going to be great in Boston this year.
Thought Turner played for the Dodgers.
He did until he didn’t
From what I’ve seen “defensive versatility” comes at the cost of high proficiency. I mean… technically, you could ask Miguel Cabrera to play center field. I guess that would make him more versatile.
Bouncing players all over the field just prevents them from being good or great defenders at any one position. Fine in an emergency situation (Nick Gordon covering CF last year for the Twins), but not a great strategy in general conditions.
Yeah, the Rays have really failed with this strategy.
Sideline – I have as many rings as they do!! So that proves their strategy is NOT TO WIN but to have a good record. Big difference. One Bloom hasn’t figured out yet. Stop trying to win cheap and try to win BIG. It’s a reduction of profits that is the worse case scenario not the Red Sox going bankrupt. So reverse the Bloom curse and start paying for 1 player at over $20MM rather than 3 that total over $20MM. It’s the only way to raise the talent level.
Sideline – The Rays are consistently among the league leaders in ERA.
Are you saying their pitching hasn’t been as good as it appears?
Fever, I read it as sarcasm in that the rays move guys around and still compete near the top of the division.
GASox – I did as well, but my point is their pitching has had a lot more to do with their success than their defensive versatility.
Once he is ready, Rays will STRETCH ARMSTRONG !!
I don’t care how tough he may be, getting back in the box after being hit in the face has to be a bit unnerving. Then again, I was afraid of a wiffle ball.
Had the same happen to me in little league, against a kid throwing 70+mph. Broken nose (my nose looked like a half moon). Made me less afraid of wearing one. Saw it as a “that’s the worst that can happen”. Everyone is different, though.
I was playing a pickup game as a kid. I was playing 2nd and we were just kidding around. A hard grounder up the middle between me and the SS. The SS got enough of the ball to deflect right into my eye. I woke up the next morning with an eye as black as coal.
It was also the first day of class, I didn’t have any of my book reports, and the teacher bought into my story that I couldn’t read the book because I couldn’t focus my eyes.
Brilliant!
Ha-Seong – I think guys like Stanton and the late Tony C didn’t see it the way you do. 100mph in the face will distort a hitter’s perspective on reading pitches.
Watch Stanton some time. He reminds me of how Brady changed at QB in the last few years. He is playing to not get hurt as is Stanton. Also, Stanton gets madder than most on anything up and in. It’s years later and he’s still living it.
Lets hope Justin doesn’t become a shadow of himself from the incident. If he does, you can’t really blame him since it’s so close to the end of his career. Family and life are far more important but I hope he makes a full comeback before the end of the season. I expect he might be skiddish for at least 100 or more plate appearances.. If he’s not, that’s great!!
PulledaBloom—no doubt, 100>>>70. I too was a bit skiddish the first few dozen ABs back, but quickly came to the realization that any pain was temporary, whereas digging in and hitting well stuck in my mind forever.
We’ll shall see, wish JT a speedy recovery and hope he has It in him to dig in!
Ha-Seong – People who are fearless (if in fact you were) seem to lack a needed level of rationality. In little league, being hit by a pitch hurt whether it was in the face, in the elbow, in the ribs, in the middle of my back or in the cup. To me, thinking to yourself that pain is temporary is more of a movie concept than reality. Children who think like that probably have faced more pain than just on the baseball field so I sympathize with you for having to go through such a painful childhood.
I only feared the normal sports injuries. A broken arm playing football, a broken finger or sprained ankle in basketball and being hit by a line drive, an inside pitch or getting spiked while putting a tag on a runner. I recognized the possibility and so I avoided it whenever possible. I had no reason to learn an unhealthy lack of fear for pain. There was no need to in my childhood or my adulthood.
I’m glad you lived through things and came out feeling so fearless. Just recognize that the perspective you have may deaden your ability to avoid bad situations that might create pain. I take no shame in saying I consider the consequences that create pain and how I can avoid them. Luck can’t be on your side throughout life. Sometimes bad things happen being fearless needs to as intrinsic to your mental acuity as being clever in avoiding pain.
Thanks for exchange. I can’t ever remember anyone that I’ve met in my life that was fearless in Little League.
Pulled – as a guy who had a compound avulsion index finger fracture, and, only recently another compound avulsion fracture in the fibula paired with grade 3 sprain, it sticks with you even when it’s healed. Not enough to make me change my playing style in the heat of a moment, but, in deliberate activities? Maybe it does. And I definitely don’t forget it.
JT was hit in the head before in college. He didn’t change his plate positioning or aggressiveness back then, even though an easy thought would be “don’t get hurt before the draft” just like “don’t get hurt before retirement”
I think he’s going to be much the same player as before. Only 2 questions are, did he fail to pick up the movement/miscalculate the movement, and, will he slow down at all trying to figure out movement on ehat could be high/tight pitches and have some inside solid contact opportunities change to foul balls.
Ha-Seong – Thought a little bit more about your response and it reminded me of a Robin Williams movie “The World according to Garp’ He buys a house because he figures a plane crashed into it already so it should be much safer than the other houses that hadn’t had that happen!!
You realize that getting hit in the face once doesn’t lower your chances of having it happen again? Right?
I definitely realize that it isn’t less likely to happen again. It was more of me coming to the realization at that age that pain is temporary but performing well stays with you forever!
my thought was a great comedic line – the odds of a bomb being on a plane are a million to one. The odds of 2 people bringing a bomb on a plane are a trillion to one so if you want to be safer – bring a bomb. I’m thinking it was Eddie Izzard but may have been Carlin.
And it’s safe to say I’d have worn a few more to the face to have had a career like JT has, haha (earnings and accolades)
If Turner misses time, then Yoshida could move to DH. Duran, Refsnyder, Tapia may see increased time in the outfield if this is the case.
Red Sox in Spring Training:
*9-0 plus a win against the Cuban Team
*Best record in baseball
*Best Run Differential +47
Some standouts:
Jorge Alfaro OPS 1.127
Triston Casas 1.333
Ramiel Tapia 1.294
Mathew Lugo 1.255
Bobby Dalbec 1.127
Christian Arroyo 1.000
Reese McGuire .901
—
Josh Winkowski Inn 5/ERA 0.00
Kutter Crawford 5/0.00
Corey Kluber 4.2/0.00
Taylor Broadway 3.1/0.00
Bryan Mata 3/0.00
Brandon Walters 3/0.00
Chris Sale 2/0.00
James Paxton 1.2/0.00
Yesterday the Red Sox defeated a STACK Yankees starting lineup (Volpe, Judge, Rizzo, Stanton, Donaldson, Calhoun, Peraza), while using mostly minor leaguers.
Its only Spring Training, and A LOT will change, but this has to be viewed as a good sign. If the Red Sox were 0-9 instead of 9-0, the haters would be posting the negatives ad nauseam.
Darn tootin R…. Even you know who has been solid!!Lol…seriously I get it’s spring but if you got to play them you might as well win them…