The Rays have placed right-hander Pete Fairbanks on the 15-day injured list due to inflammation in his right forearm and selected the contract of veteran righty Chase Anderson, whom they acquired from the Reds in exchange for cash earlier this morning. Right-hander Zack Burdi was designated for assignment in order to open a spot on the 40-man roster for Anderson.
Fairbanks has been unavailable for the past couple of days due to symptoms of Raynaud’s disease, which can trigger circulatory issues and slow bloodflow. That’s presented itself in the form of numbness in Fairbanks’ fingers. However, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times tweets that the forearm injury is not related to those symptoms but rather has been something that’s bothered Fairbanks on and off this season. Fairbanks tells Topkin he expects to return after a minimal stay on the injured list.
While Fairbanks hasn’t allowed an earned run in 7 2/3 innings this season, he hasn’t been nearly as dominant as he was in 2022, when he averaged 99.2 mph on his heater and fanned 43.7% of his opponents against a brilliant 3.4% walk rate. We’re looking at a much smaller sample in 2023, of course, but Fairbanks’ velocity is “down” to an average of 98 mph, and he’s sporting just a 19.4% strikeout rate against an ugly 12.9% walk rate. The Rays will hope that some downtime can get him closer to his ’22 form sooner than later.
Anderson, 35, was with the Rays’ Triple-A club last year but didn’t pitch for the big league squad. He opened the year with a 4.30 ERA in 23 innings for Cincinnati’s Triple-A club in Louisville, though his 19-to-13 K/BB ratio is obviously troublesome. Anderson had an opt-out clause in his minor league deal with the Reds that he’d either already exercised — giving the Reds 48 hours to add him to the active roster or release him — or planned to exercise. The Reds clearly didn’t want to displace anyone from their roster to bring Anderson back to the big leagues, but the Rays saw him differently.
It’s possible it’ll be a brief stint with Tampa Bay for Anderson, just was it was for Burdi and for veteran reliever Heath Hembree before him. The Rays have been regularly cycling names through the final spot of their bullpen in an effort to have as many fresh arms as possible available to complement their core relievers. With nearly eight years of MLB service time under his belt, Anderson brings plenty of experience to the table. He’s struggled mightily since 2020 but from 2014-19 was a solid fourth starter with Arizona and Milwaukee, pitching to a 3.94 ERA in 857 innings.
Burdi, 28, is a former first-round pick whose career has been derailed by injuries, most notably Tommy John surgery in 2018 and a torn patellar tendon in 2019. The former Louisville standout has been tagged for 15 earned runs in just 20 1/3 Major League frames.
That includes a sharp couple outings with the Rays during this most recent stint. He fired three shutout innings, allowing just one hit and one walk with four punchouts. That wasn’t enough to keep him on the roster for a larger look, however.
In Triple-A, Burdi carries a 4.81 ERA in 86 career innings. He’s fanned 32.5% of his opponents at the top minor league level, thanks in part to a blistering fastball, but he’s also issued walks at an untenable 13.5% clip. The Rays will have a week to trade him or attempt to pass him through outright waivers.
New blood for the TB pitching meat grinder.
Burdi and Hembree chewed up and spit out by the Rays pitching machince. Anderson is next in line.
Burdi has been terrible since he debuted in 2020 and while Hembree has been around since 2013 and was terrible from 2020-2023. Not sure why the moved Hembree off the 40 man roster and he was pitching well for them in the minors and this year to start the season. Maybe they were just fillers until someone return for the IL. *shrugs*
It’s just how the Rays manage their rosters. Anyone with options remaining and/or making the league minimum are fungible, so long as they have fresh arms for that day’s game.
i think we all know what’s going to happen: chase anderson will be unhittable because rays
He’ll have a Renaissance season with ridiculous peripherals and effectiveness no one ever thought capable. Rays will let him walk after the season, and he’ll sign a 2-year/$35M contract with somebody like the Angels where he’ll promptly turn back into a pumpkin.
I want to laugh because that seems crazy, but I won’t because it’s too close to the truth.
What do the Rays have against Taj Bradley?
He’s getting starts in Durham to adjust to a 5 man rotation. Durham has a 6 man. He’ll be back.
Service time for one – the other is he will be valuable in 2nd half and he has an innings limit even if service time is not the real issue
He will be given a fair chance
Eppler needs to call to find out the cost to attain Burdi…
A little Burdi told me “not much”