- Rays two-way prospect Brendan McKay, the fourth pick in last year’s draft, is inching closer to the majors. The Rays have moved him from Single-A to High-A, per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. Prior to his promotion, the left-handed McKay, 22, opened the year with a 1.09 ERA and 14.59 K/9 against .73 BB/9 in 24 2/3 innings. He also held his own as a hitter, albeit not quite as much, with a .254/.484/.333 line in 91 PAs. Rays senior VP Chaim Bloom told Topkin that McKay “has been exceptional,” adding: “The results we’ve seen (as a pitcher) have been so phenomenal that he would be really hard-pressed to match that as a hitter. But he’s shown such as advanced approach at the plate, in fact to the point it felt at time he was being pitched around at that level.”
Rays Rumors
Quick Hits: Undrafted Free Agents, Urshela, Aledmys
J.J. Cooper of Baseball America recently answered a question from a Twitter fan about undrafted free agents in MLB. It turns out that there were eight undrafted free agents on MLB rosters at the start of the year, and all eight of them were right-handed pitchers. Unlike football, where there are plenty of UDFA success stories, it’s exceedingly rare for a UDFA to produce significantly at the MLB level. Some outliers include Matt Shoemaker, Miguel Gonzalez, Darren O’Day and Kirby Yates. Of the UDFA’s currently in the majors on opening day, Tigers reliever Joe Jimenez (23 years old) and Rays pitcher Andrew Kittredge (28) are the only players below the age of 30. There are a few more fun facts in Cooper’s piece, making it well worth a full read.
Other items of note as the Tigers and Mariners prepare for a remarkably cold double-header…
- The Blue Jays announced earlier today that they’ve activated infielder Gio Urshela and optioned outfielder Dalton Pompey to Triple-A Buffalo. Urshela, 26, was recently acquired for cash (or a player to be named later) after the Indians designated him for assignment earlier this month; he’d been on the DL since the start of the season. While acclaimed as somewhat of a defensive wizard, Urshela carries an anemic bat and has posted a wRC+ of just 57 throughout the course of his major-league career.
- In other Blue Jays news, shortstop Aledmys Diaz has begun throwing, says Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet.ca. He’s expected to begin hitting later this week. Diaz left last Sunday’s game after spraining his ankle, but it doesn’t appear as though the injury will keep him sidelined for much longer than the ten-day minimum at this point. Diaz was acquired from the Cardinals this offseason in exchange for outfielder J.B. Woodman; the shortstop has hit .216/.273/.431 so far with his new club.
Rays Prospect Jose Mujica Diagnosed With Forearm Strain
- Rays righty Jose Mujica has been cleared of any significant arm issues, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times tweets. The minor-league hurler will need about a month of rest after being diagnosed with a forearm strain. So long as he can get back to health, though, he could represent a much-needed option later in the year.
Rays Prospect Jose Mujica Diagnosed With Forearm Strain
- In other pitching injury news, the Rays have suffered another dent to their depth, as Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports on Twitter. 21-year-old right-hander Jose Mujica is sidelined with a forearm strain, per the report, which is never the sort of news you want to hear for a young hurler. Mujica had shown well in his first six starts at the Triple-A level, working to a 3.13 ERA with 32 strikeouts against ten walks in his 31 2/3 innings of action. His anticipated timeline is not yet known.
Rays Unlikely To Pursue Matt Harvey
- “Don’t expect” the Rays to make a run at Matt Harvey, writes Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. Rolling the dice on reviving Harvey’s career would only make sense for the Rays if and when Harvey is released by the Mets (as opposed to working out a trade), of course, but Topkin doesn’t seem inclined to believe it’s likely in any scenario. The right-hander has posted an ERA just south of 7.00 over the past two seasons with the Mets following both Tommy John and thoracic outlet surgeries.
Yonny Chirinos Expected To Miss One Month; Nathan Eovaldi Progressing
Rays righty Yonny Chirinos is expected to be sidelined for about a month after a full examination of his elbow, per a report from Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. Meanwhile, fellow right-hander Nathan Eovaldi appears to be making good progress from elbow surgery.
Chirinos had already been put on the 10-day DL; at the time of the placement, though, it was not clear how long he would miss. While it’s certainly sub-optimal for the Tampa Bay organization to lose him at all, Topkin writes that the Rays were left feeling fortunate with the prognosis.
Elbow issues for young pitchers obviously tend to set off alarm bells. In this case, though, the medical opinion is that Chirinos is not dealing with any “structural damage,” per the report. Still, it seems the club has charted a cautious course for the rookie hurler, who has impressed (3.71 ERA with 8.1 K/9 and 3.0 BB/9) in his first 26 2/3 MLB innings.
