The Rays announced that they have placed right-hander Pete Fairbanks on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to April 19, with a “nerve related issue”. Right-hander Kevin Kelly was recalled from Triple-A in a corresponding move. Prior to the official announcement, Kristie Ackert of The Tampa Bay Times reported that Fairbanks was headed to the IL with a nerve-related condition.
There’s very little information on what exactly the issue is or how long Fairbanks is expected to be out. It was reported yesterday that Fairbanks was unavailable for the past two days due to an illness and “a little bit of a dead arm” on Saturday. Perhaps that’s part of the reason why he hasn’t been able to get on a roll this year and will now be out of action for an unknown amount of time.
Regardless of the severity, the news is obviously not good for the Rays, as Fairbanks has been one of the better relievers in the league over the past few years. He started 2024 in rough form, allowing seven earned runs in his first seven innings, but in an obviously small sample size.
Fairbanks has a 3.46 earned run average in his career and has been even better in recent seasons. Over 2022 and 2023, he posted a 2.08 ERA in 69 1/3 innings. He struck out 39.1% of batters faced in that time while walking 8.5% of them and getting grounders on 50.4% of balls in play. Among pitchers with at least 60 innings pitched over those two years, only Edwin Díaz, Jacob deGrom and Félix Bautista had a higher strikeout rate, with none of that group matching Fairbanks in terms of inducing grounders.
Between those two seasons, the Rays signed Fairbanks to a three-year, $12MM extension to cover his three arbitration years, with a club option giving them an additional year of control. Injuries have occasionally been an issue for him, as he only tossed 24 innings in 2022 due to shoulder issues. Last year, he spent time on the IL due to forearm inflammation and hip inflammation but still logged 45 1/3 frames and racked up 25 saves.
The Rays are generally good at cobbling together a pitching staff on the fly but they are being especially challenged this year. Shane McClanahan, Jeffrey Springs and Drew Rasmussen all underwent elbow surgery last year and are still out of action. Shane Baz is still out of action after undergoing Tommy John surgery back in 2022, having not yet pitched this year due to an oblique issue. Taj Bradley is on the IL with a pectoral strain.
Subtracting one of the club’s best relievers will only compound the problem. Until Fairbanks can get back to the club, pitchers like Jason Adam, Phil Maton and Colin Poche will probably taken on the high-leverage assignments. The Rays are above .500 at 12-11 but that record actually places them last in the extremely competitive A.L. East.
hits the il with a “general all-around suck”
That video is hilarious
He lost his 19 week old daughter to Turners Syndrome.
wow, seriously? that is incredibly sad, i was obviously trying to reference his interview lightheartedly and did not know anything about that tragedy…
I feel for Pete, he’s one of the nicest people you’ll ever meet. I knew something was up when he was rough around the edges with the reporters in the last two post game interviews. Check out “Fairbanks Strikeout for Turner Syndrome” I know it’s not meme worthy but Pete and his wife Lydia were donating $100 for every strikeout and The Rays would match. Sucks
I hope my Tigers sweep the Rays this week, but it’s hard not to root for Fairbanks and for the Rays in general (with their low payroll and lack of fan support).
I’m a dad, maybe a grandpa before long, and you just have to root for families. Life is hard, but it’s harder if you don’t have anyone to share it with. Praying for the Fairbanks family, for Pete’s health, and for those who have lost a baby to Turner Syndrome.
I went from laughing to instantly being sad 🙁
Could be worse. The Rays could be the Yankees losing 2-0 at home to the A’s. LMAO
Have seen some flat out awful team play for extended periods early going on this year and Oakland, Miami, Pittsburgh and the Chisox being the worst offenders.
Not much to gloat about with the A’s pulling off 1 win there with NY with a horrendous team overall that is bound to lose 100 games (maybe more) this year.
Throw the Rockies on that list of poop
MLB might be better without some of those teams
I sure hope he can find a way to blame this injury on the humidor in Coors Field.
His 19 week old daughter died.
Misspoke, lost their child of a 19 week pregnancy.
He can sulk for longer than 14 minutes now
It seems like no one is exactly sure why he’s in the IL, so Alaska-gain later.
Rays have the GOAT IL pitching staff.