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Rays Sign Kodi Whitley To Minor League Deal

By Nick Deeds | February 23, 2025 at 8:23am CDT

The Rays have signed right-hander Kodi Whitley to a minor league deal, as noted in the transactions tracker on Whitley’s MLB.com profile page.

Whitley, who celebrated his 30th birthday on Friday, was a 27th-round pick by the Cardinals back in 2017 who made his MLB debut in St. Louis during the shortened 2020 season. His first two seasons in the majors went quite well despite limited playing time at the big league level, as he pitched to a 2.40 ERA in 30 innings of work. He struck out 27.1% of opponents while walking 11%, resulting in a 3.21 FIP, though more advanced metrics such as xFIP (4.13) and SIERA (3.88) painted him as more of a league average arm.

Unfortunately for Whitley, things came off the rails a bit for him during the 2022 campaign. He logged just 12 2/3 innings of work at the big league level for St. Louis that year, and the results left much to be desired. Whitley surrendered a 5.68 ERA as his strikeout rate dipped to just 20.3%. Even more concerning was his walk rate, which was already somewhat elevated even when the right-hander was successful but in 2022 ballooned to an untenable 15.3% rate. While Whitley posted a decent 3.86 ERA with Triple-A Memphis that year, his 21.8% strikeout rate and 10.9% walk rate still left something to be desired relatively to his past performance in the majors.

Given Whitley’s struggles, it was hardly a shock when the club outrighted him off their 40-man roster following the 2022 season. He stuck with the Cardinals at Triple-A to open the 2023 campaign but put up lackluster results even in the minor leagues with a 5.19 ERA in 32 appearances. That led St. Louis to release Whitley midway through the season, and though he was picked up in July by the Braves things got even worse for him at Atlanta’s Triple-A affiliate in Gwinnett as he surrendered a 6.43 ERA in 14 frames with the club.

That difficult stint with the Braves stands as Whitley’s most recent pro experience. He stuck with the Braves throughout the 2023-24 offseason but was released last March and did not sign with an organization afterwards. That’s now changed, however, and he’ll look to get his career back on track with one of the top pitching development organizations in baseball this year. The Rays are known for churning through bullpen arms nearly constantly, so if Whitley manages to recapture the success he had earlier in his career there’s little doubt that Tampa would find a spot for him in their big league bullpen at some point this year. That could take time, however, given Whitley’s apparent yearlong layoff from game action.

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Tampa Bay Rays Transactions Kodi Whitley

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View Comments (6)
Post a Comment

6 Comments

  1. westcasey

    5 months ago

    nothing to say

    Reply
    • StPeteStingRays

      5 months ago

      Except you did….

      Reply
  2. Non Roster Invitee

    5 months ago

    I loved “Looking for a New Love” back in the day.

    Reply
  3. anotherdamncardinalfan

    5 months ago

    Keep your eye on Whitley. Rays will develop him.

    Reply
  4. Old York

    5 months ago

    Kodi Whitley’s signing with the Rays could be a fascinating pivot point in the evolution of bullpen management in the MLB. While many view this as a reclamation project, it could signify a broader shift toward embracing non-linear career arcs in baseball. The Rays, with their renowned ability to revitalize pitchers, might be exploring a model where past performance metrics, even those showing a decline, are seen not as red flags but as raw material for innovation. Imagine a future where the major leagues embrace a “reconditioning” pipeline, where pitchers are continually reassessed, reshaped, and injected back into the system with minimal hesitation. This could challenge the prevailing wisdom that “development” ends after a player reaches the big leagues, transforming teams into hyper-flexible, dynamic ecosystems rather than static rosters.

    Reply
  5. MLBTR needs to hire editors

    5 months ago

    How many times can you talk about something leaving something to be desired? Nick Deeds’ writing leaves something to be desired.

    1
    Reply

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