The loss of Chirinos is balanced somewhat by the optimism on Eovaldi, who required work to address bone chips after nearly making it all the way back from Tommy John surgery. But he won’t be available right away, and the Rays would obviously prefer to be able to call upon both pitchers, particularly with the ballclub showing some life after a rough opening few weeks.
Eovaldi is aiming to make it back up to the majors after about three weeks of work on the minor-league mound, with a target of the Rays’ series against the Red Sox beginning May 22nd. He is already pumping upper-nineties heat, Topkin reports (Twitter links), and will begin a rehab assignment tomorrow. Eovaldi’s anticipated timeline reflects the fact that he needs to ramp fully back up after going down just before the start of the season.
Rays Could Approach Dodgers About Hechavarria
- Following Corey Seager’s season-ending injury, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times writes that the Rays will likely approach the Dodgers to gauge their interest in a trade for defensive standout Adeiny Hechavarria. Tampa Bay figures to trade Hechavarria at some point this season, Topkin notes, and moving him would open a clear path to the big leagues for surging infield prospect Willy Adames. Hechavarria, who is hitting .283/.317/.359 with a pair of homers through 102 plate appearances this season, has consistently graded out as a plus defender at short and is earning $5.9MM in 2018, with about $4.54MM of that sum yet to be paid out. Tampa Bay GM Erik Neander, of course, knows Dodgers president of baseball ops Andrew Friedman quite well from the pair’s days in the Rays’ front office, and they’ve lined up on a handful of deals in recent years (Logan Forsythe, Sergio Romo and Xavier Cedeno among them).
Rays Put Chirinos On DL, Recall Yarbrough
- Tampa Bay righty Yonny Chirinos has landed on the disabled list with a right forearm strain, per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times (Twitter links). The Rays have brought lefty Ryan Yarbrough back up from Triple-A Durham to take his spot on the roster. It’s not clear yet how long Chirinos will be expected to miss, though Topkin suggests that the organization doesn’t believe the injury to be serious. Chirinos had stepped up as the team’s de facto fourth starter following a series of injuries that initially led the Rays to open the season with three starters and a pair of bullpen days in place of a traditional five-man rotation. Yarbrough has been pitching in multi-inning relief stints with the Rays and could be looked at as a starting option himself in Chirinos’ absence.
Rays Acquire Two Prospects From D-Backs To Complete Steven Souza Trade
3:49pm: The Rays and Diamondbacks have now announced the trade.
2:51pm: The Rays have acquired righty Sam McWilliams and southpaw Colin Poche from the Diamondbacks, according to Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic. That pair of hurlers will make up the final portion of the late-February swap that brought outfielder Steven Souza to Arizona.
The Tampa Bay organization had insisted it only relented to moving Souza because of the quality of the return. Today’s news does help to bolster that claim, as the two newcomers are not just throw-in assets.
McWilliams, 22, is a big right-hander who was tabbed as the 13th-best prospect in the Arizona system coming into the season by Baseball America. He has opened eyes since, turning in 25 2/3 innings of 2.10 ERA ball in his first turn at the High-A level. Importantly, he has drastically increased his strikeout rate (to 11.2 K/9, nearly double his career rate) while maintaining his typically reliable control (2.1 BB/9). Arizona had initially picked him up in the trade that sent right-hander (and former Ray) Jeremy Hellickson the Phillies, though McWilliams has raised his profile a bit since that time.
The 24-year-old Poche is closer to the Majors, though unlike McWilliams he does not carry the potential upside of working as a starter. He has enjoyed some success in the past, but nothing like what he has shown thus far this season at Double-A. In 11 shutout innings, Poche has allowed just three hits while compiling a whopping 23:2 K/BB ratio.
It seems reasonable to think that he could be on the MLB radar in the relatively near term — he was included on Jason Martinez’s first Knocking Down the Door feature of 2018 — if he can sustain anything approaching that level of production. Baseball America rated Poche 29th among Arizona farmhands this past offseason, though like McWilliams, his early work has likely elevated his status to an extent.
Topkin On Rays' Track Record Developing Pitchers
- Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times takes an interesting look at the number of pitchers developed by the Rays in recent years, pointing out that there have been more games started by pitchers who were originally Rays (45 of 722) in the Majors this season than any other team. That doesn’t include starters-turned-relievers like Wade Davis, Jake McGee and Felipe Vazquez. As Topkin notes, that could be used as a damning method of lamenting the frequency with which Tampa Bay has to trade its talent or as a credit to the organization’s general ability to develop quality pitching. Topkin’s column runs through the best of the best in that group of original Rays and also looks at some names who could ascend that list.
